Re: A Gouldian Defense Variation / A thank you for video help

[john burke <john.burke@mindspring.com>]

on 6/15/00 9:03 AM, Kate Clunies-Ross at katecluniesross@HOTMAIL.COM wrote:

> It's just a label ...but
> the rest of you are free to disagree of course!. While it might suggest why
> GG displayed a certain combination of characteristics

Hello all?

though I'm not a medical professional, I think it's worth pointing out just
what "syndrome" (from Greek roots meaning "running together") means. Medical
syndromes are essentially checklists of signs and symptoms; typically, if a
patient exhibits at least a specified number of the listed signs over at
least a specified length of time, the "syndrome" is diagnosed.

This obviously is a long way from diagnosing a fracture from an X-ray, or an
infection from a throat culture. There may be ambiguity about the symptoms
themselves, about their duration and severity, and even about whether they
add up to an actual pathology or just a set of unlucky coincidences. And,
especially where behavior is involved, such diagnoses may well reflect the
preconceptions of the diagnostician rather than the actual condition of the
patient.

I think the best way to understand Gould (or Schumann or Van Gogh, etc.
etc.) is by a close study of the concrete details of the life and the work;
resort to diagnostic labels strikes me as more a confession of helplessness
than an achievement of scientific certainty.

--best, jvb