This truth makes a lot of people uncomfortable, but it’s essential for superpatients to understand.

Next in the series of fourteen foundation truths about Superpatients.

After my cancer my earliest work in learning about medicine was about evidence-based medicine. Not long after, someone told me about the opposite: “eminence-based medicine,” in which people look not to evidence but to whoever is considered the leading authority.

That’s not a joke. It’s profoundly unscientific, but a reality. I’ll give you just two examples, one a century ago and one a few years ago, with the same bottom line:

Beware anyone who behaves arrogantly
if you ask a reasonable question.
Even a doctor. Even a good doctor.

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Next in the series of fourteen foundation truths about Superpatients.

Yesterday in principle 9 we covered how long it takes for scientific journals to get around to publishing knowledge, once it’s been created. Until then, the knowledge bears no fruit. And if you’re one of the suffering people whose outcome may depend on that knowledge, it’s a problem.

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Next in the series of fourteen foundation truths about Superpatients.

When your life’s on the line, you may think that all new knowledge will be rushed to the front lines as fast as possible. Not so much.

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This is a vital principle to understand – one of the most misunderstood concepts I’ve encountered in my speaking events. Paternalism is rooted in paternal caring, but it’s gone awry.

Next in the series of fourteen foundation truths about Superpatients.

Paternal caring is necessary, even vital, when the cared-for person can’t comprehend what’s going on. (My favorite example is “No, honey, don’t touch the stove! You’ll burn yourself!”) It hit me in an instant when I saw this photo of my new granddaughter at age ten weeks. Look:

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Next in the series of fourteen foundation truths about Superpatients.

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