Our Minds Rest on Poetic Foundations

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The middle-aged man hobbled into my consulting room. "I need an anti-inflammatory shot, doc. I'm running the Comrades Marathon this weekend."

The other day I was called to the procedure room to see a patient; she was having palpitations and difficulty breathing. I asked her some questions, examined her, and did an ECG and blood tests.

Her symptoms, I discovered, were caused by a large intake of caffeine and nicotine and the stress of building renovations going wrong. I advised her to reduce or stop drinking coffee and smoking, and to look at how she can manage her situation better.

"Oh I can't give up coffee and cigarettes now," she objected. "I am far too stressed for that."

These examples of ordinary madness are not uncommon.

Every day, I see patients who make bad choices in the face of incontrovertible reason. The appeal to logic is frequently futile. Advise an exhausted workaholic to go on a holiday and …