The good in evil

Today, I have an intravenous drip in my arm and while the student nurse was charging the medication, I asked how much air it will take to kill me. I am not new to this so I already had the answer that it was more than the movies suggest. Actually, it is more than the tube holds which I have known from my first IV over two decades ago.

My question started a discussion with the senior nurse in the room which broached something that I have been meaning to write about for a long time and that is, how much good can come from bad.

As the nurse mentioned and some might already know, the amount of air it takes to kill someone was tested by a very famous doctor. Doctor Mengele, the Nazi. He along with many others enacted immeasurable cruelty on millions of people in a very orderly and systematic approach so as to research a wide range of medical and non-medical problems.

The research they did at that time changed the face of medicine and advanced it very fast indeed as without the usual social and political constraints, they had a free hand to essentially, do what they wanted without immediate repercussions or complaint. A lot of modern medicine owes a debt to the unprecedented and largely unnecessary cruelty of these people who under other circumstances would have been bound by a do no harm approach.

This is of course a touchy subject as to recognise this fact seems to condone the action but this is not the case at all. In my opinion, ignoring these types of incidents means that their chance of repetition is increased. I also think ignorance reduces the value of the lives of the victims who were forced to pay a terrible price for the knowledge obtained. Since I am a person that will put myself into uncomfortable psychological positions if I think it could reduce further suffering, I will. Psychological discomfort is a very small price to pay considering what others have physically suffered without choice.

The nurse also mentioned that it is impossible to imagine what she would have done if a medical professional during that time which is something I also find an interesting topic and an astute understanding from the nurse. It is very easy to say 'I would never' when one is nowhere near the situation themselves but also unwilling to deeply consider all aspects of it.

The I will never statement is rarely made after deep thought, it is based on an intuitive feeling based on something that has likely never experienced and therefore, potentially false. I think we likely all have stated things we would never do only to years later, do that exact thing. It is often a declaration made out of childish ignorance and based upon limited knowledge idealism.

One thing I find interesting is that although most people undoubtedly reject the methodology used to obtain the knowledge, they will not deny the usage of what was learned. This raises a host of moral issues as it could be argued then that it is an acceptance of acts of horror post-event as it is beneficial to do so. Does this mean that if they knew the value of what woud be learned beforehand, they would accept its horrible future performance?

For example, over the last decade or so there has been heavy discussion around stem-cell and cloning research. A whole range of moral questions have been raised as to where the cells can be harvested from and what is allowed to be cloned. The objections against certain research is generally a moral position, the argument for generally centres around medical advancement.

Very few suppose that those who do want to do morally questionable research want to do it because they are cruel people looking to purposely make others suffer. Most believe it is a 'greater good' argument where some are willing to compromise their current moral position to discover new information to reduce future suffering. Not all hold this view though on either side though.

Suppose there is a secret lab in your country that is ignoring the international rules and social concerns and are inflicting huge amounts of suffering on a small sample of humans for stem-cell research. Assume they make a massive breakthrough that allows for the treatment and cure of a terrible and previously incurable disease and now the truth to their methodology has been uncovered.

If you have the disease, would you refuse treatment because you know how the treatment discovery was made, would you refuse treatment if your child had the disease, or would you say, it is too late now and since the knowledge is already there, I will accept treatment? Once available, the knowledge cannot be repressed which means once there is a cure, to deny it means to knowingly and willingly place suffering onto people with the disease. Which is the moral highroad?

If we take a simple view of marijuana for medical use, which is currently still denied to most people it could help in much of the world, it is actually a willingness by authorities to allow unnecessary suffering. And their major reasoning to withhold it is because a small fraction may misuse it and it is very difficult to regulate since essentially, anyone in the world can grow it. What of the morality of suffering in this circumstance applied to hundreds of millions globally because they are unable to find a successful way to regulate and profit?

It is difficult to navigate this particular area as everyone likely holds several positions depending on their current circumstances. This means that morality for most is set on a sliding scale that is influenced by necessity or desire. To have an uncompromising moral position means one would not be affected whether it is they, someone they love or a stranger that is suffering at the time. If one will help one, they will help all and if one would deny one, they will deny all. Very few can do this in practice.

Speaking with the nurse, she holds the view that we cannot possibly know at the time what good could spring from bad and I also think that the viceversa is also true. We cannot really know what future harms may come from current attempts to act well and help.

What I do think though is that we should all spend some time considering what positions we take and what risk and severity of harm is acceptable for someone to pay considering the possibility of return. I ask myself that if it was my child, how much am I willing for her to suffer for reduction to her own or someone else's future suffering.

From my own experience and in hindsight, suffering at the hands of bullies, racists and illness have not made me a weaker person but a stronger one. Although, this view itself is fundamentally flawed as how could I possibly know? What these experiences have taught me however is that suffering is a part of human existence and is a strong driver for our advancement and evolution across all aspects of who we are.

I do not think that we can ever remove suffering entirely from life as life itself is too insecure and random. What I question though is if my daughter need suffer the same types of suffering as myself or if we can continually decrease suffering in what we know causes it so we are then better able to face the unknown sufferings of the future.

I am not the kind of person to purposely inflict pain on another but I am willing to take punishment to reduce it for them. What level of punishment I am unsure of as I am fortunate enough to not be in a position to test those extremes. Learning from those of the past though should make us all consider strongly what we do now so we never again end up in a system where types of suffering is a history repeats situation.

If there is a point to suffering, it is to better be able to avoid it in the future. I would be interested to hear your views around this and experiences with suffering.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

Here are a few thoughts while I sit getting my treatment surrounded by nurses who take great care to make sure they only inflict as much pain as is necessary. Every two months when I am here, they laugh and joke and take care of me and others with soft hands. But, they are under no illusion that some of the things they do are uncomfortable, painful and difficult for their patients and I see the suffering in their own eyes when they treat people worse off than myself. But, they have a job to do and that is to try to improve life. It isn't always easy and the road is filled with many failures.