Demystifying Authority

00:01 I was just listening to a podcast

00:03 and heard something

00:04 that really resonated with me—

00:08 something that deeply moved me.

00:11 The woman on the podcast

00:13 shared what happened after she got sick.

00:18 What struck me most was

00:21 that while she was ill, she didn't

00:25 simply follow every medical instruction.

00:30 I won't say what her illness was.

00:34 But after her diagnosis,

00:36 for the first four months or so,

00:39 she kept records of her condition.

00:42 If her doctor prescribed medicine,

00:46 she would take it

00:49 and observe how her body felt.

00:51 If something in her body

00:54 didn't feel right,

00:55 she would make targeted changes

00:57 to certain ingredients

01:00 or the dosage of the medicine.

01:03 Through this process of adjustment,

01:06 she eventually found

01:08 the optimal formula

01:11 or dosage for her own body.

01:15 I remember thinking, wow.

01:17 This idea...

01:20 I don't know how to explain it.

01:22 It reminded me of things

01:25 I've seen in my hometown.

01:27 Perhaps because it's a small place,

01:29 people tend to think

01:32 that teachers are especially trustworthy,

01:34 and doctors especially worth heeding.

01:36 It's as though they have no sense that

01:41 I have my own judgment,

01:43 my own thoughts,

01:44 and my own feelings.

01:47 I need to listen to those feelings,

01:50 or I need to

01:53 make my own judgment about something.

01:59 Or perhaps,

02:01 if I have a thought

02:04 or an intuition,

02:05 maybe I should listen to them,

02:07 pay attention to them,

02:08 and respect them.

02:14 As I listened to her,

02:17 I found myself thinking

02:19 about situations I'd encountered.

02:21 The difference felt very clear.

02:25 Then it occurred to me that

02:27 this woman is—

02:29 she's thirty-nine this year,

02:31 and already financially independent.

02:34 She no longer needs to work.

02:37 So, how should I put it?

02:39 She also seems

02:42 quite unfortunate in a way.

02:44 Thirty-nine is still very young,

02:47 but after developing this illness—

02:52 anyway, because of the illness,

02:55 she basically stopped doing all her work

03:01 to focus on her recovery.

03:03 It made me think...

03:08 Maybe it's

03:09 because of differences in wealth,

03:11 exposure to the world,

03:14 or how childhood experiences shaped us.

03:20 Although we're all human,

03:24 when we're faced with possibly the same situation,

03:28 our choices

03:29 and perspectives are very different.

03:32 Still, I think

03:34 what she did was very wise.

03:36 And sometimes I wonder:

03:39 why must we always listen to doctors,

03:43 always listen to teachers,

03:45 or always obey certain authorities?

03:49 As a child, I hated taking medicine

03:53 and disliked seeing doctors.

03:55 One scene I remember vividly

03:58 happened when I was very young,

04:01 before I started school.

04:02 I was sick that time,

04:05 probably with a minor cold.

04:07 My family sat at the dining table and made me take medicine.

04:11 But I hated taking it.

04:12 Why were they forcing me?

04:14 But I had no choice.

04:15 I was a child

04:16 unable to resist.

04:17 So in front of them,

04:19 I put the pills in my mouth

04:21 and took a mouthful of water.

04:22 Then I quietly slipped into the kitchen

04:25 and took the...

04:30 the pills in my mouth

04:31 and spat them out with all the water.

04:34 They were incredibly bitter.

04:37 Ever since I was little,

04:40 I couldn't bear bitter tastes.

04:42 Even as an adult, bitter melon

04:43 makes me think, "What is this?"

04:47 The same goes for coffee.

04:50 I can tolerate a latte,

04:51 but if you ask me to drink

04:53 completely unsweetened coffee,

04:54 I think, oh my God,

04:56 that's hell on earth.

04:58 Thinking about that

05:00 reminds me of my experiences growing up,

05:03 especially during my school years.

05:05 When I got sick,

05:06 if I could,

05:07 I would ride it out on my own.

05:08 If I couldn't,

05:10 what did that mean?

05:11 What did that look like?

05:13 Maybe it meant

05:14 I was so ill

05:16 that I couldn't go to class,

05:18 or perhaps I would even

05:22 faint because of the illness.

05:25 That's what I mean

05:27 by being unable to ride it out.

05:28 Only then would I see a doctor

05:30 and take medicine.

05:32 I know

05:33 that was a little stubborn of me.

05:36 But how should I put it?

05:39 I don't know.

05:40 When it comes to trusting doctors,

05:42 I maintain a certain degree of caution.

05:47 Actually, when I'm at home

05:52 and hear that an older relative

05:53 has a health problem,

05:54 I tell them

05:57 they should go to the hospital.

05:59 But they'll respond,

06:02 "Will going to the hospital cure it?"

06:04 Things like that make me feel

06:10 that doctors don't necessarily exist

06:12 to heal the sick and save lives.

06:15 I really shouldn't say that so casually.

06:17 I truly shouldn't.

06:18 I suppose it depends on the situation.

06:21 But I think this woman's experience

06:23 is very much worth learning from.

06:25 As the person who is ill—the patient—

06:30 we must understand our condition well,

06:33 or understand it thoroughly,

06:35 so that with a doctor's advice,

06:37 we can make adjustments,

06:40 whether to the dosage

06:41 or how often we take the medicine.

06:44 When doctors prescribe medication,

06:47 they base it on an average case.

06:50 People may have different body weights,

06:54 different medical histories,

06:58 or even live in different regions

07:01 and react differently to the season.

07:03 All these factors

07:04 could mean a standard dose of a medicine

07:08 affects you differently.

07:10 It might cause side effects

07:13 or other undesirable outcomes.

07:16 So you must understand your own condition

07:19 and give your doctor timely feedback.

07:23 Only then can you achieve

07:27 a better treatment outcome.