Useless

After reading my previous notes Anatomy, you may ask: even if time is not a limiting factor, why should we teach so much anatomy ? (Now, it is equivalent to: can we do away with bare bone and just leave the marrow ?)

This question bring my memory back to the old traditional examination system in China, when all candidates were tested on one - and one highly artificial - style of writing: the eight-legged assay (八股文). It was obvious that this writing style had no practical value what so ever, and was quickly dropped (after being used for over 300 years as the method for the selection of government officials) once the Qing Empire (清朝) collapse.

What happened ? Nothing, except the new officials were a shade less compliant to rules and less capable of juggling with words (alas, government documents). Of course ! The eight-legged assay, if it serves no other purpose, is an excellent personality test on compliance to regulation and a superb quiz on words. Anatomy, if it does not help us to learn clinical medicine, at least it could train our memory - for terms that we cannot understand ! - and a vigorous anatomy examination is no doubt the best training for our ability to handle stress.

Perhaps this is what Zhuangzi (莊子) means: the use of useless (無用之用).