Necessary

While we are on the benefit of those minute things, one common question that we encounter in the clinic is: Can I eat this ?

(And the this could be anything - salted fish, candy, ginseng, abalone, and what not.)

My usual answer is: It is not poisonous - you won't die by taking a little. Of course, that often means the patient ends up taking a lot and has all the problems.

For the same reason, many (male) candidates ask: Is it necessary to wear a tie for the examination?

Of course not.

In fact, it is not necessary to shave, comb your hair, wear a white coat, bring your own stethoscope (we can always provide a spare one), or even be polite to the examiner. By definition no one could fail for any of these reasons.

But you could imagine the result if a candidate does all of them (or, seriously, just the last one).

As RK, our previous chief of neurology, says: They are all useless. But, when you put all these useless things together, they may become useful.

And if you put many things with no value together, they may become invaluable.