Anatomy

Since we are talking about practical anatomy, let's focus on cranial nerves and have some more:

• Olfactory nerve comes before the optic - when something is going to happen (that is, when a danger is approaching!) in a primitive world, you should try to smell something before you could actually see any evidence.
• The oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves are in that order because you should first open your eyes, then try to make sure where you are standing before looking around and consider what the others are doing.
• Vestibular nerve is, of course, way below the optic - you must depend on what you see rather than what you hear. (Remark for medical students: Therefore, read your textbook rather than listen to what the professor says.)
• Glossopharyngeal nerve is above the hypoglossal - most of the time it is more important to make some noise rather than to express yourself clearly.
• Accessory nerve is also above the hypoglossal - if things go wrong, it is more important to shake your head and shrug your shoulder rather than to give an explanation.

Miscellany

Shortly after I finished with Shinzanmono, I read The Yes Minister Miscellany by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn.

It is a gift from my friend KM. In reality, this tiny volume could hardly be regarded as a book, but, rather, represents a handy collection of humorous sayings and conversations from Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister.

I must confess I am a fan of this series – or, specifically, Humphrey Appleby. If there’s anyone who wants to learn real English, the fictitious Cabinet Secretary was never tired of showing you brilliant demonstrations.

Of course, we may not need a very sophisticated language. For example:

Jim Hacker: But we can’t stab our partners in the back and spit in their face.
Bernard Woolley: You can’t stab anyone in the back while you spit in their face.

The principal private secretary should really come and teach our students anatomy if not practical politics.

Shinzanmono

My recent bedtime reading was Shinzanmono (新參者) of Keigo Higashino (東野圭吾).

AL gave me this book some months ago but I had very little to read it – Higashino is never my favorite author, and the cover appears somewhat hardcore and mechanical.

But, thank goodness, I am happily wrong again. The sordid murder of Mitsui Mineko (三井峰子) turns out to be the best detective fiction I ever read in the past four or five years – and, remind you, I had Byakuyakō (白夜行) and The Confession (告白) during this period. When most of us believe that classical detective stories had died with Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, Higashino proved beyond doubt that he could do the same – maybe with a little thoughtful trick as well.

*********************
To me, the most memorable scene of the story, however, has nothing to do with logic and deduction. It was the mini-lecture that Kaga Kyoichiro (加賀恭一郎) gave to one of his witnesses:

“The duty of a detective does not only involve solving the case. If there are other people affected psychologically, they could also be considered victims. Exploring all possible means to help victims of this kind is yet another duty of the detective.”

Much substance for a physician to reflect, I’m afraid.

Derivatives

I raised my hands and protested, "My friend, you are going too far."

"You may be right, but, unfortunately, my idea is not very much far-fetched," L put up a bitter smile, "Banning derivative work simply means prohibiting artistic creation of all kinds, for there is actually no music or painting or literature entirely created de novo - and, as an ordinary citizen with an average intelligence, my worry is obviously when and for what reason the government officials would execute the law."

"I know what you mean. It is common sense that a law should be enacted if, and only if, it could be easily executed without bias - and the proposal at hand is certainly not a good example. But, banning derivative work does seem to protect copyright.” I said.

“Yes, but the price is astronomical. As Sherlock Holmes said, there’s nothing new under the sun. Everything we write and all pictures we draw could be considered as modifications of existing work or idea. For example, all Chinese novel and monographs are arguably derivative works of Cangjie (倉頡)!”

“My friend, no one will prosecute us for that, I suppose.” I chuckled.

“No, unless you write something undesirable.” My friend did not smile back.

Second

(The discussion between L and I went on.)

I paused for a moment and said, "My friend, if you were talking about hospital discharge summary, your analogy of Scarlet Heart and Palace doesn't quite fit."

To my surprise, L laughed and shook his head, "You are absolutely right. I was actually thinking of something else. The topic of hospital record documentation came up because it was deep in your head."

I must say I was annoyed by this insightful psychoanalysis of my mind, "Well, then, what's in your mind?"

"Alas, I was pondering about the rights of derivative works (二次創作)," my friend sighed.

"You mean, one of them is copying from the other?" I was curious.

"No, I mean both are copying from a common source - for example, Zhao Erxun (趙爾巽)!" said L.

PS. For those who are not familiar with Chinese history, Zhao is the chief editor of The Draft History of Qing (清史稿).

Audit

After a brief moment of silence, my friend went on, “You know, there’s a deeper water in this matter.”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s take the record of our great historian as an example,” L became serious, “To understand what happened at Changping, it is perfectly acceptable for an ordinary college student to read Sima Qian – and nothing else.”

“I see what you mean. It’s a matter of how deep one should dwell on the problem.” I continued for my friend, “Although reasonable for a college student, we would expect a PhD thesis to cover all first hand material of the Battle rather than simply citing the description from the great historian’s Record. Similarly, it is generally OK to go through the discharge summary alone when we see a simple case in the clinic. However, the consideration is different when we talk about doing a death audit.”

“Your conclusion is correct – but not the analogy,” my friend smiled, “We are not PhD students writing thesis on the Battle of Changping. We are the King of Zhao and wish to find out why our soldiers died – and so many of them, too – and why Zhao Kuo (趙括) failed!”

Summary

(Our discussion continued - after I knew eventually what my friend was talking about.)

"My friend, the discharge summary of our patient is different - there is a specific format to follow and certain things that must be put down." I protested.

"Are there?" L smiled, "In that case, since you are so fond of The Battle of Changping (長平之戰), whose account do you think is better? Sima Qian (司馬遷) or Sima Guang (司馬光)? Similarly, as to the life and time of Jesus, is it Matthew or John?"

I knew my friend meant Record of the Grand Historian (史記) and A Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government (資治通鑑), as well as the Holy Bible.

Seeing that I had expressive dysphasia, my friend went on, "You see? To say the least, there is no single ideal format to follow, and, depending on your purpose, the same happenings could be summarized in two disparate ways - with a variety of length."

"I suppose that's the reason why we avoid testing how to write a discharge summary in the final examination!?" I was forced to agree.