The Importance of Medical Knowledge Having basic medical knowledge is essential for survival and taking care of one’s self. Without this knowledge, people can infect each other mindlessly and cause themselves and others to be at risk. For instance, in the book The Ghost Map by Stephen Johnson, the majority of people living in that era were uninformed about the disease, cholera. People were in mass hysteria because they thought that the disease was caused by an odorless miasma. This caused thousands of citizens to die because not only did they not know cleanliness methods, but they did not even know what cholera was.
In Tobias Raupach’s journal article, he displays the results of two medical schools that completed a quiz, which questioned …show more content…
It was only bound to happen again since London’s lower class was making a living out of disposing fecal matter (22). The matter of disposing of the fecal matter was not the problem, but in the way it was done was the scary part. In a witness account, London’s water was described as having the appearance of “strong green tea” and looked like “black marble” in the shadow. The air even reeked of feces (11). Moreover, when cholera appeared once again around the 1840’s most people mistook it for either miasma or a contagion. One half believed that cholera could be contracted through the air and some believed that it was airborne. No one thought to think that it may have been transmitted through water (69). Having all the background information can help people understand how the disease started and how to prevent it in the …show more content…
In comparison to the two articles, Johnson shows that there is hope through his problem-solving and struggles throughout the way. Looking at these three viewpoints on the importance of having at least some medical knowledge or medical counsel, it becomes clear that society’s agenda is way more important. Knowing this moving forward, it takes those few individuals who want to break the mold in order to make it. This is how one becomes more knowledgeable and wiser-- is by going out and discovering things on your own. Dr. Snow in The Ghost Map, the best example of this, defies what others says and goes out and discovers what the cause of cholera really
In Tobias Raupach’s journal article, he displays the results of two medical schools that completed a quiz, which questioned …show more content…
It was only bound to happen again since London’s lower class was making a living out of disposing fecal matter (22). The matter of disposing of the fecal matter was not the problem, but in the way it was done was the scary part. In a witness account, London’s water was described as having the appearance of “strong green tea” and looked like “black marble” in the shadow. The air even reeked of feces (11). Moreover, when cholera appeared once again around the 1840’s most people mistook it for either miasma or a contagion. One half believed that cholera could be contracted through the air and some believed that it was airborne. No one thought to think that it may have been transmitted through water (69). Having all the background information can help people understand how the disease started and how to prevent it in the …show more content…
In comparison to the two articles, Johnson shows that there is hope through his problem-solving and struggles throughout the way. Looking at these three viewpoints on the importance of having at least some medical knowledge or medical counsel, it becomes clear that society’s agenda is way more important. Knowing this moving forward, it takes those few individuals who want to break the mold in order to make it. This is how one becomes more knowledgeable and wiser-- is by going out and discovering things on your own. Dr. Snow in The Ghost Map, the best example of this, defies what others says and goes out and discovers what the cause of cholera really