When you think of obedience, often dog training or other such forms of unnatural control comes to mind. One does not usually think of their health care as a form of obedience, yet in some ways we have obeyed, unquestionably what has been asked of us by the modern medical paradigm.

The conventional health care system as it is today, requires that we obey or something very bad could happen that is death or sickness may entail. In some ways, we can say it is bordering on a quasi religion.

To go through your life without ever questioning or searching for something beyond what is served up under the guise of something that is going to help you does not seem prudent. Would you buy a car or house without questioning things?

I was recently invited to speak with a group of pharmacology students at UBC I was invited to explain what homeopathy was and how it worked. Although it was not my intention to convert anyone to homeopathy or any particular idealism, it was good to see openness for new ideas on their part.

This is what got me contemplating on the subject of obedience and wondering from where this concept evolves. For many centuries, we have molded what we now know as the modern medical system. Information has been passed down from generations of those who have researched, pioneered and understood.
With the amount of time, money and work that goes into education, a person probably should hold onto that investment as changing ideas could be costly.

The problem does not lie within the “medical paradigm” as much as it does with the individual practitioner. The model is there but it can change when the individual questions and moves beyond the invisible walls. This is where schools come into play and how by the very fact that there is a captive audience who have made a big investment of time and money. Schools could take this opportunity to take away the obedience factor and instead, let students know that nothing is set in stone. It is with their individuality and search for truth that will move them further than anything else.

I remember the years that I attended school. I was absolutely dedicated to what I was taught, that is, until I realized it was just a frame work and I could use my individuality I was not so obedient.

In our human world, we can manufacture anything consent, obedience, physical structures, religions and educational systems, to name a few. On their own, they serve an individual purpose but are merely steps that need to be built upon.

Life unfortunately, is fast becoming a boring dinner of prepackaged manufactured food that only requires you to add water. This is why we should view our formal education as only a foundation. We should not be so firm in our ideas not everything has been learned. Create your ideas from scratch, not from a box.

It is good to see that classes such as the pharmacology class at UBC were open enough to invite a new perspective into their educational experience. It is not a matter of trying to convince someone about anything it is simply a matter of putting aside the educational obedience and being open. This is where the change begins.

It is as Dale Carnegie once said, “Every art has only a few principles and has many techniques.”

Such is life, we all live the way we see fit, however, we use different techniques to get by.

Remember that what you thought was important 20 years ago and what is important now are probably 30 different things that is because you have experienced and seen more. If you continue flowing with the universal river, you will do fine.