Why and how are religious, cultural, spiritual and societal views impacting global health today and how can we stop disease and health issues efficiently and peacefully?
Sydney Roth
Berger’s guidelines for a beautiful question are that they must be actionable, innovative, creative can lead to tangible results and change. Berger’s definition of a beautiful question requires that it must be actionable. The difference from what people think is a beautiful question to how Berger explains that a beautiful question is bold, creative, and most importantly actionable. It is not the grand existential questions like, Is there a god? It’s ones about: how can people learn to get along despite differences in beliefs? (Berger 8). As someone who is interested in global health problems such as infectious diseases, the flu, and mental health problems. I see that religious, cultural, spiritual and societal ideas and customs can interfere with treating illnesses and can even worsen the problem.
I am also aware that some foreign country or group can’t barge in on a community, country or area and demand things to be done their way with no regards to customs and views. Ivan Illich’s speech To Hell with Good Intentions in 1968, made me reevaluate privilege and discover why people travel and how it impacts the locals. Although I may not agree with everything Ivan Illich says there is this one part that resonated with me, “If you have any sense of responsibility at all, stay with your riots here at home. Work for the coming elections: You will know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how to communicate with those to whom you speak.” His speech reminds me that we (as Americans) need to stop with the pity of others and recognize that we are not the ideal society and to stop imposing it on others. Some actionable steps towards answering my question would be to educate health professionals on the social factors which influences healthcare. Just because health professionals know how to treat something doesn’t mean it will be useful because of social perceptions on medicine, traditional customs, and religious views. To answer my question, the healthcare community will have to devise treatment plans which take into account who and where the treatment is needed. My question requires an answer in which people must be actionable, creative and innovative to understand and possibly answer it.
Works Cited
Berger, Warren. A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. New York: Bloomsbury, 2014.
Illich, Ivan. “To Hell With Good Intentions.” Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects, 20 April 1968, Cuernavaca, Mexico. Address.
