Within my professional research work into health education
and the media
,
it has been noticeable that there is a common Western cultural belief that
bodies which have been damaged, for example by smoking, can be repaired
by medical science. When this proves to be untrue, the demand is to improve
medical science - to find a better doctor, a better hospital, a more advanced
technological solution in order to obtain a "cure" - rather than
to encourage people to accept any responsibility for their own health or
to recognise that bodies cannot be "made better". It was noticeable
that many of the conference delegates smoked heavily. It would be sad to
think they did this in the belief that in the future medical science could
"make it better" or would allow them to escape from their bodies
into cyberspace, rather than accepting the illness and disability smoking
was likely to bring or deciding to quit. NB: yes, I do write as a sometimes
ex-smoker.
