Mutual Influence of the Metaphysical and Physical

By: Ziauddin Ahmed

Family of the Heart - DIALOGUE & DISCUSSIONS 

FOR AHSAN...WITH MICROSCOPE OR TELESCOPE

Dear Ahsan, I fully agree with your proposition. There could be three or five or seven causes for any condition or illness. Life is an ongoing process.

My uncle arif abdul mateen has a couplet

waqt ik behr-e-bepayaan hay kaisa azal aur kaisa abad

waqt ke naqis pamany hain mazi, mustaqbil aur haal

he highlists that time is an infinite ocean...our dividing it in the triad of past, present and future is inefficient.

For me this discussion has two aspects

...one is philosophical in which life or time or beauty or health are complex issues and any division in categories is incomplete

...second is pragmatic. Human beings try to make some sense to the mystery of life around them by dividing it in categories so that we can have an intelligent discussion about it...these three categories just provide a mechanism a reference point for a genuine dialogue.

In mental health we use a model that is called

Bio...Psycho...Social Model

That provides a reference point to teach medical students that when they are trying to understand the causes of mental illness they need to consider

Biological factors....genetic and biochemical

Psychological factors....emotional and personality

Social factors...family, community and culture

We know each patient is unique but this discussion helps student

...to diagnose the patient

...to understand the causes

...to plan the treatment

Similarly Freud divided the functioning of the mind into

Conscious

Preconscious

Unconscious

Similarly artists and painters have

three primary colours and the rest and mixtures.

Even our traffic lights are

Green

Yellow

Red

As far as we realize that these triads are not sacred or absolute, we are okay. It is the first step. People like you who are enlightened and have a deeper understanding of life can see the lighter shades.

In the end all i can say that I fully agree with your proposition...

one can see life with a telescope or with a microscope, we have a choice. One view complements the other.

sincerely sohail

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