[Reader-list] .Net / Hailstorm Initiative

[Jeebesh Bagchi]

In a the debate between the `technically proficient` a chorus line 
from a `lay lazy user`.

The word `lay user` seems to mean - a lazy loser or an arrogant victim.

To make some sense let me take a detour to the world of medicine.

Many medical practitioners take it for granted that when treating 
'lay pains', just treat them and tell them nothing about what the 
hell is going on - no explained diagnosis, and no explanations about 
the medicines that are being prescribed, or the 'risky' side of its 
usage.

The pharmaceutical companies know that `knowledge is power`, which is 
why we tend to know so little - almost nothing - about the `process 
of creativity` inside the laboratories. We only know that it is 
something very important called `process` OR `product`, and patents 
needs to be upheld as an important motivations and incentives for 
`innovation` and `generalised public good`.

Well this `lay lazy user` cannot afford too many sickness or 
fatalities so s/he experientially evaluates (with the help of complex 
oral `slashdots`) and decides to take different routes. Which is why 
today such a large number go to `traditional` modes of healing and 
curing to survive.

But, the legal apparatus does not recognize this. It values the so 
called `modern medicine` (basically allopathic) and the rest are all 
suspect (sometimes framed as evil quacks) and thus susceptible to 
legal prosecution.

Why do I write this? Primarily to pose a few questions.
- What would it mean to practice medicine `ethically`?
- Can the profession justify `opaque` and `closed` practice by taking 
recourse to an argument that mobilizes the intellectual level of the 
`user`in an uncritical manner?
- Can't we imagine an informed protocol of usage that undermines the 
separation between experts and users?
- Should not the counter-expert at all times critically evaluate all 
tall and big claims of `benefits` and point to the socially risky 
side of these claims?
- And finally, what does the `expert` want from the lay user?

cheers
Jeebesh