From: thecure@ee.mu.OZ.AU (matthew aardvarkious)
Subject: [*] Doctor/Patient
Organization: Electronic and Electrical Engineering - University of Melbourne 
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 16:49:00 GMT

[Scene : Patient wakes up one morning feeling terrible.
	 Patient makes his way to the doctor.]

Patient : I hurt doc, and I don't know why. It's like my body is 
	  just run down, not working the way it can or should.

Doctor : Ok, it could be numerous things. I can make lots of guesses
	 for you as to what the problem might be, but not actually
	 do anything to proove it.

Patient : Eh? I know you might have a good idea what's wrong, they
	  might even make sense, but before I try to heal myself, 
	  I'd like to know what's wrong.

Doctor : Ok, I'll take a look at it.

[The doctors office is burst into by a small group of vocal protestors
 demanding the doctor stop. They claim that parts of the Patient's body
 are private or secret, and they doctor has no right to know of them.
 The doctor at first ignores them.]

[Doctor examines patient]

Doctor : Well , it appears that parts of your body are behaving poorly,
	 or stupidly. I can suggest to you what you should do to fix it.

[Doctor makes one suggestion, and the newspapers hear of it. They tell 
 the world that a Doctor looked at private and secret parts.]

[Doctor reviews his ethics, and re-examines the patient]

Doctor : Well, even though you appear to be hurting from all over, I can
 	 only examine a small public part of you. And from that I 
	 conclude you're in near perfect health. 

Patient : Err, well, thanks. Bye.

[Doctor decides to stop examing patients while he reviews his ethics 
 again. He draws the conclusion that although parts of the patient
 might be private and secret, so long as he doesn't tell anyone else
 about what he sees, he can try to fix the bigger problems for the good
 of the patient.]

[Doctor calls the patient in again, and re-examines him.]

Doctor : Well, we've developed new techniques since you've been here
	 last time, and we've found a problem. It is difficult to tell
	 whether you're doing it accidentaly, or on purpose, so we'll
	 have to monitor you to find the trouble spots.

[Another group of protestors storm into the office, demand the doctor
 stop work, this time threatening to report him. The doctor, having
 already thought his actions through earlier, decides to continue
 his work. However, he decides to publish his story so that people
 can hear about what has been happening.]

Doctor : After this small checkup, I've confirmed that you do have
	 some problems. I'm yet to decide the best course of action
	 to take to try and fix them, because I am waiting for a 
	 ruling from the public at large. You see, I may have the
	 best intentions, but some people still think of me as a
	 violater of your rights. I am violating their definition
	 of the rules of fair play, but there aren't any rules
	 at the moment for doctors. 

Patient : What does this mean?

Doctor : It means I _can_ help you, but don't know if I should.

Patient : Even if things can get worse later?

Doctor : Oh, it's very likely that things will get worse, it's just
	 that I'm not even in a position to record how bad you are
	 at the moment so we'll never know just how you'll change.

Patient : Is there anything that can be done?

Doctor : Well, you can get everyone you know to right me letters
	 of support to continue my actions, or to get them to 
	 publically state their beliefs in the matter. I'd
	 welcome the criticism as well, because I'd like to know
	 their view as well.

[Patient leaves confused, and doctor silently starts working on 
 new diagnostic tools, in the hope that one day, some other
 doctor will be allowed to practise.]

  
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend

- Behavior, "Being Boring"
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