Quitting the good city of old Manhatto, I duly arrived in New Bedford. It was a Saturday\u00a0night in December. Much was I disappointed upon learning that the little packet for \u00a0\u00a0Nantucket had already sailed, and that no way of reaching that place would offer, till the following Monday (Ch. II)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ishmael realizes he must look for a hotel to spend the cold December weekend. He surveys the area and finds several hotels: The Sword-Fish, The Crossed Harpoons, and The Trap. Finally, he stumbles upon one that seems reasonable, at least by its name:<\/p>\n
Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the docks, and heard a forlorn\u00a0creaking in the air; and looking up, saw a swinging sign over the door with a white\u00a0painting upon it, faintly representing tall straight jet of misty spray, and these words\u00a0underneath- \u201cThe Spouter Inn:- Peter Coffin.\u201dCoffin?- Spouter?- Rather ominous in that\u00a0particular connexion, thought I. But it is a common name in Nantucket, they say, and I\u00a0 suppose this Peter here is an emigrant from there (Ch. II).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here, Ishmael\u2019s response to something seemingly as simple as the name of a hotel illustrates an important point\u2014that the perception of language shapes how one feels about what one\u2019s exposed to in life. This is a vital issue in science and medicine, one that deserves more attention in medical education. A few weeks ago, Dr. Mary Simmerling of Cornell University gave a lecture to first year medical students about the ethical, social, and economic issues surrounding kidney transplantation, and in her lecture, she talked about \u201chow much language matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
As someone trained in philosophy, I\u2019m very attuned to how the choices we make about words have a huge impact\u2026 And I think it\u2019s so true when talking to patients. When I was in graduate school, we called what we now call \u2018deceased donors,\u2019 \u2019cadaveric donors\u2019. So, who wants an organ from a cadaver, and who wants an organ from a deceased donor? Right? So, every word counts. And, it\u2019s really important that we are careful in how we talk about things and describe them because it makes a big difference in how people think about things and how receptive they are, and how willing they are to do things. For example, \u2018harvesting\u2019 versus \u2018recovering\u2019 an organ\u2014all these things that you might not think really make a difference\u2026 The way we talk about things has a huge impact on how the public thinks about them, how we think about things, and most importantly, about how the patients that you care for are going to understand and think about what you\u2019re saying to them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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