{"id":975,"date":"2014-10-09T21:09:48","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T20:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/?p=975"},"modified":"2014-09-25T07:20:47","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T06:20:47","slug":"why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/10\/09\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Why, what do you mean when you ask “Why?” ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"109px-Aristoteles_Louvre\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That’s not the right question.<\/p>\n

Well. It might be the right question, but the answer might be right but differently wrong in all sorts of ways.<\/p>\n

When parents ask – “Why has A\u00a0got poorly with Ulcerative Colitis\/sepsis?” – the\u00a0answer\u00a0might be<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Because humans are complicated things and sometimes break down<\/li>\n
  2. Because the bacteria that invaded through his gut and started to multiply got nobbled by immune cells that released pyrogens and inflammatory cytokines are making everything get very upset and it’s an unpleasant sensation<\/li>\n
  3. Because his genetics and microbiota came together in an unfortunate conflagration<\/li>\n
  4. Because life is a series of challenges and delights towards\u00a0an ultimate expression of human purpose in\/through\/after Death<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Presuming which type of answer you’re being asked for may lead you off down a sticky wicket.<\/p>\n

    So – as is often repeated –\u00a0make sure you know what’s being asked before you answer.<\/p>\n

    – Archi<\/p>\n

    (You may note that these four why?s are the Aristotelian ’causes’<\/a>: material,formal, efficient and final. I have been asked, professionally, questions desiring each type of answer.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      That’s not the right question. Well. It might be the right question, but the answer might be right but differently wrong in all sorts of ways. When parents ask – “Why has A\u00a0got poorly with Ulcerative Colitis\/sepsis?” – the\u00a0answer\u00a0might be Because humans are complicated things and sometimes break down Because the bacteria that invaded […]<\/p>\n

    Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2681],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practice-of-medicine"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy, what do you mean when you ask "Why?" ? - ADC Online Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/10\/09\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why, what do you mean when you ask "Why?" ? - ADC Online Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  That’s not the right question. Well. 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When parents ask – “Why has A\u00a0got poorly with Ulcerative Colitis\/sepsis?” – the\u00a0answer\u00a0might be Because humans are complicated things and sometimes break down Because the bacteria that invaded [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/10\/09\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ADC Online Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-09T20:09:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/files\/2014\/09\/109px-Aristoteles_Louvre.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bob Phillips\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bob Phillips\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/09\\\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/09\\\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bob Phillips\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e94029681ecf36e73bbd1eb2be2ef94\"},\"headline\":\"Why, what do you mean when you ask “Why?” ?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-09T20:09:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/09\\\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":196,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/09\\\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/files\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/109px-Aristoteles_Louvre.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"practice of medicine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/09\\\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/09\\\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/09\\\/why-what-do-you-mean-when-you-ask-why\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why, what do you mean when you ask \\\"Why?\\\" ? 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