Part 2 – If friend or family happen to ask “Who do you think is the 20th C’s greatest philosopher?”
Let’s remain with the eccentric, empathetic, hyper-intelligent Simone Weil,…..just for learning if nothing else. She wasn’t perfect, had flaws and mis-understandings just like you and me.
As Robert Zaretsky writes, her conception of learning, and particularly attention, aremarvelously insightful: Weil did not view ‘attention’ as a concentrating, performative task of working hard to concentrate, filling your brain with facts, i.e, work. She thought true ‘attention’ was reflective, a mindset of standing still as a receptacle, canceling our desires, turning away from self to the other, waiting not seeking, and not ‘filling your brain’ but ‘sculpting the self’. Her vita contemplativafueled a disciplined life of action and problem-solving, not self-absorption.
“Attention is the purest form of generosity”, Weil wrote in her journal. In our Twitter/FB/IG world, aptly called the “attention economy” era,…..we have finite “X’ units of attention to give, but now in this Internet age we can receive unlimited attention. And therein lies our problem.
You could go to a QI conference and work hard to pay diligent attention for several days through variant lectures and presentations, all fine and good,…..or you could absorb with Weil-like attention the attached quality improvement article from Villosis et al. I met her at a poster session 4-5 years ago and we talked about her BPD prevention project,…….the manuscript is a terrific read, lots of details to discuss relevant to QI science. Their project exemplifies both the strengths and limitations of methodology, EBM therapeutics, and results-reporting. Amidst all the wonderful learnings,……there is one particular detail that requires receptive attention to spot,…….email me if you think what I’m thinking, if you wish.
Joe Kaempf, MD
District VIII Oregon Representative
Portland, OR
Volume 13, Number 26