by Matthew Rehrl MD | Philosophy, Politics
One thing that mountain climbing taught me is the value of acceptance. It is raining, or it is not, the route is open or it is not, the summit is attainable or it is not. I cannot debate the mountain, I cannot twist its arm, and I cannot trick it. My only duty is to...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Definition of Health, Philosophy
When Nietzsche writes of health, he writes of “overflowing health,” “well-being,” the “abundance of existence,” “joy,” and “strength.” His is the health—psychological, physical, and spiritual—of the pre-Socratic Greeks, the Greeks of Homer, “the most accomplished,...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Deontology, EHR, Philosophy
I am fascinated by the questions surrounding the ethics of data mining a patient’s electronic health record (EHR) after they die. Consider this: From a healthcare corporation’s point of view, the EHR of a patient, after they die, becomes extremely valuable. Why?...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Philosophy
Like a computer’s operating system, or the brain’s default mode network, I always like to be engaging with a philosophy book in my day’s “brain background.” (And by engaging with, I mean physically engaging with: marking up, highlighting, dog-earring, and scribbling...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Mind, Philosophy
Although I am a “time-person” (where being on time means being 15 minutes early), next to my bathroom clock is my “Life is better in flip-flops” artwork —set there to remind me to enjoy life every day with the people whom I love. Don’t let your system dictate...
by Matthew Rehrl MD | Blogging, Philosophy
In philosophy, there are big books and small books. This spring, I am reading The Oxford Handbook of Causation. It’s just arrived, and it’s a big book! At 37 chapters and roughly 800 pages (approx. 22 pages per chapter), my short-term goals are simple: read two...
