A surgeon’s reflections on God, intelligence, and being an excellent cell within the universe [PODCAST]

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Surgeon Fateh Entabi discusses his article “A surgeon’s tackle God, intelligence, and cosmic duty.” Fateh displays on how the complexity of the human physique impressed him to suppose extra broadly about intelligence, consciousness, and the thought of God—not as a distant creator, however as an evolving intelligence embedded within the universe itself. He explains how this angle shapes his sense of duty as each a doctor and an individual, drawing parallels between wholesome cells within the physique and moral people in society. Fateh additionally explores how spiritual perception techniques evolve, why adaptability is an indication of life, and the way attunement—like in music or surgical procedure—provides a mannequin for residing properly and compassionately. Listeners will achieve a considerate, sensible framework for contemplating their place in a bigger complete.

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Transcript

Kevin Pho: Hello. Welcome to the present. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast. At present we welcome Fateh Entabi. He’s a surgeon. At present’s KevinMD article is “A surgeon’s tackle God, intelligence, and cosmic duty.” Fateh, welcome to the present.

Fateh Entabi: Thanks. It’s an honor to be in your present. Thanks very a lot. My identify is Fateh Entabi. I’m a basic surgeon. I follow within the Central Valley of California. I’ve a personal follow that I run myself, and more often than not, I’ve medical college students with me. They arrive from a medical faculty shut by that I’m affiliated with. I even have just a few innovations and a medical system firm that I run that sells my medical innovations.

All through my life, I used to be all the time inquisitive about philosophy. As a youngster, I learn a number of books on philosophy and faith, and I used to be all the time trying to discover the very best methods to orient myself on the planet. I discovered that philosophy is the way in which for me. Lately, my follow has been going by means of a number of modifications, and that pressured me to rethink my rules as to how I reply to the modifications which are consistently taking place round me.

On the similar time, AI is changing into quite common. In each dialog, you hear about AI and the way we are able to combine it into drugs, prognosis, and imaging. That bought me excited about intelligence usually and the way AI is clever and we’re clever, after which the system as a complete that I work with. For me, intelligence is extra about tips on how to adapt to the altering surroundings round us. That was one thing I needed to do for myself because the surroundings round me was altering, after which I believed that’s what AI additionally does. Then I began considering additionally about how animals or any residing beings all the time adapt to modifications, and that’s what permits them to outlive.

I believe that’s additionally true for techniques: governments, firms, hospitals, and practices. All of these are techniques that must additionally evolve and adapt. By my definition of intelligence, all these are clever techniques, after which the cosmos as a complete is clever when you consider it. Sometimes, we all the time join intelligence with consciousness as a result of we attribute intelligence to people, and that’s all the time related to the way in which we communicate, how we course of information, how good we’re, and the way a lot reminiscence we now have. However I see that as a really slim definition. Taking it extra extensively as simply how we adapt to the surroundings can be a extra inclusive and wider sense of intelligence.

Beneath that definition, we are able to embrace people and different animals that adapt to the surroundings. I noticed lately within the metropolis of Chernobyl, after it was left for a lot of a long time after the nuclear catastrophe, how the forest is reclaiming the town. It’s repopulated now. It’s all inexperienced, and animals simply bought in. From that perspective, we see the entire cosmos as clever. Intelligence could signify the closest factor to what I contemplate God. We’re a part of this universe. It is rather clever, and we’re a part of it. We’re not separate from it. Our intelligence is a part of the general intelligence.

As a surgeon, I cope with cancers and completely different cells within the physique. I considered how most cancers cells are cells that simply exit of the system. They do their very own factor; they don’t reply to the system round them. They overgrow the place they need to cease rising, after which they do their very own factor. That bought me considering that ultimately, the most cancers cell results in the demise of its host if it’s not handled. I believed as an individual, I’m a part of this universe and I’m a part of that intelligence, and I might be an excellent cell or a most cancers cell the place it simply finally ends up inflicting extra injury to itself and all people round it. I simply thought that it was a poetic means of it, but it surely helps soothe me after I’m excited about how I must be collaborating within the surroundings round me because it modifications.

Kevin Pho: Give us an instance of how this philosophical worldview that you just simply described to us and your perspective has soothed you, and the way does that work together together with your life as a surgeon?

Fateh Entabi: Lately, for instance, the hospital the place I do most of my surgical procedures stopped taking a sure sort of insurance coverage, after which I needed to change to a distinct hospital. After I went there, the folks and the devices had been completely different. They’re not used to precisely how I follow. On the similar time, in my personal follow, the workplace I hire from was rented to different folks, which pressured me to vary my schedule. Rapidly, I discovered that my schedule was simply very completely different, and it’s very irritating. It made me begin considering that I need to complain, “This isn’t proper. You’ve bought to do one thing about it.”

Then I believed, “The place does that get me?” That more than likely would simply make me suppose extra concerning the irritating points of my life and get me to be extra pissed off and angrier. Maybe a extra clever means can be to simply adapt and go together with it as a result of there’s actually not that a lot else I might do in addition to getting upset and never being optimistic about it. That’s how I believe that philosophy will help me in day-to-day issues.

Kevin Pho: Each time medical college students and residents rotate with you, do you ever share this philosophy to assist them higher address the typically troublesome lives that they’re going through in drugs?

Fateh Entabi: I do. I do this. Generally additionally they convey different examples of philosophy. I’m inquisitive about Buddhist philosophy, a number of Jap philosophies, and psychology. Psychological strategies and meditation assist rather a lot with dealing with the stresses round us.

Kevin Pho: Has something from the working room or out of your life as a surgeon influenced your philosophy?

Fateh Entabi: Sure, completely. Simply seeing how the physique works, how after a surgical procedure or trauma, any insult to the physique, the way it heals itself. The extra you discover into fundamental science and the way all of the completely different mechanisms, the chemical indicators, the hormones, and the cells work. As we predict in additional element about cells, the atoms are manufactured from cells, after which subatomic particles, after which you may get into quantum physics. We don’t have sufficient science or proof to review that, however in actuality, it boils all the way down to this: on the finish of the day, we’re a part of the universe, and we’re made out of the identical substances that every part else is made out of. All of it got here from stars a very long time in the past.

Kevin Pho: One of many themes that I’m sensing is adaptability. Inform me about how we in drugs, physicians and medical college students, all of us in drugs, how can we be extra adaptable? What sort of recommendation or suggestions are you able to share with us?

Fateh Entabi: I might share that all through my experiences, firstly of my profession, I used to be extra centered on getting info and strategies and simply gathering all of the devices I would like as a health care provider. However in actuality, while you exit to the true world, you might be simply part of a bigger system, a bigger group. It is advisable actually perceive it and perceive the way it works and the way it features so as so that you can take part and never get too pissed off. It’s very straightforward to fall into excited about your self and the way one thing doesn’t make sense and, “Why are they doing that? It makes completely no sense.”

However then we begin studying why the administration is doing this and doing that and the reasoning behind it. You begin understanding how it’s an especially advanced system, like an enormous net that includes every part within the universe, actually. Even what administration does within the hospital has to do with insurance policies that should do with the federal government of California. It has to do with the president, and why the president is doing that’s associated to different nations. Every part is basically interconnected, and the extra we perceive that, I believe the much less pissed off we might be.

Kevin Pho: I believe that’s an excellent level. By realizing that every part is interconnected, you begin understanding a few of the the explanation why administration is doing a few of the issues that it does. Maybe it makes it much less of an adversarial relationship.

Fateh Entabi: Precisely proper. It makes all of the workflow rather a lot higher. You’ll be extra tolerant of issues that you just don’t perceive instantly. You possibly can be extra affected person and simply attempt to perceive. At all times be curious concerning the surroundings round us to grasp it earlier than we fall right into a snap judgment the place we blame others or blame ourselves and get extra pissed off.

Kevin Pho: In your article, you additionally write about music and the thought of attunement. How can music train us about residing ethically and intelligently? Discuss extra about that musical facet.

Fateh Entabi: I performed the bass; I used to play it with a band, and I like music. The factor about music is it’s not like our day-to-day, the place we all the time have a purpose like, “You’ve bought to do it, you’ve bought to complete it, you’ve bought to get there.” A whole lot of instances we’re monotonous; we do the identical factor again and again. When you consider music, the fantastic thing about it’s the variation. For those who watch a jazz participant, I attempt to play jazz, however I’m not that good. However while you watch how they adapt, someone makes a sound and performs a observe, you then need to play one other observe that makes it sound good. The extra you attune to that, the higher the jazz is.

The most effective jazz musicians have the very best music due to how they attune to the surroundings round them and what different persons are taking part in. If we are able to take that mindset and give it some thought in life usually, the place we would like the surroundings to sound like jazz, and we’re a part of that, how can we play our notes so it sounds good? In a means, it’s about attunement. It’s not about simply repeating the identical factor. On the similar time, there’s actually no hurry. The most effective music doesn’t should be very quick. It’s not about how briskly it’s or any specific apparent purpose the place you simply focus a lot on the purpose, like, “I need to get this finished, I’ve bought to get it finished,” quite than simply residing the method and actually attuning to what’s occurring round us. That’s the place I discover music helps me with that perspective.

Kevin Pho: You clearly have a longstanding curiosity in philosophy. For these physicians who’re listening to you and should not have had a earlier curiosity in philosophy however definitely need to turn out to be extra in tune with themselves and the world round them, and so they could also be wrestling with questions on religion, science, and that means, inform them the place they will get began. What are some assets that you just suggest?

Fateh Entabi: I might say that Buddhist philosophies, out of all of the philosophies, resonate probably the most. I attempt to see it as a philosophy. It’s not a lot about what many individuals suppose, that it’s about Buddha as an individual or that we now have to worship him. It’s not that. It’s extra like what we name secular Buddhism. It has the identical rules as Buddhism; they’ve some nice rules for all times and it has nothing to do with religion. It’s separate from religion.

Simply exploring these concepts, just like the supply of our ache each day is basically frustration. Why do we now have frustration? It’s as a result of we want for one thing, and that factor that we want for doesn’t occur, and that will get us pissed off. If we might be much less connected to that concept and simply be extra open, then we’ll be much less pissed off. We’ll be capable of take pleasure in life extra.

Kevin Pho: We’re speaking to Fateh Entabi. He’s a basic surgeon. At present’s KevinMD article is “A surgeon’s tackle God, intelligence, and cosmic duty.” Fateh, why don’t we finish with some take-home messages that you just need to go away with the KevinMD viewers?

Fateh Entabi: I might say all the time be curious concerning the surroundings you’re employed in, and with that curiosity, attempt to perceive the system that you just’re a part of and contribute effectively. At all times ask your self how one can make the system work higher, and that serves you, serves the sufferers, and serves the system that you just work in. Generally it may be irritating on a private stage, however that’s the expansion that we now have to undergo as we grow old and hopefully extra smart.

Kevin Pho: Properly, thanks a lot for sharing your perspective and perception, and thanks once more for approaching the present.

Fateh Entabi: Thanks, sir.