As a psychiatrist it drives me nuts to read each new report about the functional MRI findings that confirm or prove the presence of a label ( ADHD, etc. ). As Cecil wisely writes, these are the traces- not a thing, not a fact, just a correlation, or just a hypothesis of something.
Tolstoy said something like " I noticed the crease of a woman's elbow " as part of the emergence of Anna Karenina. Thank you Cecil
As the story goes (according to my brief research), Tolstoy was resting on a sofa after dinner when he experienced a sudden, waking vision of a beautiful, aristocratic elbow. This singular visual anchor began to expand in his imagination until it revealed a melancholic woman in an elegant ball gown, who would ultimately become his tragic heroine.
Apparently, Tolstoy originally drafted the story with a much harsher moral judgment, planning to write about a vulgar, "fallen woman". However, his artistic empathy took over, transforming Anna into a deeply complex and sympathetic character.
This original vision eventually fused with real-world inspirations, including the physical appearance of Alexander Pushkin’s daughter, Maria Hartung, and the tragic suicide of Anna Pirogova, a neighbor’s housekeeper who threw herself under a train.
Hard to get all of that out of some MRI measurements I would think. Or maybe the MRI results become a psychiatrist's version of the 'woman's elbow' leading down the narrative trail of diagnosis and treatment program? Maybe it is all story telling.
As a psychiatrist it drives me nuts to read each new report about the functional MRI findings that confirm or prove the presence of a label ( ADHD, etc. ). As Cecil wisely writes, these are the traces- not a thing, not a fact, just a correlation, or just a hypothesis of something.
Tolstoy said something like " I noticed the crease of a woman's elbow " as part of the emergence of Anna Karenina. Thank you Cecil
Thank you for responding Garry!
As the story goes (according to my brief research), Tolstoy was resting on a sofa after dinner when he experienced a sudden, waking vision of a beautiful, aristocratic elbow. This singular visual anchor began to expand in his imagination until it revealed a melancholic woman in an elegant ball gown, who would ultimately become his tragic heroine.
Apparently, Tolstoy originally drafted the story with a much harsher moral judgment, planning to write about a vulgar, "fallen woman". However, his artistic empathy took over, transforming Anna into a deeply complex and sympathetic character.
This original vision eventually fused with real-world inspirations, including the physical appearance of Alexander Pushkin’s daughter, Maria Hartung, and the tragic suicide of Anna Pirogova, a neighbor’s housekeeper who threw herself under a train.
Hard to get all of that out of some MRI measurements I would think. Or maybe the MRI results become a psychiatrist's version of the 'woman's elbow' leading down the narrative trail of diagnosis and treatment program? Maybe it is all story telling.