Section 1: The Outsider
nose red from the endless sniffles, the quiet weight of his own company pressing like winter’s chill.
They saw him as different – an outsider marked by silence and the half-shy glances he cast downward.
They laughed, taunted, cast him off,
and he grew used to the solitude,
in thoughts they would never bother to understand.
He learned there was a world within himself, a different world –
one that didn’t need their approval or laughter.
And in that silence, he discovered a strength,
a better kind of different.
He was the outsider.
Section 2: The Outsider’s Aspiration
The outsider knows what he wants to do.
He wants to be a thinker, writer, teacher,
To do things that make sense,
What needs to be done,
What's proven to work.
Section 3: Love for People vs. Restrictions of the System
He wants to work with people,
because he loves people.
He loves to listen to their stories,
to teach the right way,
rooted in scientific fact.
So he chose a path in healthcare,
becoming a respiratory therapist,
drawn by the chance to help, to heal,
to be there in people’s most vulnerable moments.
He thrives on the human connection.
But the system won’t let him think freely,
won’t let him speak the truth,
without the risk of becoming an outcast,
without fear of losing his job—
a reality that caught him by surprise.
Section 3: The Shifter and Historical Parallels
He entered the paradigm with fresh eyes,an ability to see what is and is not.
And he began to shift it,
creating a new way,
one that would make more sense for his job.
He is the paradigm shifter.
He knows how Copernicus felt,
when he proved the Earth wasn’t flat,
yet had to keep it a secret,
for the last 30 years of his life,
fearing he’d be silenced forever.
Section 4: Institutional Stagnation and Paradigm Paralysis
He feels like a pawn.
They place him where they want
And expect him to do his job
The way it's always been done
Even if what he does doesn't matter.
It's called a paradigm paralysis,
The greatest obstacle to progress.
The inability to see the truth
Or the refusal to see the truth,
Is the greatest obstacle of all.
It's a paradigm paralysis,
Not seeing beyond the current thought process.
It's not seeing out of the box.
It's being stuck in a pattern,
And not seeing a better way.
Section 5: Questioning Established Practices
While your mind is shut, his is open.
He sees the foolishness of your ways.
He sees the observer of reality,
Watching you do that and do this,
Just as they've done for years.
"Why do you do it that way?" he asks.
"That's how we've always done it," you say.
"But do you ever ask why?" he presses.
"Do you ever stop to think—
Why prescribe a bronchodilator for pneumonia,
When it’s meant for asthma?"
Section 6: Historical and Modern Medical Myths
You'd think people would want the truth.
Yet for 2,000 years doctors studied Galen
And they did even after the truth got out,
That Galen never dissected a human corpse.
Instead, he dissected an ape.
Galen described an eight-segment sternum.
And even while the Galen passage was read,
While the chest was being dissected,
And a three-segment sternum was revealed,
Nary a person thought to say, "Galen was wrong!"
Andreas Vesalius did say Galen was wrong,
And he proved Galen was wrong,
Yet he was called a liar and a quack.
"What Galen says is true!" his peers hailed.
They were stuck in paradigm paralysis.
Section 7: Modern Medical Paradigm Paralysis
That's why there's no cure for asthma,
Because all dyspnea is STILL treated as asthma.
Hippocrates defined dyspnea as asthma.
And so we still treat all dyspnea as asthma,
Even though the evidence shows it's not.
Bronchodilators are bronchodilators,
Yet they are used to treat cardiac asthma,
And pneumonia, and collapsed lungs,
Lung cancer, kidney failure, croup,
And rickets along with bronchospasm.
It's called wasted medicine for no reason.
He's a respiratory therapist for 12 hours
And he sees bronchodilator abuse first hand,
He knows it has no effect on the patient,
And so does the patient.
Yet few patients question the procedure,
Because doctors have earned their trust,
And so few think to question,
Anything a doctor orders.
They just want to get better.
In fact, even most doctors know the truth,
Yet they have no choice but to order them,
Because that's how it's been done forever.
And doing it any other way would make sense,
Yet it wouldn't make sense to them.
Even if a doctor knows the truth he can't speak it,
Because he'd be an outcast among his peers,
He'd be castigated by the doctor clique,
And reminded that the truth doesn't matter,
Because bronchodilators are thought to cure everything.
The COPD patient was on 100% oxygen
For eight hours in the Emergency Room,
And the patient did not stop breathing.
Yet later he was ordered on 28% oxygen
Because of the hypoxic drive myth.
He watched as the patient's dyspnea worsened,
As his skin turned from pink to blue.
He called the doctor who refused more oxygen.
The patient suffered as a result,
Of the paradigm paralysis.
Yet even if the doctor knew the truth,
He'd have to accept the myth as truth,
Because the clique accepts the myth,
And the courts accept the myth,
And, hence, the myth becomes the truth.
Section 8: Desire for Change and Personal Constraints
He knows it and you may know it too,
Yet what is he, what are you to do?
You know about paradigm paralysis.
You know it from your observation.
You know it by scientific fact.
He doesn't want to be the first to speak,
And neither do any of his peers.
So he keeps his mouth shut,
And you keep your mouth shut,
And nothing ever changes.
He knows we could probably cure asthma
Because the wisdom exists right here.
Yet it's just beyond our scope of understanding.
It exists just outside the box,
Just outside the paradigm.
The weight of what’s wrong pressing at his mind,
Yet he grits his teeth and moves forward.
He has a family to feed, bills to pay.
It’s worth it, he tells himself,
For he loves to think, to wonder, to dream.
He also loves his patients, truly enjoys helping people,
And he endures as a respiratory therapist,
Because his coworkers—his great crew at the down-home hospital—
Make the long hours lighter.
Section 9: Resolution and Acceptance
Paradigm paralysis prohibits people
So progress is slow, even STALLED!
Morale among the workers is low,
And resources are wasted,
Money is wasted,
Time wasted.
He feels like a pawn, stuck on the wrong path,
Yet to others, it's the only path they've ever known,
Because they don’t see path B, the way out.
All they see is the same pattern, path A,
A path that’s been worn down by time,
And yet, no one dares to ask if it's the right one.
He knows what he wants to do.
He wants to be a thinker, writer, teacher,
To do things that make sense,
What needs to be done,
What's proven to work.
and he's therefore the outsider.
He doesn't understand the current paradigm,
Yet he does understand the new one.
He's an outcast if he says what he knows.
To create a blog,
To write poems of what he learns and thinks,
To share his ideas with the world,
Hoping others will learn and shift the paradigm for the better.
It's a small move, but as Laennec learned,
Sometimes the shift happens long after the shifter—the outsider—has gone.
He's the fresh eye and the hope
For everyone who wants to fix the system.
Yet he needs courage to speak up.
He knows what to do:
He must make waves—hence the small waves created via his blog.
He cannot quit his job,
So he did this.
Because he has four young mouths to feed,
He’ll suck it up,
Keep his mouth shut tight,
And do what he loves.
He loves reading, observing, and listening to new ideas.
He loves to question the things he’s ordered to do.
He loves to draw a line from point A to point B,
And ask, "Why can’t we do it this way?"
He’s the outsider. And now, he's also the blogger—
A small but meaningful act.
He’s the outsider—
Seeing what must change,
Bound by what cannot.
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