Abstract

In an increasingly technical and technological context, although the scientific advances applied to health have increased the survival of the people and have improved the quality of life, it is becoming increasingly important to reflect through fantasy, which is the way which acts the sciences of the spirit. Thus, stories and metaphors can help us: In this context, a “clinical observation” is presented, from which several metaphors are discussed that may help to reflect on technology, especially at the level of family medicine. We expect high-tech solutions for commonsense problems, but some technological procedures offer reasonable doubts about its safety and effectiveness, and do not represent a competitive advantage. Technology comes to serve the purposes of doctors, but ultimately they redefine their own goals according to technology, which can lead to more problems than it solves, and gives the impression of giving immediate results and without uncertainty, which favors the perpetuate the nature of the technology itself and the human desire for power. Technology has favored that the humanitarian functions of medicine have become mere side effects of treatment, which in itself is understood in purely technical terms. However, family medicine is still a profession that refers to a patient, a pair of ears, a pair of eyes and a pair of hands. The doctor is his own technology when dealing with people and not with pathologies. Until we are able to develop an authentic human science, we will not be developing a technology for the understanding of the human condition.

Keywords: Family practice; Biomedical technologies; Health care technology; Health technology; Metaphors; Physician-patient relations; Humanism; Diagnostic techniques and procedure