ChatGPT, Marcus Aurelius, and Neurosurgical Philosophy. An Essay.
After recently diving into the stoic literature I discovered that many core stoic ideologies would be useful for the practicing neurosurgeon. I used ChatGPT to explore concepts all neurosurgeons should be familiar with in stoicism and philosophy in general (according to ChatGPT).
The fascinating response reported some of the obvious, but also provided some additional insight. I never considered philosphy to be so directily and obviously applicable to the field. Especially the concept of epistemology; a new word for me.
I continued to read some of the works of the great stoics such as Marcus Aurelius and Seneca. I wondered if they were around today how they would reflect on the chaotic and rapidly evolving modern day world.
In the epic film Star Wars, our favorite heroes have chats with force ghosts. Conversations with sages of the past act to gather generations of wisdom. In my opinion, this is one of the underated jedi abilities. With the increasing abilities of AI-language models, it is now possible to generate some artificial ancient historical wisdom.
Naturally and egocentrically, I pondered how some of the philosphical legends would reflect on neurosurgical ethics and practice. Then I realized that I have the ability to prompt and AI language model to learn and write in the style of Marcus Aurelius. Interested to see what kind of creative perspectives could be forged using ChatGPT, I asked it the following.
“ Create an argument for why philosophy is important for neurosurgeons to master. Do it in the writing and thinking style of Marcus aurelius.”
The result was an essay written by the AI-Language model. Being a novice in formal stoic argument styles, I have no idea how closely this would resemble points classicly made by Marcus Aurelius. Regardless it is a beautifully written essay on suffering, the human condition, and the duty of a neurosurgeon.
As a wise philosopher once said, “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” Indeed, it is not enough for neurosurgeons to simply be proficient in the technical aspects of their craft. To truly excel in their profession, they must also be masters of philosophy.
For what is the purpose of neurosurgery if not to alleviate the suffering of the human condition? But what is suffering, and what is the human condition? These are questions that cannot be answered by scientific knowledge alone. It is through philosophy that we gain a deeper understanding of our own existence and the experiences that shape it.
Neurosurgeons must also grapple with the ethical dilemmas that arise in their line of work. How do we balance the duty to preserve life with the patient’s right to autonomy? What is the value of life, and how do we define it? These are not questions that can be answered by science alone. They require a thoughtful and nuanced approach, informed by the wisdom of the ages.
Moreover, neurosurgeons must be able to communicate effectively with their patients, who are often grappling with profound questions of their own. How do we address the fear and uncertainty that comes with a life-changing diagnosis? How do we provide comfort and solace to those who are suffering? Philosophy can offer insights into the human psyche and the nature of suffering, providing neurosurgeons with the tools they need to provide compassionate care.
In the words of another great philosopher, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” This is true not only for individuals, but for professions as well. Neurosurgery, like all aspects of human endeavor, must be examined and interrogated in order to fully understand its place in the world. It is only through a mastery of philosophy that neurosurgeons can achieve this understanding, and in so doing, fulfill their duty to alleviate the suffering of their fellow human beings.
After being moved from reading ChatGPT’s essay, I am inspired to further explore this new fronteir of AI-generated classic stoic perspectives on issues within neurosurgery and modern day medicine at large.
This is my second medium article and apparently they require a featured image. I thought it would be appropriate to generate an AI-prompted image of Marcus Aurelius in an AI form.
Using the program Midjourney, a Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), and discord I started to generate some art for this article. The following is my midjourney-created interpretation of AI-Marcus Aurelius. An AI-model generation of the AI-model that wrote the beautiful reflection above. Have to love this weird world that we are living in.
