A Humanistic Approach to a Highly Technical Profession

Ethics, as a word, has had a checkered career. English lexicons trace it to the Sanskrit word Swadha, which briefly connotes a sense of self-respect that as a mere custom denies you the right to do anything wrong, even when not policed or monitored [1]. It is an inner conviction about what is proper and philanthropic, a conviction sustained in action under pressure. Ethics cannot be taught, much less available in coaching classes. This necessitates that we have amid us neurosurgical role models of integrity, of character, that the students may take as a role model. All told, ethics is one’s innate being, one’s weltanschauung. The peon of the President, the Prime Minister, or the Principal may be more ethical than the boss. To that extent, to be ethical is to be ready to walk, as the Kathopnishad says, on the razor’s edge.