Fadiman points this out when she evokes Hippocrates’ assessment of epilepsy: “Men think is divine merely because they don’t understand it. Furthermore, American doctors base their practice on science, which does not consider spirituality, since spirituality isn’t research-based and doesn’t follow logical reasoning. A Hmong is likely to associate bodily ailments with broader problems at play in her life, while an American is likely to focus solely on the body part in question by visiting a doctor who specializes in a field dedicated to that particular area. Whereas Hmongs believe that medical concerns are intertwined with almost all elements of life, mainstream American medicine has divided health into categories of medical study.
The central cultural miscommunication of the book concerns the proper scope of medicine.
Unfortunately, both the Lees and MCMC’s doctors found themselves unable to step outside their own deeply entrenched beliefs, thereby rendering them incapable of working together. Fadiman suggests that empathy and compassion could have aided the Lee family and their doctors in reconciling their cultural differences enough to give Lia the kind of multifaceted and nuanced care she needed. The differences between Hmong and American ways of interpreting the world are exacerbated by shoddy communication, which fails-both linguistically and ideologically-to establish any kind of common ground. By studying miscommunication between Hmong patients and their American doctors, Fadiman demonstrates that many cross-cultural misunderstandings hinge on a disconnect between the two parties’ priorities. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down examines the ways in which people cling to various strongly-held tenets set forth by their cultures.
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