August 18, 2003

Anecdotes

Lewis Thomas, physician, self-styled biology-watcher, and essayist wrote that few things discredit a scientist’s conclusions more than to have them discounted by other scientists as anecdotal. The only thing worse, he added, is for them to be disdained as trivial.

An anecdote is a narration of an incident or an experience, frequently personal, often used to illustrate or affirm a point. It literally means “unpublished.” In history and biography, it’s about something heretofore undisclosed.

The true pleasure of the word may lie in its burden to suggest not only story, but also story with an amusing perspective on whatever is the subject at hand. It can be a welcome relief from taking oneself so seriously.

Amuse is another Greek contrivance-with-opposites meaning to distract. It shouldn’t be confused with amusia, medicine’s trashing of an otherwise delightful word simply to describe an unfortunate condition when one’s capacity for song is ended and the malady lingers on.

Faith is unquestionably anecdotal. It can be amusing. It is hardly ever trivial.

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