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1 The world has become so complicated that weve lost confidence in our ability to understand and deal with it. But common sense is useful now as it ever was. No amount of expertise substitutes for an intimate knowledge of a person or a situation. At times you just have to trust your own judgement. 2 It almost cost me my life to learn that. I was reading a book one day, idly scratching the back of my head, when I noticed that, in one particular spot, the scratching echoed inside my head like fingernails on an empty cardboard carton, I rushed off to my doctor. 3 Got a hole in your head, have you? he teased. Its nothingjust one of those little scalp nerves sounding off. 4 Two years and four doctors later, I was still being told it was nothing. To the fifth doctor. I said, almost in desperation,But I live in tis body. I know somethings different. 5 If you wont take my word for it,Ill take an X-ray and prove it to you, he said. 6 Well, there it was, of course, the tumor that had made a hole as big as an eye socket in the back of my skull. After the operation, a young resident paused by my bed. Its a good thing youre so smart, he said. Most patient die of these tumors because we dont know theyre there until it is too late. 7 Im really not so smart. And Im too docile in the face of authority. I should have been more aggressive with those first four doctors. Its hard to question opinions delivered with absolute certainty. | 
