The Complete Idiot's Guide to Idiots

| 1 min read

Listen with Speechify

0:00

1:00

Every now and then, I get an Email that makes me wonder whether people are idiots. OK, more than every now and then. Today, it was a job posting from a science writers' association that caught my eye. ''I am searching for a psychiatrist or psychologist, an expert in bipolar disorder, to write (or work with a writer to write) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bipolar Disorder.'' Hmm, I thought. I earned an MD and then finished an internship in psychiatry. I'm a writer. If I had the time and the inclination, I could probably write this book, having written or edited several linkurl:psychiatry review books;http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780071475679&itm=1 for medical students. But wait a minute. What's that title again? The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bipolar Disorder? That's at best bizarre and at worst horribly insensitive, given that we're not that many centuries removed from the, um, not terribly enlightened habit of calling the mentally ill ''village idiots.'' Did anyone think this one through? What's next, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mental Retardation?

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here