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presidency of the company I was working for. Instead I walked away from it. I won't say I had no plans at that point, but they were terrible plans, and within a couple of years you could say pretty safely that I had nothing. And having nothing, I started writing a book, and with a little help from the gods or the fates or the universe, I was able to keep working on that book for twelve years until it became Ishmael .
    And just at that point, with a little more help from the gods or the fates or the universe, it so happened that Ted Turner decided he wanted to sponsor a competition for a novel presenting "creative and positive solutions to global problems." Winning that competition assured the publication of Ishmael — and there was my lightning strike. But back in 1975, if I'd held on and kept my head down and finally made it to the top in publishing, there would've been no Ishmael — or any of the subsequent books. I had to let go of my life for that to happen.
    Elaine . That's quite a story. And quite an example.
    Daniel . I should point out, however, that during this period it would never have occurred to me that I was "living in the hands of the gods." I was, but it wasn't something I consciously set out to do.
    Elaine . I see.
    Daniel . So finally we get to the reader's question. Doesn't the practice of medicine somehow violate the principle of living in the hands of the gods?
    Elaine [ after some thought ]. It would seem to.
    Daniel . So it seemed, at least to this reader. Is that the answer you'd expect me to give her?
    Elaine . No.
    Daniel . Then what?
    Elaine [ laughing ]. I don't know.
    Daniel . You've got to pull back to get a wider perspective on the question. That's the job of the Martian anthropologist: to pull back, never to be restricted to the questioner's assumptions.
    Elaine shakes her head.
    Daniel . This reader was fixated on a detail and not looking at the whole.
    Elaine . The whole what ?
    Daniel . You know the whole. The difference between you and her is that I'm pressuring you to look at it.
    Elaine [ after a minute ]. Aboriginal peoples practiced — still practice — their own kind of medicine.
    Daniel . That's certainly true. Do you think it's like ours?
    Elaine . I can't claim to know what it is, but... But I suppose I have an impression that it's more like magic than anything we'd consider medicine.
    Daniel . So how does this help answer this woman's question?
    Elaine . I'm not sure it does.
    Daniel . What do you think is troubling this woman about our medicine? Why does she think it doesn't jibe with living in the hands of the gods?
    Elaine [ sighing ]. I guess she's thinking... "Oh well, I've got pneumonia. For someone living in the hands of the gods, that's it."
    Daniel . You live with it — or die with it.
    Elaine . If you're living in the hands of the gods.
    Daniel [ after some thought ]. What causes pneumonia?
    Elaine . I think it can be caused either by bacteria or viruses.
    Daniel . And what would a modern doctor's treatment be?
    Elaine . I assume the treatment would be to attack the bacteria or virus, probably with antibiotics.
    Daniel . And this attack — do you think this is what's bothering this reader? All the attacks that medicine provides against the hosts of organisms that are hostile to human life?
    Elaine . That sounds like a good guess.
    Daniel . Tell me what's going on in her mind. That's part of the anthropologist's job, to understand what's going on in the minds of his subjects. See if you can speak her thoughts.
    Elaine . Wow. Let's see. I think it's something like this. "In general, Leaver peoples live at peace with the world. They've got plenty of competitors in the world. Other animals compete for the game, but they don't hunt down these animals to wipe them out. They've got competitors for everything they eat, but they don't try to wipe them out."
    Daniel . Whereas we Takers do. As far as possible, we wipe out the wolves and the foxes and the coyotes that prey on