My friends rebel against Western medicine just as they rebel against other Western, American, or patriotic ideas they've been taught to respect: singing the national anthem and saluting the flag, going to church, working hard to get rich. My friends don't trust these ideals or practices because they have not freely chosen them. They trust yoga and Chinese herbs because, by their own choice, they have read books and attended lectures about them. Choice and knowledge are important elements in trust.
I trust my doctor for the same reason. I go to a doctor whose office is twenty miles away because I like the way she answers my questions - she is always clear and enthusiastic. She doesn't think that, as a doctor, she has special knowledge that I won't be able to understand, or that I should just accept her advice regardless of my feelings. I trust her, in the end, because I know she will always tell me the truth.
That's how I differ from my Japanese relatives. To me, knowledge is essential to trust. The more I know, the more I can trust. The more I trust someone, the more I want to know their opinion. My Japanese relatives believe the opposite. The less they know, the more they rely on trust. The less they trust someone, the less they need to know. They want to trust their doctors because they think they themselves know nothing and can find out nothing.
Kyoko Mori, Polite Lies
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