Be Still My Heart

It's been another "medical incredible" week, which made me think of the time where I got a first-hand demonstration of a slightly different "white coat effect." And maybe Pavlov's dog. Or rather just being a dog.

"Hmmm...your blood pressure was very high, twenty points higher when she [the nurse] took it, but the EKG is completely normal." I was trying to surpress a wide grin. Had the doctor not figured out that maybe having the most gorgeous nurse I've seen in my life ask me to take off my shirt so she could put on the EKG's contact strips might have a little to do with it? Sheesh, the guy could probably just assume a nurse 10 factor, and safely take off 10 to 20 points off any resting BP she measures.

On the subject of the nervous system, or my nervous nervous system, I've started reading "Freedom Evolves" by Daniel Dennett. I'm interested to see how he interprets free will from a naturalist perspective. Did I really have a choice to put my tongue back in my mouth and stop drooling dumbfoundedly? Could I really choose my motivators, versus just trying to surpress the autonomic reactions that come before conscious thought?