I think I may be opening a can of worms here, but I'm interested in what the rest of the community has to say....

I have been told and heard countless times that being a 'Green' or a member of a 'Physician's Caste' means that we, as Greens, don't hurt people and, infact, should follow the Hippocratic Oath. I have never seen a quote from the books supporting this philosphy.
I did find these, however....and thought it might be worth posting with a few notes. Lets revisit how we're role-playing the Physician's Caste on SL Gor.

(I took most, if not all of my quotes from these websites: http://goreanreference.50megs.com/caste ... ician.html and http://www.thegoreancave.com/research/greencaste.shtml (I highly recommend the read))

"On the other side of the belt, there hung a slave goad, rather like the tarn goad, except that it is designed to be used as an instrument for the control of human beings rather than tarns. It was, like the tarn goad, developed jointly by the Caste of Physicians and that of the Builders, the Physicians contributing knowledge of the pain fibers of human beings, the networks of nerve endings, and the Builders contributing certain principles and techniques developed in the construction and manufacture of energy bulbs. Unlike the tarn goad which has a simple on-off switch in the handle, the slave goad works with both a switch and a dial, and the intensity of the charge administered can be varied from an infliction which is only distinctly unpleasant to one which is instantly lethal." -Assassin
**This says, specifically, that the Physician's contributed the knowledge "of the pain fibers of human beings, the networks of nerve endings". How do we, as a caste, know this information without having first learned about it some way? How do you find out about how the body reacts to pain without first inflicting it?

"Flaminius looked at me, with a certain drunken awe. Then he rose in his green quarters tunic and went to a chest in his room, from which he drew forth a large bottle of paga. He opened it and, to my surprise, poured two cups. He took a good mouthful of the fluid from one of the cups, and bolted it down, exhaling with satisfaction.
“You seem to me, from what I have seen and heard,” I said, “a skilled Physician.”
He handed me the second cup, though I wore the black tunic.
“In the fourth and fifth year of the reign of Marlenus,” said he, regarding me evenly, “I was first in my caste in Ar.”
I took a swallow.
“Then,” said I, “you discovered paga?”
“No,” said he.
“A girl?” I asked.
“No,” said Flaminius, smiling. “No.” He took another swallow. “I thought to find,” said he, “an immunization against Dar-Kosis.”
“Dar-Kosis is incurable,” I said.
“At one time,” said he, “centuries ago, men of my caste claimed age was incurable. Others did not accept this and continued to work. The result was the Stabilization Serums.”
Dar-Kosis, or the Holy Disease, or Sacred Affliction, is a virulent, wasting disease of Gor. Those afflicted with it, commonly spoken of simply as the Afflicted Ones, may not enter into normal society. They wander the countryside in shroudlike yellow rags, beating a wooden clapping device to warn men from their path; some of them volunteer to be placed in Dar-Kosis pits, several of which lay within the vicinity of Ar, where they are fed and given drink, and are, of course, isolated; the disease is extremely contagious. Those who contract the disease are regarded by taw as dead.
“Dar-Kosis,” I said, “is thought to be holy to the Priest-Kings, and those afflicted with it to be consecrated to Priest-Kings.”
“A teaching of Initiates,” said Flaminius bitterly. “There is nothing holy about disease, about pain, about death.” He took another drink.
“Dar-Kosis,” I said, “is regarded as an instrument of Priest-Kings, used to smite those who displease them.”
“Another myth of Initiates,” said Flaminius, unpleasantly.
“But how do you know that?” I queried.
“I do not care,” said Flaminius, “if it is true or not. I am a Physician.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“For many years,” said Flaminius, “and this was even before 10,110, the year of Pa-Kur and his horde, I and others worked secretly in the Cylinder of Physicians. We devoted our time, those Ahn in the day in which we could work, to study, research, test and experiment. Unfortunately, for spite and for gold, word of our work was brought to the High Initiate, by a minor Physician discharged from our staff for incompetence. The Cylinder of Initiates demanded that the High Council of the Caste of Physicians put an end to our work, not only that it be discontinued but that our results to that date be destroyed. The Physicians, I am pleased to say, stood with us. There is little love lost between Physicians and Initiates, even as is the case between Scribes and Initiates. The Cylinder of the High Initiate then petitioned the High Council of the City to stop our work, but they, on the recommendation of Marlenus, who was then Ubar, permitted our work to continue.” Flaminius laughed. “I remember Marlenus speaking to the High Initiate. Marlenus told him that either the Priest-Kings approved of our work or they did not; that if they approved, it should continue; if they did not approve, they themselves, as the Masters of Gor, would be quite powerful enough to put an end to it.”
I laughed.
Flaminius looked at me, curiously. “It is seldom,” he said, “that those of the black caste laugh.”
“What happened then?” I asked.
Flaminius took another drink, and then he looked at me, bitterly. “Before the next passage hand,” said he, “armed men broke into the Cylinder of Physicians; the floors we worked on were burned; the Cylinder itself was seriously damaged; our work, our records, the animals we used were all destroyed; several of my staff were slain, others driven away.” He drew his tunic over his head. I saw that half of his body was scarred. “These I had from the flames,” said he, “as I tried to rescue our work. But I was beaten away and our scrolls destroyed.” He slipped the tunic back over his head.
“I am sorry,” I said.
Flaminius looked at me. He was drunk, and perhaps that is why he was willing to speak to me, only of the black caste. There were tears in his eyes.
“I had,” he said, “shortly before the fire developed a strain of urts resistant to the Dar-Kosis organism; a serum cultured from their blood was injected in other animals, which subsequently we were unable to infect. It was tentative, only a beginning, but I had hoped I had hoped very much.”
“The men who attacked the Cylinder,” I said, “who were they?”
“Doubtless henchmen of Initiates,” said Flaminius. Initiates, incidentally, are not permitted by their caste codes to bear arms; nor are they permitted to injure or kill; accordingly, they hire men for these purposes.
“Were the men not seized?” I asked.
“Most escaped,” said Flaminius. “Two were seized. These following the laws of the city, were taken for their first questioning to the courts of the High Initiate.” Flaminius smiled bitterly. “But they escaped,” he said.
“Did you try to begin your work again?” I asked.
“Everything was gone,” said Flaminius, “the records, our equipment, the animals; several of my staff had been slain; those who survived, in large part, did not wish to continue the work.” He threw down another bolt of Paga. “Besides, said he, “the men of Initiates, did we begin again, would only need bring torches and steel once more.”
“So what did you do?” I asked.
Flaminius laughed. “I thought how foolish was Flaminius,” he said. “I returned one night to the floors on which we had worked. I stood there, amidst the ruined equipment, the burned walls. And I laughed. I realized then that I could not combat the Initiates. They would in the end conquer.”
“I do not think so,” I said.
“Superstition,” said he, “proclaimed as truth, will always conquer truth, ridiculed as superstition.”
“Do not believe it,” I said.
“And I laughed,” said Flaminius, “and I realized that what moves men is greed, and pleasure, and power and gold, and that I, Flaminius, who had sought fruitlessly in my life to slay one disease, was a fool.”
“You are no fool,” said I.
“No longer,” said he. “I left the Cylinder of Physicians and the next day took service in the House of Cernus, where I have been for many years. I am content here. I am well paid. I have much gold, and some power, and my pick of Red Silk Girls. What man could ask for more?”
“Flaminius,” I said.
He looked at me, startled. Then he laughed and shook his head. “No,” said he, “I have learned to despise men. That is why this is a good house for me.” He looked at me, drunkenly, with hatred. “I despise men!” he “That is why I drink with you.”
I nodded curtly, and turned to leave.
“One thing more to this little story,” said Flaminius. lifted the bottle to me.
“What is that?” I asked.
“At the games on the second of En’Kara, in the of Blades,” said he, “I saw the High Initiate, Complicius Serenus.”
“So?” said I.
“He does not know it,” said Flaminius, “nor will he learn for perhaps a year.”
“Learn what?” I asked.
Flaminius laughed and poured himself another drink. “That he is dying of Dar-Kosis,” he said.
Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 265 - 269
**Yes, we did research. These tests would have to be done on someone....or something. Most of them would have been unpleasant. Many Greens were obsessed with 'their work'. Don't be afraid to experiment...use the lab in your infirmary...notecard testing drugs on subjects or creating them yourself. Don't force your RP down someone elses throat, but don't be afraid to ask some in IMs to a captive if they'd be willing to RP with you on a 'story-line' you are working on with the beginning stages of a drug you are making....
On a side note, he said 'animals': Are we talking about animals, like bosk , urts, and vulos...or are we talking about 'beasts'...like slaves?

"Cernus turned to Caprus. "Was she touched by the leather?" he inquired.
"The Physician Flaminius conducted the test," reported Caprus. "She was superb."-Assassin
*raises an eyebrow*

"whereas Flaminius argued for a position in which women were hardly to be recognized as belonging to the human species. I expect both, and I am certain that Flaminius, recognized the errors and exaggerations of their own position, but neither was concerned with the truth; both were concerned only with victory, and pleasing themselves. At any rate, to my satisfaction, but Elizabeth’s irritation, Flaminius commonly had the best of these exchanges, producing incredibly subtle, complex arguments, quoting supposedly objectively conducted studies by the Caste of Physicians, statistics, the results of tests, and what not. Phyllis, unconvinced, was often reduced to tears and stuttering incoherence."-Assassin
**I listed this quote to only further prove how Goreans, as a whole, view women. One of the most famous Physician's in the books, Flaminius, argued that women weren't even a member of the same species as Gorean men. This is something he sited from experiments and 'common medical knowledge'. And, interestingly enough, this creates an interesting place for practicing FW Physicians. After all...FW Physicians would have to be even more cold and calculating just to gain the same sort of respect as male Physicians. It's not that this argument was actually founded, (I think Flaminius was mostly trying to annoy Phyllis) on either part, but I believe that it just further explains the differences between the way Gorean men view the women of Gor...which is, after all, part of what the books are about.

"At any rate disease is now almost unknown among the gorean cities, with the exception of the dreaded Dar-Kosis disease or the holy disease, reasearch upon which is generally frowned upon by the caste of initiates who insist the disease is a visitation of the displeasure of the Preist-Kings on its recipients. The fact that the disease tends to strike those who have maintained the observances recommended by the Caste of Initiates, and who regularly attend their numerous ceremonies, as well as those who do not, is seldom explained, though, when pressed, the Initiates speak of possible secret failures to maintain the observances or the inscrutable will of Priest-Kings."-Assassin
**Those experiments I was just talking about? I wouldn't be too open with what you are doing; unless you trust those you are working from the Caste. Could make for intersting RP, though, hm?

The matter, I supposed, was a function of genetic subtleties, and the nature of differing gametes. The serums of stabilization effected, it seemed, the genetic codes, perhaps altering or neutralizing certain messages of deterioration, providing, I supposed, processes in which an exchange of materials could take place while tissue and cell patterns remained relatively constant. Aging was a physical process and, as such, was susceptible to alteration by physical means. All physical processes are theoretically reversible. Entropy itself is presumably a moment in a cosmic rhythm. The physicians of Gor, it seemed, had addressed themselves to the conquest of what had hitherto been a universal disease, called on Gor the dying and withering disease, called on Earth, aging. Generations of intensive research and experimentation had taken place. At last a few physicians, drawing upon the accumulated data of hundreds of investigators, had achieved the breakthrough, devising the first primitive stabilization serums, later to be developed and exquisitely refined.
Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 283
**Yes, Physicians did 'hold life very dear' and 'have a reverence of life', but it's important to understand that it's against old age. Physicians wanted to stop the 'disease of ageing'. This, by no means, that 'the Green's reverence of life is so high that they would never harm another living being'.



Discuss.

I played a Physician only very briefly, so I am not an expert by any means. But I would think that the opinion of Physicians would vary greatly. Some would believe highly in their brand of the Hippocratic Oath, while others would pursue knowledge at any cost.

As a slave, I always tell others not to follow some rote set of steps in serving. We aren't robots, and everything we do should depends on who we are. I would think it's the same for Physicians.

Also, I believe a Physician would place healing for the greater good over healing for one or two.

Awesome post, by the way.

As I've read the book, the opinion of Physicians would vary greatly to that Cast. Anyway, they are awed to heal people that have an illness.