Michael Crichton is dead

I read a few of Michael Crichton's science fiction novels, but my favorite book was an autobiographical one called "Travels." My boyfriend teased me for liking it so much but it was fascinating. Crichton's undergrad degree was anthropology and then he went to medical school. He began writing then and it helped pay for his way through, but eventually became his profession.

In the book "Travels" he tells of various experiences in medical school, a little about some of his 5 marriages, and about travel around the globe doing research for his novels. It includes adventures like shark encounters and visits to pyramids, but is far more an introspective book than a recounting of things he's done. He questions why people do things the way they do or think the way they do. I loved his discussion of western medicine's limitations by sticking to rational explanations only. He seemed ready to embrace any concept he was introduced to, viewing it as information not in contradiction of other information, but merely just another set of information.

Though I consider myself pretty open-minded, the book truly helped me recognize the narrow scope through which I see the world and how to further expand it. Clifford Geertz is actually my hero in this field, but Crichton seems a bit more approachable and I enjoyed his non-academic perspective.

I may not be ready to go around fluffing up other people's auras (as he had done to him once), but I'd happily explore the psychology behind illnesses or alternative medicine and hopefully not discount the explanations given by people of other cultures.