In that essay, I also related this precept, associated with the medical doctor's Hippocratic Oath, to the worlds of teaching and organic farming as illustrations of taking pains to be sure that one's actions--however well-meaning--do as little harm as possible to our children or the Earth.

However, I feel the need to further expand upon this principle and its application in various fields of human endeavor. Having mulled this truism over, and realizing that mere words--however high sounding and well-wrought--never offer a perfect solution to life's complex situations, I offer the following list of areas of society that I feel could profit from following this ancient maxim:

Programming: Should programmers write applications that damage body, spirit or mind? For example, there are applications that are used to peer into our private lives as well as spy on entire nations. Some programs invade our consciousness (especially children) with gratuitous violence, such as certain video games.

Health Care: Many of us feel that medical doctors should spend more time talking with their patients and taking more extensive patient histories instead of relying too heavily on modern diagnostic equipment. During the last few years I have had to change health insurance providers several times. I have been appalled at how skimpy the patient questionnaires are that I am asked to fill out, how little physicians or assistants ask probing questions and how hard it is to transfer medical records from one provider to another.

In my opinion also, practitioners of allopathic medicine (modern western medicine) are far too quick to promote invasive procedures as cures when all to often symptoms and pain are traded for side effects. First do no harm by considering that the body heals itself. Perhaps physicians should consider the model of the "midwife," a person who attends and helps the birth of a child rather than the authoritarian magician dispensing magic pills based on arcane knowledge and mysterious equipment. Of course, I do not mean to denigrate the many caring members of the medical profession, and some of the advances of modern medicine, especially where critical intervention is needed.

Journalism: If ever a group could make use of this principle, it must be the Fourth Estate, especially television and radio. Too often the media leads a “rush to judgement” among their audience when they highlight certain people caught in situations of questionable veracity. In cases where the person in the spotlight is proven innocent, the reputation is still tainted for many years.

Religion: First do no harm by being tolerant of the beliefs of others. Religion is sometimes defined as that which is of "ultimate concern" to a person or a people. While I find that his definition is quite useful, too often those concerns embrace intolerable judgements of other people and cultures. Perhaps all religions contain their own bit of the truth, and in fact are probably pointed in the same direction ultimately--toward a loving, self-realized life.

Politics: One almost needs not to say anything in this regard about the great, all too slick, "smoke and mirrors" world of politics and government. Realizing the impossibility of pleasing everyone, I do wish our great leaders could first do no harm by listening to as many viewpoints as possible and make decisions that benefit the common good of the People rather than just special interest groups or their own pet projects.

Science: Wanted: a little humility for scientists. Scientists are in ways the high priests of modern civilization, and have made amazing strides in explaining some aspects of reality. I hasten to emphasize that those aspects are not the totality of the mysteries and complexities of time, space and life itself. Moreover, consciousness and spirituality are considered too subjective for serious study by most scientists.

Anyone who seriously studies the history of science soon learns how wrong and close-minded scientists have been in the past though at the time they passed along their learning as "gospel." For example, during much of the 20th century, formula feeding of infants was touted as superior to breast feeding. Now the opposite viewpoint is espoused by life scientists. As one of those infants that nursed a bottle, I wish that those research scientists had studied Hippocrates.

Fashion: For God’s sake give the women a break. Do no harm by banishing those dangerous, painful high heels from the planet . . .and in a fit of personal pique. . .any and all women’s clothing based on the dowdy styles of the ‘30s.

Well, you get the idea. I suppose I have gone beyond moralizing here and have revved up my self-righteousness to “ram speed” as they say in the navy. Perhaps I have, but then everyone probably has a good rant they need to get out of their system once in a while.

Hey, letting loose with a good rant now and then is also caring for the soul.