This book is truly prophetical and shattering. It shatters not only my belief in medicine as a clinical phenomenon, but also as social and cultural phenomena. Written in 1975, it foresaw all the major problems in health-care, but also its manifestations in society. Illich compares the overconfident posture that medical science is taking to Prometheus’ hubris that lead him to steal the fire from heaven and resulted in his Nemisis; an ever-lasting painful punishment. But unllike Prometheus, we are all suffering from the ever-lasting punishment of our medical hubris. It is a sobering truth against the over-optimistic sounds of Enlightment, like Pinker’s recent book, and Illich’ thought can be used to explain even, why such Enlighted books fill our prospect with suspicion and discomfort.
My world view has truly changed by this book. Though not optimistically, but positively. Everyone in health-care, medicine, or the likes should read this.