Truth, paternalism, and suffering in the laboratory of modernity

This text provides a profound bioethical analysis of contemporary medicine, perceived as a 'laboratory of modernity.' The author explores the tension between traditional biological truth and the new phenomenon of algorithmic paternalism resulting from the implementation of artificial intelligence systems. Drawing on the philosophy of Theodore Dalrymple, the article portrays the nighttime emergency department as a place where a crisis of individual responsibility and the medicalization of suffering manifest themselves. The analysis encompasses the digital transformation of decision-making processes and the clash of different cultural models—from Western autonomy, through European soft paternalism, to Arab familism. The reader is provided with insights into how predictive medicine and pharmaceutical markets influence patient self-knowledge, leading to phenomena such as preclinical melancholia. This is an important contribution to the discussion about the limits of technology and the preservation of human dignity in a bureaucratic healthcare system.