The Ihamba ritual may be the culturally appropriate way for the Ndembu people to express concern for an afflicted person; Westerners require the trappings of big science—imaging machines, centrifuges, and sterile, or at least blank, interior rooms. But to my knowledge no one has tested this proposition. Would it help to add cut flowers, soothing music, and friendlier faces to the conventional medical encounter? Does all the equipment have to be real, or would cardboard imitations do just as well? And if the real point of medical ritual is to demonstrate social support for the patient, surely
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