He had settled not for a synthesis between observing and acting, but for doctoring and public health work that would be partly guided by anthropology. Its uses were obvious. A doctor who knew nothing about local beliefs might end up at war with Voodoo priests, but a doctor-anthropologist who understood those beliefs could find ways to make Voodoo houngans his allies. A doctor who didn’t understand local culture would probably mistake many patients’ complaints for bizarre superstitions, or at best be utterly baffled—by the female complaint called move san, lèt gate, for instance.
