Life is extremely complex and we shall never understand its working, and yet we have to treat despite uncertainty. Over centuries medicine succeeded treating disease by defining rules of thumb for treatment. Modern medicine collected them into a theory. In this endeavor it was influenced by Newtonian physics, implicitly regarding the organism as a clockwork or a machine. This is the medicine of homo faber , and it proved to be extremely fruitful and successful. Diseases are Platonic ideas, and the task of medical sciences is to harness technology for discovering disease. This approach culminates in the Human genome project. Here Platonic ideas of disease turned into blue prints that are stored in genes.
Complexity always concerned the exact sciences. When the universe was conceived as clockwork it seemed that complexity may be tackled by induction and logical reasoning. As physics progressed it discovered non linear dynamic processes (Chaos theory), realizing that the universe is far from being a clockwork, Its complexity cannot be resolved by any means, and Newtonian physics, are only an exception. Yet medicine continues adhering to Newtonian thought style (Fleck), gradually sinking in its conceptual deadlock.
Symptoms of its conceptual feebleness are ubiquitous. Aberrations are regarded as diseases that require treatment. Diseases are gene aberrations. Above all, medical theory fails to explain self healing diseases, or health. Yet most people are either healthy, or can cure themselves. Medicine on the hand claims that since all carry at least one aberration, they are either sick or potentially sick. Its conceptual incompetence is highlighted by its handling the placebo effect.
The WOB concept comes to free medicine from its conceptual deadlock, supplementing its theory with essential ingredients that are missing. WOB theory explains health, self healing diseases, and placebo effect. Diseases are rescued from their Platonic status, to regain their previous identity, rules of thumb, since in view of the complexity of the organism this is the best that we may hope for. Rules of thumb whose kernel is the WOB. The task of medicine is to assist WOB in maintaining health, and boost its resources.