As Dr. Thomas suggests in his article, medical technology is at another of those difficult crossroads. For the medical profession has blossomed in the past 100 years by taking the viewpoint that most human woes and miseries are biologically determined. In fact, man is not a purelybiological animal; we are social and psychological animals as well. The long-term medical "cure rate" for obesity is less than 10% ; the behavioral cure rate is about 60%. Yet most physicians continue to prescribe pills and fancy diets for weight loss, when what 90% of the patients need is encouragement in learning how to eat properly. These“cure rate” data have been reported in dozens of scientific journals for dozens of years. Yet just a month ago a man I know informed me that his doctor had told him, "You are too damned fat. If you don't lose weight, you're going to die, and it will serve you right.” Needless to say, the man became so depressed that he went on an eating jag.