ABSTRACT
What I have been impressed with in the sessions dealing with arrhythmia and conduction is the diversity and complexity of the information that was presented. In line with this, I have to tell you that one of my favorite slides is one that Dr. Sperelakis showed. It depicts a “pregnant earthworm” with a series of ion channels, receptors, pumps, and regulatory proteins sitting within the earthworm, and ions and second messengers kind of dribbling off to the end of the slide. I have learned to watch the audience whenever this slide goes up and people invariable clutch their head and say, “Oh no, this is just too complicated for me.” But the fact is, this type of slide really describes where things are right now, and we should be kind of happy that they are. I think the reason why is best summarized by a statement from a countryman of Dr. Andre Kleber, a theologian named Burckhardt, who in the last century, looking towards the present century said: “We are entering the age of the great simplifiers and that the essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity … It is the great corruptor and must be resisted with purpose and energy.” Burckhardt was writing about society, but I like to think of him as one of the early modem electrophysiologists. Considering Burckhardt”s statement, it is apparent today that our electrophysiologic society is quite healthy because we really know so little … And that is all right, because we seem to be going in the right direction. Questions are being asked in a variety of ways and it is just going to take a while to get where we want to be.
