A thousand miles of ambiguity

Dr John Dale takes to the road in search
of a grey zone

By Craig Silverman

There's just one thought that can distract biker dude Dr John Dale from the sheer joy of steering his Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 along BC's lonesome highways: 'If Wittgenstein were in my sidecar, what would he be thinking right now?'

The contemplative physician picked the Selkirk Loop, that goes from Kootenay Bay in BC down through Washington State and Idaho, as his philosophical stomping grounds. The resulting book, Notes from a Sidecar, follows in the path of fellow physician Che Guevera's Motorcycle Diaries, asking "Can we rediscover the soul through both philosophy and motorcycling?"

The subtitle of the travelogue is "A Philosphical Exploration of Vagueness." At first glance, a book about vagueness might look like a licence to digress, but Dr Dale insists his unspecific subject matter is really quite profound. "If we don't explore vagueness then we come to conclusions too quickly and become certain of things too quickly, and that is what obstructs the development of our inner soul," the 63-year-old Dr Dale says in his Irish brogue. "We need more time to contemplate and appreciate truth in life. We look for answers too quickly instead of exploring the notion of vagueness and uncertainty."

Dr Dale has always been a passionate biker. "I was 15 when I got my first motorbike. It was a BSA Bantam with 125 CCs of power," he recalls wistfully. "I've had about 21 street bikes since then." With his wife and family dog taking turns riding in the sidecar of his bike, Dr Dale made his way along the loop in the summer of 2004. He weaves his philosophical thinking in with the various stops along the way. The real world responsibilities of driving the bike keep him grounded, but it is the metaphorical view from the sidecar that captures his imagination. "The slightly askance viewpoint is surely the one that sees the world," he writes. "I only get glimmerings of the world. I avoid the heavy trucks; I control the general direction, but by doing so I cease to really glimpse the world. But from the sidecar, you sit and see all."

But Dr Dale has resisted the temptation of experiencing that side view. "I have a friend who rides bikes who says I've got to go sit in the sidecar at least once," he laughs. "But I can't because then I'll see the truth and I don't want to know it!"

ETHICAL EXPLORER
The book also addresses the ethical conundrums faced by physicians."The questions coming now in medical ethics are more complex than we have ever seen," says Dr Dale. "In our everyday life as doctors we have to make decisions and take action on them."

This professional necessity to be decisive is one reason why Dr Dale loves to sit back and just doubt. "Sometimes in life you are more certain of things than you should be," he says. "You should re-examine your fundamental beliefs to see where that certainty comes from."

Notes from a Sidecar is a follow up to his 1997 book, Snowshoes And Stethoscopes, about his time practising medicine in the Arctic. But medicine didn't always hold such allure. Dr Dale almost abandoned his medical studies in Ireland to dedicate himself to philosophical pursuits full time. On the advice of his mentor Dr Maurice O'Connor "Con" Drury he remained in medical school and went on to be a general practitioner in Canada's North, found a clinic in Nelson, BC, and serve on the BC medical compensation board for a decade.

"I had a long discussion with [Dr Drury] because I said I was ready to quit medicine to have more time for philosophy, " he says. "He told me his own history of how he got into medicine and how deep and satisfying it is. He said, 'If you just do philosophy, you get too isolated from the human condition.'"