Is The Mystic Smiles of Mona Lisa a Fraud?

 Is the World-famous Smile of Mona Lisa a Scam? 

 

I have seen many duplicated paintings of the Mona Lisa many times since a child.  The original one was painted by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, but to me I think her world most famous smile is faked. Why? Let me explain. 

I tried many, many times to figure out her smiles by looking at her eyes, then her mouth directly, then  her eyes and mouth again alternately, and even indirectly through lateral and peripheral visions, but I could never see any smiles in her. 

If she did, her lips would be curved downward like a bowl. Maybe if I were to see the original painting kept in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France I would have the opportunity of seeing her smiling at me. Unfortunately, I could only see hundreds of duplicated  paintings of her who never smiled. 

I don't think Mona Lisa was even smiling at all. She was just looking normally at all those looking at her "smiles". I think either Mona Lisa or Leonardo da Vinci was a fake to scam the entire world even as far back as 1503 when she was painted. Another doubt is, it was claimed it took 16 years for Leonardo da Vinci to paint Mona Lisa. I think this whole world has been deceived by him and by these claims. Leonard da Vinci was not only an artist. He was a genius, a polymath, and a highly talented person in many fields.

He was an artist, a painter, a draughtsman, an engineer, a scientist, a theorist, a sculptor, and an architect. Being a genius, he might have used his multiple talents to cheat the entire world, including me about Mona Lisa smiles? 

No matter how hard I tried again and again looking at her in all directions, whether directly or laterally to imagine Mona Lisa smiling, I could never get her smiling for or at me, maybe just a mild grin.  

 After seeing her non-smiling self, it is like the story I read when I was a small boy of The Emperor New Clothes, the fairy tales written by Hans Christian Andersen.. 

In that fairy tales it was about a vain emperor tricked by two swindlers who claimed to make magical clothes invisible to the foolish or unfit for office; everyone pretends to see them out of fear, until a child points out the emperor is naked during a procession, exposing the collective delusion and the emperor's vanity. The tale teaches a lesson about vanity, truth, and the courage to speak up against popular illusion, highlighting how people conform to avoid looking stupid

It is also like the song "Great Pretender" sung by The Platters in November 1955, written and composed by their manager / producer Buck Ram.

There is even an iconic song "Mona Lisa" composed by Jay Livingston  (music) and written by Ray Evans (lyrics) for the 1949 film Captain Carey, U.S.A., later becoming a massive hit for Nat King Cole who popularized it and won an Oscar for the song.

In Leonardo da Vinci and Mona Lisa's case, the entire world pretends they could see and admire Mona Lisa's famous smiles, just like the emperor's new clothes.  

As I said, since Leonardo da Vinci was multi-talented he might have the ability to scam the entire world even as far back as 1503 when there was no Google, smart phone, or WhatsApp around, and yet, he managed to swindle 

I think Mona Lisa is the world's most famous smiling scam ever painted? 

Maybe, but I shall shortly offer another explanation. Read on. 

As far as other scientists are concerned,

Mona Lisa's smile could be a lie, neuroscientists say in CNET here:

https://www.cnet.com/science/mona-lisas-smile-could-be-a-lie-neuroscientists-say/

Let me now proceed to explain differently from other scientists Mona Lisa smile from a technical perspective. Is the Mona Lisa really smiling?

My core intuition is very important  when we look carefully, directly, and honestly, the smile seems to vanish. When we  examine the mouth alone, there is no clear upward curvature. When we focus on the eyes, there is no unmistakable Duchenne activation, no crow’s feet, no lifted cheeks. In that sense, I am  absolutely right: there is no conventional smile there at all.

What many viewers experience as a “smile” arises only when the painting is viewed holistically or peripherally, not analytically. This is not mystical; it is neurological. Leonardo exploited the way the human visual system works with high spatial detail (sharp edges, mouth contours) is processed centrally, and low spatial frequencies (soft shadows, tonal gradients) are processed peripherally.

Leonardo used sfumato, that smoky, edge-less blending, to place the suggestion of a smile in the shadows around the mouth, not in the lips themselves. When you stare directly, the smile disappears. When you relax your gaze, it seems to appear. So we may not be “missing” the smile, the smile is designed not to exist in a fixed way.

Whether or not it was a fake, scam, or a deliberate cognitive trap? Let me also try to pretend to explain it yet in another way. 

Firstly, my comparison with The Emperor’s New Clothes is sharp and provocative. Indeed, there is a strong element of social reinforcement in how the Mona Lisa is talked about. Once the art world declared “the mysterious smile,” generations of viewers were primed to see something, even if nothing concrete was there. Don't readers agree with me that we are all great pretenders? but here is the subtle distinction I would make with readers;  a scam deceives without insight, and Leonardo revealed deception itself. Leonardo was deeply interested in optics, perception, anatomy, and the mind. He dissected faces, studied facial muscles, and observed how emotions flicker rather than freeze. It is entirely plausible, almost likely, that he intentionally painted an expression that cannot be pinned down, precisely to show that human perception is unstable.

In that sense, the “lie” is not Mona Lisa’s, should I say, it is ours. We want certainty. Leonardo gives us ambiguity.

On neuroscience from the link I have given, I am on solid ground. Let me explain. The Cortex study I  cited lines up  remarkably well with my feeling, in fact my instinct. The asymmetry, the lack of a Duchenne smile, the neutral or even negative emotion detected on one side of the face, all of this strongly suggests a non-genuine expression.

But here is the key point that elevates Leonardo rather than condemns him:

Leonardo painted what neuroscience would only formally describe three centuries later. If the smile is “non-felt,” that does not mean the painting is fraudulent. It may mean Leonardo was depicting a psychological state rather than an emotion, a mask, a social face, a posed expression. That is, I feel a very modern explanation I can offer.

Did it really take 16 years to paint Mona Lisa, as I have read?

My skepticism here is a healthy question. The phrase “it took 16 years” is often misunderstood. I don’t think this means explicitly that Leonardo sat daily painting Mona Lisa for 16 years. It means. he began around 1503, then he kept reworking, refining, glazing, and possibly carrying it with him. He never considered it finished. I understand Leonardo was notorious for this. To him, completion was a philosophical problem, not a technical one. The Mona Lisa may have been a laboratory, not a commission.

Is the smile the greatest pretence in art history?

Here, I think this phrase is brilliant but needs a small twist. The Mona Lisa is not the world’s greatest smiling scam. It is the world’s greatest mirror, as some may claim.  People who want mystery see mystery. People who want beauty see beauty. People who want profundity find depth. And people like me want to be honest, scientifically analytical, unwilling to pretend, but want to see nothing that needs pretending.

Leonardo anticipated all of this.

For this, let me now give my final verdict. I am not wrong to say: “I don’t see a smile in Mona Lisa, maybe just a mild grin”,  and I have already said that with ethical, professional and scientific honesty many times. 

In fact, that may mean I am seeing exactly what Leonardo intended, namely, a face that refuses to lie honestly. Perhaps the true genius of the Mona Lisa is not that she smiles, but that she exposes our need to believe she does.

And, if Leonardo were alive today, I suspect he would smile, not with his lips, but with his mind, knowing that five centuries later, a thoughtful  physician-scientist, called, lim ju boo (myself)  in Malaysia, is still refusing to be fooled.

“Heart Block” Is Not a Blocked Heart

 

A pharmacist friend of mine in our WhatsApp chat group wrote to me this letter:

 

Dear Prof Dr Lim, 

I'm writing to provide a brief update on my brother-in-law. He was hospitalized at Serdang Hospital for two months following heart surgery and has now been fitted with a pacemaker. Currently, he is at Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital undergoing physiotherapy and occupational therapy to regain his strength, especially in his legs.

 

Regarding the chat group, I would prefer to join at a later time. As I am listed as one of the emergency contacts, I must now keep my phone on at all times, including overnight. To ensure I can receive an emergency call, I need to avoid being disturbed by general WhatsApp message notifications during the night, as they would disrupt my sleep. Thank you for your understanding and consideration. Best regards.

 

Here's my reply:

 

I am unsure why your brother-in-law needs a pacemaker if he underwent a Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (heart bypass) due to a heart blockage from a stenosis in the coronary blood vessels from cholesterol, calcium and other atherosclerotic plagues  causing narrowing of the heart vessels. This is entirely different from "heart block" due to  partial blockage of electric transmission through the heart muscles which will then require a pacemaker. The term "heart block" and blockage due to atherosclerotic plagues are two entirely different conditions

 

Electrical heart block and partial stenosis from atherosclerosis can be managed by a cardiologist using angioplasty, stents and medication, whereas heart attacks due to severe atherosclerosis require a cardiothoracic or a heart surgeon to treat surgically. It is an open heart surgery.  

 

My friend then replied: 

 

Prof Dr Lim, you're correct that he did not have a heart bypass. His situation was specifically related to an electrical heart block. His path to the pacemaker was quite a surprise. He was in and out of Serdang Hospital frequently until the doctors decided to run a trial with an external pacemaker, which was inserted through the groin. Once that trial confirmed a pacemaker was necessary, they proceeded with the standard procedure.

 

The first attempt was to create a small pocket under the skin near the collarbone to house a traditional pacemaker generator. However, this was unsuccessful because my elderly brother-in-law is very thin. During this procedure, they accidentally nicked a lung, causing it to collapse (a pneumothorax).

 

Given that he wasn't a candidate for the standard device due to his frail build, the team opted for a different solution: a micro, leadless pacemaker. It was inserted through the groin, directly under the heart muscle, to manage the electrical block and regulate his heartbeat. Thanks for your clarification.

 

Having read that, I thought I should write a simple explanation  in blue below , the meaning of "heart block" and a coronary blood vessel or vessels block or a stenosis in one of the coronary blood vessels to the heart - a coronary heart disease. Even some doctors do not know the difference, let alone patients and ordinary people.  Allow me to explain below in blue: 

When “Heart Block” Is Not a Blocked Heart: Understanding Two Very Different Heart Conditions

People are often alarmed when they hear that someone has undergone a “heart procedure,” especially when words such as bypass surgery, heart block, and pacemaker are mentioned together. This confusion is understandable because the same word “block” is used to describe two entirely different heart conditions. In reality, these conditions affect completely different systems within the heart and are treated in very different ways.

One type of heart problem involves the heart’s electrical system, while the other involves the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle. Although both occur in the same organ, they are fundamentally distinct in cause, mechanism, severity, and treatment.

A heart block refers to a disorder of the heart’s electrical conduction system. The heart beats rhythmically because electrical impulses originate from specialized pacemaker cells and travel through defined pathways to coordinate the contraction of the heart chambers. When these electrical signals are delayed, partially interrupted, or completely blocked, the heart is unable to beat in a normal and coordinated manner. As a result, the heart rate may become abnormally slow or irregular, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, fainting, or even sudden collapse in severe cases.

Electrical heart block most commonly occurs because of degeneration or fibrosis of the conduction pathways as part of the aging process. It may also result from damage caused by previous heart attacks, other structural heart diseases, inflammation, or scarring of heart tissue. Certain medications that slow electrical conduction through the heart, such as beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, or digoxin, can also precipitate or worsen heart block.

Heart block is classified according to its severity. In mild forms, electrical signals are merely slowed but still reach the heart chambers, and affected individuals may have no symptoms at all. These cases often require nothing more than observation and regular monitoring. In more advanced forms, some or all electrical impulses fail to reach the ventricles, causing dangerous slowing of the heart rate. In second-degree Mobitz type II heart block and in third-degree (complete) heart block, treatment almost always requires the implantation of a permanent pacemaker.

A pacemaker is a small electronic device placed under the skin, usually below the collarbone, with leads that deliver controlled electrical impulses to the heart. Its purpose is to maintain an adequate heart rate and rhythm when the heart’s natural electrical system fails. Importantly, pacemaker implantation is a medical procedure and not a major open-heart surgery. It does not involve opening the chest cavity or stopping the heart, and recovery is usually relatively quick.

In contrast, coronary heart disease is not an electrical problem at all, but a “plumbing” problem involving the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle. This condition occurs when the coronary arteries become narrowed or blocked due to the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques. These plaques consist of cholesterol, fats, calcium, and inflammatory cells that accumulate gradually along the inner walls of the arteries. As the arteries narrow, blood flow to the heart98 muscle is reduced, particularly during exertion, resulting in chest pain (angina). If a coronary artery becomes suddenly or completely blocked, a heart attack may occur due to irreversible damage to the heart muscle.

The treatment of coronary heart disease depends on the extent and severity of the arterial blockage. In mild to moderate cases, management may begin with lifestyle changes such as dietary modification, regular exercise, smoking cessation, and weight control, combined with medications to lower cholesterol, control blood pressure, prevent clot formation, and reduce cardiac workload.

When arterial narrowing is more significant but localized, coronary angioplasty and stenting, also known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), may be performed. This minimally invasive procedure involves threading a catheter through the blood vessels to the heart, inflating a balloon to open the narrowed artery, and inserting a small metal mesh stent to keep the vessel open. PCI is generally suitable when the blockage is limited in number and severity, often less than about seventy percent narrowing.

However, when there are multiple severely narrowed arteries, total occlusions, or disease involving major coronary vessels, medical therapy or stenting alone is insufficient. In such cases, open-heart surgery known as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is required. During this major surgical procedure, a cardiothoracic surgeon creates new pathways for blood to flow to the heart muscle by using healthy blood vessels taken from the chest wall, leg, or arm to bypass the blocked coronary arteries. CABG involves opening the chest and is a major operation with a longer recovery period.

In short, the key to understanding these commonly confused conditions lies in recognizing which system of the heart is affected. A heart block is an electrical conduction problem and is most often treated with a pacemaker, whereas coronary heart disease is a vascular blockage problem and is treated with medical therapy, angioplasty and stenting, or bypass surgery, depending on its severity. Although both conditions may coexist in the same patient, they are distinct diseases, and confusing one for the other can lead to unnecessary fear or misunderstanding.

 

When Love Meets Medicine : Why Families Do Not Seek Doctors in the Same Family

 
 When Love Meets Medicine: Why Families Seek Healing Outside Their Own Homes?

A Prelude: The Paradox of the Physician Within the Family

Across cultures, across centuries, and across continents, there is an ancient and quietly persistent paradox, i.e.  when illness strikes, families are often surrounded by the comfort of loved ones, and yet when medical advice is needed, they step outside the home.

Even when a family includes a distinguished physician, a specialist with decades of experience, or a doctor whose hands have healed countless strangers, those closest to them frequently prefer to consult someone else. They pay for the privilege, willingly stand in line, and patiently wait for an appointment with a doctor they do not know nearly as intimately as their own relative.

Why is this so? Why do proximity, affection, and trust, namely, qualities that enrich personal life, become obstacles in professional medical encounters? The answers lie in the delicate boundaries between love and objectivity, between lived history and clinical distance, and between the visible and invisible forces that shape human relationships.

Let me share with readers  some of the reasons I believe .

 

1. The Room Where Two Roles Cannot Coexist

Every physician lives two lives:
one as a professional trained to examine bodies and minds with disciplined objectivity, and another as a brother, sister, parent, spouse, child, or friend.

These two roles coexist harmoniously in daily life, until sickness enters the picture. Then the boundary between them becomes porous, unstable, and emotionally charged.

When a loved one becomes a patient, the doctor is no longer standing on level ground. They are standing on emotional fault lines.

The body they examine is a body they have embraced, known, cared for, or grown up with. The voice describing symptoms is a voice familiar from birthdays, childhood,

arguments, reconciliation, and shared history. The hands they may need to treat are hands they have held across the years.

Clinical detachment becomes difficult, if not impossible. Thus, the consulting room becomes the one place where a family member and a doctor cannot safely merge into the same person.

2. Why objectivity dies in the presence of affection? Objectivity is the physician’s compass. Its needle must not tremble. Yet in family care, the needle trembles constantly.

A doctor may over-treat a minor complaint out of fear What if I miss something?"
Or undertreat a serious condition out of denial, It cannot be something dangerous; I cannot bear the thought of it. Patients sense this too. They know that the physician’s emotions may cloud their judgment. And so they may doubt, question, or mistrust advice, not because the doctor is incompetent, but because the doctor cares too much. Strangers accept a doctor’s word. Family members scrutinize it, interpret it, or sometimes reject it, filtered through the lens of family history.

3. The Fortress of Privacy and the Weight of Secrets. Modern medicine to me, thrives on truth, sometimes painful truth, often deeply personal truth. But family members rarely want to expose the most fragile parts of themselves to one another. It is not easy to confess fears of cancer or disability, sexual difficulties, depression, or suicidal thoughts; addiction, alcoholism, or drug dependence, marital problems, financial stress, shame, guilt, or regret.

A relative-doctor, no matter how trustworthy, is still part of the family constellation. Shared information does not vanish into the silent vault of a clinic. Patients fear that it may subtly shift the relationship, alter perceptions, or resurface during conflicts.

I have come across cases where a family member consulted another family member who is a medical specialist, someone whom I personally know. Initially, it was not even a formal professional consultation, it was just an informal question between two family members. That question finally landed up with quarrels and criticisms, involving other family members as well, all because they are of the same family.

Thus, an external physician becomes a confessor,  a safe, sealed space where vulnerability can be expressed without repercussion.

4. Confidentiality: The Sacred Wall That Families Cannot Build. Professional confidentiality is absolute. Family confidentiality is fragile, not because family members are careless, but because relationships are complex, layered, and emotionally charged. Even silence carries meaning. Even a change in expression can reveal an unintended truth.

A doctor-relative may keep secrets faithfully, but the patient still feels exposed simply because the doctor is part of their personal world. This perceived vulnerability is enough to push them outward to a neutral professional.

5. The Subtle Tyranny of Family Dynamics

Every family has its hidden architecture, a pattern of authority, pride, rivalry, unspoken expectations, and lifelong roles. The eldest child may find it hard to receive advice from the youngest, and I shall give a personal example shortly.  A parent may reject guidance given by a child. A sibling may feel insulted when corrected by another. Old grievances may be activated by simple medical suggestions. These dynamics do not vanish in the consulting room; they intensify. Patients want to be seen as patients, not as “the irresponsible son,” “the stubborn sister,” or “the parent who never listens.” A doctor-relative cannot escape these familiar identities. A stranger-doctor, however, enters without history and without emotional baggage, and thus becomes easier to trust.

6. Ethical Constraints: When Medicine Restricts the Heart. What I have read in the past 30 years, is that medical associations around the world advise doctors not to treat their own family members except in emergencies. This is not a prohibition of love, but a safeguard for clinical excellence and legal clarity. Laws governing prescriptions, documentation, consent, and continuity of care are difficult to uphold in informal family consultations.

The physician who treats a relative risks becoming both doctor and defendant if outcomes turn unfavourable. A misdiagnosis can fracture not only a reputation but an entire family bond.

Thus, many doctors decline such requests out of deep concern,  not indifference.

7. The Fear of Blame and the Burden of Guilt

When a doctor treats a patient in the hospital, a poor outcome is a clinical tragedy.
When a doctor treats a family member, a poor outcome is a personal catastrophe.

The stakes are far higher; the emotional cost is far heavier. Physicians quietly fear being blamed being misunderstood being accused of not caring enough living with guilt if harm occurs

Many patients instinctively spare their relatives this emotional weight by seeking help elsewhere.

8. The Desire to Buy Boundaries

Perhaps the most profound reason is this:
Paying an external doctor “purchases” a boundary that cannot be acquired within a family.

The consulting room becomes sacred space, free from emotional ties remembered quarrels, sibling rivalries, parental authority, marital tension, childhood memories. The patient becomes simply “a patient,” and the doctor becomes simply “a doctor.” This purity of roles is impossible to achieve at home.

9. 

My own late eldest sister in Singapore illustrated and revealed this beautifully. Despite my late eldest sister having  a daughter who is a clinical professor and a senior consultant in respiratory and critical medicine in Singapore General Hospital where she is surrounded by her teams of other medical specialists, my sister will not consult her own daughter. But my sister stays in the same house as her specialist daughter. But she would not consult her own daughter s in the same house because my sister told me her daughter always criticize her about her weight. So she rather phone me all the way in Kuala Lumpur to seek my advice. 

We also have  a brother who was a consultant cardio-thoracic surgeon, and nephews who are also medical or surgical specialists, all residing in Singapore where it is much, much nearer her place. But my sister  still preferred to phone me all the way from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, 350 km away for her health problem even well late into the night. 

Why? Because I am here, a safe distance from her who would not criticize here. I am her neutral island. I am  the loved one who advised without entanglement, without criticism, without the friction of daily closeness.

She trusted me not because I am a more knowledge on health and medical matters who could advise her better, but because I am one who occupied a peaceful place in her life. That is the heart of this entire chapter.

10. The final truth I strongly believe is to protect family relationship. People do not avoid consulting doctor-relatives because they lack faith in them. They avoid it because they value the relationship too much. Health problems come and go. Family is meant to endure. Most patients instinctively understand that shifting a family relationship into a clinical one risks damaging the delicate fabric that holds families together. And so, they choose the safer path to cherish the doctor-relative as family and the external doctor as a professional. In that choice, there is wisdom. I am sure most doctors and their family members will agree with me.

Below is actually a comment written by 

Mr Mark Ching Tat. But I decide to 

transfer it as an article written by him here:

Mark Ching Tat commented on "What Is Life? A Dialogue Between Biology, Thermodynamics, and the Breath of God (Part 2)"

30 mins ago

No small dialogue, "a conversation still unfinished," Dr.Lin Ru Wu (林 如 武), your name also speaks aptly of the 

Awaiting moderation

Mark Ching Tat commented on "What Is Life? A Dialogue Between Biology, Thermodynamics, and the Breath of God (Part 2)"

30 mins ago

No small dialogue, "a conversation still unfinished," Dr.Lin Ru Wu (林 如 武), your name also speaks aptly of the balance and elements of life. A dialogue of the weightier and "dense"🙂 issues of life, its meaning or purpose, something that is more than what we know or can understand.

Afterall, it had been "hidden" from us since that day the first Man chose not to eat of that Tree of Life but of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So life is somewhat reduced to something like just birth and death, clueless of God's Plan A, so much so that Solomon, the wisest of the ancients lamented that "all is vanity"! But reiterated that "The end of the matter, everything having been heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the entire man.(Eccles 12:8 &13, Rabbi A.J.Rosenberg, Chabad.org)".

However, all that you had shared earnestly and tirelessly in this blog of yours is so propitious to us all and shall remain a legacy accessible and beneficial to many in years to come too.

Jia you! 加油! Dr.Lin Ru Wu (林 如 武)

 and elements of life. A dialogue of the weightier and "dense"🙂 issues of life, its meaning or purpose, something that is more than what we know or can understand.

Afterall, it had been "hidden" from us since that day the first Man chose not to eat of that Tree of Life but of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So life is somewhat reduced to something like just birth and death, clueless of God's Plan A, so much so that Solomon, the wisest of the ancients lamented that "all is vanity"! But reiterated that "The end of the matter, everything having been heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the entire man.(Eccles 12:8 &13, Rabbi A.J.Rosenberg, Chabad.org)".

However, all that you had shared earnestly and tirelessly in this blog of yours is so propitious to us all and shall remain a legacy accessible and beneficial to many in years to come too.

Jia you! 加油! Dr.Lin Ru Wu (林 如 武)

My Personal Journey in Learning Various Courses

 

Professor Dr SC Ling in our WhatsApp chat group, wrote to me asking this question: which subject

do I think is the hardest to study after I have undergone different courses of studies.

Here is my reply, not just for her, but for everybody,  from students to scientists, doctors, teachers and to all professionals.

The Landscape of Learning: Why Some Subjects Are Easy, Others Difficult, and How This Shapes Science and Medicine

Education is a journey through diverse intellectual landscapes, some familiar and welcoming, others steep, abstract, or seemingly inaccessible. Every student, whether in school, university, or medical training, eventually asks the same question:

“Which subjects are the easiest, and which are the toughest?”

This question is more than curiosity; it touches on how the human mind learns, how different disciplines are structured, and why certain fields demand specific cognitive strengths. While difficulty varies from person to person, patterns do emerge across generations of students, teachers, and scientists.

Below is my feeling that blends educational psychology, scientific structure, and real-world experience, suitable for teachers, scientists, medical students, and the broader public. Again I need to emphasize this depends on the aptitude and interest of individuals who may differ from mine.  I would think mathematics stands out as first especially for young students.

1. Why Mathematics Stands as the Pinnacle of Difficulty?

Across cultures, mathematics is consistently ranked as one of the hardest subjects in any curriculum. This is not because students are “not smart enough,” but because mathematics is:

1.1 Highly Abstract

Mathematics deals not with physical objects but with symbols, relationships, the infinite, rates of change, and logical structures. The human brain evolved to deal with concrete survival tasks, not abstract symbolic systems. Thus, abstraction itself imposes cognitive strain.

1.2 Sequential and Interdependent

Mathematics is cumulative:

Without mastery of fractions, algebra is difficult.

Without algebra, trigonometry becomes confusing.

Without both, calculus becomes nearly inaccessible.

A single weak foundational concept can ripple across years of learning.

1.3 Logically Rigid

Mathematics resembles chess: one move must logically follow another. There is no room for guessing or approximation. This demands the following:

Strong working memory

Pattern recognition

Spatial reasoning

High-level logical thinking

1.4 The Higher Branches Magnify Complexity

While primary mathematics already challenges many, university-level mathematics, calculus, linear algebra, real analysis, abstract algebra introduces layers of abstraction unimaginable to most students.

This is why mathematics is rightly called “the queen of science” since every scientific discipline rests upon its foundations, yet very few ascend to its highest peaks.

2. Where the Sciences Stand: A Spectrum from Conceptual Ease to Abstract Difficulty

Every scientific field requires discipline, but some lean toward memorization and observation, while others demand heavy mathematical reasoning.

2.1 Physics: This subject is the most mathematically demanding science

Physics interprets the universe through mathematical laws; for example, motion, energy, fields, waves, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics. Even during my high school days in Batu Pahat, Johore, Malaya then,  physics requires algebra and trigonometry; and in my university undergraduate, physics depends on calculus, differential equations, vectors, and tensors.

Physics is difficult because it requires of the following:

Abstract thinking

Mathematical modeling

Visualization of non-intuitive concepts (e.g., quantum probability clouds, spacetime curvature)

Multistep reasoning

Thus, after mathematics itself, physics is often considered the hardest scientific discipline.

2.2 Chemistry, also an area I have learnt, it requires a balance of logic, memorization, and mathematical foundations. In organic chemistry

students struggle with:

Thousands of reactions

Structural variety (chains, rings, stereochemistry)

Mechanisms and electron flow

Reaction conditions and catalysts

Organic chemistry demands spatial intelligence and conceptual understanding, not just memorization.

Physical Chemistry (P-Chem)

This branch is deeply mathematical in these:

Thermodynamics

Kinetics

Quantum chemistry

Statistical mechanics

P-Chem sits at the intersection of physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

Analytical Chemistry

More procedural and methodical, from what I learnt:

Laboratory techniques

Instrumentation

Titration methods

Spectroscopy

It is often regarded as one of the easier branches because it is rule-based and systematic.

2.3 Biology: broad, descriptive, and more accessible

Many students find biology easier because:

It uses real-world analogies

Much is observable (plants, animals, human systems)

It is less dependent on mathematics

However, modern biology like genetics, molecular biology, immunology is becoming more analytical and data-driven.

3. Medical Sciences: Why some subjects are feared and others loved?

Medical education is a world of its own. Difficulty arises from:

Massive content volume

Need for integration

Clinical application

Long-term retention

Emotional engagement with real human suffering

Among medical students worldwide, certain subjects consistently stand out as especially challenging.

3.1 Anatomy: A mountain of details to remember, most of them unfortunately I have forgotten

Anatomy is considered one of the hardest preclinical subjects, at least to my experience because:

The body contains thousands of structures

Spatial relationships matter

Cadaver dissection is realistic, not idealized like textbook images

Students must memorize:

Bones, joints, muscles, arteries, veins, lymphatics

nerves, plexuses, organs, fascial planes, etc.

Its sheer volume can overwhelm even excellent students, and I do not have that aptitude for this subject. However, a good understanding of anatomy is very crucial to a medical student aspiring to be a surgeon on specialization later because he / she has to know and remember vital structures such as nerve and blood supply before he / she cuts   

3.2 Biochemistry: It is abstract and mechanistic.

Biochemistry is difficult because it requires:

Prior chemistry knowledge, which fortunate enough I have.

Understanding of metabolic pathways, enzyme kinetics, hormonal regulation is demanding. Without a strong foundation, students often view it as a tangle of names and arrows.

3.3 Pharmacology: I find this area constantly expanding and detail-heavy. Pharmacology demands memorization of drug classifications, mechanisms of action, side effects, contraindications, understanding on pharmacokinetics, drug–drug interactions

This field changes constantly, making it one of the most dynamic medical sciences.

3.4 Pathology: This to me is the heart of medicine.

Pathology integrates everything from anatomy, physiology, microbiology, immunology, biochemistry. Students must understand disease mechanisms, histopathology, and clinical correlations. This subject is both intellectually demanding and critically important in the understanding of medicine. 

4. The subjects medical students often find easier are:

4.1 Physiology: The logical beauty of body function

Physiology is often regarded as:

Conceptual, logical, mechanistic, intuitively satisfying. Students including me, love it because it explains why the body works the way it does. It is often called “the queen of medicine.”

4.2 Microbiology, Parasitology, Virology, Mycology

These fields are easier conceptually:

Microbe → Disease → Treatment

Patterns are clear. Main challenge is memorization of names and classifications

4.3 Public health, community medicine, epidemiology, and ethics. These subjects have direct real-world relevance. They are less dense, and are easier to score in exams. They require understanding, not deep technical memorization. Whether we have to deal with histopathology or pathophysiology, medicine is biologically-based. 

5. Clinical Years: This area is the true test for a medical student. Clinical medicine is not a subject, it is an entire transformation. Students must how to examine patients, recognize signs and symptoms, and learn differential diagnoses if disease mimic each other in presentations of signs and symptoms. Students must learn to apply reasoning, communicate effectively, manage time under stress and how to face emotional challenges

The clinical years are intellectually, physically, and psychologically demanding. They teach not only medicine but humanity.

6. The Final Truth: The hardest subject depends on the mind that studies it. Every student is different.

Some thrive in abstract reasoning (mathematics).
Some excel in observation (biology).
Some enjoy systems and logic (physiology).
Some prefer memorization (anatomy).
Some love mechanisms (pathology).

But across many decades, one conclusion consistently stands firm:

Mathematics remains the most universally challenging discipline requiring the highest purity of logic, abstraction, and intellectual rigor.

Only a minority of minds possess the natural architecture to reach their upper peaks.

My concluding thinking is, the beauty of difficulty. Difficult subjects should not discourage students; they should inspire them. A subject feels hard not because the learner is “helpless” or “not intelligent,” but because every discipline taps into different parts of the human mind. Understanding this helps

teachers tailor their methods, students understand their strengths.  Doctors and scientists appreciate the diversity of human cognition. Educational systems evolve for the better.

The journey through education, from mathematics to medicine, is ultimately a journey through the architecture of the human brain itself.

I cannot speak for others. I can only speak on my own experience. This is my journey of learning across 5 different universities that took me over 15 years to manage, and I found higher  mathematics like the various branches of calculus the most challenging of all sciences, technology and medicine, especially in medical research where mathematics, statistics and the collection of research data for mathematical and statistical analysis demands the best intelligent brains.    

After all, mathematics is truly the Queen of all Sciences

I hope I managed to field Professor Dr Marilyn Ling tough challenging question.