You gotta kinda like Gentle Ben, if for nothing else than his sheer irreverence in the presence of men of power and influence. He is very much his own man, and floating interesting (if somewhat heretical) hypotheses in the council of his peers may just be his way of thinking out loud. The good doctor is being used not so much for his organization skills (of which he has plenty) but as a sort of sounding board. If the new strategy has the right resonance, it will be adopted, but perhaps a good many of the points raised by Gentle Ben have more to do with trial balloons than with actual moves.
organization skills (of which he has plenty)
I still like him. Having worked with a lot of surgeons, I can tell you it is rare that they are not a tad anti-social. Not all of them, but many. It takes a certain grandiose psychology to have the self confidence to cut on people...especially into their brains. I think Carson acts and thinks like a surgeon.