As an Environmental Scientist (I use the term 'Scientist' quite liberally since I'm only a 'Scientist' in the for-profit consulting sense and not the more admirable for-research sense) who has an interdisciplinary degree covering such subjects as meteorology, geology, hydrology, agronomy, astronomy and even a bit of business, I often times lose touch of certain concepts such as how electricity works. So when I discovered a way to splice furthering my education with psychedelic drug use, I jumped all over it...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Alternative Medicine: Better Take Your Gullibex
Several months back I found myself having a difficult time dealing with some issues and found myself at a desperate end. I even went as far as making an acupuncture appointment despite having no practical knowledge of acupuncture as a therapy of any type or having read any credible peer-reviewed studies. Even though I never followed through with the appointment, this provides a represenative example of capitalistic opportunities through human desperation. I actually just googled acupuncture studies and came across this WaPo article summarizing a study done by the U of Maryland. Accupuncture has anectdotally demonstrated millions of times through the ages its ability to relieve physical symptoms, but guess what?!
1)The mind is a powerful apparatus
2)There is something to the power of positive thought
3)Many people get to positive thought by blind faith in false claims
I'll never forget what my dad told me regarding these magnetic bracelets he wears for his arthritis. "Jake, I don't care if there is proof that magnets relieve pain or if it's just the placebo effect. Frankly, all I'm concerned with is that it works, and it does." I've always said that you have to do what works for you. No one should ever tell a cancer patient that the psychic energy they are receiving from their "healer" is as analogously bogus as bigfoot. However, we should all be aware of charlatans and the damaging illogical fallacies of faith.
What we SHOULD be doing is putting our energies into understanding that:
*THere is no easy way out (wasn't that a song in Rocky montage?)
*Ignorance could be beneficial to your health, but these short-lived benefits far under-weigh the costs to your intellectual development and hence, the perpetuation of an enlightened human race. Oh, as a quick aside, did you know that intelligence has a very proven positive correlation with longevity? Oh oh... and... did you know there is a very concrete negative correlation between intelligence and religiosity? Hmmm...?
Anyway, to give credit where credit is due. One of my favorite blogs is Bad Astronomy, written by Phil Plait, an astronomer and an author. His post on alt medicine, which can be found at the above link, is what motivated my expoundiation. I found two of his quotes particularly pragmatic, compelling and eloquent, which sums this whole mess up better than I ever could.
"A lot of people comment on my blog when I talk about this stuff and call me closed-minded, which makes me chuckle ironically, since most of these people are so anti-science their minds are clamped tight. And in fact I want to test these techniques to separate what works from what doesn’t. "
"My point: when the tests are done, and the technique is shown not to work as promised or even at all, then into the trash bin it goes. That’s science. That’s reality."
"Studies in animals and humans have shown that traditional Chinese
acupuncture releases natural opium-like pain relievers called endorphins, as
well as other chemical messengers, in the brain, spinal cord and pituitary
gland."
HA! Guess where else you can achieve this effect. Um... by cutting yourself or inflicting localized trauma to your body by, oh let's say, tattoos. That is probably why so many people end up getting inked subsequent times.
Alt-therapy is a mutli-billion dollar/year industry, yet the majority of claims are not substantiated by any type of study whatsoever. And, in fact, many studies clearly counter such claims or at least illustrate effects of such therapies as no more efficacious than a placebo. This means that:
1)The mind is a powerful apparatus
2)There is something to the power of positive thought
3)Many people get to positive thought by blind faith in false claims
I'll never forget what my dad told me regarding these magnetic bracelets he wears for his arthritis. "Jake, I don't care if there is proof that magnets relieve pain or if it's just the placebo effect. Frankly, all I'm concerned with is that it works, and it does." I've always said that you have to do what works for you. No one should ever tell a cancer patient that the psychic energy they are receiving from their "healer" is as analogously bogus as bigfoot. However, we should all be aware of charlatans and the damaging illogical fallacies of faith.
What we SHOULD be doing is putting our energies into understanding that:
*THere is no easy way out (wasn't that a song in Rocky montage?)
*Ignorance could be beneficial to your health, but these short-lived benefits far under-weigh the costs to your intellectual development and hence, the perpetuation of an enlightened human race. Oh, as a quick aside, did you know that intelligence has a very proven positive correlation with longevity? Oh oh... and... did you know there is a very concrete negative correlation between intelligence and religiosity? Hmmm...?
Anyway, to give credit where credit is due. One of my favorite blogs is Bad Astronomy, written by Phil Plait, an astronomer and an author. His post on alt medicine, which can be found at the above link, is what motivated my expoundiation. I found two of his quotes particularly pragmatic, compelling and eloquent, which sums this whole mess up better than I ever could.
"A lot of people comment on my blog when I talk about this stuff and call me closed-minded, which makes me chuckle ironically, since most of these people are so anti-science their minds are clamped tight. And in fact I want to test these techniques to separate what works from what doesn’t. "
"My point: when the tests are done, and the technique is shown not to work as promised or even at all, then into the trash bin it goes. That’s science. That’s reality."
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