Saving Evolution
Medicine

“The sad truth is that many scientists believe they have the sole method for understanding the workings of the natural world. [Artist Jackie Brookner] has discovered more about moss establishment on rock than any scientist I know.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer in Gathering Moss We late moderns have come a long way. Public education that […]

I had moved from my home in Southern Oregon to see if my worsening health might be due to allergies. After moving, I felt better and safer, but the problem that had bothered me came with me: it was not a result of allergy. Worse, I broke my right fibula and then ruptured my Achilles […]

Ed. Note: In the post below, Jenny Miller of stopndd.org shares activities for children that can offset “nature deficit disorder” as framed by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods. Outdoor time in healthy habitats can also benefit pregnant women and children who are suffering exposure to chemically contaminated environments, as recommended in the […]

“If men in their greed cut forests that preserve and distill moisture, clear fields, take the shelter of trees from creeks and rivers, [and] drain the water from swamps so that they can be cleared and cultivated, they prevent vapor from rising. And if it does not rise, it cannot fall.” – Gene Stratton-Porter, quoted […]

“[We have] excessive confidence in what we believe we know, [and an] apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in.” – Daniel Kahneman in Thinking, Fast and Slow Imagine that you have been invited to be part of a dietary study that involves all […]

“When you believe in things you don’t understand, you suffer / Superstition ain’t the way.” – Stevie Wonder in “Superstition” Briefly, scientism is worshipping the tools and trappings of science—in short, the idolatry of the Trojan Horse, the golden calf, or outdated scientific methods. Let’s take a closer look. According to my 1981 Macquarie Dictionary, […]

“Many at Restart described it as a vicious cycle of depression and screen-enabled dopamine feedback loops.” – Charlie Warzl in “Inside How A 12-Step Recovery Program For Social Media Addiction Works” Buzzfeed News It’s amazing how much we late moderns love molecular narratives that incorporate neurotransmitters, and equally amazing how the devices in front of […]

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein In teaching statistics and statistical analysis, we introduce a number of assumptions that tend to take on a life of their own. Events are random or can be treated as such. If something is unusual enough, we can take that as […]

“Knowledge of perception and ignorance about decision theory both contributed to a large step forward in our research.” – Daniel Kahneman The body—miracle that it is—can do some things but not others. For this reason, whatever misfortunes may befall the body, one or another organ system will fail in a way that we call a […]

“The main reason that decision theorists study simple gambles is that this is what other decision theorists do.” – Daniel Kahneman All diagnoses are clinical. Despite late modern efforts to systemize medicine as an industrial or IT product, medicine remains a living, evolving art that engages body, being, becoming, and doing. Rigorous thinking is helpful […]

“I noticed soon after we ate, they went into the desert, emptied their bowels, and it did not have the strong smell that is associated with waste matter in our lifestyle.” Marlo Morgan If you live in Australia or in one of the New Age capitols of the world, or if you have an acute […]

“In science as in religion the truth shines ahead as a beacon showing us the path; we do not ask to attain it, it is better far that we be permitted to seek it.” – Sir Arthur Eddington in Science and the Unseen World Symptoms are your friends. They tell you when something is wrong. […]

“I think that we largely use this idealized notion of humans as coming with a fixed, uniform biological profile… but the copious evidence for human adaptation at the biological level to different diets, behaviors, and ecologies needs to be considered more seriously.” – Damián Blasi Big-picture thinking has always challenged humans; perhaps that accounts for […]

“Investigators will have to focus on the scientific quality of the evidence, and lesson the statistic methods… recalling the old adage that statistics are like a bikini bathing suit: what is revealed is interesting; what is concealed is crucial.” – Dr. Alvan Feinstein Even archaeologists are using big data. Centurions and those who followed them […]

“Where bad means are used to achieve a worthy end, the goal actually reached is never the good end originally proposed, but merely the inevitable consequence of using bad means.” – Aldous Huxley You can start by declaring the radical experiment of wireless transmissions a failure. This hurts. The truth hurts. The gambler’s fallacy won’t […]

“In Potowatami and most other indigenous languages, we use the same words to address the living world as we use for our family. Because they are our family.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer If you belong to one of the up-and-coming tribes ready for a piece of the pie, you may not be glad to hear […]

“Most of the meetings of Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous take place online, which is more sensible than it sounds. Colloquy via a web-based conference call might help tech burnouts clear the first hurdle in recovery: asking for help.” – Virginia Hefferman in “Breaking my Phone Addiction—Via My Phone“ in Wired Having been born mid-century, […]

“While many of us may feel like we have unhealthy relationships with the screens, notifications, and platforms in our lives, the very concept of technology addiction is controversial.” – Charlie Warz in Inside How A 12-Step Recovery Program For Social Media Addiction Works Buzzfeed News Doctors don’t recognize technology addiction for the simple reason that […]

“Good technologies have few costs in the imaginary world we inhabit, bad technologies have no benefits, and all decisions are easy.” – Daniel Kahneman in Thinking, Fast and Slow In the 1984 world of George Orwell, which was supposedly smashed by Apple in its landmark Super Bowl commercial, Orwell foreshadows video mind control with “Newspeak,” […]

“All of us must be alert to that greatest of all limitations to wisdom: the assumption.” – Bruce Pascoe in Dark Emu When I first modified a home for poison mitigation, my electrician used the accessible and affordable trifold meter available on Amazon to assess non-ionizing radiation levels in the home. At first, he couldn’t […]