Unfortunately, they do occasionally run a brain-dead, completely unskeptical article promoting some ridiculous New Age or supernatural notion, usually in the Health section. One such article appeared yesterday, an AP Story about "alternative" medicine's reception in Egypt. The article discusses how Egyptians are suspicious of "alternative" medicine. That's good news as far as I'm concerned.
The article contains several ridiculous statements that go unchallenged and unremarked.
Abdel Hayy Holdijk, founder of the Egyptian Society of Homeopathy, said there is an increasing recognition around the world of the limitations of modern medicine and search for alternative or traditional techniques to healing.Yes, an "increasing recognition" by complete dumbasses. I guess he means "limitations of modern medicine" like mapping the human genome, stem-cell research, transplants, non-invasive surgical techniques, and new medicines for everything from high cholesterol to diabetes control. Humans will look back on this time as an incredible age of revolutionary medical discoveries, and these New Age numbnuts would rather place their hands on your stomach to cure your cancer.
For three hours, deep in the bowels of a building where many an Islamist detainee has disappeared, she [the organizer of a New Age festival] described morphogenetics, reiki, star mapping, hemi-sync sound therapy and other techniques - and more importantly why they did not represent a threat to the country.For those not up on "alternative" medicine, here are some definitions taken from websites actually promoting these "treatments":
Morphogenetics - See if you can follow this: "The idea that morphogenetic (form-creating) fields exist. These are spatial and as real as any gravitational or electromagnetic field. They might be called habit patterns of form. An M-field will both order and shape matter--matter in crystal, cell, tissue, organ, whole organism--through morphic resonance. At higher levels morphic resonance can influence behavior and even collective thought. But this resonance will transmit only from like form to like form (rat shape on rat, tree shape on tree). Moreover (and here you must inhale intellectually) M-fields function not just across space but through time as well. Each previous M-field, therefore, is retained in the present. Thus a species' entire formal history will be available to it at all times."
Reiki - Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. . . . A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Many have reported miraculous results. . . . Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always creates a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery.
Star Mapping - Personal Star Mapping reading is for people who are considering moves to other parts of the world in the years to come - for themselves, for their children who are weighing options to enter universities located in different places, or for anyone who's seeking a new direction in career, relationship, creative paths and projects, or wants to know what places will be best for them as we enter the opportunities and challenges of the years from now to 2012. . . . As you can tell from its name, a Star Map combines the features of a map and an astrology chart.
Hemi-sync Sound Therapy - The audio-guidance process works quite simply by sending different sounds (tones) to each ear by stereo headphones. The two hemispheres of the brain then act in unison to "hear" a third signal-the difference between the two tones. This is not an actual sound, but an electrical signal that can only be perceived within the brain by both brain hemispheres working together. The result is a focused, whole-brain state known as hemispheric synchronization, or "Hemi-Sync"- an optimal condition for improving human performance.
Oy. More stupidity than you can sneeze at. Of course, if you do sneeze, these folk can lay their hands on your nose to cure you.
But lest we think the Egyptians are actually being skeptical of this nonsense, the article disabuses us of that notion.
Last time I checked, there are no such things as sorcerers and magic doesn't exist. Of course, these New Age practices are magic, if by magic you mean a total crock of crap, flim-flam, and a scam to fleece the gullible.But a major barrier is the taboo against magic. "Some people are worried that these kinds of practices might slip into magical practices which are forbidden in Islam," he said.
The Quran, Islam's holy book, sharply condemns sorcery - and Muslim clerics often try to stamp out persistent local traditions of magic, ranging from protective amulets that use scraps of Quranic verses to more sinister forms involving animal sacrifice, exorcisms and casting curses. Authorities are often called in to arrest those involved.
In this context, New Age practices like Tarot reading, astrology and even energy-focusing crystals arouse suspicions as well.
"Immediately they think it's magic, it's hocus pocus," said Dr. Amira Abdelkader, a licensed cosmetologist and massage therapist educated in the United States who has opened a wellness center in Cairo.
Most of her work concentrates on more affluent Egyptians familiar with the alternative medicine ideas that treat the whole body rather than just a specific ailment.Yes, because treating specific ailments is so effective and efficient. I hate that.
At last a true word! The people spouting this nonsense CAN tell the truth. I feel so much better now."The [security] guy went through every single person coming to the festival, he wanted to know everything," recalled Mitchell-Egan, an international lecturer who has organized a number of such festivals around the world.
"I had to be so careful what I said. I've never had to use my brain like I did then."
4 comments:
OK - you've picked from the craziest of the crazy pile to highlight here, but really allopathic medicine doesn't have all the answers or even almost all the answers. They do, in fact, make many, many mistakes and one day people are going to look back and say, "They what? Cut people open and removed stuff and they thought THAT was going to work?" Ha ha. Alternative medicine doesn't have to be wacky. Things like a healthy, well-balance diet and exercise can alternatives to a lot of medications. Anything you do that is preventative in nature is not within the realm of allopathic medicine. And, there are practices such as acupunture, massage therapy, even herbalism that have been around for centuries and are quite effective in many instances. And then a bunch of space cadets come along with new-fangled crap that everyone laughs at and that spoils it for ALL alternative health therapies.
"Allopathic" medicine, a term not supported by the modern medical community, is based on science. Of course it doesn't have all the answers and doesn't claim to. For example, we haven't cured cancer yet. But, being based on science, it moves forward as we learn more and more. Since it is based on science, it is the best explanation we have for how the human body works.
There is no such thing as "alternative" medicine. If a treatment or drug works, it's actual medicine. If a particular herb is shown to work, then modern medicine incorporates it. The key, though is actual evidence. Anecdotal evidence doesn't cut it.
A healthy diet and exercise aren't part of "alternative" medicine but a very real component of modern medicine. Why would you say preventative practices aren't part of modern medicine? My doctor (and the modern medical establishment) frequently suggests that diet and exercise will prevent future problems.
I agree that there are varying degrees of plausibility in the "alernative" medicine universe, but Acupuncture has not so far been shown to be effective beyond placebo. And in any event the idea of meridians and energy flow is nonsense. If acupuncture works, then traditional acupuncturists have no idea why it does. If it works, it will be actual "allopathic" doctors who figure out why. Massage therapy may be great for stress relief and the attendant health benefits, but can it cure disease? No way.
You often hear proponents of "alternative" medicine talk about the many, many mistakes made by modern medicine. Of course they make mistakes, because doctors are human and are always operating on limited knowledge. But does this justify turning to non-scientific mumbo jumbo?
If I have a health problem, I'll go with the scientists, the people who have studied the problem and built upon scientific knowledge over time, rather than the holistic, new-agey, can't prove how it works, woo woos every time. Given the track record of modern medicine in curing disease, extending lifespans, cracking the human genome for gosh sakes, I don't think there's any comparison.
Yes, science is great and I'm ever so glad, but not everything can be explained or solved by science. You poo-poo the idea of holistic practice, but no condition or disease exists in isolation -- yet that's how science treats it. The big scientific race to "cure" cancer, for instance, is nuts because they've spent zillions on research while more and more people are getting cancer. Because we're ignoring the big (holisitc) picture. Instead of attacking the disease why not attack the cause of the disease. If I were stricken with something horrible I would certainly go to a doctor to see what he recommends, but I would also do a lot of research on my own and see what other, complementary or alternative options there might be.
Science isn't an institution, science is a method. And it's the absolute best way we have found of understanding the universe. If something is part of the physical universe, science can explain it. That doesn't mean that *we* can right now, but if something is forever inexplicable, it's supernatural and to date, nothing supernatural has been shown to exist.
I'm not sure I understand why you think scientists treat diseases in isolation and aren't looking for the causes of disease. Of course they are. For example, scientists have identified numerous causes of cancer including genetic, environmental, and chemical causes. Products have been pulled from the market once they've been shown to cause cancer. Sure, doctors look for ways to treat existing conditions, but finding the causes of disease is the chief way of preventing them in the future. Witness the virtual eradication of polio and smallpox.
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