I figured it would be a good idea just to have a post about what
I’ve been doing lately and some cool links to cool stuff.
Good news is I’m heading back to Sydney from the 9th-14th
of February for the wedding of my good friend Kyle, and his lovely fiancé Jane.
I’m really looking forward to seeing some friends again. I’ve really been
feeling the isolation in Ballarat, even with the assistance of some very good
people (Snitch and Netna <3 )
My dear wife is in the same boat, but has work commitments, and an
interruption at such a time she feels wouldn’t serve her well. She’s working
really hard. I’m very proud of her.
I’ve been getting super fit, and have been trying to really push
myself physically. I feel great, but I need to learn to slow down a little. The
intensity is taking its toll. I’m enjoying it though, as I’ve never really been one
to own my own fitness. Also it saves me from the boredom. I have too much spare
time and not enough discipline to use it well. It hasn’t been all bad but I’m
looking forward to finding some work and beginning university. I have
orientation next week.
Pumped for FutureMusic! Skrillex, Knife party, Fatboyslim....the list goes on.
A few interesting things I’ve stumbled across lately:
The following are courtesy of the lovely Aisha Strand;
chiropractic extraordinaire!
This talk got me thinking about the effect of the mind on the
body, naturalism, and identity and all things related. I particularly liked the
way he talked about observation. I’m always for the scientific method, but for
things that are difficult to quantify there always needs to be an open mind.
Things exist whether we’re capable of measuring them or not. Bit weird but lots of thoughts on this one.
This article just validated many of my suspicions regarding the medical system.
It’s broken, and there is so much room for improvement. Exciting for people
like my wife though, as there’s a lot of room for her to bring initiative.
I’d recommend checking out the latest by song writer/singer Sarah Mclennen:
She’s off to New York to
get famous.
Interesting personal
documentary about people with Intersex conditions.
Oldie but a goodie.
appeared in my head, out
of nowehere….
Those are some interesting links.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the first link (I haven't listened to the whole thing), however, I fail to see how what he is talking about falls outside of the scientific method. It would appear to me that he is discussing certain psychological phenomenon which would be very open to scientific testing and exploration. I think that the theory he is presenting would benefit significantly from such scrutiny as otherwise there is the tendency for it to be based too strongly on the specific case-studies he cites, and you can prove anything you want through case-studies.
Also, regarding the second link, it has been my experience that the types of things that are talked about in that article (non-evidenced based practice) is quite a large problem in the medical areas. However, I think that it is important to remember that (like this article says) the answer to this problem is a greater emphasis on bringing maths, statistics and the scientific method into these areas. From my understanding of Chiro (and my own experience with speech pathology) these areas suffer from similar issues with treatments being used, which have not been tested appropriately. As far as I can see one of the difficulties with effectively testing the treatments of these areas (Chiro, Speech Path etc.) is the difficulty in creating a good control group. This makes it very difficult to differentiate placebo effects from any 'real' treatment effects. This difficulty is not present in many drug trials as they are able to create a control group through the use of a sugar pill.
Anyway, further scientific testing of treatments in all health areas is something which I think should be encouraged.
That was more or less what I meant, although I haven't been succinct about it. I use 'an Open Mind' as an invitation to scrutinize and bring in the science. I was presumptuous in assuming that many take a lack of previous scientific testing in an area as a basis upon which to dismiss it. Probably a result of my exposure to much of the conflict between the different health worlds, namely chiro and medicine, on which both side has offenders.
ReplyDeleteOn the second link, I agree entirely. My point was more that someone like Bec is striving, albeit imperfectly to consistently used evidence based practice, statistics and the such, and as someone looking for a challenge in the health industry, she is fortunate because there are many to choose from. As would be true of speech pathology too I imagine.