In a recent National Football League game, Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback Chris Simms suffered a ruptured spleen. Simms was rushed to the hospital, his spleen was removed, and he is now on the road to recovery. This much talked about injury inspired Robert N. Jenkins of the St. Petersburg Times to declare that Simms, in reality, "didn't need his spleen." In an article called "Humans have body parts to spare," Jenkins went on to pronounce that we also do not need our appendix, gall bladder, tonsils, esophagus, stomach, and adrenal glands because those organs, according to conventional wisdom, are "vestigial."
I'm not here to debate what-if any-human organs are superfluous. What interests me more is the fact that most folks would read Jenkins' article and accept the premises therein without question...and this includes the most cynical lefties you'll ever meet. I know people skeptical enough to think the Foley sex scandal was leaked by Republicans to distract the public from the fiasco in Iraq. But tell those same people that some scientist has declared their spleen obsolete and they're not likely to rush off to post a rebuttal on their blog.
Tell them that Israel attacked Lebanon because two of its soldiers were kidnapped and they'll debunk that story in a flash. But how many of them question, say, the need for humans with a functioning immune system to get vaccinations (laden with formaldehyde, mercury, aluminum, cells from sickened animals, and genetically-altered materials, no less)? Vote counts are routinely disbelieved but nary a peep is heard about the efficacy of animal experimentation (in fact, to focus on such a topic is to invite being labeled "anti-human" by progressives). Folks who don't even think there were humans on the planes that hit the World Trade Center have no problem eating a tomato spliced with flounder genes. Of course, genetically modified foodstuffs are safe. The experts tell us so.
The most jaded, suspicious, disbelieving radicals turn timid upon entering the realm of science and medicine. They readily accept the fluoride in our water, the mercury in our teeth, the animal flesh on our plates, and the electro-magnetic radiation in our cell phones as safe. They trust that Western medicine knows best: Our infallible doctors and scientists know how to fight cancer and diabetes and heart disease, they know what causes diseases like AIDS, and when a man in a white coat writes them a prescription, they swallow both the pill and the rationale. Even the New York Times-the propaganda organ of Corporate America-admits "harmful reactions to medicines, usually attributed to accidental overdoses and allergic reactions, send more than 700,000 Americans to emergency rooms each year." But where are the revolutionary types coming out in support of prevention, healthier lifestyles, and alternative therapies?
Now save yourself the trouble of sending me scathing e-mails to explain why I'm "wrong" about pharmaceuticals or cell phones or any of the above. That's not the point. My very simple question is this: If the heart of being a dissident in America is to reject conventional wisdom and cast doubt on the corporate propaganda being foisted upon us at every turn, why do so many on the Left accept-without protest-the scientific and medical company line?
Makes me wonder if it's the brain that's vestigial.
I feel the breath of fesh air. The absolutely bizarre belief of the people in the power of the Western medicine puzzled me for a long time. As a fellow- liberal I want to say what I think:
1. Western doctors are bad. They can do things they know but they are hopeless when they do not know something.
2. There is no preventive care in the US. The 6-feet under morticians and the doctors are in cahoots.
3.Vaccination is harmful to children in most cases except for the cases of such things as smallpox. But we do not vaccinate from smalpox, funny.
4. Food doctors are quacks.
5.Dentists are criminals. Wisdom teeth must not be removed.
6. Psychiatrists are quacks also.
7. Most of the pharma people are crooks.
8. Whenever I go to the doctor I tell him or her in advance that I do not believe a word they are saying. They get mad but I pay them, right? They always take money.
I could go on and on. But bottomline-not all liberals are mortified by science. Maybe it is because I am an engineer?
P.S. I know, not all the doctors are like that. But a mighty big number, unfortunately.
by
Mark Sashine (54 articles, 19 quicklinks, 252 diaries, 3605 comments)
on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 1:14:54 PM
Yes, there is much to be skeptical about. A little history, or "story." I worked for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment for many years. It was created to supply congress with accurate, objective information and analysis on all issues related to science and technology. Newt Gingrich, when in power, got rid of it -- disturbingly no leading Democraps fought to keep it alive. While there I can attest that I blew the whistle on much false and misleading information coming from industry, special interests and federal agencies. OTA was the most independent congressional agency, ever. No member of any rank could keep us from publishing our work or control our testimony at congressional hearings. That is why it was axed.
by
Joel S. Hirschhorn (133 articles, 37 quicklinks, 60 diaries, 533 comments)
on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 2:14:52 PM
I am in engineerig for 28 years and the way the technical science is treated here by politicians would make the medieval alchemists proud.
1.Pseudo-science, based on just words of nonsense flourish. We have so many 'clean technologies' that it is puzzling why aren't we all in Paradise. In reality those technologies are not clean at all.
2. There is a lot of pseudo- research that is first you create a problem ( like the obesity of the children or mass autism due to medicines) and then you do your best to blame God, liberals, environment or ( what is even more ludicrous) to calmly 'study' those new species on the topic of their new diseases.
3.Technical alchemy like idiotic weaponry, gummy computers, ants, bees, whatever is in abundance. Recently they had ' burning water'.
4. Our 'breakthrough' mentality reminds me of the Soviet hymn where they said that'everything is possible.' Not everyhing, sorry, folks.Please, do not dry the seas as they did.
5. In the everyday life the 'scientific lie' becomes a habit. Like for instance until Y2001 there was a trough which protected Florida from most of the hurricanes. That trough is periodical and it was told at that time that it was supposed to disappear for a while. Now, none of the Y2002-2006 US hurricane official predictions ( I mean Katrina, Vilma, etc) had mentioned that due to the lack of that trough Florida and others in the region were at higher risk. Guess what, maybe the housing boom in Florida was the reason for that?
6. Experts are shunned. I am not even talking Global warming. A hysterical attack on tobacco, for instance totally destroyed the memory that that product is a powerful natural pesticide and can be used that way. But to use corn for ethanol production is OK (that is a beloved baby of many people now and I can understand their good feelings but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions). Meanwhile, we do not care that our tobacco companies poison people in other countries very much so.
7. In the US the foreign studies of the US projects are not mentioned ever. Meanwhile there is a lot of those and they are very-very troublesome in their conclusions. Bottom line- they say that the US engineering cadres are going downhill. In the Katrina time there were technical comparisons published between the levies in New Orleans, London and Amsterdam. It was a nightmare to see our designs.
8. Please, do not mention to me Christ, the Scientist.
9. I have discovered that about 90% of the pretty highly qualified engineers I have met cannot properly write a Second Newton's law and cannot perform the simple calculations on the slide ruler. Oh, my God! I don't want even to think what is the level of technical education of those people who have the nuclear button at their disposal.
10. We here in this country talk a lot about the necessity to educate our children. But our approach to it according to which we want an 'educated moron', that is a skilful worker with extremely low development of critical skills creates monsters like GW or Condolizzard (thanks, Mickey Z). The really educated person, technical or not has to have a systematic way of thinking which immediately means very high level of critical prowess, challenging of authority and independence of mind. That's how you make a citizen. If we do not do that, not only Mars will never be reached by us, but fairly soon the Humanity will erect the wall around us and start a cleaning process.
Amen
by
Mark Sashine (54 articles, 19 quicklinks, 252 diaries, 3605 comments)
on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 3:14:25 PM
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