There is only one real currency and that is kindness. And unlike money its supply is limitless.
Photo by Bahman Farzad
Friday, February 5, 2016
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Western Medicine
Medical scientific knowledge for the most part relies on statistics. All scientific papers use statistical analysis to draw conclusions about its data. Western medicine essentially derives all its management protocols from the results derived by number manipulations.
If you can't see why this is such a big problem here is an analogy to illustrate it. Imagine an android from the planet Vulcan visit Earth to make a movie. Vulcan is a planet of which all its inhabitants function solely on logic and mathematical probabilities.
This android would begin to analyze how to make a great movie by first gathering the best 100 movies of all time according to some list. Then he would devise various quantitative parameters to measure each movie, such as the number of words spoken, how long each movie lasts, how many male and female characters are in each movie, and so on. Finally he would put all his collected data through rigorous statistical analysis and come up with a set of criteria on what a great movie should have. His definition of a great movie would be something like "it must last 2.05 hours, it must have 11,529 words spoken, it must have a ratio of 2.3:1 of male to female characters, etc..."
Patient management in western medicine always involves some sort of quantitative parameters. Normal vital signs of patients consist of a heart rate of 80 bpm, blood pressure of 120/80 and respiration rate of 12 per minute. More than 2 standard deviations from the normal values are considered abnormal. All lab tests has normal values. All tumor markers have designations of low, moderate, and high. Given the high patient loads doctors have nowadays, today patient management has become essentially lab values management.
We think making a movie based on quantitative analysis is ridiculous, yet we have no objection to having our health evaluated the same way.
If you can't see why this is such a big problem here is an analogy to illustrate it. Imagine an android from the planet Vulcan visit Earth to make a movie. Vulcan is a planet of which all its inhabitants function solely on logic and mathematical probabilities.
This android would begin to analyze how to make a great movie by first gathering the best 100 movies of all time according to some list. Then he would devise various quantitative parameters to measure each movie, such as the number of words spoken, how long each movie lasts, how many male and female characters are in each movie, and so on. Finally he would put all his collected data through rigorous statistical analysis and come up with a set of criteria on what a great movie should have. His definition of a great movie would be something like "it must last 2.05 hours, it must have 11,529 words spoken, it must have a ratio of 2.3:1 of male to female characters, etc..."
Patient management in western medicine always involves some sort of quantitative parameters. Normal vital signs of patients consist of a heart rate of 80 bpm, blood pressure of 120/80 and respiration rate of 12 per minute. More than 2 standard deviations from the normal values are considered abnormal. All lab tests has normal values. All tumor markers have designations of low, moderate, and high. Given the high patient loads doctors have nowadays, today patient management has become essentially lab values management.
We think making a movie based on quantitative analysis is ridiculous, yet we have no objection to having our health evaluated the same way.
Looseness and Firmness
The core self must be firm and resolute. The external self must be flexible and adapting. This is the way of nature. Looseness moving about firmness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)