Brokering Thoughts #5
In this edition:
Science Stuff – welcome to a “journey” through science
In the last edition of ?????????????????? ????????????????, I provocatively stated 'homeopathy doesn’t work' and invited you to join me in exploring science and critical thinking. This journey isn't just about homeopathy; it's about equipping ourselves with tools to navigate similar debates effectively.
Let’s define terms. Too many fights carry on for too long until it is realized that people were arguing based on different definitions and contexts.
There are two terms we need to define here:
1. What is science;
2. What is homeopathy.
1. What is Science?
There are several ways to define science.? I will choose a well-known argument among scientific skepticism circles by Dr. Steven Novella, host of The “Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe” and founder of “Science-Based Medicine”.? The definition of science is implicit in the argument:
"What do you think science is? There's nothing magical about science. It is simply a systematic way for carefully and thoroughly observing nature and using consistent logic to evaluate results. Which part of that exactly do you disagree with? Do you disagree with being thorough? Using careful observation? Being systematic? Or using consistent logic?”
Science is a process, not a “thing”.? Science doesn't have crystal ball ˉ\\_(ツ)_/ˉ. Science needs to be repetitive, self-correcting, and constantly evolving as new evidence emerges. Science is therefore probabilistic – we cannot know beyond what the data/evidence tells us at any given moment, but if we feel 99% sure about one thing, we are not going to be betting on the 1%.? If "science doesn't know" something, it is because we simply do not have the necessary information to "know”.? But that is not an excuse to disregard science or argue that any explanation goes, and it explains why the argument “but science has been wrong before” makes no sense.? Of course it has been wrong before, the alternative is that humanity should have been born all knowing so as to never get anything wrong.? Plus, we only know that it was wrong because we applied more science.
There is no politics or geography associated with this definition. There is no such thing, for example, as “western” science.
Provocative Questions:
Do you know the difference between the colloquial use of the word “Theory” versus the scientific definition?? Do you know the difference between Hypothesis and Theory?
How would you define science in your own words?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
2. Homeopathy:
Homeopathy was developed in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann, a German medical practitioner dissatisfied with the practices of his time. His discontent with treatments like bloodletting and purging, and really quite drastic unsupported procedures, led him to search for a gentler approach to healing. Through personal experimentation, clinical observations, and hypothetical ideas, he formulated the foundational principles of homeopathy.
Foundational Postulates of Homeopathy
- Like cures like: Homeopathy is based on the supposition that a substance that causes symptoms in a healthy person can cure similar symptoms in a sick person.? For example, coffee, which is a stimulant, might be used in a homeopathic treatment for anxiety, albeit in highly diluted form.
- Law of minimum dose: Hahnemann believed that smaller, highly diluted doses of substances could minimize toxicity while enhancing therapeutic effects. The word "Law" here does not have the same meaning as the current scientific meaning of "Law".
Hahnemann’s methodology was 'out of the box' thinking for his time. It was considerably less intrusive, which led to much of its success. Additionally, the homeopaths would typically give more attention and be more personal with the patients.
Medical Science in Hahnemann's Time: An Era of Emerging Knowledge
During Hahnemann's era, medical science was in its infancy. Laboratory equipment like microscopes was rudimentary, and experimental methods such as "randomized controlled trials" and "blinding" were not yet developed. Do you know what these expressions mean??? Anesthesia was not a thing!?
Medical treatments were often based on empirical observations, perceived experience, and conjectural reasoning rather than rigorous scientific experimentation.
- Microscopes and Experimental Techniques of that time were limited and not widely used for medical research. Hahnemann's work relied more on clinical observations and personal experimentation with substances to develop his principles of homeopathy.
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- Statistical Concepts such as "base rate fallacy" and "reversion to the mean", which are integral to modern statistical reasoning in research, were not understood or defined during Hahnemann's time. These concepts emerged much later with advancements in statistics and probability theory in the 20th century. Recent, hey!!
-? Chemistry and atomic theory were in very early infancy and Hahnemann would not have known much about them, about molecules or about dilutions, and not about Avogadro’s Limit which, for homework, you could research clicking here. ?The periodic table came almost 100 years later!
- Germ Theory, which established the connection between microorganisms and disease, was proposed by Louis Pasteur in the 1860s, well after Hahnemann's time. Hahnemann's understanding of disease and medicine was based on the ideas available in his era, which did not include knowledge of germs or infectious agents.
- Placebo Effect, where patients experience real improvement in their condition due to factors not yet fully understood, was even less understood then. While the term “placebo” was used in a medical context as early as the 18th century, the scientific understanding and its implications for medical research did not arise until the 20th century.
- Medical Concepts:? Medical ideas during Hahnemann's time were transitioning from the humoral system, which focused on balancing four bodily fluids, towards a more observational approach based on clinical experience. However, vitalism, the belief in a life force animating living beings, remained influential. Hahnemann himself subscribed to this concept, as to homeopaths up to today.
What Homeopathy Isn’t:
While sometimes grouped with naturopathy or herbalism, homeopathy is distinct. Unlike them, homeopathy uses extreme dilutions, often beyond any trace of the original substance. Homeopathy also goes beyond use of "natural" materials, sometimes using minerals, animal products, or even intangible elements like sunlight. It is a distortion to claim that homeopathy is natural.
Engage with Me:
Had you given thought to the origins of Homeopathy, and definition, as described above??
Anecdotes from Work – Bomb Threats?
Early in my career, my wife and I moved to London. I got a job at Bernard Thorpe & Partners, in their property management division. They were quite a large real estate firm at the time, bought by the even larger DTZ in 1992.? DTZ even claimed soon after that they were the largest real estate advisory firm in the world by employee count.
In the early 90s, the I.R.A. was still active, targeting prominent and significant locations. On February 18, 1991, before I started working at Bernard Thorpe & Partners, they had bombed Paddington and Victoria stations, resulting in one death and 38 injuries. There were 50 incidents in 1991 and 1992, some thwarted, some minor, but a few very serious. So, the threats were not to be taken lightly.
Our office was on the third floor, facing Victoria Station’s eastern entrance. On two or three occasions during 1991 and 1992, the police ordered us to evacuate due to credible threats. We would calmly get our coats and walk out the fire escape to a back street. After about an hour, we'd be told it was a false alarm and return to work.
The worst incident I remember was when the police rushed in, shouting that there was no time to evacuate. "GET OUT NOW!!" They told us to get away from the windows and duck under or behind desks. After an hour, it turned out to be another false alarm. Sorry to disappoint, but it was a thrill. Despite these frequent threats, strangely, I never heard a bomb go off while living in London. However, I did in Oslo in 2011, and the closest I may have gotten to one was in Cuzco, Peru, in 1989, but I didn't hear it because I was sleeping and it wasn’t particularly serious ˉ\\_(ツ)_/ˉ .
Anecdotes from Life
In issue #3, I described my schooling background up to dropping out of university.? I was in my early 20s and had done 2 out of 5 years of Physics.? Looking back to that time to try to understand where my mind was and possible reasons that drove this decision, I still think that the leading one was lack of adventure.? Maybe the novelty of studying had warn off; a good portion of what I was being taught at that time I had already learnt at high-school.?
Understanding the times helps – the end of the Brazilian dictatorship was imminent.? I had done my military service in the year that the “Diretas Já” movement to end the dictatorship began, and just completed it when one of the main demonstrations of the movement occurred in January 1984.? The actual end of the dictatorship was in 1985.? Student movements were widespread.? I didn’t take part – I was completely na?ve politically, due to a sheltered upper-middle-class upbringing.? We didn't discuss politics at home. USP – University of S?o Paulo had always been a strong center of student political activity.? And, for reasons I still fail to understand, students seemed to think that going on strike from studying at a free sate university would make some sort of difference.? And if they weren’t going on strike, or spending time discussing politics instead of going to class, they were doing politics against the university faculty who they did not like.? This was highly frustrating – teachers that challenged you to think in class were anathema to them, because at school they had spent years learning by rote, and wanted to carry on in that way.? By far the best physics teacher as far as I was concerned, was forced out.?
(This issue in Brazilian education, which remains today, was famously described by Nobel Laureate and physicist Richard Feynman in a few pages of one of his books – click here to see his criticism.? He loved Brazil, but wasn’t afraid to be critical.? If you don’t know who he was, all I can say is that, before Carl Sagan as a science communicator, there was Richard Feynman.? Here is a video with him explaining "stuff" and critical thinking).
The remaining teachers were not good by any means. Good teachers taught at private schools.? I would spend more and more time skipping class, going instead to the headquarters of my Scout Group, where I was finding adventure in thinking up adventures and games for scouts. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when a post-graduate student was substituting a teacher in a laboratory class on the study of stress and strain on materials.? The experiment was quite a simple one that I had done at high school in England, but she was teaching it wrong.? I went up to her at some point and quietly tried to explain to her what she was doing wrong. She disagreed with me, we argued a little, and I went back to my spot, spent a few minutes racking my brain as to how I could be wrong, and concluded that I wasn’t. So I went back to her again, quietly, while everyone was conducting their experiments and tried once again to show her where and why she was wrong.? This time she didn't pay much attention to me, she was being robotic.? By then I was so angry at it all, that I turned to the whole class, warned them all quite loudly that they were being taught wrong, and that was that – I walked out never to come back. A shame, because I got to do Karate for free, and even had a go at Esperanto at one point, uselessly.
Disillusioned with the academic atmosphere, I was a little aimless for a while.? At 24, I went to an interview to work in real estate and was sold on the idea that it is good for a good all-rounder.? It seems to be the case.? I got the job, and I think my interviewer and later mentor was correct.
How was your academic experience? Or life during a dictatorship?
Weekly Weird Thought
Feeling embarrassed is a counter-productive and pointless emotion.
About Me
A philomath but not a polymath; love of learning earned from the love of teaching scouts added to my skeptical/ scientific background and desire to understand how things work.? I love a good adventure – life is one.? A walking contradiction.? Other interests include woodworking, fact-checking, and arguing. Real estate agent by day