List ran across the following observation on Quackwatch. See my comments
which follow. Roger
"I'm reading a book on astronomy and came across the following during a
discussion of the solar nebula which was responsible for the development of
the Solar system:
'One might also confidently have expected the primitive solar nebula, a
fragment from a molecular cloud, to be nicely uniform in composition and
indeed this used to be the common perception. This topic has had an
interesting history. It reflects a common approach to many scientific
problems. What we cannot see or measure, we imagine to be simple and
homogenous. The approach is related to the human tendency to underrate what
we do not understand. This intellectual safety valve allows us to live with
the unknown, and is no doubt responsible for the popularity of religions,
astrology, mysticism and the other engaging fantasies that the human mind
has dreamed up in the absence of facts. These provide nice stories, like
the flat Earth, that are obvious to children. Reality is a bit more
complex.'
Stuart Ross Taylor
Destiny or Chance: Our Solar System and Its Place in the Cosmos
It is comforting, I suppose, to imagine that we have control over things we
do not. If we believe that close attention to the rituals will ensure rain
for the crops, we do not have to live in the reality that weather is
capricious, that sometimes droughts happen, and that when and if they do, we
are at the mercy of forces we cannot control or reason with. The problem
with accepting this illusion of control is that when uncontrollable
processes let us down, we are left feeling guilty and angry at ourselves for
failing to properly manage what was beyond our control in the first place.
Similarly, if we believe that we alone are the guardians of our children's
health, we can live comforted by the fact that by attention to the rituals
of chiropractic, supplementation, meditation, acupuncture, and other
wellness rituals we keep these demons at bay. The downside is that when
nature demonstrates to us that we are not in control of this, we suffer
guilt. The truly sad part is that some people, in seeking to protect their
children, are actually denying them something that might protect them."
List: I thought it was quite revealing that the writer was quick to identify
"unscientific" venues such as chiropractic, meditation and acupuncture as
providing the illusion of control of the uncontrollable and unknown. Skeptics
and debunkers always seem to be so sure of themselves when using prosaic
explanations in an effort to fathom life's mysteries. Does not such a
devotion to the mundane offer as much an emotional crutch to THEM to quell
THEIR fears as do the "unscientific" venues offer the "uneducated and naive"?
Roger
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