Myth VS Science, The Danger of Ego in the Healing Art
What was once a myth yesterday may become Science today, and what is Science today can also become a myth tomorrow. This was what I posted quite some time ago and someone asked me to prove it. There are so many examples that one can highlight to prove my words.
Take the example of Claudius Gale (129-216 AD). This story again demonstrates how dangerous it is to allow ego to play a role in the art of healing. It also clearly shows that the theories of allopathic medicine are not always correct! His theories on circulation and that the liver produced new blood were incorrect but this influenced the practice of medicine and majority of the people for over a thousand years, thus preventing medical progress.
It was not until 1628 when a practicing doctor by the name of William Harvey who wrote "De Motu Cordis", who was once deemed 'unscientific' for having gone against Galen's idea, proved otherwise.
Galen's ideas were said to be SCIENTIFIC and when Harvey refuted the idea with something else in mind, his thoughts were a myth. Later on however, when proven, Harvey's theory was the new SCIENCE and Galen's SCIENCE (after 1400 years) has now become a myth.
So what is Science? What is scientific and what isn't is really a collective agreement by the masses. The duel between MYTH and SCIENCE will never really conclude. It's a neverending cycle. Life really is a strange dream. So it is always important to have an open mind.
Once again, I'd like to highlight that it is extremely dangerous to keep a closed mind in any matter related to healing. One's understanding of the human body can never be reduced to facts and figures, and alphabets. Life is much more than that. It would be foolish for anyone to accept an ongoing process of question and answer as conclusive.
Love and light,
Genevieve
It was a very good read. Nicely put!
ReplyDeleteI did a little bit of wiki search. Don't forget before William Harvey, an Arab already raised questions as to Galen's theory but it was not heeded. This is proof enough to show how obstinate men of Science can be. They can be hypocrites!! They say the continue to question what they know so that they can help our society advance further but at the same time can also be so stubborn in regards to so so many important things. I guess it's not only dangerous for physicians to be closed-minded but we as the end users of medicine (who are receiving the treatment) to be too. We should start questioning everything and only if we are fully satisfied, after doing our own research, we choose to proceed or not. There are so many cases whereby people are denied their own option because the doctors know better or the government does what is best for us. It's sad to see one-sided views being taken in favor of. Perhaps this is the ego you're talking about. The ego that we need to be right all the time.
ReplyDelete"One's understanding of the human body can never be reduced to facts and figures, and alphabets."
ReplyDeleteI really really liked this sentence very very much!!! The human body is so complex yet we think we can dissect it and explain it in every way possible using our ever so limited words found in the dictionary.
Insightful!
ReplyDelete