Philosophy Now Forum

Kayla wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote: Incompetence does not equal academic freedom.

thats kind of what i was getting at

teaching that homeopathy works or that honey makes engines run better or deepwater fish are flat because of water pressure - that indicates incompetence

And is the man incompetent? Has he absolutely nothing valid to say? Then the course will be cancelled, in all likelihood. But let the man have his say first.

Kayla wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote: Incompetence does not equal academic freedom.

thats kind of what i was getting at

teaching that homeopathy works or that honey makes engines run better or deepwater fish are flat because of water pressure - that indicates incompetence

Are you an atheist, Kayla? Should degrees in divinity be labelled toxic and expunged from schools?

Kayla wrote:i remember reading my older brother's anthropology textbook

there it talked about how western imperialist colonizers condemned head-hunting, because they did not understand its cultural significance

if that is not bullshit i dont know what is

And did they understand the cultural significance, no matter how revolting to their morals? Probably not. So the book is correct, no? And in putting it into this context, it speaks volumes of western culture, as well as the headhunters.

I do get your reservations Kayla. I personally would not take this course. But as I said, it will disappear faster than shit down a (working) toilet, should it become a haven of misinformation. Have a little faith in others' critical skills.

As an addendum, I am no fan of aromatherapy and herbalists. But one day, I had a lot of gas, making me truly nauseous. So a friend, who is one, had me swallow a small glass of water with two extract drops; one of peppermint, and one of fennel, and told me to wait ten to fifteen minutes for the effect. God damn, if I don't believe she knows anything else, she was dead on with this one. My point is, we can tease the little bits of useful truths out of things, if we but test it. And that's what the school is doing; by shining a brighter light on this topic, it will get peer reviewed even more, and we might just find something we didn't know before... Or not... But teasing out the truths, Kayla. It's not done by banning things.

Dalek Prime wrote: And did they understand the cultural significance, no matter how revolting to their morals?

my point was that something having cultural significance does not somehow make it moral

western colonizers may well have missed whatever complex cosmology and ritual and lore that is part of the whole headhunting thing, but you do not need to know any of that to know that raiding a neighbouring village and night and cutting off some heads just so that you can have some shrunken heads is wrong

As an addendum, I am no fan of aromatherapy and herbalists.

i was talking about homeopathy specifically

most herbal medicines (assuming lack of outright fraud) have the herbs advertised in them

for a 100C homeopathic pill of anything to have a decent chance of a singe molecule of the curative substance the pill would have to be the size of the solar system

But one day, I had a lot of gas, making me truly nauseous. So a friend, who is one, had me swallow a small glass of water with two extract drops; one of peppermint, and one of fennel,

fennel is known to be an anti nauseant although not in homeopathic quantities - and in any case if you were using homeopathy to treat nausea you would take a very small amunt (fraction of a molecule) of something that causes nausea - that is how homeopathy purportedly works

ginger can be used for this as well - as well as a number of german or swiss herbal bitters

the problem with much of aromatherapy and herbalism etc is not their use of well-known folk cures

the problem is that many practicioners try to use those things where actual medication is necessary

i live in the countryside with elderly German great aunt and uncle - they know more about using herbs to treat minor medical complaints than most professional herbalists - so i know that stuff works in cases where regular medicine is overkill

when my anticough medicine started giving me screaming nightmares my doctor basically shruggd and said that anything he can give me would be worse than the problem

my aunt made a concostion of swiss camomile and a few drops of a valerian tincture from belarus (she insists that those countries produce the best respective herbs) and that reduced the nightmares from screaming to mild whimpering

but what is commonly and broadly called "alternative medicine" cause far far beyond this sort of thing into wild claims and speculation

and told me to wait ten to fifteen minutes for the effect. God damn, if I don't believe she knows anything else, she was dead on with this one. My point is, we can tease the little bits of useful truths out of things, if we but test it. And that's what the school is doing; by shining a brighter light on this topic, it will get peer reviewed even more, and we might just find something we didn't know before... Or not... But teasing out the truths, Kayla. It's not done by banning things.

what you are saying may justify actual proper double blind testing of various herbalist and aromatherapic or however you spell that cures

not teaching those things as something already established

Dalek Prime wrote:

Kayla wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote: Incompetence does not equal academic freedom.

thats kind of what i was getting at

teaching that homeopathy works or that honey makes engines run better or deepwater fish are flat because of water pressure - that indicates incompetence

Are you an atheist, Kayla? Should degrees in divinity be labelled toxic and expunged from schools?

i am not an atheist but i am generally in favor of wat steven jay gould called 'non-overlapping magisteria'

so if a theology professor starts teaching that prayer can be used instead of regular medicine it may be time to let them go

now i live in a very religius area and praying for the sick is normal practice here - but most people who favor such prayer also believe that all medically appropriate stuff must be done for the sick - the prayer does not replace anything medical

even if you do not believe prayer is effective, the view that it should be used once everything medicallly necessary has been done is, at worst, harmless