For Your Information

[brynndragon]

I suspect this is going to happen every time I post something even vaguely related to chinese philosophy or medicine, so I want to nip it in the bud right here. If you can't admit to yourself that maybe, just maybe, you don't have the cultural background to have a freakin' clue what the hell you're talking about when you say that traditional chinese medicine and/or philosophy is Bad(tm) because it's "unscientific", then please don't say a damn thing. There have been a lot of dinkum thinkums all over the world in all time periods and deciding that they were wrong just because they didn't/don't work with your favorite methodology is far more narrow-minded than I want to deal with in my journal. I'm sick and tired of normally intelligent people acting like "holier than thou" skeptics who worship at the altar of Science! without any more thought to their dogma than any other fundie in my LiveJournal, and I'm not going to tolerate any more of it. If you couldn't be arsed to say anything when I was trying to determine if I could reconcile TCM with my scientific background and can't get the fuck over yourself enough to say "Hey, maybe if this person who I like and is my friend thinks this thing has merit, maybe it actually does have some merit and I shouldn't just shoot it down out of hand" then you should rethink whether or not you ought to be here.

Comments

[kadath.livejournal.com]

...skeptics who worship at the altar of Science!

Well, I pretty much am. Which is why I keep my mouth shut when you're talking about TCM.

[brewergnome.livejournal.com]

Wow, someone hit a nerve.

Me, in my daily life I worship at the altar of Empiricism. But that doesn't mean I don't accept that there may be things outside the realms of Science and Empirical thought, there may be things which by definition Science can't describe.

[greyhame.livejournal.com]

FWIW, though I generally stay out of these discussions, I'd say that "Hey, maybe if this person who I like and is my friend thinks this thing has merit, maybe it actually does have some merit" is a much less tenable argument than "Hey, maybe if this person whose intelligence I respect and who I don't think is gullible thinks this thing has merit, it actually might have some merit." That is, whether or not I like you or am your friend doesn't necessarily have anything to do with whether or not I think you're smart or not easily taken in by quackery. *shrug*

[ectropy.livejournal.com]

Hey, your Science! is pure religious mumbo-jumbo and the province of conniving witch-doctors! Me, I'm going to stick to good old-fashioned flat-Earthism, spontaneous generation, and baseless faith! And while we're at it, I don't know if I approve of this "fire" thing... seems dangerous and untested.

:p

*thumbs up to TCM*

[dragonvpm.livejournal.com]

Well said. For a while now, I've felt that way about a lot of geeky/science type folks I know and it's nice to hear someone else make that point about blndly worshipping at the altar of science. It surprises me how often scientifically minded folks have such rigid and intractable belief systems when it could be argued that a prerequisite for real scientific exploration is being open-minded and willing to consider alternate interpretations of "reality" or "the truth".

[white-and-nrdy.livejournal.com]

Even if someone does worship at the altar of Science! if they're a friend of yours, they should have the decency to respect your beliefs even if there're different from theirs. I once had a long term relationship with a girl who was devoutly Protestant, but the vast difference in our spirituality was never an issue with us. We respected our differences, didn't try to convert each other, and got on with life. That's how I think it should be.

I'm all for respectful discussion and debate on differing views on Life, the Universe, and Everything. I was a Science! worshipper myself for quite some time, until the results of such discussions made me change my mind. At this point, my view is "Use *all* the tools in the toolbox." If Science! has the answer, then go with it. If TCM has it, then go with that. If it's Reiki, then go with that. Or any combination of the above.

Because you just never know when you're going to need that 18mm deep socket to change the spark plugs on a Suzuki GS. >:)

[watercolorblue.livejournal.com]

I think it's great that you're combining a scientific background with this other school of thought. They may contradict each other at times, but I strongly believe that studying both sides, accepting both with an open mind, will make you a very powerful individual. Good on you.