I come from a family of scientists, and I have always harbored a great love for natural science throughout my life, as my father taught me everything he knows about the world.
However, I have lost faith in science, or more precisely, I have adjusted my expectations, which were altruistic and idealistic. “Pure science” is a Platonic ideal that cannot be realized in this life. Science is always politicized, slanted, biased, corrupted, in favor of whoever is doing the experiment or making the observation.
Medical science is corrupted by the Almighty Buck. It dwarfs the Military-Industrial Complex as the Medical-Clinical Complex expands to eat all available insurance dollars and then has copays for dessert. Billions of dollars in grant money are funneled into quixotic endeavors like curing cancer, the common cold, and murdering chimpanzees.
It is no wonder that we have so many New Agers seeking out naturopaths and other quacks. We have anti-vaxxxers and mask deniers. I choose to remain within allopathy, but it’s a wild ride, and I really have to advocate for myself and be educated. I’m blessed to have a clinic system here with really great holistic care.
The adherents of scientism believe that they can know the absolute Truth about the world through the means of natural scientific inquiry. They don’t care whether or not God is in charge, and they really hope He isn’t, because it’s their turn to pull the puppet strings. I am wary of any politician or movement that offers “evidence-based governance” and I am rather proud of the current Administration’s disdain even for good science. It’s kind of painful to watch, but many of the right policies are being enacted, and so I can’t wait for four more years of the same clown college.
By the way, witch doctors would not exist if they didn’t help anyone (spoiler: they still do). The reason a practitioner or method succeeds is because people feel that it is helpful and buy into it, or conversely, TPTB decide that this is important for everyone and they establish it by fiat. Science has a back seat to the placebo effect, the mercurial tastes of the consumer, and the desires of the rich and powerful.
