No need for the usual lecture; by now, you have either embraced the fact that so much of our alleged science involving our health and behaviors is nothing more than guesswork or outright dishonesty; or you have realized that science is still overseen by humans and all of their flaws. Or, you’re the worst of the worst and you blindly follow whatever any almighty “expert,” tells you.
Anyone who walks around claiming that “97% of scientists agree with man made Climate Change,” is nothing more than a walking punchline. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexepstein/2015/01/06/97-of-climate-scientists-agree-is-100-wrong/#5063fb593f9f
Almost a decade ago, the flood of information came in like a tsunami disproving any connection between salt intake and high blood pressure or heart disease, yet still, pseudo medical experts repeat the pablum and essentially say to you “Hi, I’m an idiot who doesn’t really know anything other than what I heard once and just go around repeating junk.” https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt/
The latter of those two show the folly of accepting and embracing studies as “fact,” and then altering human behavior based on them (often with devastating results). The former, is patent dishonesty and has nothing to do with science at all. The entire Global-Change-Climate-Warming industry has been built off reaching a conclusion first, and then working backwards desperately trying to find a way to create any sort of “proof,” to substantiate said conclusion. (Of course, one way we know they “find” such proof is that they literally just make it up). https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/6679082/Climate-change-this-is-the-worst-scientific-scandal-of-our-generation.html
There is plenty of blame to spread around when it comes to our slavish adherence to all things science:
- For starters, we are lemmings. We will simply, ignorantly believe what we’re told and question very little.
- Now more than ever, we are not curious in any way, and we lack an attention span that goes any further than a headline on our social media feed.
- The media, made up of humans as described in the two previous points, vomits junk science to us constantly under the guise of reporting the latest, greatest scientific breakthrough, while providing no context and doing no reporting.
- Some in the media knowingly report misleading or totally false science, either because it fits their own personal belief system or, in this age, for no reason other than “clickbait.” If the headline is provocative enough, even if it’s completely false, that’s all that matters.
- Scientists themselves, humans that we’re supposed to believe adhere to a very strict formula for reaching conclusions, are incapable of leaving aside their human qualities. Imagine spending weeks, months, years, trying to prove something only to have all of your work basically prove that something may or may not be good for us, may or may not be true, or may or may not be dangerous. That’s neither sexy nor interesting.
- More and more, as scientists release their findings, they completely obscure vitally important elements of what they’re reporting. This, too, is so indicative of America and its’ hysterical culture. In our society, when a baby crib collapses and kills a child, we immediately demand recalls and new safety regulations, while never bothering to look at the infinitesimal number of children that have ever been affected by the non-existent dangers we demand be addressed.
Over the past 2 decades we have been told that coffee, eggs, bacon, butter, cheese, milk, wheat, soy, red meat, soft drinks and so much more have been horrible for us, then great for us, then terrible, then good, and now…basically…everything in moderation. WTF? http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151029-are-any-foods-safe-to-eat-anymore-heres-the-truth
And yet, we have doctors who will advise us to avoid certain foods, citing a totally bogus study as the basis for their terrible guidance.
For myriad decades, we based our children’s entire diets on the almighty food pyramid; and as has been widely documented over the past decade, we quite literally set up millions of Americans for heart disease and utter health failure. https://www.healthyway.com/content/how-did-the-government-get-the-food-pyramid-so-terribly-wrong/
Yet, we continue to stupidly, asininely, and arrogantly, claim we have any concept of knowledge when it comes to everything from the planet to our very own bodies.
Just a few weeks ago, mainstream and social media, along with every doctor’s office in America, touted a new study heralding the benefits of exercise. In fact, the most repeated line that got the most attention was that “not exercising is worse for you than smoking.” These studies make me laugh out-loud, after living through the last 25 years of “health information” which has dispensed the following brilliance, affecting the behaviors of tens of millions of lemming Americans:
- The human body needs 90 minutes of exercise 5 days per week
- Prior to working out, load up on carbs, as they are “energy foods”
- Eat low fat and non-fat foods
- Carbs are terrible for you, do Atkins and South Beach diets immediately
- The human body doesn’t need as much exercise as we thoughts…60 minutes per day, 5 days per week is plenty.
- The body needs fat, eat fat
- The Atkins diet and all low-carb eating plans are terrible for you. Most don’t keep the weight off, and, more importantly, they are devastatingly bad for your health.
- Soy is the greatest thing ever…eat soy!
- Hey! Slow down on that exercise thing. Now we’re sure that as little as a 30 minute walk, 3 times per week, is all the body needs.
- Oh, that soy stuff? Terrible for you…like maybe the worst possible thing you can put in your body.
And then…the coup de gras. All of the above are actual headlines, belief systems, and movements of the past 2+ decades, all based on not knowing anything, as it turns out. Think about all of the “living” people have missed out on in pursuit of living longer. It’s pathetic. But not nearly as pathetic as our ongoing pursuit of finding the answers to questions that will never be answered. Health is personal. People are different. There is no system, formula, program, or diet that will absolutely work anyone, let alone everyone. My two favorite studies released recently are as follows:
Taking a hot bath twice a week is BETTER than exercise. Yup, you read that correctly. I’ll just leave it at that. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6306411/Taking-hot-bath-twice-week-BETTER-exercise-treating-depression.html
And then there’s this gem:
Is it REALLY possible to catch up on sleep at the weekend? 5 experts answer and opinion is divided. Well, if all 5 people are “experts,” and they are supposed to be “scientists,” not pundits, how can their opinions be divided if the very idea of the pursuit of science is to reach absolute proof, as opposed to consensus? Why not just write the truth: We asked 5 people their opinions on sleep and got 5 different answers based on 5 different justifications. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6066715/Is-possible-catch-sleep-weekend-Five-experts-say.html
The human race will finally figure out the key to life when we set aside our arrogance and acknowledge that we not only don’t know everything, we aren’t meant to. Until then, we’ll all, ironically, think ourselves to premature deaths.
https://gizmodo.com/no-such-thing-as-too-much-exercise-study-finds-1829874676
https://www.rd.com/health/diet-weight-loss/why-low-carb-diets-arent-the-answer/
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-over-exercise-does-body-brain-health-2018-4
https://www.today.com/health/why-fat-your-diet-good-weight-loss-glowing-skin-t102800
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/carbohydrates–good-or-bad-for-you
https://www.rawgeneration.com/blogs/healthy-lifestyle-blog/why-is-soy-bad
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-430679/Forget-gym–brisk-walk-really-best-workout.html
