Definitely agree! I find a great deal of help from meditation, particularly with my insomnia. But I know that I'm slowing my breathing and simulating a state close to the body's state during sleep ... I'm not channeling anything mystical to take me into another dimension or something.
This is where I think the Newagers don't understand. Skepticism and atheism are not about outright rejecting things like "alternative" claims. Some of them are, indeed, valid. After all, most of our medicines *did* come from examining the effects of natural remedies, then isolating the effective component into a regulated format. Aspirin, for example ... if willow bark tea hadn't been such a popular folk remedy, we might never have added Aspirin to our arsenal.
But, as you say, people need to be scientific-minded enough to understand what's going on. Willow-bark tea isn't infused with fairy dust and meditation isn't supernatural magical "energy" healing. They're chemical components and placebos whose mechanics are actually well understood (or at least, understandable by the scientific method).
Since you mentioned meditation helping with chemo ... have you heard of the new study done on ginger for helping with nausea after chemo?
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Date: 5/23/09 01:24 am (UTC)From:This is where I think the Newagers don't understand. Skepticism and atheism are not about outright rejecting things like "alternative" claims. Some of them are, indeed, valid. After all, most of our medicines *did* come from examining the effects of natural remedies, then isolating the effective component into a regulated format. Aspirin, for example ... if willow bark tea hadn't been such a popular folk remedy, we might never have added Aspirin to our arsenal.
But, as you say, people need to be scientific-minded enough to understand what's going on. Willow-bark tea isn't infused with fairy dust and meditation isn't supernatural magical "energy" healing. They're chemical components and placebos whose mechanics are actually well understood (or at least, understandable by the scientific method).
Since you mentioned meditation helping with chemo ... have you heard of the new study done on ginger for helping with nausea after chemo?