Social media sites such as Twitter are great ways to connect with folks. I’ve enjoyed daily chatting with 300 energy workers, PhDs of all sorts, physicists, intuitives, as well as both allopathic and naturopathic practitioners from all over the world.
Recently I lost a follower on Twitter; a biologist. He was unhappy that I said hello to a homeopathic practitioner. As a way to bridge the gap, I explained that I found a homeopathic remedy that treated a head cold far better than any allopathic remedy I had used. He maintained that my lack of symptoms should be attributed to the placebo effect. Replying that I was a skeptic myself and the homeopathic remedy actually worked better was enough to cause him to leave the conversation.
That event really pushed a few thoughts forward for me. First, it solidifies the fact that a bridge between the rational sciences and intuitive wisdom is greatly needed now more than ever.
Second, there are folks on both sides of that bridge who are so entrenched in their current beliefs that they are, as yet, unwilling to uproot and move to a more moderate position where all ways of knowing are considered valuable. Believe it or not, I’ve encountered just as much "I don’t even want to hear it" resistance from the intuitive community as well.
The main war I see between the two sides is squarely focused on the healing arts. Physicists, on the other hand, are a different breed of scientist and seem to be closer to the bridge and willing to listen to all ways of knowing. This is especially true of quantum physicists, who have shown everyone that there is demonstrable evidence of a world unseen that operates by its own rules. Intuitves who are closer to the bridge seem willing to contribute to the dialogue on this level as well.
The third thought this Twitter episode brought to mind was the fact that, until the early 1900s, all U.S. hospitals were homeopathic. Then the AMA was formed. Their by-laws stated that any doctor who associated with homeopathic physicians could not be a member. I doubt that the biologist on Twitter was aware of this by-law but obviously it is still being enforced one hundred years later.
For all those who are willing to be a bridge and risk their personal and professional credentials, thank you. For all those who are willing to step on that bridge and dialogue with one another, thank you. You are helping us all move forward in a new direction, together.
See the links in the sidebar to follow me on Twitter and join in the conversation.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
For those willing to build a bridge
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2 comments:
Thank you for this post!
I grew up with a mother who taught me about spirituality from a very early age, and then I went to college at a very science-based institution. It took me years to finally see that intuition and science are just different sides of the same coin: knowing. (And I still have both an inner scientist and inner spiritualist within me -- they don't have to fight each other, and in fact they enhance each other.)
Like you said, there is a "moderate position where all ways of knowing are considered valuable," and there is no better time than now for that moderate, or more integrated position to become more and more accessible via the internet and social media.
The bottom line is, belief systems benefit the more they integrate other seemingly opposing belief systems.
The investment in the cost of medical school seems to train doctors in arrogance as much as knowledge. Take a group of doctors into an unfamiliar situation such as a rafting trip, for instance, and that group tends to get hurt more often because they don't listen to the river guide.
Lately this year's research in Vitamin D was shockingly against what was taught in medical schools previously, and it was curious how the researchers recommendation for increased dosage (from 400 IU to 5000 IU) was cut to 2000 IU or even 1000 IU by doctors who just could not imagine their previous information was so wrong.
When you know so much, seems it gets much harder to imagine you still don't know some things. It gets tricky recognize the difference between the two. Help your doctor out and do the research yourself to find the "real" documentation doctors understand & hand it to them. Some doctors are just too busy working to update themselves, and some are too arrogant to bother. You might not know the difference until you engage them individually.
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