Lots of rambling here, forgive me.–TF
First, do no harm. That is supposed to be rule in medicine and not the exception. It’s a good rule for life too. I consider it often when I prescribe exercise, hence no kipping pull ups or high repetition Olympic lifts. [had to get that in there!]. However a simple thing like social media is hurting, perhaps killing people. That’s right, for every puppy you adopted or saved, a senior citizen gets the flu and dies or an unvaccinated child in Africa gets Polio.
You see Facebook is a graphically based medium. Twitter is a linked based medium. If you write an article that isn’t led by a good photo on Facebook, you get very few reads. However, ‘selfies’ of hot, looking women, get loads of “likes” and comments. Be that as it may, all it takes is for some pseudoscience [pronounced STU-PID-IT-TEE] to get posted as a meme on Facebook and it takes off like waffles at an Over Eaters Anonymous Picnic. The example I can currently think of is that idiotic photo of two potted plants claiming that one was watered with microwaved water and the other not. The one with microwaved water failed to thrive. OK, OK. It’s been debunked, by why would you have to even go to Snopes.com to check it out? Is anybody on this planet actually that stupid? A person who actually has a degree in Pharmacy [probably from Mongolia], told me that microwaves, “..change the molecular structure of food,..” So does a damn toaster!! How do you think we get toast?
The thought process that I find frightening is that supposedly educated, degree’d, adults,.. many of them PARENTS are so gullible that they fall for a stupid photo that says, “The Secret Cancer Cure the Government Won’t Let You Have!”. Think about this. If it is a secret, how can it be on Facebook? Secondly, “Cancer” is a generic term and the treatment of cancers is very specific to the type and stage of cancer.
So let me expound upon this. Where are all the dead bodies from GMO’s? [another Facebook meme] Well there are none, yet you will almost daily find some hipster or quack pointing to some obscure, natural, publication with an article about how we are all going to die from GMO foods. Truthfully, if you don’t want to die from food,…. try going without it. Or better yet, don’t stuff so much of it down your throat. If that sounds cruel, look at your waistline right now. No one snuck in your house last night and force fed you cheese cake.
Here is another one, “Aspartame is a NEUROTOXIC!”. OK, So going to Starbucks and tossing a bit of Equal into your Venti is neurotoxic but many of the women at Starbucks in Fort Lauderdale get BOTULISM shot in their face, regularly. Don’t believe me? Check the photo section of any social event in South Florida. Notice the total lack of movement in the faces. Careful and judicious use of BOTULISM in the face. Yet it’s EVIL to use one of those blue packets in your triple latte. We know this because aspartame is made up from two amino acids which are the building blocks of protein. So if you have ever eaten protein in your life,. you have eaten EQUAL without knowing it and your nervous system is now toxic. Oh yes.. someone said that aspartame breaks down into methanol as well. Well so does tomato juice. Why isn’t that a meme on FB?
Why am I saying all this? Well Steve Jobs sought alternative treatment for his pancreatic cancer. It didn’t work so well. He was a brilliant innovator and adhered to the concept of evidence in the development of Apple, but not with his health. He is dead.
How many people think they are improving their health by buying more expensive, “NON- GMO” foods? How many children will be getting polio this decade because some inept parent chose not to vaccinate their child based on a photo posted on Facebook? How many seniors will not get flu shots and have their influenza complicate and kill them?
I’ve said it before, all these people who claim flu shots are a scam or dangerous, will be in line, with cash in fist, to be immunized with a vaccine that prevents HIV/AIDS so they can have bare back sex.
Remember when whole wheat was good and vodka was dangerous? Go to a party where the elitist snobs avoid, “gluten”, yet suck down Grey Goose like there is famine coming.
Bottom line, don’t be so gullible. Don’t listen to people who-
1. Use Appeal to Authority [I’m a Doctor or Chiropractor or Naturopath]. If they are truly professional and know their craft, they can explain it to a child. No need to pull rank.
2. Rely on internet memes or ‘natural’ websites for health data. This would include specifically Mercola.
3. Don’t understand the difference between faith and evidence.
4. Use the word, “BELIEVE” a lot.
5. Create Straw Men. You tell them your Mom is alive because of a new heart medication and they start arguing about Big Pharma. Truthfully,.. anyone who uses “FDA” or “Big Pharma” or “Monsanto” in a discussion,…walk away. They are idiots.
6. Avoid Middle Ground. These are people who only see extremes in behavior as possible. Really, really, avoid them.
7. Believe in ghosts, homeopathy or that calories don’t count. Notice I said, “They” BELIEVE,..meaning they can’t produce evidence.
8. Rely on personal attacks. Ad Hominem for you Latin speakers. They call you a name or start attacking your resume. They focus on attacking their enemy as well, [see above] like the FDA, Big Pharma, Gov’t, Illuminati, rather than debating evidence.
9. The last person that spoke to them is an expert. I discovered this a few years ago. Someone visits a doctor or lawyer to get professional advice based on evidence and precedent. However as they leave the office and ponder their fate.. they ask the crack addicted parking lot attendant his opinion and decide that it’s more compelling.
10. There will be statements like, “Go ahead and see what happens to you!” tossed out.
Any many, many, many, more. As an adult,.. just don’t be so gullible. You might kill someone.
