Modern Science, Metaphysics, and Medicine: A Framework for Thought

No person living in this era of history can deny the overwhelming importance of science and technology to our daily lives.   The most recent technological revolution of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has ushered in a period of mass communication and information.   With cellphones, Blackberries, laptops, and the IPhone a human being can remain "plugged-in" 24/7 to the ever present flux of news, YouTube videos, Facebook Updates, Tweets, and yes even the occasional blog post.

This is our world - an environment shaped by the creative application of the physical laws of reality.   What we buy, watch, read, and eat are more often than not the products of our learning, the outcomes of our artificial interference with the cycles of nature.


For those who subscribe to the idea that time is merely the record of man's March of Progress, the scientific and technological revolutions would seem to imply that non-scientific forms of knowledge can and will eventually be dismissed as mere ignorance.  

As the last century has shown us, nothing could be further from the truth.

Parallel to the rise of scientific innovation has been a blossoming of spirituality and religious participation, an increasing distrust of scientific institutions as tools of corporate/military/political groups, and an ever growing interest in alternative systems of thought.  

It is that last bit I'd like to focus on.  The category may sound a little vague - precisely because it covers a vast field of activity such as feng shui, qigong, yoga, meditation, divination, reincarnation, and of course traditional medical systems.

Many of these practices have their foundations in what we could properly call metaphysical ideas.

This is where the "trouble" begins, as some would claim these foundational concepts are nothing but the remnants of outdated proto-scientific learning at best or foolish superstition at worst.  Supporters and enthusiasts on the other extreme of the spectrum might counter that these metaphysical truths are the building blocks of non-Western scientific thought.  Therefore, the practices cited above should be considered as comparable or complementary (or even superior!) to procedures derived from Western science. 


Instead of uncritically dismissing or accepting either viewpoint, I would like to propose a different sort of action.   Namely, a more nuanced examination of this issue - one that properly defines just what exactly is being compared and what claims are being made.

Of special interest in this endeavor will be an examination of the field of medicine across different cultures. 

Medicine holds a very special place in my heart,  It is one of the few human activities where the theoretical understanding of nature is joined with the most practical goals of human experience - longevity and happiness!

In many ways, the discipline of medicine extends beyond the boundaries of the natural sciences.  The goals of medicine are directly tied to each patient's own cognition as to what constitutes a good quality of life.  These particular worldviews are furthermore informed by diverse influences such as philosophy, spirituality, politics, and socioecnomic factors. 


Whew - that's all a big mouthful.  To put this in a more condensed form:

1.) Medicine is a critical discipline because it deals directly with one's most personal possession: your Body - the thing you use to experience the rest of the world.

2.) Although medicine's procedures are well rooted in modern biology and chemistry, the practice "on the ground" must usually take into account a lot of other pieces of data that are outside of the natural sciences.

These are usually defined as the social determinants of health - the economic, behavioral, and cultural factors which effect a population's health status.

ie:  The Context of Human Life.

Given the unique intersection where Medicine sits in our everyday lives, I do intend to focus on its activities more than say astronomy or metallurgy in this blog's examination of science and culture.

Gentle reader, I do hope you enjoy and stick around for the ride!