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Hi all, I wanted to copy out some text that might help us to regain our footing

regarding this term " conspiracy theory " , which, these days, is a weaponised

steel bat almost as effective as the steel bat called " scientific evidence " :

 

The following is written by R. Barker Bausell, a biostatistician and research

methdologist who spent 5 years (99 - 04) as the director of research at the

university of maryland's Complementary Medicine Program (now the Center for

Integrative Medicine), which was entirely funded by the NIH (National Institute

of Health). His book is called " Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary

and Alternative Medicine " .

 

On page 55, Bauswell defines six factors which he describes as " psychological

factors which impede our ability to draw correct causal inferences " . Factor

number 5 is:

 

" A Conspiracy-Oriented View of the World.

[...] paranoid in nature and often explains the lack of scientific evidence to

back up one's beliefs about governmental or special interest cover-ups. [...] In

CAM it is epitomised by Kevin Trudeau [whose book] reveals that the only reason

his natural cures for just about every conceivable human ailment aren't in wider

use is governmental and industry cover-ups. "

 

Bauswell goes on to write about :

 

pg 259

" In a rare fit of compassion, I didn't mention in chapter 8 the research my

center performed in which three experienced TCM physicians examined the same

group of rheumatoid arthritis patients and prescribed what they considered to be

appropriate therapies. Even though the TCM physicians knew that all of the

patients had rheumatoid arthritis, there was no consistency with respect to

their diagnoses or their treatment recommendations. In other words, even if this

strange, complex, and archaic diagnostic procedure had some physiological basis,

it would be worthless, since these experienced practitioners came up with

completely different conclusions when examining the same patients. "

 

As laughable as his poverty of understanding might be, the fact is that there

are conspiracies of all sorts, and that he is part of a special interest group

who work towards certain goals which are not evidence-based. Other words for

conspiracy in this context are " misunderstanding " , " closed-mindedness " ,

" egotism " .

 

Information is not correct just because a group of people agree about it, and

invoking Conspiracy Theory as an argument without data to back it up is a

cop-out.

 

Thanks,

 

Hugo

 

________________________________

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedicine.wordpress.com

http://www.middlemedicine.org

 

 

 

 

 

________________________________

Hugo Ramiro <subincor

Chinese Medicine

Sat, 17 April, 2010 13:01:24

What is " average life expectancy " ?

 

 

Hi Jason, top o' the day to you;

 

---

Just curious, are you saying that you think the avg. life-span was the same 2000

years ago as it is today.

 

---

 

The main problem is this construct " average lifespan " . Actually we are

discussing *average life expectancy*. Average life expectancy is a statistical

term which does not refer to the distribution of age in a population over time,

but is, rather, a concatenation of all ages (1+2+3+4+5.. .=x) then divided by

the population number, leading to a very simple number, the " average " . The

average life expectancy is a complex term WHICH IS NOT reflected by the

statement, " we live longer than people long ago " . ( " Average " actually refers to

three differing concepts, the mean, the median, and the mode - we are dealing

with the mean.)

 

The complex statistical term " average life expectancy " is better reflected by

statements such as the following:

- fewer infants die in affluent or protected societies, or protected sub-units

of societies.

- in the modern world a larger proportion of the total population have affluence

than at other times in the last 5-10 thousand years.

- relatively small community units, throughout history, have met or exceeded our

current (north american) lifespan maximums.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water and harsh environments place extreme

stresses on young humans, causing a high infant mortality, and therefore

reducing total average life expectancy for the population in question.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water, and harsh environments place the same

tolls on a population in 2010AD as they did in 200AD as they did in 1000BC.

 

If I were to pose an interesting and reasonable research question (which, to my

knowledge, has not been investigated) I would ask:

" Which has had the greater impact on infant mortality in non-tropical

environments? Vaccination or Insulation? "

I wonder which has been responsible for large parts of the decrease in infant /

youth mortality - engineering or medicine. Other factors are obvious. Food and

water, for instance.

 

It is interesting to note, however, that affluence can be read in at least two

important ways: to be just " wealthy " enough to have protection and food such as

would be found in a remote village in a fecund valley in a temperate climate, or

being rich; having so much food and protection that the corruption of excess

wealth sets in - what we would recognise as our modern " diseases of affluence " -

diabetes, heart disease etc. In my little dissertation here I am referring to

the first definition: having a good amount of good quality food and water, a

calm life and lifestyle, a good community, and little exposure to harsh

environments.

 

---

I think that it is pretty much standard academic thought (for better or worse)

that people died much younger 2000 years ago.

---

 

I hope it is clearer why this is a simplistic statement that is not reflective

of the real complexity of the situation.

 

---

This “fact†has nothing to do with being overall superior and I think

John’s (?) point is a valid idea.

---

 

It's good that you placed fact in quotation marks, and if I may restate John's

point it was the following:

 

" If cancer incidence was lower in ancient China, was it because people just

didn't live long enough to develop it? "

 

The corollary to his statement is the following:

 

" Modern people live much longer than ancient peoples and that's why we see so

much disease today (coz we r so good we akshally get old). "

 

Both premises are false.

 

Again, an easy way to prove my point is to read the China study and examine the

health effects of the traditional diet *in traditional settings* and realise how

much lower rates of disease are despite comparable lifespans.

 

Thanks everyone,

 

Hugo

 

____________ _________ _________ __

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedici ne.wordpress. com

http://www.middleme dicine.org

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest guest

In fact there is room for subjectivity in diagnosis. Did they examine all

of these patients at exactly the same time? Were they a week apart? A

month apart?

He is also presupposing that Western diagnoses have some sort of universal

metaphysical status. As if it is " more real " than TCM. Like if a Western

MD says it's a set of individual trees, then it can't be considered a

forest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-

" Hugo Ramiro " <subincor

<Chinese Medicine >

Saturday, April 17, 2010 10:45 AM

Conspiracy Theories and TCM

 

 

Hi all, I wanted to copy out some text that might help us to regain our

footing regarding this term " conspiracy theory " , which, these days, is a

weaponised steel bat almost as effective as the steel bat called " scientific

evidence " :

 

The following is written by R. Barker Bausell, a biostatistician and

research methdologist who spent 5 years (99 - 04) as the director of

research at the university of maryland's Complementary Medicine Program (now

the Center for Integrative Medicine), which was entirely funded by the NIH

(National Institute of Health). His book is called " Snake Oil Science: The

Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine " .

 

On page 55, Bauswell defines six factors which he describes as

" psychological factors which impede our ability to draw correct causal

inferences " . Factor number 5 is:

 

" A Conspiracy-Oriented View of the World.

[...] paranoid in nature and often explains the lack of scientific evidence

to back up one's beliefs about governmental or special interest cover-ups.

[...] In CAM it is epitomised by Kevin Trudeau [whose book] reveals that the

only reason his natural cures for just about every conceivable human ailment

aren't in wider use is governmental and industry cover-ups. "

 

Bauswell goes on to write about :

 

pg 259

" In a rare fit of compassion, I didn't mention in chapter 8 the research my

center performed in which three experienced TCM physicians examined the same

group of rheumatoid arthritis patients and prescribed what they considered

to be appropriate therapies. Even though the TCM physicians knew that all of

the patients had rheumatoid arthritis, there was no consistency with respect

to their diagnoses or their treatment recommendations. In other words, even

if this strange, complex, and archaic diagnostic procedure had some

physiological basis, it would be worthless, since these experienced

practitioners came up with completely different conclusions when examining

the same patients. "

 

As laughable as his poverty of understanding might be, the fact is that

there are conspiracies of all sorts, and that he is part of a special

interest group who work towards certain goals which are not evidence-based.

Other words for conspiracy in this context are " misunderstanding " ,

" closed-mindedness " , " egotism " .

 

Information is not correct just because a group of people agree about it,

and invoking Conspiracy Theory as an argument without data to back it up is

a cop-out.

 

Thanks,

 

Hugo

 

________________________________

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedicine.wordpress.com

http://www.middlemedicine.org

 

 

 

 

 

________________________________

Hugo Ramiro <subincor

Chinese Medicine

Sat, 17 April, 2010 13:01:24

What is " average life expectancy " ?

 

 

Hi Jason, top o' the day to you;

 

---

Just curious, are you saying that you think the avg. life-span was the same

2000 years ago as it is today.

 

---

 

The main problem is this construct " average lifespan " . Actually we are

discussing *average life expectancy*. Average life expectancy is a

statistical term which does not refer to the distribution of age in a

population over time, but is, rather, a concatenation of all ages

(1+2+3+4+5.. .=x) then divided by the population number, leading to a very

simple number, the " average " . The average life expectancy is a complex term

WHICH IS NOT reflected by the statement, " we live longer than people long

ago " . ( " Average " actually refers to three differing concepts, the mean, the

median, and the mode - we are dealing with the mean.)

 

The complex statistical term " average life expectancy " is better reflected

by statements such as the following:

- fewer infants die in affluent or protected societies, or protected

sub-units of societies.

- in the modern world a larger proportion of the total population have

affluence than at other times in the last 5-10 thousand years.

- relatively small community units, throughout history, have met or exceeded

our current (north american) lifespan maximums.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water and harsh environments place extreme

stresses on young humans, causing a high infant mortality, and therefore

reducing total average life expectancy for the population in question.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water, and harsh environments place the same

tolls on a population in 2010AD as they did in 200AD as they did in 1000BC.

 

If I were to pose an interesting and reasonable research question (which, to

my knowledge, has not been investigated) I would ask:

" Which has had the greater impact on infant mortality in non-tropical

environments? Vaccination or Insulation? "

I wonder which has been responsible for large parts of the decrease in

infant / youth mortality - engineering or medicine. Other factors are

obvious. Food and water, for instance.

 

It is interesting to note, however, that affluence can be read in at least

two important ways: to be just " wealthy " enough to have protection and food

such as would be found in a remote village in a fecund valley in a temperate

climate, or being rich; having so much food and protection that the

corruption of excess wealth sets in - what we would recognise as our modern

" diseases of affluence " - diabetes, heart disease etc. In my little

dissertation here I am referring to the first definition: having a good

amount of good quality food and water, a calm life and lifestyle, a good

community, and little exposure to harsh environments.

 

---

I think that it is pretty much standard academic thought (for better or

worse) that people died much younger 2000 years ago.

---

 

I hope it is clearer why this is a simplistic statement that is not

reflective of the real complexity of the situation.

 

---

This “fact†has nothing to do with being overall superior and I think

John’s

(?) point is a valid idea.

---

 

It's good that you placed fact in quotation marks, and if I may restate

John's point it was the following:

 

" If cancer incidence was lower in ancient China, was it because people just

didn't live long enough to develop it? "

 

The corollary to his statement is the following:

 

" Modern people live much longer than ancient peoples and that's why we see

so much disease today (coz we r so good we akshally get old). "

 

Both premises are false.

 

Again, an easy way to prove my point is to read the China study and examine

the health effects of the traditional diet *in traditional settings* and

realise how much lower rates of disease are despite comparable lifespans.

 

Thanks everyone,

 

Hugo

 

____________ _________ _________ __

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedici ne.wordpress. com

http://www.middleme dicine.org

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest guest

Wow, Hugo.  I just read your post about Univer of MD researcher and NIH. 

Maryland's Integrative Medicine group is supposed to promote compelmentary

medicine - with acupuncturists on staff.  Also, I assumed the NIH Complementary

group were the good guys for the most part.  Some of them have been guest

lecturers at my acupuncture school when I was there 8 years ago.  Don't know

about now.  Bob Duggan, one of the founders of TAI in Columbia MD (a 30-yr old)

school, has always wanted to make " friendzzy's " with the Western community - I

believe to give them a better understanding of what we do, and also to stay

alive all these years.  Maryland has a strong medical establishment. A D.O. and

a Biological Dentist lost their licenses for overtly stepping on their toes

(this is what I hear.)

 

 

 

Anne

 

Anne C. Crowley, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac.

www.LaPlataAcupuncture.com

 

-

" Mercurius Trismegistus " <magisterium_magnum

" Traditional "

<Chinese Medicine >

Saturday, April 17, 2010 5:25:06 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern

Re:  Conspiracy Theories and TCM

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact there is room for subjectivity in diagnosis. Did they examine all

of these patients at exactly the same time? Were they a week apart? A

month apart?

He is also presupposing that Western diagnoses have some sort of universal

metaphysical status. As if it is " more real " than TCM. Like if a Western

MD says it's a set of individual trees, then it can't be considered a

forest.

 

-

" Hugo Ramiro " < subincor >

< Chinese Medicine >

Saturday, April 17, 2010 10:45 AM

Conspiracy Theories and TCM

 

Hi all, I wanted to copy out some text that might help us to regain our

footing regarding this term " conspiracy theory " , which, these days, is a

weaponised steel bat almost as effective as the steel bat called " scientific

evidence " :

 

The following is written by R. Barker Bausell, a biostatistician and

research methdologist who spent 5 years (99 - 04) as the director of

research at the university of maryland's Complementary Medicine Program (now

the Center for Integrative Medicine), which was entirely funded by the NIH

(National Institute of Health). His book is called " Snake Oil Science: The

Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine " .

 

On page 55, Bauswell defines six factors which he describes as

" psychological factors which impede our ability to draw correct causal

inferences " . Factor number 5 is:

 

" A Conspiracy-Oriented View of the World.

[...] paranoid in nature and often explains the lack of scientific evidence

to back up one's beliefs about governmental or special interest cover-ups.

[...] In CAM it is epitomised by Kevin Trudeau [whose book] reveals that the

only reason his natural cures for just about every conceivable human ailment

aren't in wider use is governmental and industry cover-ups. "

 

Bauswell goes on to write about :

 

pg 259

" In a rare fit of compassion, I didn't mention in chapter 8 the research my

center performed in which three experienced TCM physicians examined the same

group of rheumatoid arthritis patients and prescribed what they considered

to be appropriate therapies. Even though the TCM physicians knew that all of

the patients had rheumatoid arthritis, there was no consistency with respect

to their diagnoses or their treatment recommendations. In other words, even

if this strange, complex, and archaic diagnostic procedure had some

physiological basis, it would be worthless, since these experienced

practitioners came up with completely different conclusions when examining

the same patients. "

 

As laughable as his poverty of understanding might be, the fact is that

there are conspiracies of all sorts, and that he is part of a special

interest group who work towards certain goals which are not evidence-based.

Other words for conspiracy in this context are " misunderstanding " ,

" closed-mindedness " , " egotism " .

 

Information is not correct just because a group of people agree about it,

and invoking Conspiracy Theory as an argument without data to back it up is

a cop-out.

 

Thanks,

 

Hugo

 

________________________________

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedicine.wordpress.com

http://www.middlemedicine.org

 

________________________________

Hugo Ramiro < subincor >

Chinese Medicine

Sat, 17 April, 2010 13:01:24

What is " average life expectancy " ?

 

Hi Jason, top o' the day to you;

 

---

Just curious, are you saying that you think the avg. life-span was the same

2000 years ago as it is today.

 

---

 

The main problem is this construct " average lifespan " . Actually we are

discussing *average life expectancy*. Average life expectancy is a

statistical term which does not refer to the distribution of age in a

population over time, but is, rather, a concatenation of all ages

(1+2+3+4+5.. .=x) then divided by the population number, leading to a very

simple number, the " average " . The average life expectancy is a complex term

WHICH IS NOT reflected by the statement, " we live longer than people long

ago " . ( " Average " actually refers to three differing concepts, the mean, the

median, and the mode - we are dealing with the mean.)

 

The complex statistical term " average life expectancy " is better reflected

by statements such as the following:

- fewer infants die in affluent or protected societies, or protected

sub-units of societies.

- in the modern world a larger proportion of the total population have

affluence than at other times in the last 5-10 thousand years.

- relatively small community units, throughout history, have met or exceeded

our current (north american) lifespan maximums.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water and harsh environments place extreme

stresses on young humans, causing a high infant mortality, and therefore

reducing total average life expectancy for the population in question.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water, and harsh environments place the same

tolls on a population in 2010AD as they did in 200AD as they did in 1000BC.

 

If I were to pose an interesting and reasonable research question (which, to

my knowledge, has not been investigated) I would ask:

" Which has had the greater impact on infant mortality in non-tropical

environments? Vaccination or Insulation? "

I wonder which has been responsible for large parts of the decrease in

infant / youth mortality - engineering or medicine. Other factors are

obvious. Food and water, for instance.

 

It is interesting to note, however, that affluence can be read in at least

two important ways: to be just " wealthy " enough to have protection and food

such as would be found in a remote village in a fecund valley in a temperate

climate, or being rich; having so much food and protection that the

corruption of excess wealth sets in - what we would recognise as our modern

" diseases of affluence " - diabetes, heart disease etc. In my little

dissertation here I am referring to the first definition: having a good

amount of good quality food and water, a calm life and lifestyle, a good

community, and little exposure to harsh environments.

 

---

I think that it is pretty much standard academic thought (for better or

worse) that people died much younger 2000 years ago.

---

 

I hope it is clearer why this is a simplistic statement that is not

reflective of the real complexity of the situation.

 

---

This “fact†has nothing to do with being overall superior and I think

John’s

(?) point is a valid idea.

---

 

It's good that you placed fact in quotation marks, and if I may restate

John's point it was the following:

 

" If cancer incidence was lower in ancient China, was it because people just

didn't live long enough to develop it? "

 

The corollary to his statement is the following:

 

" Modern people live much longer than ancient peoples and that's why we see

so much disease today (coz we r so good we akshally get old). "

 

Both premises are false.

 

Again, an easy way to prove my point is to read the China study and examine

the health effects of the traditional diet *in traditional settings* and

realise how much lower rates of disease are despite comparable lifespans.

 

Thanks everyone,

 

Hugo

 

____________ _________ _________ __

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedici ne.wordpress. com

http://www.middleme dicine.org

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest guest

Hi Anne;

 

I think there's always a mix. And maybe Bausell only lasted 5 years there

because there was too much sympathy for CAM at the institution. Who knows, maybe

that's why he wrote the book.

I totally agree that good relationships must be made with other medical

traditions. I also find that without a very solid and rooted grounding in our

own tradition, we can become watered-down after extended contact with other

traditions - without the other tradition necessarily becoming watered down. At

least this has been my experience.

 

So long as the China Study is in the air, I'll let those who don't have the

book know that Campbell devoted the last 100 pages of his book to conspiracy

theories, or at least, *his* conspiracy theories, with sections titled " Why

haven't you heard this before? " and " science - the dark side " , and " government:

is it for the people? " .

 

Thanks,

Hugo

 

________________________________

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedicine.wordpress.com

http://www.middlemedicine.org

 

 

 

 

 

________________________________

Anne Crowley <anne.crowley

Traditional <Chinese Medicine >

Sun, 18 April, 2010 9:54:00

Re: Conspiracy Theories and TCM

 

 

 

 

Wow, Hugo. I just read your post about Univer of MD researcher and NIH.

Maryland's Integrative Medicine group is supposed to promote compelmentary

medicine - with acupuncturists on staff. Also, I assumed the NIH Complementary

group were the good guys for the most part. Some of them have been guest

lecturers at my acupuncture school when I was there 8 years ago. Don't know

about now. Bob Duggan, one of the founders of TAI in Columbia MD (a 30-yr old)

school, has always wanted to make " friendzzy's " with the Western community - I

believe to give them a better understanding of what we do, and also to stay

alive all these years. Maryland has a strong medical establishment. A D.O. and

a Biological Dentist lost their licenses for overtly stepping on their toes

(this is what I hear.)

 

Anne

 

Anne C. Crowley, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac.

www.LaPlataAcupunct ure.com

 

-

" Mercurius Trismegistus " <magisterium_ magnum (AT) comcast (DOT) net>

" Traditional " <Traditional_ Chinese_Medicine @.

com>

Saturday, April 17, 2010 5:25:06 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern

Re: Conspiracy Theories and TCM

 

 

 

In fact there is room for subjectivity in diagnosis. Did they examine all

of these patients at exactly the same time? Were they a week apart? A

month apart?

He is also presupposing that Western diagnoses have some sort of universal

metaphysical status. As if it is " more real " than TCM. Like if a Western

MD says it's a set of individual trees, then it can't be considered a

forest.

 

-

" Hugo Ramiro " < subincor >

< Traditional_ Chinese_Medicine >

Saturday, April 17, 2010 10:45 AM

Conspiracy Theories and TCM

 

Hi all, I wanted to copy out some text that might help us to regain our

footing regarding this term " conspiracy theory " , which, these days, is a

weaponised steel bat almost as effective as the steel bat called " scientific

evidence " :

 

The following is written by R. Barker Bausell, a biostatistician and

research methdologist who spent 5 years (99 - 04) as the director of

research at the university of maryland's Complementary Medicine Program (now

the Center for Integrative Medicine), which was entirely funded by the NIH

(National Institute of Health). His book is called " Snake Oil Science: The

Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine " .

 

On page 55, Bauswell defines six factors which he describes as

" psychological factors which impede our ability to draw correct causal

inferences " . Factor number 5 is:

 

" A Conspiracy-Oriented View of the World.

[...] paranoid in nature and often explains the lack of scientific evidence

to back up one's beliefs about governmental or special interest cover-ups.

[...] In CAM it is epitomised by Kevin Trudeau [whose book] reveals that the

only reason his natural cures for just about every conceivable human ailment

aren't in wider use is governmental and industry cover-ups. "

 

Bauswell goes on to write about :

 

pg 259

" In a rare fit of compassion, I didn't mention in chapter 8 the research my

center performed in which three experienced TCM physicians examined the same

group of rheumatoid arthritis patients and prescribed what they considered

to be appropriate therapies. Even though the TCM physicians knew that all of

the patients had rheumatoid arthritis, there was no consistency with respect

to their diagnoses or their treatment recommendations. In other words, even

if this strange, complex, and archaic diagnostic procedure had some

physiological basis, it would be worthless, since these experienced

practitioners came up with completely different conclusions when examining

the same patients. "

 

As laughable as his poverty of understanding might be, the fact is that

there are conspiracies of all sorts, and that he is part of a special

interest group who work towards certain goals which are not evidence-based.

Other words for conspiracy in this context are " misunderstanding " ,

" closed-mindedness " , " egotism " .

 

Information is not correct just because a group of people agree about it,

and invoking Conspiracy Theory as an argument without data to back it up is

a cop-out.

 

Thanks,

 

Hugo

 

____________ _________ _________ __

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedici ne.wordpress. com

http://www.middleme dicine.org

 

____________ _________ _________ __

Hugo Ramiro < subincor >

 

Sat, 17 April, 2010 13:01:24

What is " average life expectancy " ?

 

Hi Jason, top o' the day to you;

 

---

Just curious, are you saying that you think the avg. life-span was the same

2000 years ago as it is today.

 

---

 

The main problem is this construct " average lifespan " . Actually we are

discussing *average life expectancy*. Average life expectancy is a

statistical term which does not refer to the distribution of age in a

population over time, but is, rather, a concatenation of all ages

(1+2+3+4+5.. .=x) then divided by the population number, leading to a very

simple number, the " average " . The average life expectancy is a complex term

WHICH IS NOT reflected by the statement, " we live longer than people long

ago " . ( " Average " actually refers to three differing concepts, the mean, the

median, and the mode - we are dealing with the mean.)

 

The complex statistical term " average life expectancy " is better reflected

by statements such as the following:

- fewer infants die in affluent or protected societies, or protected

sub-units of societies.

- in the modern world a larger proportion of the total population have

affluence than at other times in the last 5-10 thousand years.

- relatively small community units, throughout history, have met or exceeded

our current (north american) lifespan maximums.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water and harsh environments place extreme

stresses on young humans, causing a high infant mortality, and therefore

reducing total average life expectancy for the population in question.

- poverty, war, famine, tainted water, and harsh environments place the same

tolls on a population in 2010AD as they did in 200AD as they did in 1000BC.

 

If I were to pose an interesting and reasonable research question (which, to

my knowledge, has not been investigated) I would ask:

" Which has had the greater impact on infant mortality in non-tropical

environments? Vaccination or Insulation? "

I wonder which has been responsible for large parts of the decrease in

infant / youth mortality - engineering or medicine. Other factors are

obvious. Food and water, for instance.

 

It is interesting to note, however, that affluence can be read in at least

two important ways: to be just " wealthy " enough to have protection and food

such as would be found in a remote village in a fecund valley in a temperate

climate, or being rich; having so much food and protection that the

corruption of excess wealth sets in - what we would recognise as our modern

" diseases of affluence " - diabetes, heart disease etc. In my little

dissertation here I am referring to the first definition: having a good

amount of good quality food and water, a calm life and lifestyle, a good

community, and little exposure to harsh environments.

 

---

I think that it is pretty much standard academic thought (for better or

worse) that people died much younger 2000 years ago.

---

 

I hope it is clearer why this is a simplistic statement that is not

reflective of the real complexity of the situation.

 

---

This “fact†has nothing to do with being overall superior and I think

John’s

(?) point is a valid idea.

---

 

It's good that you placed fact in quotation marks, and if I may restate

John's point it was the following:

 

" If cancer incidence was lower in ancient China, was it because people just

didn't live long enough to develop it? "

 

The corollary to his statement is the following:

 

" Modern people live much longer than ancient peoples and that's why we see

so much disease today (coz we r so good we akshally get old). "

 

Both premises are false.

 

Again, an easy way to prove my point is to read the China study and examine

the health effects of the traditional diet *in traditional settings* and

realise how much lower rates of disease are despite comparable lifespans.

 

Thanks everyone,

 

Hugo

 

____________ _________ _________ __

Hugo Ramiro

http://middlemedici ne.wordpress. com

http://www.middleme dicine.org

 

 

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