Guest guest Posted February 8, 2003 Report Share Posted February 8, 2003 there is a silly attack on the word biomedicine in the current alliance newsletter. the author makes the mistake of thinking biomedicine was coined by allopaths themselves to mean " the medicine of life " . However, this term was actually coined by alternative healthcare writers and it actually means the medicine that utilizes the modern biological sciences as its diagnostic basis (whether it does so well is an open question). Bio is short for biological sciences in this context and is not being used to mean " life " in this broad way as if TCM is focused on something other. Many modern english coinages are made from combining parts of different words, IRREGARDLESS of the greek or latin meaning of the root. We need to learn the definition intended by the writer, not assume the author was even aware of the roots of his terms. Chinese Herbs " Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds " -- Albert Einstein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2003 Report Share Posted February 8, 2003 Words, and languages in general seem to be constantly under silly attacks. It seems altogether in keeping with the general disrespect for language and the meaning of words in our field that you should come across the misuse of the term " biomedicine " as you describe. I don't believe it is reasonable to expect that such misuse of individual terms can be addressed, let alone corrected without an accompanying effort to raise the overall standards in the use of words. If everyone sought to understand the meanings of the words that we all use, then the chore of determining what any given writer, speaker, or user of those words actually meant would be relatively easier. At least that's one theory of language use, that it goes much better when the users know what the words they use mean. It is really very easy for people to use words wrongly, and some great writers and users of language violate the rules of correct usage (of which definitions are a special case of the more general set of rules that is part and parcel of every language) to great effect. The real problem I see in the area of language use is that a whole community of individuals, owing largely to the fact of its omission from their education, has come to use the language of Chinese medicine in a way that is quite similar to the way you described the English language being misused in the article you read attacking " biomedicine " . In fact, the " attack " approach is greatly facilitated by misunderstandings and misuses of language. When people misuse language they tend not to understand one another clearly. And when you don't understand someone, it is far easier to attack them. In fact, it can seem necessary. Often, it is the misunderstanding and misuse of language that is the real target that should be attacked, for it frequently emerges as the underlying cause of attacks. To show you how easily words can be misused, your use of the word IRREGARDLESS is actually considered a blunder by those pedants who write dictionaries. You can see the explanation if you care to at: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=irregardless Ken , <@i...> wrote: > there is a silly attack on the word biomedicine in the current alliance > newsletter. the author makes the mistake of thinking biomedicine was > coined by allopaths themselves to mean " the medicine of life " . However, > this term was actually coined by alternative healthcare writers and it > actually means the medicine that utilizes the modern biological sciences > as its diagnostic basis (whether it does so well is an open question). > Bio is short for biological sciences in this context and is not being used > to mean " life " in this broad way as if TCM is focused on something other. > Many modern english coinages are made from combining parts of different > words, IRREGARDLESS of the greek or latin meaning of the root. We need to > learn the definition intended by the writer, not assume the author was > even aware of the roots of his terms. > > > > Chinese Herbs > > voice: > fax: > > " Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre > minds " -- Albert Einstein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2003 Report Share Posted February 8, 2003 I noticed the same thing in that article. The author goes off on a tangent about natural vs. technological medicine based on a misunderstanding of the term biomedicine. Someone needs to do some quality control editing and actually read what is being published. On Saturday, February 8, 2003, at 11:15 AM, wrote: > there is a silly attack on the word biomedicine in the current > alliance newsletter. the author makes the mistake of thinking > biomedicine was coined by allopaths themselves to mean " the medicine > of life " . However, this term was actually coined by alternative > healthcare writers and it actually means the medicine that utilizes > the modern biological sciences as its diagnostic basis (whether it > does so well is an open question). Bio is short for biological > sciences in this context and is not being used to mean " life " in this > broad way as if TCM is focused on something other. Many modern > english coinages are made from combining parts of different words, > IRREGARDLESS of the greek or latin meaning of the root. We need to > learn the definition intended by the writer, not assume the author was > even aware of the roots of his terms. > > > > Chinese Herbs > > voice: > fax: > > " Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre > minds " -- Albert Einstein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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