Mel Siff:
<Maybe you also recall reading a research article which disclosed that
something like 85 percent of all medical procedures also lack solid
scientific evidence. What does that tell us?>
[log in to unmask] writes:
<< I heard this from another physio about medical procedures lacking hard
evidence, and this is why so many people are lacking trust in the medical
profession at the moment. This probably explains why most orthopaedic
surgeons in particular are undergoing a lot of research to prove that their
procedures are effective. >>
***Belief in anything is not simply determined by the existence of scientific
proof. Probably a much greater percentage than 85 percent of all religious
belief is not corroborated by science, yet this fact hardly affects
believers in myriads of different faiths.
Maybe people find it a lot easier to believe in the unseen and the mystical
than the tangible and verifiable. Maybe that is why there are so many
believers who follow the way of alternative healing, which is replete with
various evangelists who market their ideas in a quasi-religious manner.
Maybe the laying on of hands in the form of simple "laying on" or in the form
of mobilisation, manipulation, touch therapy, structural reintegration and
so forth is sometimes successful because it appeals to some very primal
instinct in humans. Maybe humankind has an instinct which makes this mode of
operating so appealing and successful.
For those who enjoy the sensuous and sensual nature of caring touch, we have
the more tender methods; for those who prefer the more masochistic methods we
have transverse cross frictions, Rolfing and so on. Even the perceived
affects of electrostimulation may serve as some sort of touch therapy in some
cases. We thus have all the ingredients for gentle and masochistic placebo
effects. On top of that, there is the outside chance that some of these
therapies actually may directly address the problem. What more could we wish
for? Even a modest success rate and absence of any major treatment disasters
decrees that almost anyone in the therapy business can make a "killing",
especially if they know a bit about marketing and human needs!
I'm off to take my shaman's course tomorrow!
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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http://www.egroups.com/group/supertraining
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