At 01:13 PM 1/23/01 +0100, you wrote:
>Tell me Mel, what is science and what is pseudoscience?
Isaac,
You don't know the basic tenants of scientific thought or the steps
necessary to progress from hypothesis to theory, or how to evaluate
evidence? Don't they teach this stuff in Norwegian PT schools? Do they
teach you that when a theorist is proven wrong that he or she was only a
"pseudoscientist"?
You seem not to understand how science progresses and how easy it is be
wrong without violating the laws of nature. Of course, violating those laws
either because of ignorance and willful contempt for them is another
matter. This is my problem with the theorists behind gentle techniques that
might potentially be effective for reasons they ignore. These reasons
include both psychological and physiologic processes that are well
understood but require the kind of study many seem to find too much trouble
to pursue.
The history of medicine can be split into four ages, each with
characteristic behaviors and practices: Supernaturalism, which extended to
the time of Hippocrates about 450 B.C., Theory, which extended to the
1500s, Original Research, into the late 1800s, and Science and Technology,
extending into the present. Each of these was an improvement on its
predecessor and each resulted in lowered death rates from a host of
maladies. Clearly Craniosacral Therapy along with John Barnes Myofascial
Release, insofar as they express the theoretical basis of their effect, is
a return to Supernaturalism.
Does that sound like a good idea to you?
Barrett L. Dorko, P.T.
"The Clinician's Manual" <http://barrettdorko.com>
Also at <http://rehabedge.com>
And <http://prorehabonline.com>
And <http://physicaltherapist.com>
And <http://rehabmax.com>
|