I had just returned from an appointment with my cardiologist and found this in my IN box. Couldn't be better timed. I'm terribly frustrated with the medical 'experts' anymore. They try to think for me -which means they try to nullify my own thoughts on my treatment, mainly here, the medications they have me on. It's always "more" and never for an exceptionally good reason (if even a reason at all), other than "preventative" or "you're older now" or "it's a good drug"...
What I've discovered since mid February when I was hospitalized for a week due to a very sudden case of heart failure is: doctors don't listen to you anymore. They decide immediately what the issue is, begin medications, and then carry on. Example: Heart failure? Must have high lipid panel results. Statins, highest dose, right away. Test results? Good levels. Note in chart? Hyperlipidemia. (smh).The advent of the 'My Chart' app shows how ridiculous this all is. There are so many errors, and especially noteworthy is those to do with my Family History. It's almost unbelievable when it come to the notes on my father's cardiac history: it's not even the same man! (smh).
Today I thought out loud at the cardio's office and that didn't go well. Of course the answer was another medication. Always, drugs. Always.
I hadn't seen a physician for over 20 years. Never a need. Now I'm on 8 medications. And they just don't listen to you because they're sure they're being 'paid to think for me' - and anything I'm thinking is wrong.
Medicine aside, we're in deep trouble all around in the West. My recent experience just shows me personally how much so in one discipline.
"Sometimes I will be in error. I would not have you trust me simply because I think that I am right, or because I have scientific credentials. You need not listen to anything in particular that others have found. But if you are certain that your cherished beliefs are correct, and that they cannot abide scrutiny, be skeptical of yourself. Your certainty is a tell. Your certainty may be hiding an insecurity, which in turn may be covering an error."
Why is this such a difficult concept for COLLEGE GRADUATES?!
I've summed it up with "The more certain you are that you are right, the more likely you are to be wrong." That's because, having become certain, you know longer evaluate and contemplate. Apparently, unlike real scientists, there are those who are uncomfortable around uncertainty, and seek certain answers with little concern for their accuracy. As I said to a guy who once told me that he '"believed in science"; science is not a belief system, it is a doubt system.
Our educational 'system' has been perverted into a means of indoctrination, very much like Hitler's Youth. We may expect a similar result.
Your expansion of thoughts outside of a past position is very admirable. You and Bret have broadened my thinking so much. Feel, felt, found - I love that.
This quote was alluded to in the Moth and the Iron Lung interview:
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "EUREKA!" but "That's funny..." - Isaac Asimov
So much of this brings me back to when I first discovered the Dark Horse Podcast in early 2020 as the madness of the pandemic was setting in on us. It was like a much needed breath of fresh air after being held in an enclosed place for too long. It was such a relief to hear someone speaking in a way so familiar that I once had known but had recently seemingly disappeared. This is what initially drew me and what keeps me coming back every week. A million thanks.
I've been saying for years, decades even, that what people are calling science is actually the Religion of Science, not at all the same thing. Don't get me wrong; as a scientist and a Christian I recognize and respect the value of both religion and science -- but the Religion of Science as I see it practiced, I take to be an abomination.
A little study of church history shows that questioning, speaking out, and arguing are the very methods that have been used to great success in the church's effort to sort out truth from error -- much as Bret described the progress of science in the recent DarkHorse podcast. Whether it's a clergyman, or a teacher, or a man in a lab coat saying it, the words "Do not argue, believe!" come down to "My god isn't strong enough to withstand your doubts."
Thank you, Heather, for your openness, a true inspiration in these dark times when so much reticence hangs in the air like a foul gas. Sometimes, I think that our collective mind, if there is such a thing, has collapsed upon us. Collapsed, surely, for no other reason than our educational system abandoned the Enlightenment, traded it in for Woke ‘n’ Poke ideologies. How utterly stupid! Meanwhile, your insights and example have persuaded me to quit whistling in the dark and not wait to be told when I can speak and what I should say. So there.
Outstanding, as usual. The fact that you are willing to change your mind given new or learned facts, is why so many people trust what you have to say.
Well, this one's a keeper.
I had just returned from an appointment with my cardiologist and found this in my IN box. Couldn't be better timed. I'm terribly frustrated with the medical 'experts' anymore. They try to think for me -which means they try to nullify my own thoughts on my treatment, mainly here, the medications they have me on. It's always "more" and never for an exceptionally good reason (if even a reason at all), other than "preventative" or "you're older now" or "it's a good drug"...
What I've discovered since mid February when I was hospitalized for a week due to a very sudden case of heart failure is: doctors don't listen to you anymore. They decide immediately what the issue is, begin medications, and then carry on. Example: Heart failure? Must have high lipid panel results. Statins, highest dose, right away. Test results? Good levels. Note in chart? Hyperlipidemia. (smh).The advent of the 'My Chart' app shows how ridiculous this all is. There are so many errors, and especially noteworthy is those to do with my Family History. It's almost unbelievable when it come to the notes on my father's cardiac history: it's not even the same man! (smh).
Today I thought out loud at the cardio's office and that didn't go well. Of course the answer was another medication. Always, drugs. Always.
I hadn't seen a physician for over 20 years. Never a need. Now I'm on 8 medications. And they just don't listen to you because they're sure they're being 'paid to think for me' - and anything I'm thinking is wrong.
Medicine aside, we're in deep trouble all around in the West. My recent experience just shows me personally how much so in one discipline.
"Sometimes I will be in error. I would not have you trust me simply because I think that I am right, or because I have scientific credentials. You need not listen to anything in particular that others have found. But if you are certain that your cherished beliefs are correct, and that they cannot abide scrutiny, be skeptical of yourself. Your certainty is a tell. Your certainty may be hiding an insecurity, which in turn may be covering an error."
Why is this such a difficult concept for COLLEGE GRADUATES?!
I've summed it up with "The more certain you are that you are right, the more likely you are to be wrong." That's because, having become certain, you know longer evaluate and contemplate. Apparently, unlike real scientists, there are those who are uncomfortable around uncertainty, and seek certain answers with little concern for their accuracy. As I said to a guy who once told me that he '"believed in science"; science is not a belief system, it is a doubt system.
Our educational 'system' has been perverted into a means of indoctrination, very much like Hitler's Youth. We may expect a similar result.
Your expansion of thoughts outside of a past position is very admirable. You and Bret have broadened my thinking so much. Feel, felt, found - I love that.
This quote was alluded to in the Moth and the Iron Lung interview:
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "EUREKA!" but "That's funny..." - Isaac Asimov
So much of this brings me back to when I first discovered the Dark Horse Podcast in early 2020 as the madness of the pandemic was setting in on us. It was like a much needed breath of fresh air after being held in an enclosed place for too long. It was such a relief to hear someone speaking in a way so familiar that I once had known but had recently seemingly disappeared. This is what initially drew me and what keeps me coming back every week. A million thanks.
This should be read at the beginning and end of every year by every student in every school.
I've been saying for years, decades even, that what people are calling science is actually the Religion of Science, not at all the same thing. Don't get me wrong; as a scientist and a Christian I recognize and respect the value of both religion and science -- but the Religion of Science as I see it practiced, I take to be an abomination.
A little study of church history shows that questioning, speaking out, and arguing are the very methods that have been used to great success in the church's effort to sort out truth from error -- much as Bret described the progress of science in the recent DarkHorse podcast. Whether it's a clergyman, or a teacher, or a man in a lab coat saying it, the words "Do not argue, believe!" come down to "My god isn't strong enough to withstand your doubts."
Thank you, Heather, for your openness, a true inspiration in these dark times when so much reticence hangs in the air like a foul gas. Sometimes, I think that our collective mind, if there is such a thing, has collapsed upon us. Collapsed, surely, for no other reason than our educational system abandoned the Enlightenment, traded it in for Woke ‘n’ Poke ideologies. How utterly stupid! Meanwhile, your insights and example have persuaded me to quit whistling in the dark and not wait to be told when I can speak and what I should say. So there.
- [ ]
Timing was good on this from one of my X friends:
Legendary saying.
“Those who are talking don’t know. Those who know aren’t talking.”
Those who know are talking, but YouTube is censoring them.
Some think that a vote for RFK is a proxy vote for Biden, actually…
I think we’ve had taxation without representation for far too long.
I appreciate the guidance you and Brent provided through your Substack and Dark Horse podcasts
You both were lighthouses in a storm for me
To acquire my bearings to move forward
Tusen Takk
Jon
Heather
Thank you for sharing your journey
Pandemia has been a watershed moment for my sense making also
Almost “M C Escheresque “ in foreground/background