Trick or Treatment…

Last may, when I went to Greece i picked up a few books at the book store within the airport. One of these books was the book “Salvekvick och kvacksalveri”, which is the Swedish translation of Singh & Ernst’s book “Trick or Treatment”.

I liked that book a lot! I just picked it up because i found the title funny, but I did not regret reading it. The combination of the authors is a match in heaven since they both strive to give a fair and open-minded overview as well as review of the most common alternative medicine practices.

Edzard Ernst is an MD and PhD and one of the first in the world to hold a professor chair in alternative medicine. He is also well versed in alternative medicine, being a practitioner who (as i could discern from this book) he has received training in acupuncture, herbalism, acupuncture and massage therapy.

The second author, Simon Singh, is a science writer with a PhD in particle physics. Together they approach alternative medicine with an open, yet critical, mind. Evidence and science being the focus. If something works, then it can be proven to do so after all… doesn’t it?

After an introduction chapter where the scientific method is explained in detail, both its workings and the logic behind it, the authors continue into examining the 4 major alternative medicine therapies. Namely, acupuncture; homeopathy; chiropractic treatment and herbal medicine, by dedicating one chapter to each and one of them. The last chapter wraps it all up by summarizing, and by addressing the issue – “So we found out the truth, through the scientific method, but does the truth matter?”.

Also the book includes a very nice appendix, listing a big part of herbal remedies, and whether they have proven effects or not, as well as further reading suggestions.

I highly recommend reading this book to anyone who’s interested in alternative medicine!

So… I read this book in May… why am I picking it up now? I was thinking of writing about it back in may, but work and traveling kept me away from blogging, so I forgot about it untill I read my Forskarfeministens (aka modebloggarens 😉 ) post “Homeopati och Nobelpristagare“.

It’s amazing how many hoops people will jump through in order to keep their beliefs in treatments who does not work. This book included many examples of “wishful thinking” in examining scientific results. Also many examples of pure fraud… as well as people hitting below the belt. Resorting to slandering of their opposers in order to discredit their opinions. As seen also by the reactions of the homeopath society when the Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang took an extreme “overdose” of homeopathic sleeping drug (which of course did not affect him… since there is no active ingredients in those pills) the strategy of trying to discredit the opposers is commonly used…

And that’s where the final question of the authors of Trick or treatment come in:

“Does the truth matter?”

Well my answer is NO… In a battle between truth and belief – truth does not matter. Truth will always lose when faced with a firm and heavily rooted belief. I can respect that, but then let’s be honest and also admit that it is a belief. Be straight and say: I don’t care what the evidence says I BELIEVE this. It’s anyone right and a standpoint one has to respect even if he disagrees.

Motivated? Sure, But how?

The tittle of this post comes from a pedagogical lecture I attended some time ago… The lecture was about how I as a teacher can motivate my students.

Today though I find it to be meant for me… and many other PhD students out there.

Yes I’m motivated! Yes! Yes!

*silence*

I mean it! I’m quite motivated… I think… maybe? Hmmm ok I’m not today… That’s why this lecture tittle popped into my mind: “Sure, But HOW?!”

Motivation is not something you can grasp. Nor static… It’s a perishable commodity that needs renewal every day. And today i don’t seem to have acquired my daily dose. Well maybe I just need to face facts. Today is one of those day’s when i just cannot concentrate. My brain is everywhere but where it’s supposed to be. It’s like it split into a thousand pieces and scattered all around. Those days, cause I believe we all have them – I just feel like sighing loudly. And for all I know maybe I am without noticing.

Syntagma… some loose thoughts and rambling…

Sadness and helplessness fills my soul today… The Greek parliament is voting for the new austerity measures. I wish I was there… having been there only the first day of the movement of the “αγανακτισμένοι” really isn’t enough.

People are trying to demonstrate… The police are closing in the parliament in an iron cocoon. Iron fences and rows upon rows of riot police. Tear-gas is flowing upon the people. It’s almost like a was zone… like the latest dictature has already been established, but instead of the army they use the police.

And when I opened the live streaming from the demonstration, the slogans I hear being yelled by the handful of people that’s on the top of the syntagma square are the same 3 words being repeated over and over during the time of the dictature.

“Ψωμί, παιδία, ελευθερία” = ”Food, education, freedom”

On being inbetween…

On being in between is the title I’ve chosen for this blogpost… because that is what I inherently am.

Half-greek… half-swedish… that’s the common terms for describing people like me who move on a sliding scale between cultures. Part of both yet just a tiny bit stranger to both.

I’ve always disliked those terms though… because you can’t be half-something as abstract as a cultural identity or nationality. I’ve always felt that I’m Greek (or more correctly that I’m Cretan). But I’ve also always been Swedish as well. 100% of both…

“But… but… 100% + 100% = 200%, don’t you really mean 50% each?” (I’ve gotten as a reaction)

“No I really mean 100%.”

That’s the treasure of being bilingual and a child of two cultures. Being both, at the same time… often seamlessly switching between. If your lucky picking up the best of both… more commonly though the worst of both! 😀

On that subject… Some time ago I read this in a newspaper article and felt such a sting of recognition. The girl who wrote it is Italian, but it’s equally true for me as a Greek. Just exchange the word Italy with Greece

Svenskar är ofta väldigt praktiska, naturliga och artiga. De är ordningsamma i sitt sätt att tänka och leva. I Italien har man den här sköna, otroligt starka och barnsliga livslusten och livsglädjen. Naivismen; allt löser sig, inga problem.

Jag tror att jag är en bra kombination. Jag lever dagen fullt ut, men tar lite ansvar.

Translated to english:

Swedes are often very practical, natural and polite. They are orderly in their ways of thinking and living. In Italy you have this beautiful, incredibly strong and childlike zest for life and love of life. A naive liberalism, everything will work out, no problem.

I think I’m a good combination. I live day in full, but also take some responsibility.