11 ms·
I'm assuming you were downvoted for the vague swipe at "traditional medicine". It can be a touchy subject, because of the large number of crackpots, "vaccines
by alex_c 16y ago
I'm assuming you were downvoted for the vague swipe at "traditional medicine". It can be a touchy subject, because of the large number of crackpots, "vaccines cause autism", etc.
To be clear, I suspect no HN readers will claim medicine has all the answers - far from it. I suspect the reaction is more to the false dichotomy between "traditional medicine" and "some other kind of medicine" (with the implied hints of conspiracy or willful incompetence), rather than "current medical knowledge" and "future medical knowledge".
I took a look at your site, and it's obvious you've been through a lot, and thought about it more than most people - so please take my comment only in the context it's meant: as an attempt at an explanation why your one specific post was downvoted (and not an endorsement of the downvote).
- Mz 16y agoThank you for the feedback. I routinely struggle with how to talk about offering a better solution. Most folks get all up in arms, like it is an attack, and then just do not listen to what I am really trying to say. Sigh. Have an upvote.
- alex_c 16y agoVery understandable - the problem is that it's tough, based on a brief post, to judge whether someone is an "alternative medicine" nut, with all the negative baggage that can imply, or someone with genuinely unique insights and experiences (hell, it's tough to judge in general, when dealing with things that are both emotional and not well understood).
- Mz 16y agoIt doesn't help that I frequently sound like Elle Woods (a la the scene in Legally Blonde that goes something like this: "He's gay. -- what kind of shoes do I have on?" ..."Uh, black?"..."See, he's gay.") But I don't have a good solution for that because I find that if I try to preemptively explain at length, that gets even worse reactions. :-/