4 ms·

I realized I adhered to scientism when I caught myself judging my family and friends for believing in Traditional Chinese Medicine and in general stuff like hor

by cko 4y ago

I realized I adhered to scientism when I caught myself judging my family and friends for believing in Traditional Chinese Medicine and in general stuff like horoscopes, Tarot, Reiki and Qigong. I now see my worldview as just that. Just because I tend to dismiss that which cannot be measured or seen as irrelevant or not real, doesn't mean everyone else should. Just how I was conditioned.

jhbadger 4y ago
But something like Traditional Chinese Medicine is exactly something that needs to be measured. People may live or die depending on whether it does. Do some treatments from TCM work? Sure. But we only know this because they've undergone the same clinical testing Western treatments do. There's nothing magical about being "traditional". Many Western treatments have a basis in folk tradition as well. The issue is to figure out which traditions are valid and which are myths.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- aww_dang 4y ago
  I wasn't sure what the poster was referring to there. Hard to understand it in good faith. The examples given are good examples of things which can and have been measured and tested empirically.
alexvoda 4y ago
You are correct that people have the freedom to live in imaginary la-la fantasy land if they so wish. But the rest of us also have the freedom to call them out on it. The scientific method is a tool to reveal truth about reality. And no matter how much people believing in devine revelation want to claim otherwise, it is the only such tool humanity possess. People are free to ignore reality at their own peril. Turning science into an "-ism", is just a deflection aimed at destroying dialogue, it is an attempt at nullifying objectivity. If everything is an opinion, I have mine and you have yours, and all oppinions are equal, dialogue is impossible and the only thing left is tribal warfare.

by cko 4y ago

jhbadger 4y ago

But something like Traditional Chinese Medicine is exactly something that needs to be measured. People may live or die depending on whether it does. Do some treatments from TCM work? Sure. But we only know this because they've undergone the same clinical testing Western treatments do. There's nothing magical about being "traditional". Many Western treatments have a basis in folk tradition as well. The issue is to figure out which traditions are valid and which are myths.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
aww_dang 4y ago
I wasn't sure what the poster was referring to there. Hard to understand it in good faith. The examples given are good examples of things which can and have been measured and tested empirically.

alexvoda 4y ago

You are correct that people have the freedom to live in imaginary la-la fantasy land if they so wish. But the rest of us also have the freedom to call them out on it. The scientific method is a tool to reveal truth about reality. And no matter how much people believing in devine revelation want to claim otherwise, it is the only such tool humanity possess. People are free to ignore reality at their own peril. Turning science into an "-ism", is just a deflection aimed at destroying dialogue, it is an attempt at nullifying objectivity. If everything is an opinion, I have mine and you have yours, and all oppinions are equal, dialogue is impossible and the only thing left is tribal warfare.