Sure, just like quantum mechanics is very real and very applicable to all sorts of things in the world, but Deepak Chopra-type woo about "quantum consciousness" is just a grift.
Yeah, like last I read, they don't actually know THAT much about gut flora because the only way so far to test for what's in there is to take a stool sample, make a smoothie, then do a gene assay.
That tells you WHAT'S in there, but not HOW much or in what proportions.
Neurologists will also tell you that we know precious little about the brain, a seldom heard counterpoint to all of the breathless "brain science" that has infused education and self-help woo.
I think the conflict is that we know much about the hard, physical mechanics of the brain (visual cortex is there, cerebellum does this), but what we're still guessing at is a lot of the "programming" logic. And since brains are built on binary, it's been difficult to decode.
You can make a solid case that some medical treatments remain barbaric. This is the case that Mukherjee makes in The Emperor of all Maladies. 40 yrs ago we carved big chunks out of cancer patients. Now we poison them to within an inch of their lives.
Chopra's an idealist about consciousness, which is an important philosophical position. Just cos he dresses it up in flowery language to sell books doesn't make it 'woo'. Similarly "quantum consciousness" is a respectable idea championed by the likes of Nobel physicist Roger Penrose (Orch-OR).
If you can't express your philosophical position without basing on claims that are objectively false, I don't see much value in it.
And while Penrose has done some very nice math, he's also known for promoting a bunch of ideas that are objectively false, e.g. misinterpreting Godel's theorem.
Yes! Like the woo idea of water having emotions because it can store lots of "energies", when the reality is yes, water is an excellent insulator because it can absorb loads of thermal energy before heating up. Both are NOT the same.
Yeah, saying you think the microbiome could play a role in something and you would like to see scientific research about that is very different from asserting without evidence that it does X and that doing Y will fix it.
But, when we can cure mental illness/neurodivergency/autism with a supplement people will go apeshit about "he didn't need a cure" and "she was perfect the way she was".
I am not quite sold yet on the somewhat flimsy correlation that gut health may tie into something as complex and intrinsic as autism, a different form of cognitive prioritization.
It's not that there isn't a connection between brain / gut, but I question how COMPLEX that is.
MUCH more study is needed. And it legit could be that this alleviated a physical discomfort. SURPRISE! We are happier and better managed when not in pain.
Yeah, all of that is a mess of "maybe the autism causes mood changes that then cause tertiary effects in the guts" or "relieving a GI tract problems reduce sensory irritation, which in turn causes a decline in undesirable behaviors".
My suspicion is that there is not a direct causal link, but it does work 2 ways, and that a hyper-awareness of your INTERNAL states may feedback into itself and create "anxious gut". There's also the fact that many autistic kids demand consistency and low variability in food - which inevitably...
For sure- but considering every major influencer considers it from a one-size-fits-all perspective without actually understanding any of the mechanics of it... they might as well don a weird hairstyle and just announce "Aliens," in a cryptic voice.
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It's going to be very, very difficult to crack what's going on there, but once we do, it may actually answer A LOT of mysteries in medicine.
That tells you WHAT'S in there, but not HOW much or in what proportions.
Sigh. I've changed that diaper.
I can tell you what was definitely in it.
(Sorry, couldn't resist the mom-joke.)
And while Penrose has done some very nice math, he's also known for promoting a bunch of ideas that are objectively false, e.g. misinterpreting Godel's theorem.
lol, what are you, a 15 year-old naive tech-bro?
But do tell, which of the "philosophical claims" in my post were false?
It's not that there isn't a connection between brain / gut, but I question how COMPLEX that is.
MUCH more study is needed. And it legit could be that this alleviated a physical discomfort. SURPRISE! We are happier and better managed when not in pain.