Do Scientists Seek Truth? Or Grant Money? Or Worse?

Posted in General Science on May 3rd, 2012 by dhawkinsmo

Well I’m sure it depends on their field. But in the Life Sciences, I suspect it’s more about grant money. Richard Lewontin is a leader in the field of Population Genetics. He gave a talk at UMass Amherst, home of the late, great maverick scientist, Lynn Margulis and here’s what Lynn reported …

[Question to Dr. Margulis] You have attacked population genetics—the foundation of much current evolutionary research—as “numerology.” What do you mean by that term?
[Answer by Dr. Margulis] When evolutionary biologists use computer modeling to find out how many mutations you need to get from one species to another, it’s not mathematics—it’s numerology. They are limiting the field of study to something that’s manageable and ignoring what’s most important. They tend to know nothing about atmospheric chemistry and the influence it has on the organisms or the influence that the organisms have on the chemistry. They know nothing about biological systems like physiology, ecology, and biochemistry. Darwin was saying that changes accumulate through time, but population geneticists are describing mixtures that are temporary. Whatever is brought together by sex is broken up in the next generation by the same process. Evolutionary biology has been taken over by population geneticists. They are reductionists ad absurdum. Population geneticist Richard Lewontin gave a talk here at UMass Amherst about six years ago, and he mathematized all of it—changes in the population, random mutation, sexual selection, cost and benefit. At the end of his talk he said, “You know, we’ve tried to test these ideas in the field and the lab, and there are really no measurements that match the quantities I’ve told you about.” This just appalled me. So I said, “Richard Lewontin, you are a great lecturer to have the courage to say it’s gotten you nowhere. But then why do you continue to do this work?” And he looked around and said, “It’s the only thing I know how to do, and if I don’t do it I won’t get my grant money.” So he’s an honest man, and that’s an honest answer.

UN.BE.LIEV.ABLE. Read more »

Let Food Be Thy Medicine …

Posted in Healthy Food & Agriculture on May 3rd, 2012 by dhawkinsmo

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
― Hippocrates

Why is it that when I used to go to the doctor for an ear infection or sore throat my doctor never told me this in spite of the fact that he took the Hippocratic Oath?

Instead he told me “Here’s a prescription … $70 please … bye!” Cha ching.

NOTE: I haven’t been to the doctor (or a dentist) for over a year because finally – no thanks to him – I learned what Hippocrates was teaching 2500 years ago.

(Thank you Joel Salatin, Weston Price, Joel Fuhrman and others)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/248774.Hippocrates