What’s Science Got to do With It?

Medicine was once considered an art. Healing is understood by all as a complex interaction between patients, healers, communities of living people, communities of plants and animals (and groups of insects and rocks and fish), and groups of inanimate objects (such as). Ancestors, spirit guides and archetypes) and that spiritual movement by many names: creator, god / goddess, supreme above all. Healing Arts includes a thorough knowledge of human behavior, a thorough knowledge of plants, mastery of the dramatic arts, especially singing / practice and clothing / body painting, and a broad knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. (If you think these fields are not art, look at the system used by traditional Chinese healers, which include "organs" such as a triple heater and a dozen different pulses.) Art does not inhibit or oppose science. . Science, above all, is the ability to honestly examine ideas and to see clearly the confusing relationship of cause and effect. The best science is indebted to art. Science understands that left-brain and art are right-brain and that the whole brain consists of both. Science, however, is not so easy with art. Science believes that art is a superstition. Science claims that art is not clumsy, soft, imitative, and therefore unreliable. (I'm interested in taking a variety of science courses at the Liberal Arts University - UCLA - where I study, but I'm turned down science college - MIT - students do not have to study the arts.) Science defines itself as reality and art as fiction. Really great scientists understand the need to respect information as well as intuition. But the world is rarely run by really great people. So gradually, the art of healing became infamous and the science of healing was worshiped. The physician spends as much time as possible communicating with machines and drugs and technology and spends as little time with the patient; Spend more and less time studying books and less time learning about strange, symbolic, stimulating forces of the mind. The therapist focuses more on healing the sick person and at least the patient needs self-sufficiency, family and community. The herbalist becomes a biochemist. Pharmacists no longer need to know botany. The herbs are displayed in a green coat as medicine. And the active ingredient deserves just one mention. Is this what I want? Did it appeal to me towards herbs? Is this what fascinates me about herbal medicine? I have no definite answer to all these questions. Recognizing the use of science, I maintain the superior abilities of the right-brain in the art of healing. I defend the rights of the miracle workers, magicians, witches, shepherds, wise women, skill, personal strength and courage of midwives around me - big and small, from birth to death and in the middle - of those around me. People. Herbal medicine. Magical plants. ****** - Active plants. Here is a thread and it goes back a long way. At least 40,000 years. Plants are planted that have spoken to all of us until recently. Forty thousand years ago, we knew that our ancestors genetically modified, hybridized and cross-bred typical plants. And use them in therapy. Maria Sabina, one of the most famous shamanic healers of the 20th century, went into the woods as a child and ate psilocybin mushrooms while talking to her. He healed only with the help of "little people" (mushrooms) and he healed not only the body but also the soul. At Amazon, herbalists and medical students are trained as psychoactive plants, as well as human teachers. There has been a lot of discussion recently about the active ingredients in plants. I have a lot of product ads being claimed or stopped with the announcement that a new, better, more active, active ingredient has been discovered. For example, when consumer reports show that cholic garlic contains virtually no allicin ("active" ingredient), it resists the advertising campaign claiming that cholic contains superiority because it contains a different, stronger, more active ingredient. There is part. For example, the most standard St. John's / Jones wort tinctures are standard for hypericin. But the latest research shows that hyperforin is the real active ingredient! For example: Many years ago, an article in JAMA on the use of Ginkgo biloba to combat dementia explained that none of the several hundred components present have determined the active ingredient and, in fact, its effect is likely to be complex. Synergistic effect. Component interaction. However, an article in the New York Times warned readers not to use ginkgo until the active ingredient is established. It happened to me: an MD from the menopause panel with me, told the audience that it was not safe to use any herb until it had measured and validated its active ingredient. What can I say? To me the active substance of the plant is an immeasurable part: energy, vitality, chi, the angel of the plant, not the "poisonous" part. For the healer / artist / physician, the active part of the plant is the part of the right brain that is active, chaotic, natural, used to "make an octave jump" and perform miracles. This active component is refined into standard products because the original active component is the fuzzy component, the convertible component, the micro component and the invisible component. Does this have anything to do with science? Absolutely! The process of identifying specific compounds in plants, replicating them in the laboratory, and mass-producing them as drugs cannot be repeated or replaced by any physician or herbalist. Standard pharmaceutical products protect the consumer (usually) and protect plants from overgrowth (although the net impact on the environment is detrimental). If we are. Let's put