Just because you can't measure it, don't mean it ain't there!

Hawk hits pretty much dead centre. The problem with science is that it's replaced religion. And yes, it's just as blinkered & pig ignorant, at times, as religion ever was. There are are always people with a vested interest in maintaining the system.

There was a series on BBC2 in 1994 called Heretics that dealt with controversial scientific theories. It ran to 6 progs, I think. There was a guy who claimed ultra high doses of vitamins would protect you from cancer (both he & his wife died from cancer notwithstanding...) & another that tried to link race with IQ.

The one that always sticks in my mind, though, was the very first prog. This featured a French scientist who had a theory as to the efficacy of homeopathic medicine. He recruited an independent & thoroughly sceptical statistician to double check his methodolgy & trials, & to design new trials to test the theory. All the trials appeared to prove that his theory was correct.

The 'experts' (including the then editor of Nature magazine, a highly prestigious science mag) rubbished him mercilessly in the programme. They didn't have any counter-arguments as to why or how his trials produced the results they did. They just said that his research either must be wrong, or that he'd 'cheated'... Was it only me that smelt something fishy? Try this link for a balanced article on the series. The quote that struck me was "The sense of self-superiority of the critics in
many instances was in striking contrast to the humility, integrity
and sincerity manifested by... [the scientists]"

There are plenty of 'scientists' with narrowly rational minds who cannot accept a challenge that might dislodge them from their comfortable little niches in the existing order. There are an equally large number of 'treeshakers' who would take great delight from the notoriety to be gained by successfully challenging the existing order. I'm suspicious of both sides. Shades of Martin Luther, no?

From personal experience, I had a blackout a few years ago. I was offered an entirely non-medical explanation for it. Nevertheless, I went to the Doc's (as I was advised by the person who offered me the non-medical explanation). They couldn't find anything wrong with me, but on mentioning the NM theory, the response was instant - "Oh, forget that medieval, superstitious nonsense!"

The doctors never could offer me a reason as to why I suddenly keeled over that day...

Just because you can't measure it, don't mean it ain't there!