Of all the scientific disciplines with which I am familiar, medical science is the one most characterized by an arrogant, presumptive disregard for any fact or idea not fitting neatly in line with whatever happens to be blessed by the medical establishment as "The Truth" on any given day.
The irony, of course, is that medical practices considered state-of-the-art a scant hundred years ago are today comparable to the worst atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition (two points if you get the reference). In another hundred years, one can only imagine what people will think of our scalpels and radiation and harsh treatments administered simply to negate the side-effects of other, harsher treatments.
If all goes according to plan, I'll be a parent in the near future. The preparation has involved innumerable hours of research on the art and science of giving birth. In the process, I've been shocked to learn how many problems so-called 'modern medicine' creates by tampering with the non-problems it purports to solve.
Particularly with regard to birth (which, if you've ever been pregnant in the United States, you've no doubt observed how pregnancy is treated as tantamount to life-threatening illness by the medical industrial complex), it is my observation that the majority of the focus of modern medicine is not on solving genuine problems, but on control: women scheduling Caesarean sections (followed by tummy tucks, obviously), doctors inducing mothers whose labors aren't moving along quickly enough (as if babies are expected to stick to a schedule, how silly).
This is the very definition of hubris, and the epitome of man's attempts to play God. If it's this bad for what has been regarded as a perfectly natural, non-medical event for most of human history, I can only imagine the state of all other areas of the profession. Worse yet, almost all wisdom inherited from older generations (or civilizations), however useful it proves to be situationally, is almost always dismissed with only slightly less scorn than superstition.
Real science is about always asking questions. It's about challenging assumptions and never accepting the status quo. In fact, it's often when the most widely-held beliefs are questioned that the greatest advancements are discovered.
