In my spare time, I dabble in woodwork. My dad was a builder, but he died before I realised how much I'd miss his knowledge and experience in later life. I've never done a woodworking course in my life (although Youtube makes a very good teacher), so perhaps I appreciated this post from 8th March all the more. The brief article (below) is about Sam Maloof, an inspirational and completely self taught woodworker. Check out some of the Youtube videos of his work. It's stunningly beautiful stuff. I'm a big believer in desire driving people to learn, and sometimes formal education can blunt that desire by replacing the things that you want to learn with somebody else's priorities and … [Read more...] about On being self taught
Evidence-based medicine or micro-fascism?
We can already hear the objections. The term fascism represents an emotionally charged concept in both the political and religious arenas; it is the ugliest expression of life in the 20th century (180). Not my words, but those of Dave Holmes and Stuart Murray in their fabulous paper Deconstructing the evidence-based discourse in health sciences: Truth, power and fascism. The author's argument is that we desperately need to unmask the 'the hidden politics of evidence-based discourse' (181). A recent Australian report on the efficacy of homeopathy (link) has shown that "There was no reliable evidence from research in humans that homeopathy was effective for treating the range of health … [Read more...] about Evidence-based medicine or micro-fascism?
I love superstitions – Oscar Wilde (and here's why)
“Bring something incomprehensible into the world!” ― Gilles Deleuze, Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia Founded in the 1880s by Manhattan rationalists, the 13 Club held a regular dinner on the 13th of each month, seating 13 members at each table deliberately to laugh at superstition. “I have given some attention to popular superstitions, and let me tell you that argument is powerless against them,” founding member Daniel Wolff told journalist Philip Hubert in 1890. “They have a grip upon the imagination that nothing but ridicule will lessen.” As an example he cited the tradition that the mirrors must be removed from a room in which a corpse is lying. “Make the experiment … [Read more...] about I love superstitions – Oscar Wilde (and here's why)
A new Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation featuring Thomas Eakins and early photography of motion
Angela Fritz's recent blogpost on the anatomical studies of Thomas Eakins appeared in a new journal that may be of real interest to members of the Critical Physiotherapy Network. The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation is published by the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship and aspires to: raise the consciousness and deepen the intellect of the humanistic relationship in the rehabilitation sciences. Our mission is to encourage dialogue among rehabilitation professionals, patients, families and caregivers that describe the human condition as it experiences the impact of illness or disability. We hope to highlight and illustrate the special relationship between the patient and … [Read more...] about A new Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation featuring Thomas Eakins and early photography of motion
Words banned in Italy
This article appeared in the New Zealand Herald in 1932 (Vol LXIX, Issue 21296, 24 September 1932, Page 9) Fascist Italy has officially banned about fifty words of foreign origin now in common use in the Italian language. The list issued by the Confederation of Fascist Professionals and Artists includes the words "omelette," "roughly," "taxi," "parvenu," "dancing," and "masseuse." Italian equivalents have been coined to replace them. Thus, "masseuse" becomes massaggiatrice and the once universal "charm" is now "fascino." Many more words will eventually be added to this "black list." They will include "racing," terms borrowed from the English; and many sporting terms for which proper … [Read more...] about Words banned in Italy
Some meditations on education and intelligence
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle “Education enables you to express assent or dissent in graduated terms.” — William Cory “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” — Robert Frost “To change an opinion without a mental process is the mark of the uneducated.” — Geoffrey Madan “To have doubted one’s own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes “There … [Read more...] about Some meditations on education and intelligence
Massage and aristocracy c.1894
From Reynolds Weekly¹, 22nd July 1894, courtesy of Wellcome Library It is one of the proud glories of our civilisation that it is perpetually breeding new diseases, the very names of which, invented by our fashionable physicians, would have made our good old great grandfathers stare and gasp. And as soon as these diseases have, so to speak, got into working order, and are doing their deadly execution, with a vigour worthy of a better cause, some new remedy is suggested to our civilised victims, which soon becomes all the rage. One of the best known of these recent remedies is called massage, and it is supposed to be of use in rheumatic, nervous, and other affections. Massage, in plainer … [Read more...] about Massage and aristocracy c.1894