In this post, CPN co-founder and Exec member Barbara Gibson talks about Margrit Shildrick's book Embodying the monster. Spanish translation provided by CPN Exec member Alma Viviana Silva. Embodying the Monster is a feminist postmodern and historical reading of the monstrous body and the Western desire to eliminate aberration and vulnerability. Drawing on cultural theory, biomedical discourse and multiple historical and contemporary examples, Shildrick eloquently argues for a reconceived ethics of the body (and disability) that accepts the irreducible vulnerability of all persons. I was fortunate to take a course with Dr. Shildrick when she was in Canada and this book was our core … [Read more...] about Barbara Gibson – Embodying the monster – 30DoS #6
Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness (Spanish)
Here is another Spanish translation by Alma Viviana Silva of an earlier blogpost. Again, huge thanks to Viviana for this amazing work. Neurociencia y una visión radical de la consciencia Uno de los mayores retos en la filosofía y la ciencia siempre ha sido definir lo que significa ser consciente. Para algo tan fundamental como nuestras creencias sobre lo que es real y qué es ficción, lo que es real o verdadero y lo que es falso, se podría pensar que los fundamentos básicos de nuestra creencia de que - de una conciencia biológica - sería un hecho científico. No lo es tanto asi. Los científicos y los filósofos no estan realmente más cerca de la comprensión de la naturaleza de la … [Read more...] about Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness (Spanish)
Six useless treatments
The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) recently pronounced that six interventions commonly used by physiotherapists are useless and were no longer being supported (link). As part of the Choosing Wisely initiative, the APA has decided that requesting imaging for certain instances of non-specific low back pain, cervical pain, and acute ankle trauma; plus the routine use incentive spirometry after upper abdominal and cardiac surgery, electrotherapy in cases of lower back pain, and manual therapy for patients with frozen shoulder, are all now discouraged. There are some interesting aspects to this decision that warrant some more thought. Firstly, there is the … [Read more...] about Six useless treatments
Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness
One of the biggest challenges in philosophy and science has always been to define what it means to be conscious. For something so fundamental as our beliefs about what is fact and what is fiction, what is real or true and what is false, one might think that the basic foundations of our beliefs - that of a biological consciousness - would be a scientific fact. Not so. Scientists and philosophers are really no nearer to understanding the nature of consciousness than Descartes was in the 17th century when he argued that because our dreams are so vividly real, we had no way of proving that this very moment wasn't part of a dream. While some biological scientists are still trying to locate … [Read more...] about Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness
The cult of the hero
Having talked with people about my last blog entry (Exercising our demons, 16th May 2010), one of the most interesting conversations centred around physiotherapy’s fascination with its heros; the ‘big names’ in the profession that are made famous by their inventions and innovations. The last blog entry touched on this only briefly, and only in the sense that I expressed my dislike for the naked evangelizing of some of the speakers at our conference. But there is a bigger point here that deserves consideration, because - as a couple of my colleagues pointed out - physiotherapy really does suffer, at times, from the cult of the hero. … [Read more...] about The cult of the hero
New: Truths
One of the inescapable realities of modern life, or should that be post-modern life, is that we have all become skeptical of authority figures that want to tell us that they know the answers, and that we should follow them compliantly, passively and unquestioningly. There once was a time when people genuinely believed that the church, judges, the police, school teachers, parents, doctors and other authority figures genuinely knew best, but our trust in these authorities has been eroded by scandals, self interest and injurious practices. And while some of us yearn for a simpler time when the world was black and white, we can’t erase the image of child abuse by Catholic priests, medical … [Read more...] about New: Truths
Physiotherapy and the zone of play
I'm doing a public lecture next week on physical therapies in the 19th century (you will be able to see a live feed or delayed broadcast of it here if you're interested in hearing about it), and the whole project has been fascinating. One thing that occurred to me doing the preparation for the talk was how many images there are of people sitting in mud baths and hot springs. There was never any real proof that these things did anything other than warm you up, but there was a lot of anecdotal evidence that they were used to treat all sorts of diseases, from syphilis to sciatica, asthma to psoriasis. Suffice to say, in 19th century New Zealand, hot pools were a natural phenomenon, … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy and the zone of play