The field of medicine, like any other field, is far from perfectly understood. It suffers from the same biases, false traditions, and narrow perspectives as any other scientific field.

The field of medicine is vast, which is why there are specialists, and even then specialists disagree with each other all the time.

Whole movements in the field of medicine that were embraced and accepted at one time have since been found to be false, and were usually based on prevailing social stigma: phrenology, lobotomies to treat pretty much anything that was considered socially undesirable (especially if presented by minorities and women), hysterectomies to treat real or perceived mental illnesses in women. The current anti-fat obsession and eat-right-and-exercise! prescribed to treat nearly any illness, from depression to chronic diseases associated with aging, will be seen as another one of these fallacious movements based mainly in social stigma.

No man is a god, and doctors are no different. Just because there is a trend in believing a certain thing to be the solution to a perceived problem, a trend that goes AGAINST the most current research findings in that area I might add, doesn’t mean it’s right. To believe something is correct based merely on the number of people who believe in it and the relative expertise of the individuals holding that belief is an example of two logical fallacies: the “bandwagon” fallacy, and the “appeal to authority” fallacy.

Most people are able to educate themselves fairly well about general issues concerning their own health, the same way they would pursue a career, or learn how to be good parents, or solve a problem in their own lives. Obviously doctors spend a lot more time in directed study, but that doesn’t mean non-doctors are unable to understand the science of a problem they might have, and the arguments for and against solutions to those problems. Especially given the relative ubiquity of information, which is in sharp contrast to medical knowledge accessible to most folks pre-2000.

If you want to bury your head in the sand and place your entire trust in doctors without thinking for yourself, that’s your perogative. But it’s hardly an argument against the things discovered by people who do seek out that information for themselves.

-ArteToLife