[PJ] If the Winter Olympics inspired you to go bobsledding down an interesting rabbit hole, consider doing a deep dive into ancient man’s theories of health and anatomy. It’s pretty trippy.
Each civilization had its own traditions and beliefs — and absolutely NONE of ’em got it exactly right.
Perhaps it’s unfair to be critical: Ancient "healthcare providers" like Galen, Imhotep, and Hippocrates were all limited by the technology of their time — as are the physicians of today.
Until microscopes were invented, germ theory was a minority opinion. Like they say, seeing is believing.
Which is why, in a pre-scientific world, healthcare advice was based on philosophical theories about the body. Some came from Holy Books; others came from the Socratic method. It wasn’t backed by rigorous experiments or following the data; it was all philosophical conjecture — their version of "the way things ought to be."
It’s how we came up with the bat[feces] crazy idea of bloodletting: We reasoned it made sense to get all that "bad blood" out of your system.
Philosophically based healthcare was the First Age of Medicine.
The second age is the one we’re in right now: We no longer follow medical advice based on philosophical theories, but on trial and error. When our doctors tell us to take a certain medicine, they do so because case studies suggest it would be beneficial.
Let’s call it evidence-based healthcare.
No argument; it’s a huge upgrade. Bravo, boys! Testing large groups of people gives us a far better sense of probabilities: If a treatment works 80% of the time and the alternative 5%, let’s do the treatment. |