Posted by Cam W. on April 3, 2001, at 7:40:52
In reply to Re: Truth? » Cam W., posted by Todd on April 2, 2001, at 23:33:33
Todd - The scientific method doesn't fall apart in the case of 25 people having 25 unique disease states, each with overlapping symptoms, thus categorized under one umbrella-like label. As humans, we find it easier to look for similarities, rather than differences; it makes categorization and stereotyping much easier (as well as being easier remember). Psychology (which, by the way is more of an art, than a science) uses labels, just as does medical science.
I was basing my argument on the post by Fish where he said, "experience is knowledge and medical research is wrong":
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010327/msgs/58040.html
The gist of what I was getting at, although deeper than just "medical knowledge" was that subjective experience is no replacement for reproducable experimentation (which I susequently referred to as not being ideal, but the best method we have to ferret out "the Truth"). I was corrected on this by Gen and "the Truth" should be changed to "that which is true in a majority of instances, which may result in different outcomes in different individuals due to variables unaccounted for in the experimental method that was used".
Hope this clears it up a bit more - Cam
poster:Cam W.
thread:966
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010315/msgs/974.html