You Can't Fix Stupid

I'll remind readers (yet again) that anything you read in this blog are merely opinions...although you may find factual information here, statements made herein are purely subject to the reader's own interpretation...the validity or veracity of which I cannot be held responsible for...there is no expressed or implied warrantee on anything you read at Apocalypticon.blogspot.com.

However, every effort is made to maintain the highest standards-of-integrity here...

Although as the title of this post suggests...in my opinion, you can't fix "stupid".

By that I mean nothing condescending. People lack intellingence of specific kinds for a variety of reasons...upbringing, outside-influences, poor I.Q.'s, local stress-factors, learning-disorders, you name it.

If you can accept these facts, you can accept people for what they are...without harsh-judgments. But SOME PEOPLE are voluntarily unintelligent...uninterested in facts for their own ridiculous reasons.

This is the kind of "stupid" that is beyond repair. IMHO.

--mattergy

A Brief Interlude About Wikipedia.org

A few readers have noticed that I frequently link to Wikipedia.org when providing citations for articles on Apocalypticon.

The reasons for this are both philosophical AND practical.

1. I have NEVER found (personally) any Wikipedia article to be in error. Considering the vast number of disciplines considered, this speaks of a highly-professional and dedicated staff..of many fields (research, editorial, and even data-entry).

2. Many points-of-view are often considered, and compared...even if not perfectly-scholarly. This speaks of a well-understood commitment to truth, in many forums.

3. The actual links are visible and active throughout the Western world, making them useful to ALL of my readers.

4. The bibliographic citations are both thorough and painstakingly-accurate (witness this article about the history of the game, Monopoly).

--mattergy

Show Me The Data, Part 2

I wanted to reaffirm my position on Italian Dr. Paulo Zamboni's "Liberation Treatment" hypotheses that have created something of a controversy in the Multiple Sclerosis /Canadian Politics game...although I respect Dr. Zamboni's professional credentials, I'm fairly certain that those hypotheses cannot be safely or adequately tested on this exceedingly-rare disease without potentially disastrous results...primarily to the public-perception of the validity and value of otherwise well-respected and well-tested research into M.S.

I think the most ominous (mis-)connection would be the mis-perceived notion that MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (an affliction that damages neural-myelin) is anything like ARTERIOSCLEROSIS (clogging of arteries with ill-digested matter).

The vague-connection is found in the ambiguous root -sclerosis- which suggests many inaccurate ideas...at least to the untrained mind.

Again, I'm not trying to debunk Dr. Zamboni...just reminding novice readers that THEORY is the end-result of intensive scientific-testing of any HYPOTHESIS...and given the rarity of M.S. (even though it may seem like a lot of people in any given country have M.S.), there are only estimated to be 2-3 million people in this whole world of 6.9 billion people who appear to have M.S....that makes for some real obstacles in proving ANY HYPOTHESIS about M.S. true.

--mattergy

Addendum August 19, 2010
I just wanted to clarify a few things about "Liberation Treatment". First of all, Dr. Zamboni is proposing a heretofore unexplored or (ill-explored) connection between Vascular flow in neural-tissues and M.S. His Hypotheses are focused on blood-flow deficiencies that result in an overabundance of Iron in neural-tissues resulting in dysfunction. This is a novel revelation, if true...but the idea that surplus Iron in neural-tissue is what causes M.S. to appear is unproven.

Show Me The Data

Having Multiple Sclerosis myself, I learned to think extremely-critically about common flaws in human-thinking that can lead to grave-misunderstandings among the general population.

Most obviously, watching loved-ones go from being active, contributing members of the human-race to barely-functioning persons is (I imagine) emotionally-disheartening beyond practically ANYTHING those people ever imagined.

Consequently, M.S. is high on the list of diseases I consider susceptible to charlatanism, cultism, and just plain-uncritical thinking.

The trouble begins with the common mis-perception that 21st-Century medicine is anywhere near fully-understanding the human-body and -brain.

Sorry to say...it isn't.

Yeah, sure, great-strides have been made towards understanding...but let me assure the reader that that's not quite enough...to be monkeying-around with untested or ill-tested treatments...especially ones that put either body or brain at risk of WORSE (known) ailments.

M.S. is a devastating disease, but not devastating enough to risk the spark-of-life remaining on possible (albeit vaguely-believable) cures.

M.S. is an incredibly complex disease (at least in terms of our existing medical/immunological/neurological knowledge)--and the relative rarity of it among the human population makes it a strong-candidate for delusional- or wishful-analysis...especially by minds not familiar with the research that has already been done...since the mid-/late-19th Century.

I thought at-first that M.S. might have been a byproduct of the Industrial-Revolution, but then I realized later that too was fraught with logical-errors enough to make it a relatively-useless assertion.

I realized that, no matter how it started, M.S. might never be cured.

Sounds hopeless to unlookers...but this attitude allows me to accept the awful truth that I've had to face for the last seven years.

--mattergy