I like this guy–knows how to tell a funny story about the foibles of man–Mark Twainish
One of our brilliant chief residents showed me his writing. He blogs about medical and infectious disease topics mostly at a couple of sites. Dr. Crislip made me laugh.
Here he approaches the problem of Alternative Medicine and Complementary Medicine and the ongoing discussions about patient safety and how medicine should adopt the safety programs of the airline industry. And the segue is into imagine alternative flying.
A wonderfully crazy idea–alternative airlines and planes and magical stuff, like you can make the plane do things if you concentrate enough and more . . .
Exactly my point. There seems to be a cyclic nature to the phenomenon. Charlatans try to gain respect by lumping themselves in with the functional alternatives, and mainstream groups reduce the respect afforded by functional alternatives by lumping them in with the charlatans. Crislip’s error lies in speaking as if false shamans selling prayer beads are the alternative that 40% (rather than the hyperbolic 75%) of Americans utilize. I know the article is a joke, but the metaphor doesn’t hold.
Perhaps the problem is one of jargon vice common speech. According to NIH “alternative” is methods used entirely in place of mainstream medicine, while “complementary” refers to methods used in conjunction with main stream medicine. However, the article goes on to point out how rare true alternative medicine use is, and Crislip specifically includes complementary medicine in his ironic treatise.
By focusing his sardonic essay on those “alternatives” that are already ridiculed by most people he is either tacitly ridiculing effective CAM practices or he is just taking a cheap shot at a weak target. Either way, his writing is ineffective because his failure to acknowledge that some methods encompassed by the label CAM, indeed those methods most used by actual patients, are actually safer, more effective, and cheaper than the treatment a patient would get from the mainstream health-care industry. His sarcasm gives the impression that he does not believe the accusations that mainstream medicine is affected by high-profit corporate and political interference despite the large amount of evidence to the contrary. His metaphor fails because the aviation industry is in fact guilty of all the things proponents of CAM accuse the mainstream medical industry of. Whether you agree with his point or not, I maintain that the writing itself just isn’t that clever.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam
Interesting note, the widely disseminated theory that planes fly because the curved wing creates a low pressure lifting force in accordance with Bernoulli’s principle is inaccurate. Despite having been thoroughly debunked by physicists the FAA still requires that all pilots learn the false information. I guess that’s the “white male Western European model of powered flight.”
He’s talking about alternative airlines that run on magical powers and forces–not smaller airlines that have a different business plan.
I like the alternative airlines like southwest and maybe some others that offer a service that is cheaper or better in some way–that’s not the kind of alternative airliine that Crislip is making fun of.
It would be more clever if he knew what he was talking about. There are alternative airlines. Successful small enterprises that utilize vastly different business models. They fly smaller, often funny-looking planes, helicopters, or airships to smaller, often privately owned and non-union airports. The cost to the customer is often less for more value. Of course the big union airliners don’t want you to know that. They marginalize the alternative providers and spread rumors about their safety records while lobbying government for regulations that would put the alternatives out of business and use media complicity to cover up any issues with their own safety.
If you’re really alternative you could even use a ship or rail. Sure it’s old fashioned and lacks the modern speed of the big airlines, but there are other aspects which some travelers value more. Many argue that the customer gets better treatment because they aren’t part of a massive herd being shoved through the airport as fast as possible to make room for the next traveler.
I for one think that the customer’s ability to choose for themselves based on their own wants is important. Sure the big airlines are the best way to go for most well-travelled destinations where most people are going, but that by no means makes them the best at getting every person to every destination, and frankly, I’m a bit concerned that their efforts to undermine the alternatives is a sign that they’re worried about the competition. It certainly doesn’t convince me that they’re biggest interest is the well-being of the customer.
This Post has been forwarded to everyone I know.
It’s in the revised text caohaoim
also right here:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/alternative-flight/
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/alternative-flight/
thanks. brain delay. Will insert.
Link!!!!