Digest Number 928

[Guest guest]

>

 

this would seem to be true. Yes, to identify the current pattern is easy enough.

I would think that finding out the " how " and therefore " how to prevent " , where

the disease is going requires a more sophisticated understanding of qi, yin and

yang than the one who " does not need to

know anything about these concepts. "

 

> While qi, yin, and yang may be abstruse and complicated concepts in

> Chinese philosophy, it is both my belief and my experience that you do

> not need to know anything about these concepts in order to identify a

> liver blood-kidney yin vacuity, a spleen-kidney yang vacuity, or a

> kidney qi vacuity not securing. This goes back to my concern voiced

> many moons ago that we not conflate separate fields of endeavor (such

> as philosophy and medicine) and make more of things than we need to in

> terms of clinical practice.

[Guest guest]

this would seem to be true. Yes, to identify the current pattern is easy enough. I would think that finding out the "how" and therefore "how to prevent", where the disease is going requires a more sophisticated understanding of qi, yin and yang than the one who "does not need toknow anything about these concepts.">>>The problem is that then you get into proving a negative which is impossible. Yes one can make claims of prevention and unless shown by evaluating very large groups it will come down to speculation and dogma.

alon

[Guest guest]

Alon:

 

It's not proving a negative, it's using theory to predict conditions

and develop treatment strategies. One interesting example is the

theory in Suwen, chapters 66f, to calculate annual and monthly

energies. But like Complexity Theory, which underlies weather

predictions, there are too many variables to predict beyond a

certain probability---so, it may be called speculation, if you wish

to call it that.

 

Clinical practice develops directly from philosophy (yin, yang, qi,

etc.)---where else did those 8-Principle patterns come from in the

first place? They may be applied to treating symptoms mechanically,

the way Western meds can be prescribed to treat their respective

symptoms. But symptoms are just the tip of the CM iceberg. Superior

doctors treat before the symptoms arise.

 

For details about how theory changed clinical practice in the 2nd

half of the 11th century, read Catherine Despeux's essay in

Innovations in (Edited by Elisabeth Hsu, Cambridge

University Press, 2001).

 

 

Jim Ramholz

 

 

 

 

 

, " Alon Marcus " <alonmarcus@w...>

wrote:

> this would seem to be true. Yes, to identify the current pattern

is easy enough. I would think that finding out the " how " and

therefore " how to prevent " , where the disease is going requires a

more sophisticated understanding of qi, yin and yang than the one

who " does not need to know anything about these concepts. "

> >>>The problem is that then you get into proving a negative which

is impossible. Yes one can make claims of prevention and unless

shown by evaluating very large groups it will come down to

speculation and dogma.

> alon

[Guest guest]

It's not proving a negative, it's using theory to predict conditions and develop treatment strategies. One interesting example is the theory in Suwen, chapters 66f, to calculate annual and monthly energies. But like Complexity Theory, which underlies weather predictions, there are too many variables to predict beyond a certain probability---so, it may be called speculation, if you wish to call it that. Clinical practice develops directly from philosophy (yin, yang, qi, etc.)---where else did those 8-Principle patterns come from in the first place? They may be applied to treating symptoms mechanically, the way Western meds can be prescribed to treat their respective symptoms. But symptoms are just the tip of the CM iceberg. Superior doctors treat before the symptoms arise.>>>>>>I understand all this except that it is still based on philosophical assumptions

Alon