One thought I have had during all of this is that our information age has damaged science and medicine in a way most do not consider. It has forced scientists and doctors to be experts in real time, but that is not how science or medicine really work. They work slowly.
In the past, the experiments, the trials, the data, conclusions, mistakes, etc. were all done behind the scenes over a long period of time before being presented to the public as expertise. Now, the public is given a view behind the curtain, so to speak, but the public does not understand that what they are viewing is a process, not a conclusion. We are not equipped to handle the process. We are wired to need a solution. And, on top of that, we should have no say in the process, but now we do, in some weird way.
None of us is capable of being an expert in all things. Nor are we capable of holding informed, educated opinions on all subjects. Knowledge and expertise at the highest levels, especially with regards to science and medicine, are not democratic in that way, even if access to them may be.
Personally, I would rather not know until the truth reveals itself, which may be years away. In the meantime, I want to live my life with my own knowledge, my own peers, and in my own community. The science and the medicine will get to me when they are ready, which may be never.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
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