"Trust the science." But what is science, really? And what can it actually answer?

In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, starts with a 1586 experiment you can repeat in your own kitchen. Then she lays out what makes something science: it has to be observable, measurable, testable, repeatable, and controlled. She walks through the scientific method step by step, and shows how to use it on a question about your own health. You'll hear the difference between data and models. Finally, she looks at the questions science was never built to answer, and how science and art work together in medicine.

Science keeps us honest. Art keeps us human.

This week's practice: take the health belief you've been questioning and ask, "Could this be tested? If so, how would I test it?"

References

Aristotle. (1984). On the heavens (J. L. Stocks, Trans.). In J. Barnes (Ed.), The complete works of Aristotle (Vol. 1). Princeton University Press.

Begley, C. G., & Ellis, L. M. (2012). Raise standards for preclinical cancer research. Nature, 483(7391), 531–533. https://doi.org/10.1038/483531a

Box, G. E. P., & Draper, N. R. (1987). Empirical model-building and response surfaces. Wiley.

Cleland, C. E. (2001). Historical science, experimental science, and the scientific method. Geology, 29(11), 987–990.

Feynman, R. P. (1974). Cargo cult science. Engineering and Science, 37(7), 10–13.

Guyatt, G., Sackett, D., Taylor, D. W., Chong, J., Roberts, R., & Pugsley, S. (1986). Determining optimal therapy: Randomized trials in individual patients. New England Journal of Medicine, 314(14), 889–892. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198604033141406

Kearns, C. E., Schmidt, L. A., & Glantz, S. A. (2016). Sugar industry and coronary heart disease research: A historical analysis of internal industry documents. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(11), 1680–1685. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5394

McGandy, R. B., Hegsted, D. M., & Stare, F. J. (1967). Dietary fats, carbohydrates and atherosclerotic vascular disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 277(4), 186–192.

Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349(6251), aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716

Popper, K. (2002). Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. Routledge. (Original work published 1963)

Stevin, S. (1955). The principal works of Simon Stevin: Vol. 1. Mechanics (E. J. Dijksterhuis, Ed.). Swets & Zeitlinger. (Original work published 1586)

Full reference list, including philosophy, medicine-as-art, and faith sources: on the blog, Notes from a Fellow Traveler.

This podcast is for education and inspiration and is not medical advice. Listening does not create a practitioner-patient relationship. Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, is licensed as an acupuncturist in Wisconsin, USA. Please talk with your own healthcare provider before making changes to your care. Guest views are their own. Some links may be affiliate links.

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