Treating Ghosts
A common argument that I hear is, “Since pain is a subjective interpretation, who cares how it improves?” The reasoning goes that the pain is real to the patient, so if a treatment makes improvement...
It’s Magic!
“I see you have a deck of cards. Go ahead and shuffle them in any way you would like then hand me the deck.” You look at your deck of cards, a deck your...
What Is Your Razor?
“Often myths arise because a single claim or research finding has particular intuitive appeal. The claim makes sense, it supports a popular argument, and soon it is cemented as taken-for-granted fact even though its evidence base...
CrossFit: Good Thing or Bad Thing???
One of the best things about CrossFit, besides giving us lots of business… That’s a joke I do during my weekend course when I get onto the discussion of power lifts for the general...
Doesn’t the Emperor have some nice new clothes?
In The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen, the Emperor hires two weavers to make him a new suit of clothing. The weavers provide no actual clothes but swindle the Emperor by telling him that the “fabric” is...
Is pain what brought the patient in? Kind of, but not exactly…
Many times when I’m discussing placebo and specific effects, physical therapists will say, “The patient doesn’t care. They just want less pain. We should give them less pain even if it’s temporary and the treatment...
What Is Science and Why Do Medical Providers Suck At It?
It has been said that medicine skipped The Enlightenment since it was already a fully established profession at that time. Where the likes of Newton, Hooke, Huygens, etc. evolved “Natural Philosophy” into the sciences of physics,...
Injury Prevention and Variation of Movement
There is a lot of talk in the media about preventing injuries during sports. A lot of that talk revolves around “fixing faulty mechanics” and “moving the right way” in order to prevent injuries,...
How to Fool a Smart Person
Wisdom is the love of truth. Intelligence and spiritedness can exist without it. Without wisdom, if some proposition floods their sense of beauty, they will believe it with all their heart and soul, and...
What Comedy Can Teach Us About Critical Thinking
Over the years I have learned to use sense of humor as a litmus test for critical thinking. When I meet someone who takes everything very seriously and lacks any kind of sense of...