Empirical Monism

Loved your opening comments, George. It sure does seem as if the point is Obama fiddling while we move into a Total Corporate State. His function also seems to be that of the canary in the coal mine: just how much will the "left" take?

Dr. Langer's suggestion that the openness of the Internet leads to a freeing of thought reminded me of something I read in Origins of Modern Science (1949) by Sir Herbert Butterfield. It was that the Scientific revolution resulted from the crusades. Aristotle had the truth about science but because of the new contact with the Arab world they had different versions of Aristotle's truth. Therefore they had to find out which one(s) were correct.

[Interesting! g.]

Thank you very much for this interview. It has a lot of relevance to my life since for the last two years my wife and I have been living in a Quaker Continuing Care Retirement Community (we are 65). Many of the people living here who are in their 80s, 90s and even some over 100, are very active and healthy. I think it is because we have a lot of control over our lives and are treated as though we do by each other and the staff here. What Ellen Langer said reinforces my opinion.

I was also very interested in your attempts to bring out the political implications of Ellen's work. I recently discovered Gabor Mate, who is also interested in the Mind/Body relationship, after watching two interviews with him on Democracy Now!

I'm reading some of his books now and it appears that he does not develop the broader political implications of his work either.

A physician who does is Susan Rosenthal who speaks about the relationship of social power and human health quite explicitly in her articles and book, "Power and Powerlessness."

I believe that she is correct that a lot of health problems are caused by people's lack of control in their lives. I also believe that much of modern medicine is designed to treat the symptoms of living in an unhealthy system, and thus avoid any confrontation with it.

I find the insights of Ellen Langer and Gabor Mate extremely valuable, and necessary but not sufficient to change much unless the structures of the society we live in are changed also. Maybe if individuals were more self aware they would not allow the things that go on to happen.

Anyway, thank you very much for having this type of discussion, I think it is very valuable.

[Thanks, John, for your very thoughtful comment — I'm glad to hear from you. g.]

I am thankful for Mr Bartram's comments as they mirror my own and add references I may check out. I have been a follower of mind over body healing and other healing and life enhancing explorations for several decades. I am a believer!

But I also have had opportunity to learn by experience that it's not so easy when lacking access to resources and support. Poverty experience, especially among the elderly but not restricted to that age group, grinds away much zest. There is strong inclination to "make peace with lack of choice" — or shift to radical politics!

Ah well! Newest project: heal a tooth condition that for all I know merits a root canal but maybe, just maybe, can be addressed by belief in possibility and recall of associated health conditions, (body memory). We'll see how it goes!

It seems Dr. Langer is well aware of how politically created human conditions work against our realization of greater wellness. Would that she will decide to join others in becoming more vocal on this, and also more vocal in offering review of how we learn to accept "truths" that reduce our belief in possibility.

Would that her colleagues would chime in on this.

Would, also, that about one in every 5 laypeople would do the same — on a regular basis! I not only reject email 'fwds' that make jokes about aging, I often hit 'reply all' and say why these are not helpful. I also tend to pipe up in social settings when hearing "I'm too ..." statements that reflect unhelpful limiting social attitudes are uttered.

But I stop short of suggesting wellness can be found by everyone regardless of economic limitations. I have not read Susan Rosenthal's "Power and Powerlessness" but suspect I'd find lots of agreement with it.

Shifting and nudging an entire culture, a global culture in fact, toward knowing that we best uplift one by uplifting all is a big project.

We need all the voices available! (Was humming along today then caught word that the EU is dropping some of its restrictions to GM in agriculture ... a purely politically created stressor with direct unhelpful impact on wellness — from my point of view at any rate. Until today, I had generally been comforting myself with the EU's relative sanity toward GM!)

Voices!

As always, George, deep thanks for your interview offerings — for your voice and for bringing in other voices as part of the greater project! — Maggie

[Thank you, Maggie! g.]

I am somewhat surprised to see that no one has brought up the fact that what Dr. Langer has now scientifically demonstrated is a major focus of Buddhism, and has been for centuries. Listeners might find The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh interesting.

[Miracles are always welcome. g.]