my gut reaction

it should be immediately clear that these writings run the gamut.

I was listening to KPFK 90.7 while sitting in the CGU parking lot just above Drucker Way. I can't recall the name of the host, but she was peddling a probiotic supplement called the Dr. Ohira Probiotic12Plus.

I've heard the argument made many times that one of the strongest determinants of longevity is the quality of one's intestinal tract. It seems to make sense. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. If this is true then I must be very salty, sweet, and overall delicious. I suppose one can say, that on any particular day, I am a steak eclair. That's bad.

My concern with all this talk about health is that it is difficult to discern what works and what doesn't. I have been trained somewhat to be scientific in the way that I approach all subjects. In a practical sense, it means that I'm skeptical. I not only need proof, I need statistically significant proof. It's crazy.

So the question is, what works? And if it does, to what degree?

This I cannot answer as yet. Of course I hope it works, but this is the same bias that leads Jenny McCarthy to assail the use of immunization shots (apparently they cause autism, a claim that most research suggests to be wrong). I can't recall from where the following idea comes, but having control (perceived or otherwise) over one's environment is a tendency inherent in all humans. So why would Jenny McCarthy care about a connection between autism and her autistic child? Because although there's nothing she can do about the past, she can feel as if she had the power to do something about it. It is in this that a measure a comfort can be found.

But I digress...

What I would like is proof that this stuff works. Lisa Garr of The Aware Show (1pm on local station KPFK) claims that it does, and again I would really like to believe her. But sincerity and being earnest lends itself to bias as much as, if not more than duplicity and outright, lies. I require more, but maybe not much more because of my own bias. I want this stuff to work. As a result I'm willing to compromise. Yeah I'm a sucker. There's got to be a paper written about his sort of thing. Not just bias but the bias of the skeptical observer given a sincere and earnest source. Ah, but that's for another discussion altogether.

Of course I can just try this crap and see what happens.

If it doesn't cost too much and won't kill me, then why not? Maybe because principles prevent me from doing so? Posh to principles. I don't really mean that. Was it Whitman who said that, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds?

Back to work.