Surprising Facts

Here are some facts that might surprise you.  I did not research many of these facts, but instead parroted them from other web sites, so I cannot verify the accuracy of every fact.


Facts that directly contradict popular perceptions shaped by the media:

1. The fastest-growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year old age bracket.
2.  Einstein's brain weighed 12% less than a normal male brain.
3.  Napoleon Bonaparte was just shy of 5 feet 7 inches, or nearly 2 inches taller than the average Frenchman of his day--certainly not short by the standards of that time.  He would be about 1 inch shorter than a typical Frenchman today.  So much for the Napolean complex.
4.  Gallop polls done throughout the 1960s showed that young and educated people (meaning college students) were far more likely to support the war than their old and uneducated fellow citizens.  In fact, it was the over-50 crowd that opposed the war more than anyone.
5.  President Obama is the smallest government spender since Eisenhower. Okay, this is one viewpoint.  Another viewpoint which came out immediately afterward: "Obama is biggest spender in world history."  This is a great example of how two people can selectively use facts to come to opposite conclusions.
6.  Saturated fat and cholesterol are not unhealthy and will not make you fat.  A low-fat, high-carb diet (with lots of starches and sugars) is what makes you fat and unhealthy.  This has been shown by all recent health studies.
7.  63% of Arab-Americans are classified as Christians.

Facts that reflect disturbing trends:

8.  There are various ways of tabulating unemployment.  But if you count all the people who theoretically ought to be working based on age, etc.--which admittedly includes some people who never did seek employment--the unemployment number is 37.2% rather than the "official" rate of 6.7%.  (I do not know whether the 37.2% estimate includes the 3.4% of Americans on disability; if not, the true number might be worse yet.)  When the "official" unemployment rate goes down, what it often means is that more people have become discouraged and have stopped looking for employment.  20% of American households are now on food stamps--an all-time record.

9.  Here's one possible explanation for the seemingly intractable unemployment rate:  The U.S. has a (very) basic skills shortage that is getting far worse, relative to job requirements.  More than one-third (37 percent) of the 25-to-54 year old U.S. population does not have the basic ability to write a letter explaining an error on a credit card bill, use a bus schedule, or use a calculator to determine a 10 percent discount (Level 3 literacy).

   Tragically, it has been reported that less than half (44%) of 25-to-34 year old high school graduates operate at literacy levels of 3 or higher. That means that more than 4 out of 10 working age adults don’t have the functional literacy skills to perform even the most basic jobs. Worse, nearly 55 percent of workers 55 to 64 year old have literacy skills at level 1 or 2. For your reference, Level 1 literacy is the ability to locate the expiration date on a driver’s license, total a bank deposit slip, or sign their names; Level 2 is the ability to locate an intersection on a street map, understand an appliance warranty, or total costs from an order.
   These statistics may soon put us in the category of a developing nation.  And it has been shown that a 1% increase in literacy results in a 1.5% increase in GDP.  We're on the wrong side of that curve.

10.  Around 72% of black children are born out of wedlock. It was 25% in the 1960′s and that was considered an epidemic at the time.
11.  58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.  42% of college graduates never read another book.

12.  By the age of 4, the average child in a professional family has heard 20 million more words than a child in a middle-class family, and about 35 million more than a child raised in a family that receives welfare assistance.
13.  In 1955, there were more than eight workers paying into the U.S. Social Security system for every beneficiary. Today, that number is a bit less than three workers paying in, and it's projected to be close to two workers by 2031.  (Now do the math.)

Science & Health Facts

14.  50% of healthcare dollars in the US are spent on the last 6 months of life.
15.  You are nearly 5 times more likely to die falling out of bed then dying in a plane crash, and 15 times more likely to die in a car accident.  The 5 top causes of death in the U.S. are heart attacks, cancer, strokes, a land vehicle accident, and suicide.  Cancer will soon be the leading cause of death.
16.  CPR only works 2% to 16% of the time, depending on the situation.

17.  In the US, there’s an average of 217 millions white blood cells per liter of cow's milk. Those white blood cells come from the pus of the infected teats of the cows.*
18.  There are 10 times more bacteria cells in your gut than there are cells in your body.  (Bacteria cells are smaller.)  Researchers believe what's in your gut may affect your mental state.
19.  The acid in your (empty) stomach is strong enough to dissolve razor blades.  When your stomach is full, the acid level decreases from a pH of 2 to a pH of 6, making you more vulnerable to such things as salmonella.  The acid in a dog's stomach is slightly stronger yet (pH ~ 2).  The acid in a vulture's stomach is much stronger still (pH ~ 0), making them very effective disease-fighting agents that greatly benefit us humans by gobbling up potentially dangerous disease transmitters.
20.  If you could stretch out all of a human's blood vessels, they would circle the world twice.
21.  The surface area of a single human lung is equal to that of a tennis court.
22.  Every year, 98% of the atoms in your body are replaced.
23.  The world's most toxic and deadliest substance is a new type of botulinum toxin.  10 to 12 grams of it would be enough to kill the entire human population of the earth.
24.  In the unlikely event that all the polar ice were to melt, the sea level all over the world would rise 500 to 600 feet. As a result, 85 to 90% of the Earth's surface would be covered with water as compared to the current 71%. The U.S. would be split by the Mississippi Sea, which would connect the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico.
25.  Since the 1950s, around 90% of the large predatory fish in the ocean are gone.

Historical Facts:

26.  The federal government is still paying two Civil War pensions (to children of soldiers).  The last Civil War widow died in 2003.*
27.  The maximum area of the Roman Empire was an impressive 2.51 million square miles.  It was actually only the 19th largest empire in history.*
28.  All British tanks since 1945 have been equipped with Tea-Making Facilities.*
29. In 1598, Queen Elizabeth ordered a banquet featuring a food source from the new world--potatoes. The royal cooks, having never prepared potatoes before, threw the veggie away and cooked the green part or eye instead, sickening the whole royal court.  Elizabeth banned the vegetable for 100 years.*
30.  The current 50 star flag was designed by  then 17 year old Robert G. Heft, as part of a school project.  For his effort, he received a grade of B-.  When his design was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation, his teacher changed his grade to an A.*
31.  Over 3500 hours of recordings were made by the taping system established in the White House and other executive offices by Richard Nixon during his presidency.  Of these, only about 200 hours contain references to Watergate.  By the time of Nixon's death in 1994, only 63 hours had been made public.*
32.  Seven of the ten deadliest wars were fought in China alone.  More people died in each of the two largest of these wars than in WWI.*
33.  The pony express is part of the lore of the Old West.  Most people don't realize that it lasted barely nineteen months, from April 1860 to October 1861.*
34.  John Tyler became the 10th president of the United States in 1841.  He still has two living grandchildren.*
35.  In 2005, George W. Bush was nearly assassinated in Georgia by a man named Vladimir Arutyunian, who threw a grenade at the president.  It did not explode.*
36.  The citizens found guilty during the Salem witch trials were not actually burned at the stake. They were hanged.*
37.  At its height in 480 BC the first Persian Empire covered 44% of the world's population, the highest of any empire in history (the British had just 20%).  This was just 70 years after Cyrus the Great began his conquests.  Alexander destroyed this empire just 150 years later.*
38.  The pyramids weren't built by Egyptian slaves.  They were built by paid laborers.*

39.  In the 18th century it was believed that blowing tobacco smoke up someone's rectum would resuscitate them from drowning.  It was such a widely held belief that equipment was hung up all along the Thames in London.
40.  Jesus' real name was Yeshua (as in Joshua).  The New Testament was first written in Greek, not Hebrew or Aramaic.  Greeks did not use the "sh" sound, so "s" was substituted.  Then, to make it masculine, they added another "s" at the end.  The "J" didn't even come until the late middle ages, making it "Jesus."  This etymology is actually a simplification of the real story that may trace the name's earliest origins from a combination of YHWH and Hoseah.
41.  After Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery made it to the Pacific, they spent the Winter of 1804-05 trading what was left of their personal effects for sexual favors from the Clatsop women, who gave them syphilis.  Because the prevailing treatment was an oral dose of mercury, we can say with certainty where many of the Corps' camp latrines were located, thanks to the mercury that remains in the soil today.*
42.  80% of all Russian males born in the year 1923 didn't live past their 22nd birthday.
43.  Lincoln's Gettysburg address was most likely influenced by his sometime reading of Pericles' Funeral Oration by Thucydides, which praises the uniqueness of Athens' commitment to democracy.
44.  Non-violent resistance was a concept expounded upon by Tolstoy in his writings as a result of studying the Bible.  Gandhi was a friend of Tolstoy, and the older Tolstoy's influence on the young man was profound, despite their religious and cultural differences.  Gandhi influenced other later reformers such as Martin Luther King.
45.  Bill Clinton sent a total of two e-mails during his presidency.

Unfortunate Facts

46.  More American soldiers die from suicide than from fighting in combat.
47.  Since 1989, 303 convicted felons have been exonerated by DNA evidence.  18 were on death row.  25 percent had confessed.  28 of them pled guilty.  Meanwhile, in 2013, 39 inmates were executed in the U.S.  The U.S. is among 20% of the countries in the world still practicing capital punishment in law and in practice...countries such as Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, China, Pakistan, Sudan and South Sudan.

48.  The amount of American dollars spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars could have paid for solar panels on the roof of every house in America and dramatically spurred our economy as well as eliminating a significant portion of U.S. greenhouse gas.

49.  The US spends $660 billion a year on the military, or about 20% of the federal budget. (The total the US has spent on NASA in its 55 year history is $526 billion.)  Yearly expenditures on foreign aid total about $33 billion, or 1% of the federal budget.

50.  The budget to send the Curiosity Rover to Mars is less than the worldwide military expenditure for 13 hours.
51.  In the last 3,500 years, there have been only 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world.
52.  Young black males without a high school diploma were more likely to be in prison or jail (37 percent) on any given day in 2008 than to be working (26 percent).  The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
53.  70% of murders in Detroit go unsolved.

*Shamelessly copied from this source

Drug Abuse (2012)

This is another example of a blog post that I created nearly a year ago but did not bother to publish.  Just in case you are interested in the problem of drug addiction, you might find some of this interesting, if a little dated.


After reading an article about drug addiction, my interest was piqued, so I did a little digging on the subject.  I have never used illicit drugs and do not intend intend to.  However, I found this exercise to be somewhat illuminating, at least from a psychological standpoint.

Here are some conclusions that I came to.  They are not the conclusions of an expert.  Don't mistake this for the advice of a professional.

--The U.S.'s war on drugs--at least in its present form--has been the most disastrous of all our wars.  The Obama administration quietly (and wisely) has begun to change course.
--The pharmaceutical industry is unwittingly a big part of the problem.
--Legalizing drugs will not stop drug abuse, any more than legalizing alcohol stopped alcohol abuse.  But our current approach is not working, and is instead turning our prison system into a training ground for criminals.  It's also ruining lives of people who do not have (or did not have) a serious drug addiction problem beyond cannabis.
--Some rehab programs are far more successful than others.  It's not necessarily a hopeless situation.
--We may be able to learn a lot by examining the different drug policies of other countries.




MOST DANGEROUS ABUSED DRUGS IN THE WORLD

Based on overall societal harm--i.e., lives lost--alcohol and tobacco are the most harmful drugs on the planet.  This is in large part due to the fact that their legality, availability and cultural acceptance makes them widely used.
Based on a weighted average of (a)  impact on society, (b) addictive property and (c) individual harm, someone has compiled this list of the worlds most dangerous drugs, in order of most to least dangerous.    Not surprisingly, alcohol and tobacco are on this list as well.  Of course, there are other drugs not on this list that are very dangerous but not (yet) widespread.

Cannibis is documented to be the least dangerous drug.  Supposedly, no one has ever died purely from overdosing on pot or using pot.  Compare this to the millions who have died from health problems or overdose problems or accidents traced directly to alcohol or tobacco.  On the other hand, due to its illegal status--and thus its social link to more dangerous illegal drugs--it often serves as a "gateway drug".

Here are some examples of some really bad drugs not on this list:

"Bath Salts", a "legal" fake meth, has recently been in the news because of cases where its users became completely psychotic.  Another "legal" drug, fake marijuana, ("K2" or "Spice"), sold as incense, is proving to be much more addicting than marijuana.  While not as dangerous as some other drugs, its availability and the misconceptions around its addictive nature make it far worse than cannabis.

There are medical reasons why Methamphetamine has been labelled one of the world's most dangerous drugs.  However, Krokodil, a home-made form of of fake meth used in Russia by people who can't afford Heroin, may be even worse, as discussed in this documentary,

Fentanyl is a form of "fake" heroin, but it is about 75 times more potent, and as a result, many more drug overdoses are seen in many parts of the U.S.  A combination of heroin and fentanyl such as "cheese" has resulted in many deadly overdoses.

As an aside, some drugs are mis-used for criminal purposes rather than to "get high".  Think GHB (the date rape drug) is bad?  It's nothing compared to Scopolamine or "Devil's Breath", used by criminals in Brazil to "hypnotize" their fully-awake but amnesiatic victims.  Scopolamine is easily obtainable in Brazil and it has a long and dark history.  It was also once used as a truth serum.  Like many abused drugs, scopolamine has some legitimate medical uses, such as minute amounts used to treat sea-sickness and motion sickness, to prevent nausea after anesthesia and surgery, to treat the tremors in Parkinson's disease, and even to treat depression in some patients.




DRUB ABUSE STATISTICS

Drug Use Facts
Main problem drugs, by country
Addiction rates of various drugs
Prescription Drug Overdoses by State
International U.S. Policy Objectives Survey
Age distribution of Treatment Admissions for Various Drugs





THE WAR ON DRUGS:  DIFFERENT COUNTRIES' POLICIES

U.S.
1.  Drug production, possession, sale, transport and use of all drugs--both hard and soft--is illegal and subject to incarceration.
2.  U.S. represents 5% of world population but houses 25% of worlds prison inmates
3.  500,000 incarcerated for marijuana use, out of a total of 2.3 million inmates (22%)
4.  Philosophy:  Illegal drugs are a crime problem, not a public health problem

Netherlands
1.  Production, possession, sale, and transport of drugs is illegal, with the exception that small amounts of soft drugs (i.e., pot) are legal to have in possession, to grow, to sell and to use
2.  Actual use of both soft (i.e., cannabis) and hard drugs is legal
3.  While growing larger amounts of cannabis is illegal, enforcement of this is not a priority
4.  Philosophy:  Help addicts rather than incarcerate them; make a clear distinction between pot and hard drugs; focus on harm reduction more than enforcement.

Other countries with drug policies worth comparing (good and bad):  Portugal, Spain, Russia

A British News Article Detailing the U.S.'s Disastrous War on Drugs (2010)

Obama Administration's New Drug Control Policy Reform (2012)

NEUROBIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY OF ADDICTION

Alcohol and Drugs
Neurochemistry of Relapse and Recovery
Is Addiction a Disease?
Gambling, also this and this and this
Video Game Addiction, also this
Internet Addiction
Food Addiction, also this and this
Sugar and Obesity
Addiction to money (not neurobiology, though)




WHY DO PEOPLE START TAKING DRUGS?

   1.  A person wants to escape from his troubles (i.e., war, poverty, bad memories, dysfunctional family, personal problems and fears, etc.), and/or may have an addictive personality or even an existing mental disorder that makes him more vulnerable to the use of drugs.
   2.  Or sometimes, the person is a happy, intelligent, upstanding, nice person from a good family who just decides one day to try a drug just once to see what it feels like to "get high", perhaps just out of curiosity or for the sake of a new adventure.  The person has absolutely no intention of continuing to use it or of getting hooked on it.  They just want to find out what the feeling is like.
   3.  The drugs are legal--so the person figures they're safe to try.  (But even drugs like tobacco and alcohol can be more addictive than some illegal drugs; not to mention, being the #1 and #2 killers.)
   4.  The person is prescribed painkillers like vicodin and oxycontin, or perhaps prozac for depression, and they (or someone else) now have them in their possession.  From that point, it's very easy to pop another leftover pill just to duplicate that good feeling they might have experienced, or for another family member or friend to do so.  This is a huge problem.  There are now more deaths by overdose from these drugs than from cocaine and heroin combined.
   5.  They are easy to obtain.  This includes prescribed and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals or "disguised" drugs and many street drugs such as Marijuana.  Combine this with rebellion, boredom, curiosity, or peer pressure.
   6.  Proximity to drug use (i.e., at a party or with friends) combined with peer pressure and curiosity, especially for adolescents, who are more likely to take risks.
   7.  Branching out from alcohol or marijuana with the intention of getting an enhanced buzz.
   8.  Self-medication for pain, stress, depression, etc. with marijuana, alcohol, other drugs.  The likelihood of taking the drug and subsequently getting addicted is even greater if the person has an existing mental illness such as depression or bipolar disorder.
   9.  A common perception is that people try drugs because they are weak, have low morals and are lazy, trashy, angry, rebellious, impulsive, unsociable, unintelligent, non-conformist types who want the reward of  "feeling good" without having to earn it.  This perception may contain a grain of truth in some cases, but in the vast majority of circumstances it is actually a perception of what people inevitably become like after they have already become addicted to drugs.

Nobody ever plans to get addicted to drugs--he or she wants to try a drug "just once".  And even after becoming psychologically addicted, the person still tells himself that he is not in danger of becoming addicted--until it is too late.

The following description of a user's experience with heroin addiction (taken from a discussion board) may be illuminating and in many ways typical of drug addiction:

   "Heroin initially makes you forget all your troubles, it makes you feel content and happy, even if prior to use you were borderline suicidal. It takes the user, wraps him up in this safety blanket, and allows everything to be nice again, no matter what.  Therefore, if you're--say--suffering from depression, and then try heroin, you're going to have a hard time staying away.
   Look at heroin addiction around the world. It's available almost everywhere, but where does it remain? In the first-world middle classes? Rarely.  In working-class neighborhoods where life is tough, quality of life is low? In countries ravaged by war? In countries ravaged by poverty?  Massively.
   Now, although heroin appeals especially to people who have things they want to escape from, either physically or mentally, it is also enjoyable no matter who you are.  It is extremely psychologically and physically addictive.
   Long before a physical addiction has built up, while the user himself still feels 'safe' from addiction, a psychological addiction is already festering.  And it is this which tricks your mind into taking heroin a day before you said you would, or to 'reward' yourself for something -- anything!  Usage spaced by months becomes weeks, by weeks, becomes days, and suddenly, you're using every day.
   Once physical addiction takes hold, which again is relatively rapid, the user is no longer using for that high.  In fact, the high is dramatically lowered, once the 'honeymoon' period with heroin use is over. Instead, the user is using because he is both physically and psychologically unable to function without heroin. It is this need which turns junkies from individuals, into the stereotyped addict, who engages in nearly any activity in order to get his next dose."



IS THERE A PARTICULAR "GATEWAY DRUG"?

Marijuana is often described as a "gateway" drug to eventual use of harder, more dangerous drugs.  Cannibis is supposedly only about as addictive as caffeine, and there's little biological or chemical evidence to directly implicate it as a gateway drug.   However, there are compelling reasons why pot really does serve as a gateway to hard drugs nonetheless, whether for psychological, neurobiological or social reasons.

Are there other "gateway drugs"?  Many experts claim that tobacco and alcohol deserve the title even more than Marijuana.  Compared with lifetime nondrinkers, adults who have consumed alcohol were 26 times more likely to use cocaine, 14 times more likely to use cannabis, and 13 times more likely to use psychedelic drugs.  And those who started smoking tobacco by the age of 12 were 26 times more likely to start using cannabis or other illicit drugs by age 17.  A typical progression is smoking, drinking, cannabis, and finally, harder drugs. Prescription drugs (often very dangerous by themselves) also can become "gateway drugs"--for example, painkillers like Vicodin and Oxycontin as well as inhalents.  And finally,  "legal" disguised drugs like "K2" and "Bath salts" are probably becoming "gateway drugs" as well, due to their easy availability.

Nevertheless, marijuana is the drug still most often cited as a "gateway drug".   This is because it is easy to find, most likely to be first introduced by a friend at a party, and often peddled by the same people who peddle the more dangerous hard drugs--due to its illegal status.  And most people know Marijuana is supposed to be relatively harmless--ironically, this makes it even more likely to become a gateway drug because people are less afraid of it.  Some argue that legalizing pot would mostly eliminate it as a gateway drug since it would then be more socially isolated from peddlers and users of harder illegal drugs--this is a topic of controversy.

People typically first start using drugs when they are 11-20 years old, when peer pressure is a major factor, and when the "wiring" of a person's brain for critical thinking and risk avoidance has not yet been fully developed.  Tragically, continued drug use then prevents this important brain circuitry from being fully developed.  Instead, a strong memory pathway connecting drug use and the feeling of pleasure is established, that supersedes everything else.

One final tidbit:  Some people suggest that sugar is the original gateway drug.  Gateway theory suggests that, all other things being equal, an adolescent who uses any one drug is more likely to use another drug.  Considering the similar neurobiological effects of sugar, some have suggested that sugar is actually the very first gateway drug, leading to food addiction (and obesity) or to drug or alcohol addiction.  A study on lab rats seems to further support a link to later alcohol addiction.  In addition to this, excessive childhood consumption of sugar shows some correlation to violent behavior in later life.  This study does not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship; in fact, one might find a whole host of things that are correlated and which would prove difficult to sort out.  For instance, there is likely to be a correlation between dozens of different negative factors, i.e., drug abuse, poverty, IQ, violence, child neglect or abuse, alcoholism, crime, etc.

There are most likely many different pathways to drug addiction.  No one substance, behavior or personality trait can carry all the blame for someone starting down this road.  Instead, a certain "balanced" combination of nature and nurture ingredients is likely to be required in order for a person NOT to be prone to addiction--reminiscent of Tolstoy's quote that while "happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."  Finally, there seem to be many cases where a person may be intelligent, may come from a privileged home and good parents etc., and yet still become addicted to drugs.  This supports that idea that--for better or worse--chance circumstances may have a bigger role in shaping people's lives than we might imagine.

THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND DRUG ADDICTION

The pharmaceutical industry has saved many lives, and is one of the miracles of the modern world.  However, just like some other industries, it has its dark side.  Based on the statistics and facts listed below, you can determine for yourself to what extent this industry has spawned the problem of drug abuse.

Here are some alarming statistics from the CDC regarding addiction to prescription drugs:

--In 2010, about 12 million Americans (age 12 or older) reported non-medical use of prescription painkillers in the previous year.
-- Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for a month. Although most of these pills were prescribed for a medical purposes, many ended up in the hands of people who misused or abused them.
--Prescription painkiller overdoses killed nearly 15,000 people in the US in 2008. This is more than 3 times the 4,000 people killed by these drugs in 1999.   There are now more deaths by overdose from prescription painkillers than from cocaine and heroin combined. 
--Nearly half a million emergency department visits in 2009 were due to people misusing or abusing prescription painkillers.
--Nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs health insurers up to $72.5 billion annually in direct health care costs.
--The quantity of prescription painkillers sold to pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors’ offices was 4 times larger in 2010 than in 1999.
--Many states report problems with "pill mills" where doctors prescribe large quantities of painkillers to people who don’t need them medically. Some people also obtain prescriptions from multiple prescribers by "doctor shopping."

Here are some additional statistics compiled by the woman behind Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher.  (This link has some fascinating videos with additional information.)

--The U.S. represents 5% of the world's population, yet we take 70% of the worlds pharmaceutical drug prescriptions.
--More U.S. soldiers have returned from Iraq and then died as a result of prescription drugs than died in the war.
--The U.S. and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world who allow direct advertising by the pharmaceutical industry.
--Sloppy handwriting is the cause of 7000 patient deaths each year, while preventable medication mistakes hurt 1.5 million people.
--At least 106,000 people die each year from adverse drug reactions.
--These medical errors and deaths are equivalent to 6 jumbo jets falling out of the sky each and every day...the only difference is the media coverage--there are no public displays of grief for those who die of faulty medicine.
--A mere 6% of all listed adverse drug reactions are actually identified in practice.  Most side effects are instead mistaken for new disease symptoms, leading to further drugging and unnecessary medical procedures, increasing the risk of death even further.
--The mortality rate for people between the ages of 45-64 who took their prescription drugs correctly, rose 90% in just 5 years.
--In 2001, Pfizer was the most profitable Fortune 500 company in the world, with $7.8 billion in profits.
--In 2002, the profits from the top 10 drug companies comprising the Fortune 500 exceeded the profit of the other 490 companies.
--More than half of the U.S. population received unnecessary medical treatment--that's about 50,000 people per day.  Forty-two percent have been directly affected by a medical mistake, from a procedure or drug, and 84% of our population personally know someone who's been a victim of a medical error.
--The American medical system is the #1 killer in the United States.  The deaths, caused by conventional medicine, in just one decade, equate to approximately 8 million.  That's more than all the casualties from all the wars America has fought in its entire history.
--In 2006, healthcare spending reached $2 trillion, far more than most other developed countries per capita.

Here are some issues with the pharmaceutical industry that I personally find troubling:
   For profit reasons, U.S. drug companies have made a concerted effort to prevent drug re-importation, when in fact, it is safe.  (from Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman)
   THC, the active ingredient in Cannabis is known to have many medicinal properties; it is as addictive as caffeine, and no deaths have ever been linked to its use.  In some cases, it can do the job of a half-dozen potent pharmaceutical drugs but with none of the harmful side affects or addiction potential.  The pharmaceutical industry does not like cannibis.  They promote the idea that it has no medicinal value...that is, unless they can patent derivatives of it and make lots of money.  If doctors were able to prescribe marijuana (or its active ingredient, THC) and pharmacists to dispense it, this would supposedly lead to an "epidemic of prescription drug abuse"--but this is already happening with existing prescription drugs, which are far more dangerous and addicting than marijuana.  More likely, what would really happen is that drug company profits from dozens of these existing, more dangerous and less effective drugs would decline.
   A problem with prescription of drugs for depression and a host of other mental illnesses is that there are usually no specific biological tests the psychiatrist can use to diagnose these illnesses.  Rather, diagnosis is based on interpretations of the DSM (psychiatric diagnosis) manual--a manual which is facing increasing criticism and the accusation that it is not based on good science.  This naturally results in inconsistent or even false diagnoses, especially when a psychiatrist is afraid of getting sued later on if he doesn't come up with a specific diagnosis and prescription, and then something bad happens later on with the patient.  Result?  More  psychiatric medications are prescribed, even if the patient is lying about his symptoms in order to get the prescription.
  Most prescribed drugs do not "cure" people of mental disease, but only mask the symptoms.  Once someone gets started on a drug regimen, they may stay on it for life.  Drugs often lose their efficacy over time, and dosages must be gradually increased or changed.  Finally, drug side affects present the doctor with an opportunity to prescribe yet more drugs.  This is profitable (and therefore acceptable) for the drug companies and their researcher scientists, as they naturally "follow the money".
   Another problem is that drug companies pay doctors, who are influenced to prescribed particular medicines, also described here.  Follow the money.
   Drug companies spend a gargantuan amount on marketing and administration...and when they do their clinical trials, they generally do NOT have to compare their new drugs with existing drugs or with the best standard treatment--but only against a placebo.  This means that "recycled" and trivial "me too" drugs dominate the market of new drugs.  Only a small percentage of new drugs introduced represent actual improvements over existing drugs.  This adds to their profits but doesn't benefit anybody else in the process.
   Some companies engage in drug profiteering based on shortages.  Often this is indirectly related to ballooning purchases of drugs used for street purposes, causing the DEA's approved production numbers to be inadequate.  Other reasons include quality issues or lack of profit due to generic drugs.  This seems inexcusable if it is a consequence of sloppy, inefficient production management coupled with a monopoly on the manufacture of certain drugs.
   There are usually alternative treatments for any specific problem, but these are rarely considered by a doctor if he has a drug purported to be specifically for that ailment.  Rather than deal with the complexities and review all the possible sources of and best solutions to a problem, it's easier and quicker (and perhaps less risky for the doctor) to just prescribe a popular drug.  For example, while Ritalin has arguably been a relatively effective "solution" for millions of ADHD sufferers, there nevertheless exist alternative treatments for ADHD that may be more effective or have fewer side effects.  (See Overview, Neurofeedback, Cannabis, TM, Natural medicine, L-theanine, Non-western diet, Omega-3s, PhosphatidylSerine plus Omega-3.)  Ritalin addiction is on the rise, and its use with alcohol can often be deadly.
   An increase in medication given to children accompanies the dramatic increase seen in chronic childhood illnesses and diseases like ADHD, autism, asthma, eczema, obesity, type I and II diabetes, etc.  One may question whether there is a possible connection to environmental toxins and their epigenetic effect, childhood vaccinations, antibiotic usage, processed food diets, or some other underlying factor whose understanding may lead to a better solution than today's prescription drugs.  For the drug companies, though, drugs are the only answer, and the power of money ensures that it stays that way and that no research is done beyond finding a new "blockbuster" drug to mask the symptoms.  Also, little is known about the long-term affects of some widely prescribed drugs given to children and their effect on brain development and overall health.
   Most dangerous and addictive drugs are either a direct or indirect result of the pharmaceutical industry.  Any technology can be used for good or evil.  However, the addictive aspect of many of this industry's products, and its effect on the human brain, has increased the potential for biological and societal harm.
  So who makes money off other people's addiction?  Casinos, stock trading companies, video game developers, producers of porn, illegal drug rings, drug dealers, private companies running prisons and...and...pharmaceutical companies.  The drug companies profit from the drugs whether they are used for legitimate purposes or not, and the necessarily tight control of some drugs guarantees they will be expensive. Even when used for legitimate purposes, a drug used long term and whose dosage may need to be increased over time results in the same kind of profit stream associated with illegal addictive drugs.

IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DRUG ADDICTION AND MORAL CHARACTER?

Temptation often leads to addiction.  What does the Bible say about temptation?  Some might believe that turning our drug problem into a "moral" issue is inappropriate.  However, some of the most successful drug rehab programs use principles from the Bible--especially the avoidance of temptation.  Susceptibility to temptation is certainly one aspect of the drug problem, so we should understand it.

Here is some ancient wisdom from the Bible regarding temptation, addiction and recovery.

It is important to instill self-discipline in a child:
   "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother" (Psalm 131:2)
   Don't withhold correction from a child (Proverbs 22:15; 23:13; 29:15; Eccl 10:16)
   "Train up a child in the way he should go..."  (Proverbs 22:6; Gal 4:1-2)

Certain character traits can increase the risk of being tempted and falling prey to an addiction:
   Lack of firm convictions (Luke 8:13)
   Lack of self discipline (2 Timothy 2:21; John 15:2; Psalm 1:15; 119:101; Proverbs 1:15; 1st Peter 3:10; Jer 14:10;
   Laziness and perversity (Proverbs 22:5)
   Criminal tendencies (Psalms 9:16; Proverbs 29:6)
   Susceptibility to others' influences (Proverbs 29:25)
   Tendency to associate with a bad crowd (Proverbs 13:20, Psalms 1:1)
   Rebelliousness (Proverbs 14:16; 15:20)
   Lack of morals or conscience (Proverbs 14:9,12,16; 2nd Peter 2:12-14)
   A tendency toward strife (18:6-7)
   Selfishness (Gal 6:7-9, Eph 2:3)

Certain universal temptations can also lead to addiction, perdition and self-destruction:
   Pursuit of money and power (Proverbs 23:4; 28:22; Eccl 2; 1st Tim 6:10-11)
   Pursuit of pleasure (Eccl. 2:1-2; Proverbs 21:17; Luke 8:14)
   Alcohol (Proverbs 23:20; 23:35)
   Illicit sex (Proverbs 23:27, Eccl 7:25-26, 1st Cor 6:18)

A temptation cannot be overcome.  It can only be avoided.
   Flee from temptation (1st Cor 10:14, 2nd Tim 2:22, 1st Tim 6:11, 1st Cor 6:18)
   A prayer to avoid temptation.  (Matthew 6:13)
   Your good intentions alone are not enough to avoid temptation. (Matthew 26:41; Romans 7:17-26)
   God provides a way to escape temptation. (1st Cor 10:13)
   Temptation occurs when you turn your attention to a particular thought or memory--instead, fill your mind with other, good, healthy thoughts.  (Proverbs 24:9; James 1:13-15; Phillipians 4:8; Proverbs 6:18; Gen 6:4-6; Isaiah 55:7; Phil 3:13)

Information, understanding, wisdom and the fear of God give you power to avoid the temptations that can trap you and cost you your life (Proverbs 1:4,7; 4:5-7; 7:4-27, 13:14; 14:27; 24:4,5)

Additional advice for recovery of an addict:
   If someone is overtaken in a fault, it is your responsibility to help him, in a spirit of meekness.  (Galations 6:1)
   You will greatly increase your chances of succeeding in your battle if you first seek (and heed) wise advice from multiple counselors.  (Proverbs 12:15; 13:13-14; 24:6)
   A good person keeps getting back up when he falls.  (Proverbs 24:16)




MOST SUCCESSFUL DRUG REHAB PROGRAMS IN THE WORLD

It would be great if more effective drugs were developed to aid in the recovery of an addict.  Such efforts are, indeed, being pursued.  In the mean time, one might ask "what are the characteristics of a successful drug rehab program?"

Before discussing this, it's important to understand the neurobiology of addiction:

Neurobiology of Addicton for Dummies -- This is a very helpful, easy-to-understand  presentation
Stanford Marshmallow Study
Self Control, Addiction and Brain Differences
Learning to juggle grows brain networks
Le Mont Michael Expectations
Le Mont Michael Policies
10 Tips for 1st year of Recovery
Drug based "cure" for alcoholism in rats

The San Patrignano treatment center in Italy is one of the most successful drug-free approaches to drug treatment in the world, advertising a 72% success rate for those staying at least 18 months.  The St. Jude Retreats have a relatively high success rate of 62%.  Note that these percentages are based on particular assumptions, so they cannot be compared on an apples-to-apples basis.  These are just two examples of good treatment centers.  (Note that many treatment centers advertise high success rates, but cannot point to any independent studies to confirm it.  Also, some drug treatment centers are a disguised racket; for example, a cursory review of this program might look impressive until you read this. )

These success rates compare to an industry average of between 16-20%, with the majority of drug abusers relapsing.  So is there something that these rehab facilities are doing differently that accounts for this relatively  high success rate?  Here are some clues:

1.  None of these programs use the AA-derived 12-step program, and they do not psychologically "break down" their clients.  The well-intentioned (but poorly performing) 12-step program uses a watered-down "piece" of religion as a "tool" to kick a habit, whose participants often enter the program as an alternative to jail time.  These are often people with limited commitment and who have no real interest in changing their lifestyle, beliefs or their way of thinking, beyond just this one particular habit.  People typically drop out of the 12-step program before a year is up, not really seeing it as something they need or want to do for multiple years, much less seeing it as part of a religion to be practiced all their lives.  The program also tends to scare people away unless/until they're desperate.  (This criticism does not generally apply to Christian drug rehab programs, just to the 12-step program.  And despite theological, psychological and and practical problems, even the 12-step program does have some good points.)

2.  These programs are typically MUCH longer than the typical 30 days--more like 3-18 months or more.  Most drug treatment programs are 30 days in length, because that is what insurance companies will pay for.  In general, the success of a drug treatment program appears to be roughly proportional to the time length of participation.

3.  These programs typically take the client completely out of his former negative environment to a new, sheltered community.  It is important that the former addict give up his old identity and culture--and often, this means giving up his old druggie friends, his old personal appearance, his old thinking patterns, etc.  Then afterwards, the best success is often achieved when the person does NOT go back to the same environment he came from--perhaps moving to a different location, etc., to be away from his old influences, and to start a new career with the new job training and coping skills he has gained.  These programs also typically provide ongoing support and reassurance that help is still available for him if/when he needs it--in other words, an effective relapse prevention program.

4.  These programs do not treat alcohol as a chronic disease, believing that this just allows people to feel like victims.  This bucks the conventional wisdom, at least in terms of how the residents are treated.  For instance, the San Patrignano philosophy is that drug abuse in not a disease of the body, but "a disease of the soul"--and it is not a chronic disease, even if it is a recurring one.  The St. Jude programs call the "disease of addiction" model a sham, and do not believe in labeling "regular problems" as diseases and disorders.  These programs are based on the assumption that it really is possible to stop taking drugs.  Complete sobriety is the goal, regardless of what drugs were taken.  Based on this assumption, the programs do not use drugs (beyond initial detox) as part of their treatment.  (It may seem shocking, but success with drug abuse recovery has been--in general--so dismal that many professionals have developed the defeatist opinion that drug addicts are unrecoverable and the objective is merely to improve the quality of life of those who continue to be drug addicts.)

5.  These programs typically are NOT focused on the drug abuse, and do NOT label their residents as drug abusers.  Instead they address issues that made the person vulnerable to drug abuse in the first place.  The founder of the San Patrignano community described it as follows:  “Among the problems that affect the drug addict, drug use is the least relevant.  The core of the problem is not drugs, nor the abstinence crisis: it is the human being with his fears and the black holes that threaten to suck him in. That is why I do not like to say nor hear that ours is a community for drug addicts. Ours is a community for living, where you can restart after years spent as a social outcast. Ours, if we really need a definition, is a community against social marginalization.”  The San Patrignano community provides continuing studies as well as job training and social re-integration as a key part of their program.  An educational and social approach based on compassion and empowerment that teaches life skills is typical of these programs, rather than a medical or drug-based approach.

6.  These programs seek to provide the client with new interests and new friends, and to give his life new meaning, while keeping him busy with "normal" activities that are nevertheless physically and mentally challenging, that encourage him to try new things and challenge himself, activities that boost his self confidence, self reliance, self-control and his sense of responsibility and accomplishment.  Education and job training are also critically important.  If, upon leaving rehab, the client is still not employable, and/or has not developed new interests and found new purpose and meaning in his life, he is in danger of becoming bored or depressed--and this is the surest way for him to have a relapse.





HOW TO IDENTIFY A DRUG USER--typical characteristics

There are many clues that suggest someone MIGHT be a substance abuser.  These included behavioral clues, psychological/spiritual clues, personal grooming and physical appearance clues, clues based on characteristics of family and friends, and health symptoms.

Here are some URL links that list identifiable characteristics of a substance abuser:
1.  Typical characteristics of a substance abuser
2.  Seven psychologica/spiritual characteristics of functioning alcoholics
3.  Identifying a drug abuser in a waiting room or at a pharmacy counter
4.   Characteristics of drug inhalers

Beside the more obvious clues, sometimes even the most seemingly unrelated characteristics or events can serve as clues for drug use; i.e., someone who mistreats animals or has a pit-bull chained in his yard, or, if your child is on drugs, missing teaspoons from your kitchen drawer, missing money or valuable items from your home.  Multiple tattoos are often an indicator of deviant behavior, including drug abuse.  Body piercings, sagging pants, side-ways worn baseball caps and spiked hair can also be hints that a person is associated with a drug culture.  Even a preference for rave music, techno music or certain types of dance music can be a strong indicator of drug use, as well as pop or punk music whose lyrics have references to pot.  Hip hop / rap, techno, R&B and reggae music is often associated with a whole range of drug and alcohol abuse.  Even country music has some association with alcohol abuse, although it is not a strong link.

Perhaps some of the strongest indirect clues for long term drug addiction--and the most tragic--are poverty, joblessness, homelessness, loss of friends and social support, loss of self respect and morals, anti-social or deviant behavior, and depression.

Odds and Ends #1

1.  In a gratuitous but mistaken nod to "Muslim technical accomplishments", a British "science news" article lists the top 20 "islamic" inventions.  It was quickly lauded and reprinted by Islamic News organizations.  This is a revealing example of how a seemingly uncontroversial, technical, "factual" "science" article can actually be completely false and yet be quickly parroted and quoted without questioning.  Fortunately, a scathing rebuttal to this article was published by someone in a wiki article titled "How Islamic Inventors Did Not Change the World".  Lies never serve any good purpose.

2.  There are so many controversial issues related to ethics and morality.  Our perspective on these issues can change depending on how close we are to the issue, or on whether it affects us or our friends personally, or depending on how we view the circumstances.  These issues typically pit competing historical, scientific, aesthetic, cultural or moral judgments or values against each other in a way that makes the issue complex or convoluted.  The ancient Sophists prided themselves on being able to persuasively argue either side of an issue.  Perhaps someday I will have clear answers to all of life's most vexing dilemmas, but alas, as I get older, I seem to be getting less quick to make a judgement...or maybe it's just my brain slowing down.  :-)
   Do you sometimes get the feeling that the more rules and laws we enact, the less moral our society becomes?  Perhaps it's the type of "bureaucratic regulations" that get passed, that just open up more loop holes for bad people to find while technically not breaking the law.  What if, instead, we passed vague-sounding laws like, "you shall not lie, cheat or steal" and "you treat others as you would be treated"?  Or better yet, like Google, "You shall do no evil."  Yeah, yeah, I know, it would be lawyer heaven.  Ya just can't legislate good behavior.

3.  Incidentally, here are some more articles that fit under the subject of "unintended consequences":
     a)  The Drug War is responsible for more violence than perhaps anything else in our society
     b)  The Biggest Dope Dealer on Planet Earth is the pharmaceutical industry, with more deaths from narcotic pain pills than from heroin and cocaine combined
     c)  Forced Unionization (versus right-to-work) correlates to higher unemployment, larger state government debt, and migration out of state.  (Obviously not a big surprise.)

4.  Earlier this Summer I hiked and camped in the Grand Canyon.  Note that I am not a geologist, I have only a rudimentary laymen's understanding of evolutionary geology and tectonic plate theory, and I am not promoting any particular viewpoint.  Nevertheless, I couldn't help wondering if some of the formations I saw in the Grand Canyon--contrary to traditional explanations--were actually the result of catastrophic processes.  Here's an intriguing presentation that argues the Grand Canyon is actually the poster child for a catastrophic flood.  The presenter argues from the view of a Recent Earth Creationist, a view that even I do not have.  Nevertheless, see for yourself whether or not you find the presenter's "cataclysmic flood based" explanation for the interesting strata and formations more convincing than the conventional explanation of sedimentary deposits over many millions of years.  Certainly, I don't think evolutionary geology does a very elegant job of explaining a lot of geologic anomalies.  However, after doing a little research on my own, it became evident that many of the specific arguments in this clip have fairly reasonable counter arguments.  So we're back to square one.  Experiences like this have made me more careful not to trust science that's intermingled with either religious or atheistic dogma...unfortunately, it seems that science often becomes the bruised and battered victim of competing world views, rather than some pristine, inexorable path to ultimate truth.  As such, it has taken on a split personality, each of which detests the other.
   Another example of world views influencing science, are the competing and contradictory positions taken between our own scientists in the U.S. who postulate a marine fossil origin for petroleum, versus the Russian explanation of  "abiotic oil", which is still widely subscribed to by Russian experts.  This difference of opinion has persisted for many years, and it even affects the techniques for prospecting of new petroleum deposits.  I tend to discount the Russians' abiotic explanation, not only on scientific grounds (as do most U.S. experts), but also because I believe it's perpetuated by national pride, a disregard for environmental stewardship, and a refusal to acknowledge that our global reserves of oil may be limited.

5.  Have you heard of the American Taliban?  I don't necessarily agree with everything this author says, and I believe that only a small minority of Americans are truly "radicals" or "wackos", but his comparison of some far right religious radicals to the Taliban is nevertheless thought-provoking.  After all, the Taliban in the Middle East also represent a small minority, but they have had an out sized influence because of their violent tactics.  One has to ask whether these people could also be compared to the Jewish Zealots and Sicarii of AD 66-70, who declared themselves on the side of God, presided over a reign of terror over the Jews, revolted in an ethnic, nationalistic holy war against their Roman occupation and effectively sealed the grisly fate of the Jews in 70 AD.

Meditate

Looking for a new way to understand consciousness? Meditate on it.

Anonymous 5/2012

Scientist. Biologist. Buddhist. Philosopher. Neuroscientist. Francisco Varela embodied the seemingly opposing elements that he wove together for his final work. Even as he lay dying in a French Hospital, his groundbreaking work on consciousness was being presented in a meeting between some of the world’s leading neuroscientists and the Dalai Lama. His ideas of combining first person data with more empirical data from traditional Neurology, self-titled neurophenomenology, helped begin a revolution in the way consciousness was approached.  This fusion of traditional western and eastern ideas of investigation sparked a lasting relationship between religion and science.

Traditionally, researchers approach consciousness studies with advanced scientific techniques and instrumentation, but a central difficulty in understanding remains. Scientists cannot “get inside your head” either literally or physically to see how introspective consciousness occurs. Introspective consciousness is simply thinking without external stimuli, although it may be triggered by stimuli.

For example, if right now you’re thinking that this article is nonsense, you’re introspectively conscious because you aren’t hearing or seeing those words but producing them in your mind. But only you know what you’re thinking, and often communicating or even understanding our own thought processes leads to us becoming lost in our thoughts. This deficit in reliable data creates the need for a better tool to collect first person information, a tool that can be found through meditation. This ancient practice can be used to complement the techniques that have been used to study consciousness for years.

History of the Study of Consciousness

In the western world, the field of consciousness studies is very young. Even though psychologists have long tried to understand aspects of consciousness, the paradox of understanding our own understanding was dismissed as unknowable. This is due in part to the limitations in data. First person accounts, popular in the early days of psychology, were dismissed as inaccurate.  Scientists turned to behavior to explain how the mind worked but this provided a limited understanding.

By the 1970s, the cognitive revolution had supplanted behaviorism. New techniques and technologies grew as scientists began to use physical data from the brain to examine thought. Even then, understanding of consciousness stalled. The data collected could tell to some extent what was happening in the brain, but that didn’t answer the question of what was happening inside the mind. To help answer that question, some scientist have begun to turn to Buddhists, who have been studying the mind for thousands of years.

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion- meaning that there is no deity. Rather than the Western scientific perspective that knowledge should be observer independent, Buddhism seeks to understand the self. Perhaps the most significant aspect of Buddhism for consciousness studies is the metal discipline practiced through meditation. Meditation is not simply breathing and sitting cross-legged; it is a type of mental training that changes thinking. Dr. Alfred Kasniak, a psychologist at the University of Arizona and Zen master, says that meditation is about “day to day discipline”. It is this very discipline that makes it a viable tool for consciousness research.

Research into Meditation and Consciousness

Conscious processes are complex and variable when analyzed through the lenses of imaging and other scientific techniques. The idea behind neurophenomenology is that first person data can be used so that for different processes there will be both a physical signature and a description of the thought process that can be used to synthesize a more complete picture of how the brain works. It’s like a picture book, where the first person data is the words that tell the researcher what is going on in the mind. Scientific imaging technique provides the pictures to go along with the description. This allows the pictures to be interpreted through the words and together a story emerges.

In order to collect first-person data that is reliable and repeatable, subjects have to be used who are trained in examining and focusing their own thoughts. Buddhists who are experts in meditation have refined their awareness of their own attention and thought processes. The goal of many Buddhist techniques is to develop attentional and vividness. Think of a telescope. If the mind is the instrument that is being used to examine itself, the development of attention stability plants the telescope on a firm base while vividness polishes the lenses. This creates an image that is both clear and focused. 

Researchers studying consciousness use two main kinds of meditation. Focused attention meditation is where complete focus is given to an object, thought, or emotion. Eventually, a practitioner can both maintain focus for a much longer time than a non-practitioner and realize when and how distractions are affecting her focus. This can take many years to master. Try to focus on an object, let’s say a drinking glass or pencil, for as long as you can. Two or three seconds later, you’re probably thinking about something else no matter how hard you try to focus. This is because the typical person can only maintain complete focus for a few seconds.

In the second type of meditation — opening monitoring — you focus on nothing and just take in what is going on around you. Like focused-attention, this is considerably more difficult than it sounds. It is the difficulty of these tasks that separates them from normal everyday thought process. Buddhists have spent thousands of years seeking to understand the self, and their techniques can take years to master.

The idea of neurophenomenology and the use of Buddhism as a tool within this new methodology is not simply theory. Even though it is a recent idea, studies have already come out supporting different aspects of the idea. In a study by Heleen Slaughter and colleagues at the University of Washington, those who had been through the meditation training showed reduced variability and increased attention stability as indicated both through their performance of a task and through a measurement of their brain waves with EEGs. It can be inferred that Buddhists who have spent years meditating would have similar or better results. 

A study done by Francisco Varela and his colleagues at Institut Pasteur indicated that clustering subjects by first-person reports created clearer patterns of neural behavior and reduced the need to average results. Typically in studies with human subjects, there is a high level of variability in the data received through techniques such as MRIs and EEGs. This need for averaging reduces the precision of the data. Due to the reduced variability that comes with clustering by described experiences, using first-person data actually made the experiment more accurate. This experiment shows the promise of neurophenomenology as a practical way to study consciousness.

Buddhism and Emotion

            One of the more studied relationships between Buddhism and consciousness is that of emotions and qualia. Well beyond being a great word for Scrabble, qualia is used to describe the indescribable. It refers to the uniqueness of experience. Just look at something familiar; let’s say the back of your hand.  Without knowing it, you’ve already experienced qualia. The experience is unique, not because someone else can’t also see your hand but because you have unconsciously or consciously connected your hand with a quality or feeling. Maybe seeing your hand makes you feel good because it is strong or attractive. Maybe you feel ashamed because you still bite your nails. The quality doesn’t matter. It just matters that the quality is unique and thus is qualia.

Buddhists can better observe and record qualia because of their emphasis on being self-aware of all their emotions and their lack of “I” in understanding the world. Expert practitioners have been shown to respond to emotions differently than non-practitioners, with a greater degree of control and understanding. The research done has brought up more questions than answers, but the answers to these questions could change our understanding of how the mind works and what it is capable of.

For Francisco Varela, these ideas were primarily theoretical, based off a few small studies and an extensive personal knowledge of the connection between Eastern and Western philosophy. He was a pioneer, one of the first to see a potential for fusion, or as he described it “a gentle bridge”. When explaining his vision for neurophenomenology, he said, “Science and experience constrain and modify each other as in a dance. This is where the potential for transformation lies.”  This potential continues to be explored in the years after his death as others take up his vision.

Controversy and Limitations

The incorporation of Eastern techniques for understanding consciousness with Western scientific techniques has met with controversy.  For many scientists, first person data is still too subjective to qualify as science. Varela said, “It requires us to leave behind a certain image of how science is done, and to question a style of training in science which is part of the very fabric of our cultural identity.” In order to effectively study consciousness, scientist must open their own minds to ideas that they may not fully understand from their Western philosophical standpoint. When studying a phenomenon that does not give clear physical data, a strictly western standpoint has long since proven ineffective.

There are also questions raised about the religious beliefs associated with the practice of meditation and how they are affecting research. It seems to go against the orthodoxy of science. Any research that has a basis in religion immediately sparks questions of bias and scientific validity. In general, there’s a perceived schism between religion and science. One is based in facts, and one is based on faith. However, because Buddhism does not qualify in many ways as a religion, most of these objections are superfluous.

One solution would seem to be to separate the practice of mediation from the practice of Buddhism. However, the enormous dedication and possible trait changes that comes about as part of meditating seriously for a long period of time are difficult to replicate without the dedication that comes with religion. Even those who began mediation for reasons other than religious reasons often stay because of the religious aspect. To some extent, the philosophy of Buddhism may provide its own insights into consciousness. When questioned about the Buddhist idea that there is no self, Varela said, “…there is no gap at all between the insights reached through meditation and the research results of cognitive science. Both arrive at the identical conclusion that an independent self cannot be detected and that the search for it inevitably leads us astray.”

Eleven years have passed since Francisco Varela’s death. The bridge that he built between science and Buddhism is rapidly becoming a path, leading in new directions for consciousness studies and branching off to create new paths. By fusing seemingly disconnected elements, he revolutionized the study of consciousness. And from his beginning, other scientists influenced by his ideas are discovering new information about the brain that can potentially change the way we think about how we think.

Sources: Varela, F. J., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Blackmore, S. J. (2006). Conversations on consciousness: What the best minds think about the brain, free will, and what it means to be human. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Slagter, H. A., Lutz, A., Greischar, L. L., Davidson, R. J., & Nieuwenhuis, S. (August 01, 2009). Theta phase synchrony and conscious target perception: Impact of intensive mental training. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21, 8, 1536-1549.

Lutz, A., Lachaux, J.-P., Martinerie, J., & Varela, F. J. (February 05, 2002). Guiding the Study of Brain Dynamics by Using First-Person Data: Synchrony Patterns Correlate with Ongoing Conscious States during a Simple Visual Task. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99, 3, 1586-1591.