Einstein once said, when faced with reactions ranging from disinterest, to open and hostile opposition to his new ideas, "Fashion abides in every age without people realizing tyrants rule them." In our modern era where commerce seems to be at the root of everything, we must be highly cautious about what fashions we become convinced of. Just because everyone is doing it, experts insist it is so, or government says it's approved, does not make something true, or in our best interests. Seeking beyond what is popularized by the media and commercial interests, and being wary of convention are the first steps toward truth. The best pet food and sustained health are not possible without truth.
But the majority in every culture, in every era, are convinced of the truth of popular opinion. Those who would challenge or veer from accepted dogma are labeled weird, eccentric, heretical, psychotic or evil, and historically have been ignored, anathematized, ostracized, persecuted or even killed. Such a shame, since knowledge is a process, a path, not a destination.
New and better ideas are often resisted until crisis threatens and the only way out is a new awakening. Examples in science include the shift from Aristotelian to Newtonian physics, from Newtonian to Einsteinian physics, from the Ptolemaic geocentric universe (everything revolves around Earth) to the astronomy of Copernicus (Earth around the sun), from the phlogiston theory to modern Lavoisier chemistry, and from the presently-in-process shift from the reductionistic-materialistic-Newtonian-Cartesian (all questions will be solved by an examination of matter) paradigm to the quantum-relativistic-holistic paradigm (all questions are not solved by an examination of matter).
The great lesson of history is that every age is wrong in how they view reality.
Being open to change is critical to our well-being since change is the only thing edging us toward truth. Bad ideas bring bad results. When everyone smiles and agrees, progress weeps. The old physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, politics and religion impeded progress toward healthier and longer lives. Modern life, a by-product of a long chain of paradigm shifts, scientific and social revolutions if you will, is a far cry from the difficult, precarious, and short lives during the dark ages.
But as impressive as all our progress is, we have reached no end point. We are Stone Age compared to what we will be if an ascent toward truth proceeds.
It is time for a paradigm shift if the best pet food is ever to be achieved. Such a change becomes apparent when the myths underlying present feeding practices and their link to disease, suffering, and death identified.
Yes, we're told that today's companion animals enjoy better health than they have ever had and live longer, that modern pet foods are carefully and scientifically balanced to make them the best per foods, and that modern medical measures cure disease and extend life. Yes, this is what we are told. But the facts untell it. In reality, fundamental errors in nutritional and medical thinking have resulted in much harm and running in place with little, if any, meaningful advance.
There is a veil obscuring the truth about the best pet food. It is a tapestry of appliqués including irrelevant jargon about nutrients, their percentages, statistics, and studies faulty science, commercial greed, regulatory imperiousness, professional egoism, marketing legerdemain, consumer naivete, desire for ease, and old paradigm romance.
By and large, the accepted dogma about how to feed and achieve health is wrong, very wrong. It remains in place because reason does not usually rule the mind, rather, bias and mythologies designed to protect status quo and profits reign.
Skepticism, not acquiescence, is critical in the search for wellness.
So if truth is the goal - which it should be if health and the best pet food are to be achieved - preconceptions and the grip of conformity must be set aside. Perhaps a little revolution is in order.
Although this may seem far afield from pet health, the reasoning used in this link (Popular Science Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report) is identical to that which creates all the myths pervading modern dog and cat feeding practices.. Notice in this article of 9/11 conspiracy theories how the desire to believe something takes precedence over reason and evidence.
We cannot let the same mental foible influence decisions about our health or that of the animals in our care. Facts and reason must come first. They alone must create our beliefs - beliefs that are always ready to be modified as new evidence comes forth.
Thought for the day: "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence." – Christopher Hitchens
Word for the day: pharmaceutical - adjective: pharmaceutical drugs are largely allopathic in nature, meaning that they are aimed at addressing and counteracting the symptoms of the illness and disease, but not the underlying cause(s). They attempt to force the body into submission but by so doing create their own stresses, imbalances, and diseases. Pharmaceuticals are a last resort if health is the goal.
No comments:
Post a Comment