Ignoring the Hat

It's there- staring you in the face. Its very color is a definition, a label. In Israel, neighborhoods are classified by the "Shchorim" who live there. It may be a suitable covering for the rain we've been having the last few days, and it does protect from the sun. It has a tendency to fly off at the most inconvenient moment, just when an Egged bus turns the corner. And, it's the hat that sits, hanging on a hook in the dining room, when I have company over. Yes, it's black.

Yet, some people can't look past the hat. They see the hat, occupying a person's head, and they think nothing past it. The stereotype lives on, the insular, narrow minded person who has the strictest viewpoints on just about everything, and has never seen any other book than a Sefer. What's underneath the hat doesn't count, just the covering over the head.

It's assumed that the person wearing the hat has never heard of Gaza, or Mumbai, as he was too busy in Yeshiva. It's assumed he has never pursued a college degree, or if he has, it was done through CLEPs, or one of the college programs done while in Yeshiva (please don't take offense if you've done one of those.) Never you mind that the black hatter has spent hours every day deciphering 3 languages and using logic, along with mathematical calculations, some basic physics, and some science alongside. A bit of history, philosophy, and other items of interest are thrown in also, every once in a while.
I'm not saying they know physics better than a physicist, or that they focus on secular subjects on a regular basis, but they do have a brain, and some knowledge to add to a conversation.

Recently, Mr. NMF got into a conversation with someone on one of the controversial topics- evolution. And the funny thing was, that Mr. NMF has spent long hours discussing this with me, since I'm a science student. So, he has what to say, all grounded in Torah and in secular ideas. And, he mentioned something that the person had never heard of- punctuated equilibrium.

So, immediately, that person took the defensive.

"I've never heard of that before, it must be a religious idea. Don't confuse science and fact with religion."

Although Mr. NMF showed the person that it was a secular concept and theory, and elucidated at length that it had nothing at all to do with religion, the arguer remained unconvinced, clearly certain that the information was being twisted towards a religious agenda and could, therefore, not be accurate. I just stood there laughing, knowing that simply because Mr. NMF was saying it, and not a professor in a lab coat, the person he was arguing with would always attribute a religious slant to it, no matter what.

Talk about looking only at the hat.

Research and Development

I'm a total science geek. Yup, that would be me- the one sitting and expounding on the benefits of the subcutaneous layer of skin being subcutaneous, instead of being switched with the avascular part of skin.

So, I'm always trying to learn about the latest developments in research, the latest findings, and the latest drug trials going on. I just learnt recently about the removal of four (well, really 2) asthma drugs from the market, due to 14,000 related deaths since 1993. And I wondered how America let those drugs on the market. But then I heard the other side of the story, in which these drugs save lives, and save them consistently, and the two that were removed from the market were supposed to be prescribed with steroids, but often weren't- or the patients didn't take the steroids.

It's a tough choice to make- removing a life-saving drug from the market due to bad statistics. How does one make such a decision- weighing the pros and cons?

Anyway, here in Israel, there are some medicines that are not available in the US, and vice versa. It seems that Israeli doctors follow more of the European approach to medicine, preventative instead of trying to fix an already existing problem. They also take into account many more homeopathic, or alternative techniques to solve medical disorders, that may not be standard practice in the US system.

But what are the statistics on these drugs? Do we know about the problems from these medicines? Is there something akin to the FDA watching out for bad prescriptions, or drugs that have bad statistical ratings- even and despite the miraculous results of the drugs?

I don't know if people realize that almost everything has a risk- but sometimes the benefits outway the risks.

So, I'm grateful that Israel gives me more opportunities and more alternative forms of medicine, but I'm curious to know if there is someone or some governmental authority watching out as well.