Dr. Dossey never mentions the fact that acupuncture, massage therapy and all sorts of different healing and therapeutic methods and “alternative” medical practices - many of which have prehistoric roots in Asian and African cultures - were so inadequate in their peak that the introduction of modern medicine to those cultures at the turn of the twentieth century caused such massive population boom from which countries like China and India still suffer and will suffer for decades or perhaps centuries to come if not forever.
The other important issue that has to be addressed is Dr. Dossey’s passion for his “non-local” model of human mind. He quite often mentions this model as the basis for many of his arguments in his publications and lectures and builds many of his theories upon it but never gives a solid definition of what he means by “non-local” other than “unlimited by ordinary space and time”. This model - according to his own definition - has no boundaries to it. It is a limitless concept and though it does sound deep and philosophical and perhaps somewhat poetic it lacks a basic feature of any scientific model, namely defined or recognized boundaries.
In his interview with Betsy Whitfil, Dr. Dossey tries to make himself clear about this non-locality by seeking help from physics and quantum physics and by referring to some of the new theories about sub-atomic particles and tries to make a connection between his arguments and some of those theories in quantum physics which are though based on scientific facts and knowledge are yet to be proven. He tells his audience that since there is the term “non-locality” used in a book on quantum physics his theories of “non-local” mind on medicine are relevant and possible and very bluntly uses this as an argument to show that his theories in medicine have some credible base because “physics is the most accurate science we’ve ever had”. For Dossey this goes without noticing that the fact that even if “non-locality” holds in the case of sub-atomic particles this does not make his theory of non-local mind any more credible unless he explains the connection between the two in his theories.
It seems to the author that Dr. Dossey is just trying to grab hold of anything that can help him put together a theory that not even he can really define or explain. To the author’s amazement, Dr. Dossey with all the years of scientific background fails to realize that he cannot label any vague idea that pops in his head as a scientific theory. The author strongly believes that Dr. Dossey has now two feasible options, he can either set aside this - intentional or unintentional - ambiguity in his definition of his model and truly define the model of non-local mind or he can simply quit the struggle of giving his beliefs and theories a scientific exterior.
The other important point that catches the eye about Dr. Dossey’s arguments is his somewhat fanatic respect for data. This is despite the fact that alternative medicine in general - unlike the modern medicine - lacks any credibility in terms of scientific data and patterns in data. Even when there is an attempt to present the medical community and the society in general with statistics and patterns on effectiveness of alternative medicine, one notices that very often the collected data has not been collected under legitimate scientific conditions and using well-known methods of harvesting data.
Dr. Dossey very well inherits this deceitful tradition of alternative medicine by referring to “individual” cases and avoiding to treat and categorize the patient as “statistics and data base”. This of course becomes the basis for him to attack the modern medicine and just there he crosses the line drawn by himself and does not recognize his own standard of “respecting data”. He does not mention - despite all his accusations of the modern medicine - that the modern medicine simply works and this is a fact proven by not only data but by historic accounts and even very basic observations in everyday life.
Dr. Dossey talks about the science in general and modern medicine in particular having a devastatingly negative effect on mankind and particularly the Western culture and he goes the extent of warning about a possible doomsday. He also writes about inadequacy of modern medicine and that it has not delivered as expected. He very bravely ignores the fact that because of the contributions of science and modern medicine people of the world live longer, healthier lives and that many diseases - such as small pox or plague - that once raged across the old world, killing millions and wiping out civilizations are part of history these days and diseases such as flu or malaria that not very long ago were potentially terminal are easily dealt with in modern times. Dr. Dossey again holds on tight to his individual cases when he makes his point on inadequacy of modern medicine and ignores potentially billions of cases which mentioning them would not favor his cause.
Dr. Dossey’s passionate attempts to find a medical and scientific explanation for effects of prayer and therapeutic and healing touch and so on and so forth is another interesting characteristic of his publications. This is despite the fact that he over and over accuses science and the modern medicine of various cases of ignorance and inadequacy and yet he cannot truly severe ties with science. He tries to elevate prayer and spiritual matters as well as all sorts of different “feel-good” methods from individual and personal levels to something with scientific basis and perhaps something marketable.
He intentionally tries to paint all these personal and perhaps spiritual matters a scientific color while both acknowledging and ignoring the fact that spirituality will not be explained by science and data. These attempts to establish an institution for spirituality and religion in medicine and science has a notoriously similar resemblance with attempts of the church in the middle ages - and even up to the end of the nineteenth century - to confine science and mathematics to religious boundaries.
One who carefully reads Dr. Dossey’s writings notices that he naively hints to the sophistical argument that since science and modern medicine is not the key to all mankind’s problems and pains there is something wrong with it and that it has to be revisioned. He ignores the fact that science has never claimed the ability to solve all of man’s problems and that science has a very well defined set of boundaries.
Dr. Dossey, though a respected physician and scientist, has crossed the line of reason and logic in expressing his views on modern and alternative medicine. He has proposed scientifically inconsistent models for functionality of human mind and has unsuccessfully searched for new ways of legitimizing his theories. He continues his efforts to establish a scientific explanation for the effects of prayer and all sorts of spiritual matters that - successfully or not - play a role in the process of healing. He tries to present the alternative medicine as the savior of mankind in the face of problems that yet have not been solved by modern medicine. This goes on without hinting to the not very impressive history of alternative medicine. As a doctor who has sworn the Hippocratic oath, Dr. Dossey very often fails or refuses to distinguish between elements that make patients temporarily feel good and elements that will keep them alive. This in the eyes of the author is the biggest responsibility that he has to bear and for that matter he has to be prepared to deal with his consciousness.
References
Dossey, Larry. Healing Beyond The Body. Random House, 2001.
Dossey, Larry. Recovering The Soul. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publications, 1989.
Dossey, Larry. Reinventing Medicine. HarperSanFrancisco, 1999.
