Not too long ago I read an article about about Switzerland having the highest number of medical imaging devices, this includes CT scanners and MRI devices, in comparison to the 25 European members of the OECD, but this however, has not increased life-expectancy or created better quality healthcare when compared to other nations who have less medical imaging devices. In fact, as stated in this article, Netherlands has only 40 CT scanners and MRI devices per million people versus Switzerland’s 80 per million people, and has similar quality of care as well as life-expectancy rates to Switzerland; thereby indicating that more medical scanning does not make people healthier. In fact, the article goes on further to describe how over-diagnosing does more harm than good.
I have noticed that many people love technology. I go to Yoga and I see many wearing their “smartwatch” on their wrists to keep track of their workout: how many calories burned, heart rate, oxygen saturation, stress levels – body surveillance. They are also the ones who have a large bottle of water next to their mat because they imagine that they are going to dehydrate after 75 minutes of Yoga and keep glancing at their watches, which will indicate the dehydration point to them, so that they can get out of their practice to grab that bottle of water. Personally, I find these gadgets pointless, as well as another distraction from focusing on my Mind and connecting with my Body.
Dr. Christiane Northrup writes of the American and modern healthcare systems:
“Our culture and its conventional medical system believe that technology, testing, and more research will save us, that it is possible to control and quantify every variable, and that if we just had more data from more studies, we’d be able to improve our health, cure diseases, and live happily ever after [..] Unfortunately, instead of applying what we already know, Americans and their doctors equate doing more with improving care. We believe that we can “buy” an answer by throwing more money at it and doing more research. Again, we ignore or don’t trust our inner guidance system and our own healing ability.” (Northrup, 2020, 14)
When are we going to realize that technology is not going to make us healthier, in fact at the rate we are going, technology has become a hindrance to our health, providing us with distractions to prevent us from eating meals regularly or going to bed on time, blue light from our digital screens that disturb our circadian rhythms and destroy our retinas, the smartphone slump posture which creates tension and pain; all of which makes us more distracted and disconnected from your BodyMinds. The way forward is INWARD, not outward. We need to come back to good old fashion feeling, sensing and trusting our BodyMinds and their healing abilities by giving it less stimulation, as well as technology, and honing it to feel clearly again. If all the electrical power were to shut-down tomorrow, what we would have would be our BodyMinds and Nature to work with. Everything else would be superfluous and a burden to carry.
Neuroscientist, Beau Lotto, in his book, "Deviate" describes in Chapter 2, "Information is Meaningless":
"It is the Age of Reason pushed into the new frontier of the Digital Age. This unprecedentedly accessible, ever-expanding web of data has altered our daily existence, and yet very little is translating into new understanding. This is because when it comes to creativity, success, and even personal happiness, information isn't itself power." (Lotto, 2017, 44)
Beau Lotto wasn’t specifically referring to health but he, like Dr. Northrup are discussing our times, the Age of Information and AI, which is not going to make humans live longer or healthier. More information does not translate to more or better health and understanding, in fact I believe it makes it more confusing.
So turn the digital device off, take off that smartwatch, go back to old fashion BodyMind in Nature, get some sunshine and movement.
Reference
Lotto, Beau (2017): Deviate - The Creative Power of Transforming your Perception. London: Orion Publishing
Northrup, Christiane, M.D. (2020): Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom (5th Ed). New York: Bantam Book
Photo by Amanda Napitu on Pixabay
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