Our unique role as chiropractors.

We all fill a unique role in life. We all make a unique contribution to our family, or profession, our work, our community, the world. If we do not fulfill that contribution, nobody else will. Some may cover parts of it but no one will make our unique contribution. By analogy, every cell in he body has a function. If we lose it, no other cell fills that need. We may compensate to a degree but something is lost.

The cause of disease

The only single cause to disease is trauma. Otherwise diseases all have multiple causes. It is interesting and noteworthy that trauma (external invasive forces) is the single cause of vertebral subluxation.

Understanding Subluxation

IF innate intelligence exists it is immaterial/metaphysical in nature.
IF innate intelligence creates a mental impulse, it too must be metaphysical.
Therefore the mental impulse can never be demonstrated, explained or even understood in physical/scientific terms anymore than innate intelligence can.
That creates two choices for the chiropractor. He must abandon his historical subluxation correction approach because subluxation correction involves an inteference with this non-material phenomena of an innate intelligence created mental impulse and he must become a practitioner of a physical therapeutic model
OR
he must make the metaphysical philosophy and its ramifications the center of his understanding and explanation of chiropractic rather than trying to explain or prove chiropractic in a scientific framework. Science does not accept anything outside of a materialistic paradigm.

Just a thought

The medical model of education is not only unhealthy from a philosophical standpoint but also from a physical standpoint. The need for long hours, no sleep, stressful exams, etc, take their toll on the physician-student. It carries into practice making m.d.s one of the unhealthiest group of professionals. Our mimicing of the medical profession may be making unhealthy chiropractic students. NBCE tests, too many finals, cadaver smelling, competitiveness,etc., not onle takes them away from what is important (philosophy and technique), it makes them unhealthy.
Am I making wusses of our students or is it a legitimate concern?

External Invasive Forces

Man was apparently better able to handle EIF in the past. They did not have nearly the detrimental effects. The earth and its environment were closer to perfect then. It is also a reason why we probably need adjustments more often than did our ancestors.

An Observation in Understanding Our Philosophy

The greatest obstacle to learning is prior knowledge.

Mixing v. Straight Practice

We can do something good or well but is that important if we can do something great? Babe Ruth was a good pitcher.

Our Chiropractic Treasure

Until something has been evaluated by an expert, we cannot know its real value. What seems to be junk may be an antique conversely we often overvalue objects. We can spend our lives looking for something of value which is not there and ignoring that which is of value. An example is the South African who drilled constantly for oil on his land. After he died penniless his heirs found one of the richest S. African diamond mines among his diggings.

Practice Member Education.

You know you are educating your practice members when they start asking you how they feel rather than telling you how they feel.

An Observation

Most volume practices get larger and larger after the chiropractor retires from active practice!

Wish I'd Said That

"The principles of philosophy cannot be put in words like other studies. Acquaintance with them must come after a long period of instruction and close companionship, then suddenly like a blaze kindled by a leaping spark, knowledge is generated in the soul and sustains itself there."

Plato

Spinal Rehabilitation

Spinal Rehabilitation is not straight chiropractic. If chiropractic is exercise to strengthen the spine, then it is also nutrition to nourish the spinal muscles. It is also stress management, positive attitude principles, ergonomics, rest and just about everything else. For everything affects everything.

An Historical Perspective in Straight Chiropractic

BJ Palmer always addressed the cause of DIS-EASE. However, he only did it for sick people. Consequently, chiropractic became associated with disease. This is not hard to see. Virtually all chiropractors agree that chiropractic is beneficial to people with more than bad backs and stiff necks, yet the world largely associates chiropractic with that. The straight movement seeing this problem decided to disassociate chiropractic totally from disease recognizing that the presense or absense of disase did not matter anyhow.

Innate or Instinct?

Innate adaptative action is individual. In response to heat some bodies may perspire more than others. However an instinct is something that every animal of the species will do in response to an outside stimulus. That is a function of the genetic makeup-the matter not the intelligence. All snakes will seek shade on a sunny day (instinct). Some will innately crawl into a hole, others under a rock. Still others under the shadow of a cactus.