4 Comments
User's avatar
Tim Groves's avatar

I agree with Philip. It's an excellent article. It has helped me see the issue of diet in something of a new light.

In our modern world, Science (the institution) has usurped a lot of the authority that was formerly vested in Religion (the institution). The laity, originally a term distinguishing the common people or laymen from the clergy, is now more often used to distinguish them from the scientists, academics, researchers and other experts. And the common people are encouraged to look up to these experts, trust them, defer to them, and never to contradict them.

Having said that, if we are to exercise personal sovereignty over our diet and if we want to eat healthily rather than unhealthily, we need to trust at least some of the nutrition experts some of the time. Obviously, we can't do all the research ourselves, although we have to do some, and in point of fact, each of us is an ongoing experiment in what our food and other lifestyle choices are doing to us.

Expand full comment
Ricky Du Plessis's avatar

Thank you and I agree, we each need to seize agency and be willing to investigate & experiment to find what works for us, but it still includes a degree of "faith" and knowing this, hopefully people are empowered to better understand which "science" holds its water best between the observational and the experimental disciplines (my faith is in the experimental side) 👍

Expand full comment
Dr Philip Harrison's avatar

An excellent article with compelling arguments.

Expand full comment
Ricky Du Plessis's avatar

Thank you - that's appreciated.

Expand full comment