Empiricism and the Problem with Research

44 thoughts on “Empiricism and the Problem with Research”

  1. What do you mean Joe? Are you saying the world is not flat, the sun does not revolve around us and subluxation is not the cause of disease?

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          • I take it that you were walking inside a gym????
            In my part of Pennsylvania, on Jan.22, I added 2 sweatshirts & a down jacket for my walk.

          • Straight DC, Oh, did I forget to mention that?….It’s like the guy who says “the power that made the body, heals the body. But forgets to say “…sometimes and within limitations of matter.”

      • When I read the “power that made the body heals the body” and then extended to include “sometimes and within the limitations of the body”, I don’t understand this fully. I do understand Joe’s point about the need for the extension. That is thanks to his great books! Thanks Joe.

        I thought the limitations of matter was the only reason that “the power” would not “heal the body”.
        “The power that made the body heals the body within the limitations of matter always”. I guess this thinking isn’t entirely correct.

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        • Don,

          Joseph did say ALWAYS, Joseph posted “… SOMETIMES and within limitations of matter.” Don, please remember that the chiropractic objective is NOT about healing the body (which, by the way, is the main reason WHY of many chiropractors WHO choose to MIX) … the chiropractic objective is about a full expression of the innate FORCES of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body through LACVS. PERIOD! –

          – Chiropractic is NOT about healing… NEVER was… NEVER will be!
          It’s true that our history evolved from an early observation with a MISTAKEN interpretation of healing. It all started with Harvey’s restored hearing. Nothing wrong with that of course. As an example for you 😉
          the sun was thought to be revolving around the earth which was though to be flat. With today’s NEW information, we conclude the earth is round and rotates about the sun with several other planets… and we call it the solar system. With today’s deductive reasoning based on the science of the 33 principles of chiropractic, we conclude that chiropractic is NOT about healing at all, chiropractic is about LACVS for a full expression of the innate FORCES of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body… and we call it the chiropractic objective. PERIOD!

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          • Claude,
            How, in your opinion, is the value of a full expression of the Innate forces of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body demonstrated? What would you say is the tangible benifit of chiropractic care?

        • Don, that’s a good question, beside limitations of matter we have what I think may be a greater limitation, principle #6…limitations of time. It may often be difficult/impossible to differentiate those two limitations. I probably should have said… “and within limitations of time and matter”. That’s what I get for trying to interject humor into my philosophy. I was purposefully being deceptive about the weather (In a humorous way) when I commented to Steve (and straight DC caught me). I’m not sure that the chiropractor who says “the power that made the body…” and leaves out “within limitations of time and matter” is not trying to be deceptive or perhaps he thinks that part is a given. I’m not sure we can take for granted that the public understands that principle (#6 and24) and will not think we are implying/guaranteeing that the “power” and hence chiropractic (because we remove an interference to that “power”) will get them well. It just demonstrates how important it is that we clearly and completely explain chiropractic to people. Actually the term “power” is itself confusing and I have not used that phrase for many years unless I am willing to fully explain it.

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          • Joe,
            Thanks for clearing that up. The “power” that made the body, heals the body …within the limitations of matter and limitations of time. IOWs it does it SOME of the time…never always. 🙂
            Once I can get over the “power” part, then I can be ready to accept that one. 😉

    • Steve, I know you were being humorous but all three of those concepts came about and were believed for many years because of mistaken empirical observations. The sun appears to move through the sky. The horizon looks like the earth just drops off and chiropractic seems to get sick people well from all kinds of disease.

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  2. Steve,

    You asked me: “How, in your opinion, is the value of a full expression of the Innate forces of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body demonstrated? What would you say is the tangible benifit of chiropractic care?” –

    – What have you read in previous posts from so many bloggers? Did you not read that a vertebral subluxation is detrimental to the living vertebrate body in and of itself. Is being free from vertebral subluxations not a VALUABLE value? Is being free from vertebral subluxations not a tangible benefit? The answer is OBVIOUS is it not?

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  3. … that’s WHY there’s a PERIOD at the end of the chiropractic objective. To attempt to go beyond the chiropractic objective is looking for results… and as you know results are NOT a criteria to define a profession. We define the practice of chiropractic by its objective. We define the practice of medicine by its objective. We define the practice of theology by its objective. We define the practice of law by its objective. –

    – Of course, it’s the philosophy of a profession that monitors the application of its science within the practice of its art. 😉

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    • Now, some of you may think that my last post is philosophic (and it is), and perhaps you may be asking HOW do we translate what I said when I wrote “it’s the philosophy of a profession that monitors the application of its science within the practice of its art.”? –

      – I will say that chiropractic philosophy points to the application of principles #23, #27and #32 within the limits of adaptation (24)… in order to address HOW is the value of a full expression of the Innate forces of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body demonstrated and WHAT is the tangible benefit of chiropractic care. The function of the innate intelligence of the body is to adapt universal forces and energy/matter for use in the living body, so that ALL parts of the living body will have coordinated action for mutual benefit (23) as they fulfill their offices and purposes (32) which is ALWAYS NORMAL (27) within the limits of adaptation (24). –

      – Therefore, together without condemnation, can we conclude that in the absence of VS, within the living vertebrate body, that the innate intelligence of the body can and will fulfill its mission, in a NORMAL way, within the limits of adaptation? –

      PS: I would appreciate as many of you WHO may choose to post an answer. Thank you.

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      • Dr. Lessard,
        You asked for others to post an answer. Could you restate the question/s?

        I am very interested the “tangible” or the translated version of what you said into the everyday implementation.

        I am also interested in inquiring if everyone sees chiropractic as distinctly NOT to do with healing.
        I have the thinking that chiropractic isn’t exclusively for health and healing, however, it is an “influencing factor” (bad choice of word?) in healing and the restorative cycles and restoration.
        Thanks. Lots to think about.
        Thanks,

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        • Don,

          Therefore, together without condemnation, can we conclude that in the absence of VS, within the living vertebrate body, that the innate intelligence of the body can and will fulfill its mission, in a NORMAL way, within the limits of adaptation?

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          • Dr. Lessard,
            Being that the innate intelligence of the body is always adapting universal forces and matter for use in the body, so that all parts of the body will have co-ordinated action for mutual benefit, yes.

            Innate Intelligence adapts forces and matter for the body as long as it can do so without breaking a universal law, or Innate Intelligence is limited by the limitations of matter.

            I would add that it needs to be done within the confines/limitations of:
            Time
            Matter
            and universal laws

            Question: Can someone give me a few instances/examples of the universal laws limiting adaptation being mentioned in Princ. 24 beyond? This wording here as I read it seems like it is alluding to something other than the limitations of time?
            Thanks,

  4. “so that ALL parts of the living body will have coordinated action for mutual benefit”….I would contend that this is the tangible value of chiropractic.
    When you say “it’s the philosophy of a profession that monitors the application of its science within the practice of its art.”, this is a profoundly correct statement. The chiropractic triune, of Art, Science and Philosophy, is purposely related. Each division aligned by it’s character gives a concise representation of what we do. What however is not why.
    We do not practice the Art to prove or perpetuate the Philosophy. We do not practice chiropractic for the sake of chiropractic. Our goal is to increase the survival value in the human body. Regular chiropractic care encourages constant reorginization, which allows the highest rate of adaptabilty to an ever changing environment, within the limits of the matter. To better serve mankind, we investigate the Philosophy. We investigate the Philosophy to better monitor the Science. We monitor Science to better perform our Art. We want to better our Art to achieve our objective and thereby provide a service to man, woman, child and animal. Our desire is to help people better express Intelligence and be more alive. Our worth lies in our ability to improve living.

    SNSC

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    • Steve,

      You stated “so that ALL parts of the living body will have coordinated action for mutual benefit”….I would contend that this is the tangible value of chiropractic.” –

      – Would you say that, “so that ALL parts of the living body will have coordinated action for mutual benefit”, is WHAT is NORMAL and that’s WHY we perform the art of LACVS applying the science of the 33 principles of chiropractic in accordance with chiropractic philosophy?

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  5. (Merriam-Webster says
    ,nor·mal : usual or ordinary : mentally and physically healthy)
    Normal is a funny word. The first definition would be inappropriate as most people are subluxated, so being subluxated becomes the usual and ordinary. The second definition comes closer, yet leaves something to be desired for a full interpretation of “so that ALL parts of the living body will have coordinated action for mutual benefit”. Normal would also infer a known value. I can not qualify what is normal for an individual on my table.
    To function more as designed would be a good reason why we LACVS. “As designed” recognizes the expression of intelligence in matter, incorporating metaphysical and physical.

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    • Steve,

      That definition of NORMAL is Not according to the science of the 33 principles. It is rather crystal clear that NORMAL is very well defined in chiropractic (remember that we have our own lexicon). Chiropractic’s definition of NORMAL is principle #1 and proceeds onto principle #27 to clarify that innate intelligence is ALWAYS NORMAL and its function is ALWAYS NORMAL. Now, WHEN the living vertebrate body is FREE from VS, that living vertebrate body expresses the innate FORCES, which are ALWAYS NORMAL of the innate intelligence of that particular living vertebrate body which is ALWAYS NORMAL. NORMAL is NORMAL is it not? In a way, Steve, you are correct… since we can ONLY articulate WHAT is ABNORMAL in terms of function. We can ONLY articulate the INTERFERENCE of what is normal. WE cannot articulate the TRUTH. We can ONLY see our falsehood and MOVE toward the TRUTH which is NORMAL. Vertebral subluxation INTERFERES with the FLOW of mental impulses.

      – Therefore, together without condemnation, can we conclude that in the absence of VS, within the living vertebrate body, that the innate intelligence of the body can and will fulfill its mission, in a NORMAL way, within the limits of adaptation? If we can… then, we also can through rational logic and deductive reasoning, conclude that WHAT is NORMAL for EVERY living vertebrate bodies in the world IS to fully express the innate FORCES of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body. That is the ONLY reason WHY we practice the chiropractic objective which is to: LACVS for a full expression of the innate FORCES of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body. PERIOD! –

      – This rational and logical conclusion is TRUE and based on deductive reasoning, which is in turn, based on the science of the 33 principles of chiropractic. I maintain with ABSOLUTE conviction that ALL the answers to our questions are found within the 33 principles. Any answers to our inquiries and questions that are NOT coming from the 33 principles, are OUTSIDE-IN and cannot be trusted to communicate the story over and over and over and over and over again to the world. The reason is that eventually the OUTSIDE-IN answers will lead to false conclusions even though the reasoning is rational and logical. –

      – Chiropractic is DISTINCT and SEPARATE from EVERYTHING ELSE and is INCLUSIVE of EVERYONE… that is raison d’être of chiropractic philosophy in applying the science of the 33 chiropractic principles in order to practice our art which is the chiropractic objective.

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      • You say “that WHAT is NORMAL for EVERY living vertebrate bodies in the world IS to fully express the innate FORCES of the innate intelligence of the living vertebrate body.”. So am I to conclude our goal is to “normalize” people?
        “Chiropractic is DISTINCT and SEPARATE from EVERYTHING ELSE and is INCLUSIVE of EVERYONE”…again the what not the why.
        Mathematics is DISTINCT and SEPARATE from EVERYTHING ELSE and is INCLUSIVE of EVERYONE. Although correct this statement does not say WHY someone would choose to be a mathematician.

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        • Steve,

          You asked: “So am I to conclude our goal is to “normalize” people?” Our goal is to practice the chiropractic objective. PERIOD!

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          • … to “normalize” people is ALWAYS the goal of the innate intelligence of the body due to the “known value” of normal that is “known” ONLY to innate intelligence. Our goal is to address the interference with the transmission of innate instructive information to the energy/matter of the people by practicing the chiropractic objective. –

          • Claude, you correctly write, “Our goal is to practice the chiropractic objective. PERIOD!” I would add; it’s the job of the innate intelligence of the PM’s body to “normalize” the person. I think we can be thankful that we got the easy job!

  6. Joe, Claude, might I add one more thing? We practice the chiropractic objective so innate intelligence will normalize the individual, within the limits of time and matter.

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        • OK, this is where it gets slippery. If our end product is a “normalized” body, why is that not our goal? IOW, all goals have action steps, why is the chiropractic objective not actually an action step toward the resultant goal?

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          • Steve,

            For the same reason that the major premise is our start point and we do not go beyond it. The chiropractic objective is our end point as it allows a full expression of the innate FORCES of the innate intelligence of the body when we LACVS. PERIOD! For us to go beyond the chiropractic objective would imply a need to justify innate intelligence. Educated intelligence would then assume a position of knowing… which would not be true since we do not know the “known value” of normal… as you mentioned previously. Yes, it is a slippery slope that we do not need at all since the limitation of energy/matter and of time may prevent “normalization”. That’s WHY we say: SOMETIMES. –

            – WHAT more could a chiropractor wants, than a full expression of the innate forces of the innate intelligence of the body as an end point? If we would go beyond the chiropractic objective we would leave the domain of chiropractic philosophy which addresses CAUSE and and we would move into EFFECTS (read results). –

            That’s WHY there is a PERIOD after the chiropractic objective! At that level, the chiropractor’s mission is accomplished and moves onto the next practice member. There’s a lot of work to do. Let us carry on. ADIO!

  7. … in other words, our end point is NOT a “normalized body”… our end point is the chiropractic objective. “Get the BIG IDEA and the rest will follow!”

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  8. Don,

    You asked: “Can someone give me a few instances/examples of the universal laws limiting adaptation being mentioned in Princ. 24 beyond?” –

    – Here we go with examples for Don 😉 How about “sky diving” when there is a “wardrobe” malfunction and the parachute does not deploy? The universal law of gravity on planet earth will EVENTUALLY and most certainly get the best of the skydiver regardless of how much energy/matter or time (depending on altitude) is available. Don’t you think? How about the 400 cows in Nebraska that died to “extreme” exposure to the cold and a blizzard a few years back or the horses that die in the Sahara Desert during an “unforeseen” sand storm. The law of thermodynamics get the best sometimes and innate intelligence works within those laws and never breaks them. –

    – Now, Don, being across the border, give us a pertinent example that would be CANADIAN… will you… please? 😉

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  9. Dr. Lessard,
    Thank you for the examples.

    Given the current polar vortex phenomenon, this examples may bridge some borders depending on what state you live in.

    Here is your Canadian example:
    An unseasoned winter driver from a tropical country arrives in Canada. He has an international license and figures he can handle the icy roads. Little to his knowledge seatbelt a are mandatory in this country.
    No sooner than he realizes this, his car begins careening off the highway to a very stationary lamp post. He experiences the second law of motion first hand as he is hurdled out of the car onto the snow bank. He curses and vows to never underestimate the icy canadian winters again.
    The law got the better of him.

    I can see now how innate intelligence must adapts the forces of gravity, inertia, thermodynamics and others to maintain the body in active organization now.
    Can we get a list going of the single terms used to label these common universal forces? That may be just what I am looking for. Thanks.

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  10. Didn’t BJ say there were 310 known mechanical principles and all of them were demonstrated in the human body? I understand those such as, pulleys and levers (muscles and bones), hydraulics (circulation), conduction (nerves), what could the other 307 be?
    If these principles exist outside the body as well as inside wouldn’t they be considered universal laws?

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  11. Steve,
    That was the reason for my confusion as well. In my example, I spoke of the law of Inertia.
    As an experiment, I tried to substitute the law I had in mind into the writing of Principle 24 to see if it made sense. I guess this is my litmus test. 😉
    Let me know what you think.

    Princ. 24 – Innate Intelligence adapts forces and matter for the body as long as it can do so without breaking [the law of inertia].

    Princ. 24 – Innate Intelligence adapts forces and matter for the body as long as it can do so without breaking [the law of gravity].

    Princ. 24 – Innate Intelligence adapts forces and matter for the body as long as it can do so without breaking [the law of thermodynamics].

    Princ. 24 – Innate Intelligence adapts forces and matter for the body as long as it can do so without breaking [the mechanics of a pulley/levers of the muscles and bones].

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    • … without breaking the law of cellular replacement, without breaking the law of cellular longevity, without breaking the law of velocity, without breaking the law of transmission, without breaking the law of relativity, without breaking the law of cosmic motion, without breaking the law of solar energy, without breaking the law of vaporization, without breaking the law of ebullition, without breaking the law of refrigeration,without breaking the law of angular synergy, without breaking the law of mathematic, law of motions, law of physics, law of attraction of bodies, law of exponents, without breaking the law of aerodynamic, without breaking the law of drag, without breaking the law of lift, without breaking the law of combustion, without breaking the law of degeneration, without breaking the law of regeneration, without breaking the law of creation, without breaking the law of caloric transfer, without breaking the law of atomic energy, without breaking the law of molecular energy, without breaking the law of compensation, without breaking the law of cause and effect, without breaking the law of motion, without breaking the law of vibration, without breaking the law of polarity, without breaking the law of rhythm, without breaking the law of chemical transport, without breaking the law of photonics, without breaking the law of quantum mechanics, without breaking the law of radiation, without breaking the law of geophysics, without breaking the law of biology, without breaking the law of fluid mechanics, without breaking the law of gravitomagnetism, without breaking the law of planetary motion, without breaking the law of partial pressure, without breaking the law of ampere circuitry, without breaking the law of electrodynamics, without breaking the law of thermochemistry… and on and on and on and on of ALL the known and unknown laws and principles whether they are mentioned in the Green Books CDs or not. 😉

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      • Sir Claude,
        Since P. 11. The Character of Universal Forces.
        The forces of Universal Intelligence are manifested by (all the) physical laws….
        Is there any Law besides the Law of Oganization that Innate Intelligence contributes?

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        • Steve,

          That is a real good question. The function of innate intelligence is ONLY to adapt universal forces and matter for use in the LIVING body, so that ALL part of the LIVING body will have co-ordinated action for mutual benefit (23). Since innate intelligence is ALWAYS normal and its function is ALWAYS normal (27). According to the science of the 33 principles of chiropractic, the only law that the innate intelligence of the LIVING body contributes to…. is the law of ACTIVE organization which in essence is its definition… in order to maintain the material of the body… LIVING (which is its mission as per principle #21).

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