Thought-tober: The Archaeology of Human Health

Figuring out humans and health is like uncovering a new dinosaur fossil. We are literally figuring things out day by day, putting together the puzzle pieces. Sometimes it makes sense sometimes it does not. As we figuratively uncover and dust off debris to reveal more of the whole picture the more we realize the assumptions and the speculation we had made before work incorrect. It made sense at the time but in light of new information they do not.
Upon first uncovering a dinosaur leg bone it might be the exact same as something we’ve seen before so, as logic would direct, the more evidence you uncover that supports it, you now expect to unveil a land dwelling herbivore. You keep digging, brushing and inspecting until you see something unexpected and it changes your outlook a bit. Maybe there’s more than originally thought. You start to change your approach as you realize this may not be what you thought it all. It seems like a carnivore.
This changes everything. More digging. Now amphibian like clues are showing. More brushing. Out of nowhere you see evidence of flight. This changes everything again. You expand your dig area. Now this creature is appearing to be twice the size you used to think it was.
Every day brings new discoveries and theories change as this puzzle keeps evolving. You start looking at the bones closer and you find evidence of an omnivore. The process continues on and on and on, as it should. We learn more and adapt and change our minds as we uncover more and are fascinated along the way. No one gets upset**, it just is what it is, the process of discovery.

**Exception: the people who wrote The Dinosaur That Explains Everything, a the factual depiction of how a newly unearthed small land based herbivore shows how extinction really happened.

This is the journey of the great human health dig. Every day brings new uncovering and changing theories. The more we cling to old theories, assumptions and what we think we know what we will find the more we limit what we can find and know. Keeping our minds open to the excitement of new discovery, even if it changes everything we thought we knew, is only leading us in the right direction.

Thanks for thinking, have a great day!