Post- truth

Post truth

The world of the year according to oxford dictionary is post- truth. A sound wonderful isn’t it- post truth. Well if you are too tired to Google post- truth- it means telling a lie repeatedly even when facts are shown and appeal to people’s emotion. Basically demonetization  TV debate in India.  Even though the concept was popularized by people in the right- Brexit, trump campaign, all Indian election- it is right in our ally in PT science and medical science.

Evidence, data and experiments are the hall mark of science and thereby proving something. Medicine and in particular physiotherapy is always afraid of the big bad wolf- the science. There may be socio-political reasons for it but we are slowly changing (I hope).

But the biggest impedance for that change seems to what I call as the post-evidence arguments and our inability to confront it. Let me explain what I mean by post-evidence. Whenever you hear people say things like- well evidence is not there but what do you feel, how does your patient feel after sticking the tape or after moving the sacral joint?
 You answer  "But sir, all the experimental data shows these don’t work"…..
Well do and then tell me… 
You then you add "how can a tape which is in parallel to the skin lift it- it is not physical possible" or "sir that is not a immovable joint"… 
well do it then you will see we have great results in our clinic". That is what I mean by post-evidence.  
You can show them umpteen numbers systematic reviews, trials and physiological reasons- they quickly turn around the argument saying well my patient feels better- certainly my business is booming. These are the latest- is an wonderful argument which touches the emotional nerve of any just- out- of- college PT or well anyone- well who needs evidence when you have the –latest. The sub-argument for that is- well you have not practiced it, learnt it so you don’t know what you are talking about- attach the person who questions the validity of the science. Confusing casual relation with correlation – trigger point argument- well why there is pain- because of trigger point- why is there a trigger point because there is pain. It makes your head spin so much you don’t know whether you or the person who is making the argument is less educated.

Well if you can’t spot it- post- evidence or post-truth arguments then they are here to stay with us. It is difficult to become a proper science. I believe this year the post-evidence argument has attained the peek. From the SI people to the – who want to put children in the dark because they are hyper active to sticker people they have learnt to talk the post truth. They have made inroads into our business practice- I just hope they don’t derail the academics also, well come to think of it they are already have. Case in point the horrible conference of pseudo-science in the name of PT they just had in a college, with full attendance from the world of nonsense experts.
#Post_evidence 

Love 
Hariohm