1085: Traditional Chinese Medicine | Skeptical Sunday
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What is the main topic of this episode?
Today, traditional Chinese medicine might have started in China, but these days it seems to be everywhere. Acupuncture is practiced worldwide, the ancient practice of cupping is growing in popularity, and herbal medicine is in pretty much every pharmacy. Everybody knows somebody who swears by one or maybe even all of these practices. But is traditional Chinese medicine effective medicine passed on for millennia or ancient superstition here in the modern world? Today, skeptic and comedian Michael Regilio is here to express the Tao, or is it Tao? I would say Tao, of how traditional Chinese medicine works or doesn't work. How's it going, Michael? Hey, Jordan. How are you feeling today?
I'm feeling peachy, man. Peachy. Interesting. Did you eat peaches to become peachy? Because in traditional Chinese medicine, maybe. I don't know.
I didn't come across that. I thought you were just making a really terrible dad joke. But I know that when you eat certain things like cold or hot foods, something, something, your energy... You know what I was really getting at is, are you feeling balanced? Well, I'm not falling out of my chair. So I'm physically balanced. I have a balanced diet, a balance between work and leisure. So I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. What do you mean? Am I feeling balanced? I simply meant your yin and your yang. Of course. How could I forget? No, I'm not so sure about that. I don't really know. I don't know what my yang is up to today.
Is traditional Chinese medicine effective or superstition?
Well, that's interesting because that is the crux of traditional Chinese medicine. A traditional Chinese healer is trying to restore balance between these two complementary forces that flow through not just your body, but throughout the entire universe. According to traditional Chinese medicine, a person is healthy when harmony exists between these two forces. And sickness occurs when there's more yin than yang or more yang than yin.
Okay, seems like the obvious next question is, what the heck are yin and yang?
We've all seen the graphic representation on posters in teenagers' rooms and on the walls of suburban dojos. For lack of a better example, it looks like a white sperm and a black sperm positioned head to tail in a circle.
Sixty-nining? Oh, God. Okay. You couldn't have thought for, like, one second longer and come up with a less crass description? Tadpole would have worked. You could have added the word whale. A sperm whale looks close enough, like a beluga thing. All right, that's totally different, but whatever. And you could have left out the other bit.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic of this episode?
1:26–2:46
2
Is traditional Chinese medicine effective or superstition?
2:46–11:37
3
How did Mao revive traditional Chinese medicine?
11:37–14:55
4
What role did Richard Nixon play in popularizing TCM in the US?
14:55–29:14
5
How reliable are studies on acupuncture?
29:14
6
What is qi and how does it relate to acupuncture?
23:37–36:31
7
Is the effectiveness of acupuncture real or just the placebo effect?
36:31
8
What are the criticisms of acupuncture studies?
31:06–49:54
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Jordan Harbinger Show
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