A Perturbed System with Dr. Susannah Crockford

From Jeanne: I really enjoyed this podcast because it made me consider something I had never thought about before!! I found Crockford fascinating, particularly the breadth of her research and work as an anthropologist.

I particularly enjoyed discovering a new concept: the Overton window; it describes the range of ideas that society considers acceptable or reasonable to discuss at a particular point in time. Ideas inside the window are seen as mainstream or politically acceptable; those outside it are considered too radical, extreme or taboo.

This next point is more of a "ah ha" moment for me and forgive me if I don't explain it very well, I will try... Towards the end of the podcast, Crockford discusses a way of thinking that equates “natural” with healthy and “artificial” with harmful. Within this worldview, good health comes from living and eating as naturally as possible, while medicines, vaccines and other pharmaceutical products are treated with suspicion precisely because they are manufactured. As I was listening, I thought to myself, "oh my gosh, I think like that - I also assume that “natural” means better, healthier or more positive than anything man-made or manufactured", but Crockford explains the limits of this way of thinking... I had never noticed or questioned that assumption before. Even though I’m not religious, it made me wonder whether I might hold some form of spiritual belief after all (my god would be Mother Nature), or at least be more spiritually inclined than I realised! It's hard to explain this feeling/ train of thought but listen to the podcast and (hopefully) you will see what I mean! Regardless of what you get out of it, Crockford is entertaining and I'm sure lots of you will enjoy this epi! Would love to hear your "ah ha" moment!

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-classical-ideas-podcast/id1268915829?i=1000773911791