Category Archives: Modern Living

Holistic Medicine, Metaphysics, Modern Living

Epistemology Unpacked -The Covid-19 pandemic

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I guess philosophy is important after all lol.My two favourite terms these days are Epistemology and Empiricism and its sister Philosophical Materialism.So my apologies to Wittgenstein and John Stuart Mills after all lol.

So( not supposed to use that word according to current anal grammarians lol.Another form of political correctness-this time in the  world of grammar.).And yet(probably also banned as a term lol) it is SO useful lol.Maybe that’s why they want to ban it! (the conspiratorial epistemology-to be unveiled shortly).So,I repeat,the current pandemic gives us a chance to examine different forms of Epistemology.Epistemology basically means “how do you get to the Truth,The Realty of any situation or question?”(same word btw in Arabic-Truth and Reality=Haqq!)

So let us examine four forms of Epistemology as applied to the Covid pandemic and  try to see their relative value.I will personalize these approaches in order to make the point more vividly and graspable(sorry again grammarians-probably not a legitimate word!).

  1. The Didier Raoult paradigm-information on the ground.For those that don’t know this fascinating character from Marseilles,he is one of the first doctors to promote hydroxychloriquine as a Covid treatment-mostly based on his clinical experience at a hospital in Marseilles.He even took the trouble to document his cases and show that at his clinic ,they had reduced the death rate by about 70% by this approach.Further studies done in the right way,using HCT early in the illness with azithromycin and Zinc came to similar conclusions-anywhere from a 60-80% reduction! All of this based on exanining the facts on the ground.This principle is applicable to many other situations .Ask the people who are there experiencing it.But no! The current Epistemological paradigm forbids this It is dismissed either as subjective or anecdotal or some other disparaging term.         I was pleased to hear from my brother in NYC whose future son-in-law was himself working on the ground in a Brooklyn hospital where the doctors noticed that HCT was useful early in the illness and they were not even using it with antibiotics and zinc! But no,the CDC and WHO will hear nothing of this .They need their prospective, double-blind ,placebo-controlled peer-reviewed i.e. non-existent studies lol to arrive at conclusions.)
  2. The Chris Martenson(peakprosperity.com) paradigm.Unlike the former paradigm  Chris is working from outside the battlefield.But he uses the on the ground workers as one source amongst others.Then he interviews people who have experienced the illness,looks at the research including the less high-profile journals and the non-statistical scientific reports.He scours the newspapers,TV Cable News and radio reports.From this vast array of sources he is able to discern the chaff from the wheat,pick out the B.S. even in hot-shot journals like Lancet and JAMA and then come to conclusions.He is almost invariably right and when he isn’t he admits it.   Oddly enough I have seen judges in the courts using a very similar process of teasing out the reality from an abundance of sources.And they consistently understand the Reality better than the expert doctors who are supposed to be experts in the area. That is because the doctors are using the next paradigm-the Fauci approach lol
  3.  The Fauci and his acolyte Sanjay Gupta approach- also known as current scientific consensus.These people only believe in peer-reviewed,placebo-controlled,double blind prospective studies and Cochrane database metastudies and official organizations like WHO and FDA and CDC..They are very often wrong as has been Fauci all along in this pandemic.He got the mask issue wrong(not enough studies?!)the hydroxychloroquine issue wrong(looking at the wrong studies and ignoring the right ones) and the man-made nature of the virus(how he could get that one wrong is beyond me as HE was instrumental in creating it!). The problem is that most medical personnel and certainly the formal afore-mentioned institutions(WHO,FDA,CDC,NIH) are all using that paradigm! No wonder we are in such confusion and such trouble.
  4. I can’t complete this abbreviated list of Epistemological approaches without mentioning the Brian Rose,Sayer Ji Plandemic conspiratorial epistemology.These people see the lies and the deceptions of the official stories of government and health institutions but go way beyond the facts into paranoid projections.So the fact that there was a 201 Event meeting of government and public health officials and businessmen Organized by John’s Hopkins University  in October 2019 that simulated a pandemic to try to develop strategies to deal with such an event means for them that the pandemic was planned.Wrong! The fact that the Wuhan lab was under the control of the Chinese military means that this virus was a bio-weapon of war.Wrong again. The fact that Bill Gates screwed up with vaccines in India and Africa means that he is trying to depopulate the world so that he can better control it.Anyone with familiarity with the paranoid mind-set(I was a psychiatrist for 45 years lol) can recognize the cognitive errors in these kinds of distortions and projections.On top of it,they may be dangerous as they stir up unnecessary fear and anger in a situation where there is enough realistic fear and anger to go around already!
  5. Btw, each of these types of Epistemology can be used in many other areas of life as well.As I have indicated in other articles on this blogsite-which you are free to explore.In fact,I consider myself to be an Epistemologist of Spiritual Reality and Truth.Keep reading and keep in touch if this interests you in any way .Salaams,Joel Ibrahim Kreps
Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics

Bureaucracy,Empiricism and the American Election

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Republican Convention: Some mediocre speeches,some reality.As opposed to the Democratic Convention.Better,more intelligent speeches.Less reality! Fascinating this play between theory and reality.Most people believe in theory! Yes,theory.Because that’s what we’re taught to believe in at our schools.You know- like double-blind ,randomized placebo-controlled studies.That is bureaucratic theory and it has cost thousands of lives! One thing I must say in Trump’s defense.He is THE ONLY politician who sees through bureaucracy-sporadically for sure,but nevertheless from time to time.Everyone else just accepts it.I consider bureaucracy and its natural allies-Empiricism and so-called Rationality THE biggest problem of our times-far beyond even corruption because bureaucracy and Empiricism corrupt our vision and make it impossible to see Reality and act accordingly.This phenomenon is in full view in the current Covid-19 crisis! God help us!
Modern Living, Politics, Psychology

Democratic Politics

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(Watching bits of the Democratic Convention) Politics,Oy! America has deep problems on almost every level of social existence.There are serious epidemics all over America- of cancer and Alzheimers and autism and auto-immune disorders! And all the politicians are talking only about is Covid-19.There are serious problems of stress at the workplace and all its detrimental health effects downstream.And all the politicians can talk about are trade deals and increasing efficiency! There are serious problems in relationships.60% of marriages end in divorce(John Gottman) and many people no longer even bother to get married.And all the politicians can talk about is uniting the people! Those people are not even united with the people closest to them in their lives!And there are very serious problems with horribly inefficient bureaucracies in many areas of society including the legal system and the income tax system.And all the politicians can talk about is better training for police and reducing incarceration(two good ideas that barely touch the surface of the problem!) Bottom Line.These politicians are seriously out of touch with Reality.It’s a subtle form of psychosis-IMHO.The covid-19 pandemic is only the first sign of the dysfunctionality.Much,much more to come if these problems are not handled.And the politicians don’t seem to have a clue!

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics

Vaccine Development! The Corona Crisis

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Kudos to the Russians for the rapid vaccine development i.e. circumventing the obsessional regulatory vaccine process.I did not use vaccines in my medical practice but I can tell you that each time a new anti-depressant came out,I did not need 30,000 cases to tell me if it was safe and effective.By less than ten cases and CERTAINLY by 100,I was well aware of the cost/benefit therapeutically of the new meds! And btw (please turn off your contradiction detectors here.They are not useful lol!) with all this obsessive testing of the regulatory agencies many vaccines have shown harmful effects down the road anyway.What is really needed here is not greater numbers, as the Empiricists like to believe,but better observational skills among the scientists-something sorely lacking in modern medicine- lacking because of this very emphasis on measurability rather than “seeing”!)

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

Epistemology 101

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Beginning to formulate the contours of a diplomaed course in Epistemology lol.Epistemology 101 will be titled “The Myth of Rationality: The Superheroes of the Rationalist movement”.In this first and introductory course we will study the statements of Bill Gates(Remember perfect 800 SAT scores lol),Antony Fauci,who is still in denial about his role in creating the Covid crisis in the first place and ex-president Obama who had the chutzpah at the end of his presidential reign to say:”We did the right thing in Syria”! (At least Clinton had the humility to say he messed up in Rwanda).That should be a good start!Applicants will be screened to test if they are able, in the smallest way, to demonstrate associative and intuitive thinking rather than the “rationalist” sort.Needless to say we will be fighting against decades, if not centuries, of social conditioning so I expect lots of pushback lol

Holistic Medicine, Modern Living, Politics

The Pandemic in a Nutshell

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(This is from my FB post in early July.Remains just as relevant one month later!)

Joel Ibrahim Kreps
July 8 at 11:11 AM

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The pandemic in a nutshell-Ok. This is the scoop as I understand it.They were doing this research(“gain of function”) so that the virus penetrates more easily into human cells(specific affinity for ACE receptors).That allows them to have more research subjects who are infected so they can test vaccines on them.American scientists realized how dangerous this could be so it was banned in the U.S in 2014 by Obama after numerous scientists(?200) wrote a letter to the State Department. They(Antony Fauci?) transferred the research to China where they don’t care about human beings but are more interested in money and reputation, and the Americans kept financing it through the N.I.H to the tune of $200 million. In 2018 a group of American diplomats and scientists visited the Wuhan lab for an inspection.They wrote a report to the State Dept. saying how dangerous it was and that the security was too lax at the lab.The State department ignored the report! And the rest is history.The entire world had to suffer the consequences and they(The Chinese and the Americans) are not acknowledging their mistakes and their negligence and hiding the evidence.No conspiracy theories,no bio-weapons.Just simple recklessness and negligence combined with “Science” that has lost its moral compass!That’s it in a nutshell.
Modern Living, Psychology, Spiritual Practice, Sufism

Timely Living

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One of the most important skills in life is knowing when to act and when to wait and be patient.Most people I observe are either compulsively acting( and planning their future actions)-a state we could call agitation-or waiting too long to act by procrastinating.- to the point that their actions lose their potency! One of the few people I have met who was capable of timely action was Sheikh Nazim al-Qubrusi.He was more Zen than the Zen Buddhists lol. Mashallah that I had the honour of spending time with him.

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics

Medical Epistemology

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People seem to have trouble grasping what I mean by the “Obsessionalization” of medical and social processes.So let me give you an example to help you understand.Dr. Richard Bartlett ,a Texas physician, claims he is having great success in treating Covid cases with inhaled steroids specifically Budesonide.He explains that Covid is a respiratory inflammatory disease and these steroids are inhaled and anti-inflammatory.He also claims that Taiwan,Japan and Singapore are doing really well with the same approach.Makes perfect sense to me.I  I call that”scientifically plausible hypothesis” something I much prefer to “evidence-based” which is far too technical and Empirical for me.

So you would think this would elicit interest and enthusiasm in the medical field,no?! Not at all! Remember.these people can’t hear!

So here is the commentary from one medical analyst.I am including it because it is so typical of contemporary “scientific” thinking!

A few things to beware of in COVID “news”:

  • Evidence that is ANECDOTAL– testimonial – no numbers, data, study. (Always be concerned when this is the primary evidence that is given. It is one of the hallmarks of medical quackery.)
  • Lacking specific numbers or data to back up the claims.  The doctor we are discussing today won’t tell how many patients he’s treated, just that he’s been “doing it since March” and that “they’re all alive”. (So have I and mine are too…maybe I should go on TV!)
  • Bashing all of the major national and international health care authorities (CDC, WHO, NIH), suggesting they are missing something very basic. (“All the experts are wrong” is usually a suspect position)
  • Consider the Source – Credentials Matter.  Physicians should share their specialty, medical school training, etc. rather than mentioning TV appearances or political appointments.   When a physician speaks, he should have a specialty that would be tied to the topic as well.  For instance, this doctor mentions being a surgeon.  That carries a bit less weight than a pulmonologist or infectious disease specialist or even an emergency physician or family physician who are on the front lines.
  • Over-simplification of statistics can be suspect as well.  These claims of why ENTIRE COUNTRIES are seeing such low numbers, claiming it MUST be because of this treatment and not because of effective prevention because of masks, tracking, etc.  (Beware of oversimplification of something this complex)
  • Consider Motives.  This is most obvious when someone is trying to peddle a product – medication, therapy, book, etc.  But occasionally it might be for other reasons, like notoriety.  I see no clear red flags in this case, but this is often the most obvious warning sign that something is amiss.
  • Let’s take these one by one:
  • 1) Evidence that is anecdotal-the bugaboo of all medical science.That terrible enemy of all Empirical processes.But you know what?!”There is more reality in anecdotes than in all the scientific literature(Ibrahimic aphorism lol)How did you chose your last vacation spot(anecdotal evidence lol).How did you choose your last partner lol?Unless you went on a dating site lol Anecdotal evidence etc.,etc.What they are  saying is: “Don’t listen to anyone.Just read the peer-reviewed journals.”Then you will get lost for sure.Ok. Then be guided by an expert who studies them regularly.But the experts like Fauci don’t listen,don’t look elsewhere,don’t really think deeply.They just accumulate data.i.e Empiricism!Never ignore anecdotal evidence! It can be life-saving!
  • 2) Lacking specific numbers. They had very specific numbers in the Lancet study that had to be retracted-from 95,000 patients(probably the reason it got published!These people are omnibulated by numbers.Like some men with breast-size lol)
  • 3)Bashing all the major international health authorities.Duh… Well,they have been wrong on nearly everything about this virus so I don’t see that as a big problem!
  • 4)Consider the Source – Credentials Matter.   I see! So if he were a respiratory physician he would be credible?!But as a surgeon he is not. Then I guess we need to listen to Trump lol He’s the president,the top of the food chain. Personal Anecdote lol: I once went to be evaluated at The Shouldice Hernia Clinic outside of Toronto.They saved me from an unnecessary operation! All the doctors there are recycled physicians.The vast majority are not even surgeons .But they have the best results for any hernia clinic in the world.No.Credentials are NOT what is most important.Knowing how to get the job done is what counts.

5)Consider motives.  Aha,the last-ditch attempt to deny real knowledge.Impute a selfish motive! They do it in politics all the time.Why not in medicine?!Since the drug in question is very cheap,they can’t impute a greed element.It must be the search for notoriety.Maybe he’s looking to sell a book like John Bolton lol? This is obscene.

So there you go.If you want to mistrust,I would suggest you go to the top of the food chain-the so-called experts.There are a lot of good people like this Christian doctor looking for practical solutions rather than ideological and greedy ones.We need to listen more to them and less to experts!

Comparative Religion, Modern Living, Psychology, Spiritual Practice

The Covid Pandemic: An Occasion for Educational Initiaves

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All over the world, but especially in America,we are hearing the same lamentation:”We need to open our schools.But how can we do that safely?!” Trump says the schools need to open.But the public health officials, including his own, say it’s not possible.

The reality is that we cannot open the schools as usual! They are designed as “concentration” camps”(yes,that’s exaggeration lol)for children.That is ,they are intended to house(baby-sit is the operative term)as many children as possible,as economically as possible for as long as possible-to allow their parents to work.That is not consistent with social distancing and spacing.Similarly,restaurants and bars cannot be profitable without crowding and intimacy.

We shouldn’t forget, as well,that schools,while they have a captive audience,use the time to ideologically program the children (brainwashing is probably a more apt term even though it would be more controversial).By the end of the program, the children leave with the official seal of Empiricism,Rationalism ,secularism and Humanism(the right-wingers are right on that one) called a graduation certificate.That way we produce the perfect workers and clients for our “democratic,industrial complex”!

The problem is that many parents are not really in agreement with this programming.They have other values-perhaps more religious,more conservative ,more creative.But by the time they realize their kids have been cloned,it is too late! Now they are stuck with ideological opponents-often for life!

Now,  some people think that the answer is religious schools.But the latter are only marginally different.Yes,they add an extra layer of morality and some teachings about obedience.But they don’t teach “seeing” and “hearing” and “feeling”. So the children don’t really understand the purpose of those rules and the purpose of obedience to them.Many of them end up rejecting the religious paradigm,others follow blindly or half-heartedly. Some even become fanatics.But very rare is the youngster who comes out a self-actualized,spiritually subtle or enlightened(“tanwir” as Ibn Ataillah calls it) being.At best they are religious clones.

So what are we proposing,then? This is the way it would operate,as I currently conceive of it.(For more ideas about the kind of teaching that would go on ,look at the two articles previously published on this blog called “Call to Action”. )The overall project could be described as “Collective Home-schooling”.It would be constituted by groups of 3-6 parents(the ideal number will have to be tested in practice).They would take on the teaching of all the children of these families in a cooperative effort for most of the teaching from elementary to Middle school.( Morally speaking, the years around puberty will probably be the most challenging.)When it comes to specialized,professional or even advanced academic education(God forbid lol) we will have to send them ,at least for now back to the Universities and colleges ,but by then they should be prepared to deal with it even if the process of transition may be painful.Personally I would prefer the professional and trade learning to be on a master/apprentice basis but that is a long way off-for now at least.

In the practical day-to-day teaching, the different parents who have skills in one subject in particular like those who excel in math and science and those who excel in literature and languages can take it upon themselves to teach those subjects.Many other more subtle subjects will be taught as well-as outlined in “The Call to Action”

This type of organization will allow working mothers and fathers to be able to continue much of their work with the help of the other parents.It will also prevent the traumatization of children being separated from their parents at day-cares and experiencing the anxiety and upsetness of entering a new school with large numbers of strangers at the beginning of elementary school or high school or after any other moves.The community of learners  should be relatively stable and seamless inshallah.The children will know the other parents and know most of the other children and be familiar with the community around them in most instances.

Sound good? Well, we need people with commitment and initiative who are willing to try this out-people who are willing to resist the social currents and disrupt their current lives to try something new.This will not occur automatically. People will have to move,as this cannot be done without physical proximity.We are talking “village” here. So lots of effort and optimism will be required. The alternative ,staying in the socially-determined track, is unhappy,miserable,stressed-out children with little sense of direction and lots of anxiety.That’s the norm! Is that what you want for your children?If not you can contact me on this blog or at jebrahim2@gmail.com. Ahlan(welcome). Sufi Ibrahim

 

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

State of the Nation-Muslim AND non-Muslim

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Most people in the modern world are unwittingly affirming and defending the humanistic,secular,Empiricist,Rationalist social consensus.At the same time they are refusing to develop the insight(firasat),discernment(furqan),inner vision (basirat) and real hearing(samia) that would lead them to the Truth- on all levels.Dangerous state of affairs,really! Btw ,this includes most of the Muslims who often have the right ideas,but the wrong instincts! That is, they are consciously believers but unconsciously Rationalists and believers in self-direction(tadbir).