ARE YOU SURE?

When you look at this picture, are the vertical and horizon lines in the middle bowed or straight?

ARE YOU SURE?

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Does the next picture add perspective that reinforces your original assumption or makes you uncertain about your continued ability to defend your original “certainty.”

Notice how the red lines are perfectly straight and do not show any “bulging” above, below or sideways along its borders proving the puzzle consists entirely of straight lines.

If I had told you the first picture consisted of bowed lines, you would likely have believed me. If I had told you the original picture consisted of straight lines, you would likely have doubted me.

WHY?

The answer is because you would have based your belief on a combination of what I said AND what your EYE’S saw. Until you saw the second picture (as proof) defying what your eyes inaccurately saw in the first picture, there would have been significant reason for doubting me.

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This is a crucial missing piece in our approach toward our own health decisions today.

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• We accept without question the accuracy in the safety of treatment recommendations offered by our doctors without ANY tangible INDEPENDENT proof to use as guidelines (similar to the red lines used in the puzzle.)

• We accept without question the accuracy in the safety and quality of the food choices we’re offered in our grocery stores without ANY tangible INDEPENDENT proof to use as guidelines (similar to the red lines used in the puzzle.)

In effect, we accept policy decisions potentially based on ILLUSIONS because they “appear” acceptable with the limited information we’re exposed to.

Would greater knowledge/information provide more substantive guidelines to improve our decision making skills?

ABSOLUTELY!

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How do we implement this strategy with our doctors recommendations for treatments and our grocery store’s recommendations for food choices?

What if:

1. we asked our physicians to provide us with independent research IN WRITING, validating the suggestions of treatments offered?

2. we asked our physicians to inform us of the side effects OF THE INGREDIENTS in the recommended treatments as well as the risks and rewards of the medication itself, before deciding whether to comply with the recommendation(s)?

3. we asked our grocery stores to show us the safety studies they reviewed prior to purchasing the types of foods they’ve chosen to sell us? (ex. genetically modified foods, produce sprayed with 14-16 applications of pesticides, etc…)

If we don’t open our mouths to question, and we don’t use our ears to listen (because those voluntarily offering this information are kept at great distances making it difficult to hear,) all we are left with is our EYES. Should our eyes be the basis for determining the accuracy in our doctor’s treatment recommendations and the quality of food we purchase from our grocery stores?)

You saw earlier in the puzzle example how easy it was to deceive the EYES. When I excluded referenced red guidelines (offering essential information for accuracy) from the equation, the conclusion reached was wrong (at least for most of you.)

When it comes to our health and the quality of our lives, should we be lackadaisical in making these important decisions? Should we exclusively rely on those who benefit from us purchasing their services and/or products/treatments?  Maybe it’s time we begin including our mouths and ears in the decision making process to validate the choices we make. Can anyone justify why we wouldn’t want to make the best health decision possible among ALL available quality options?

Relying on illusions and possible deception is beneath the standards any of us should be willing to accept, support or follow.

SPECIAL THANKS TO DR. JOHN STITES (MY CLINICAL SUPERVISOR WHEN I WAS A STUDENT 26 YEARS AGO) FOR THE PUZZLE PICTURE HE USED IN A RECENT WEBINAR. THIS PICTURE INSPIRED THE CONCEPT I CAME UP WITH FOR THIS ARTICLE. 

Tags: attitude, Choices, disease, health, illusion, lifestyle, Quality of living, reality