'Fucking magnets' & brain therapy in San Anto

Okay. I’m not here to explain magnets for the inestimable Insane Clown Posse, though some have tried (and failed — though electrostatic force comes close!). But I gotta wonder at Shaggy’s bustin' on scientists for doing their thing ("Ya'll motherfuckers lyin' and gettin me pissed!"). I mean, I get that science expels magic and all that, but what's wrong with trying to understand the order and the chaos at work around us? Isn't that a potential cause for celebration of as high an order as this "Miracles" video itself? [See ICP's brain-numbing number if you’ve missed it. To recover, we recommend you click immediately on SNL’s spoof.]

Somewhere in all this mess is a meme for our day. It’s not a good one, either. Something about not asking questions and not thinking too hard. Trusting God with the moon and stars (and leaving the politics to the politicians?). Thankfully, ICP don’t represent the norm when it comes to understanding science. But they’re close.

A recent poll found that only half of us know how many days it takes the Earth to revolve around the Sun or roughly how much of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, for instance. The kind of stuff you learn in grade school.

Other studies have been more generous, suggesting the science literacy in the country is on the upswing. Up from the gutter. So choose a half-full glass if you’d like. (Or test yourself!)

I’m the sort of dork that gets into this stuff, “fucking magnets” and whatnot, especially when studies are showing that those millions of really miserable people (perhaps you know some?) have cause to be optimistic for once. I’m talking about shifts in the world of brain therapies.

Last week, I hung out with some researchers at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and came back with this video about research on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and its application in the treatment of depression…

These discoveries aren’t miracles in the sense that they defy other laws of nature, or manifested out of nowhere. They’re the result of thinking people who committed themselves to taking on the challenge of trying to understand how the world actually works and then using those processes to their advantage.

That’s not to say science doesn’t have its dark side. I mean, to get a little Violent J with this shit, what’s with these white coats telling us the Sun has an expiration date? I mean, that's a bummer. And all this talk that we're part Neanderthal? Isn't that a little like suggesting our entire matrilineal line was sort of getting it on the side?

Taking into account the rising threats against climate scientists who continue to stand by the mainstream science on global warming, it's obvious the fatwa is out. It looks like the mob may be listing toward expanding those judgments against all the bad-news science imposters. Try to explain rainbows to me, mother fucker, and get popped. In the future, talk science and get thrown to the Juggalos. We believe in miracles in this bitch.