This week I will travel to the International Ergonomics Association triennial conference in Recife, Brazil. In additional to enjoying the charming locale, warm weather, great food, and reunion with friends from Sweden and across the world, I will present a paper on how much research costs to perform, and which methods researchers should choose to get the most bang for their buck (or our buck, in the case of Canadian tri-council funding).
Ben Goldacre can be a bit grating and I think he minimizes the physiological importance of mind-body connection, expectation, and social facilitation in health… but he does a nice job of explaining epidemiology and health knowledge.
I think that is a brilliant talk. I learned something.
When I first saw the title of your post, I thought of a book by Kate , Here If You Need Me. She is the widow of a Maine state patrol officer who was killed in the line of duty. She later became a chaplain to the Maine forest service.
When asked if she believes in God, she says no. It is not a matter of faith for her; she says she is convinced by the evidence, evidence that there is something greater at work here.
I appreciate her language and reasoning here. She says she is actually not a very spiritual person. Somehow that feels analogous or relevant here.