In the chapter, Kennedy promotes the “miasma theory” but gets the definition completely wrong. Instead of actual miasma theory, he describes something more like terrain theory. He writes: “‘Miasma theory’ emphasizes preventing disease by fortifying the immune system through nutrition and by reducing exposures to environmental toxins and stresses.”
Kennedy contrasts his erroneous take on miasma theory with germ theory, which he derides as a tool of the pharmaceutical industry and pushy scientists to justify selling modern medicines. The abandonment of miasma theory, Kennedy bemoans, realigned health and medical institutions to “the pharmaceutical paradigm that emphasized targeting particular germs with specific drugs rather than fortifying the immune system through healthy living, clean water, and good nutrition.”
The terrain theory is a variation of Béchamp’s ideas that is also an obsolete medical theory that held that diseases were caused by the composition of the body. The “terrain”, will attract germs to come as scavengers of the weakened or poorly defended tissue. Béchamp believed that the pH of the body is important, and that an acidic pH will attract germs and an alkaline pH will repel them. Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation with a series of experiments in the 1870s.[4] However, understanding the cause of a sickness does not always immediately lead to effective treatment of sickness, and the great decline in mortality during the 19th century stemmed mostly from improvements in hygiene and cleanliness. In fact, one of the first movements to deny the germ theory, the Sanitary Movement, was nevertheless central in developing America’s public health infrastructure. Providing clean water and sanitation reduced the environment for pathogens to develop, and mortality rates fell dramatically.
I am not a physicist, but I doubt anything can interact with immovable matter; it would grossly violate conservation of momentum, energy, etc.
Well, something’s got to give.
In daily life, it can be provoked by repetition or staring, but it needn’t be. One of us, Akira, has had it driving on the motorway, necessitating that he pull over onto the hard shoulder to allow his unfamiliarity with the pedals and the steering wheel to “reset”. Thankfully, in the wild, it’s rare.
I have never experienced déjà vu, but I have experienced situations like this.
I occasionally wake up not knowing where I am, and I feel that I can’t open my eyes until I figure it out. I used to move quite frequently, so I guess I’d get confused about what house or apartment I was in.