This last class was simultaneously busy and mild, for Week 6. Preparing for the book presentation felt like a sprint; with each person working on it in bursts, and periods of no activity in between. For me, I put together part of the critiques, the summary, and part of the methods, in one long block and would periodically check back up on it to see where things were at, while also keeping a close eye on my email.
I also had extremely mixed feelings for the book. I agree that the current anti-aging industry is a scam. However, on almost every other point, I fundamentally disagreed and disliked the book. My first major critique which was reiterated in the presentation, was that the book failed to provide much in the way of objective, scientific research. When reading the book, I did not find any experiments in peer-reviewed journals published in the Lancet, Nature, or any other journal and there weren’t any longitudinal studies or any serious, thoughtful research as to the widespread effects. Even more damning were the “case studies”, which really just seemed like casual anecdotes, rather than careful, observant, and objective case studies that were supervised and observed my healthcare professionals or other scientific researchers. Rather, the whole book attempted to damn the reputations of the people involved with the anti-aging industry as a method of disproving their credibility and to show why anything they say is a money-making scam. This book about medicine, somehow manages to leave the actual science and medicine out of the book, which makes this, in my opinion, a poorly written, unconvincing read and argument.
Finally, I am looking forward to finishing my oral history project. I am enjoying working with my aunt on them and seeing the finished projects of some of my classmates made me think about my options more and is helping me come up with more creative ideas that are simultaneously fun but also feasible within my schedule.
I also had extremely mixed feelings for the book. I agree that the current anti-aging industry is a scam. However, on almost every other point, I fundamentally disagreed and disliked the book. My first major critique which was reiterated in the presentation, was that the book failed to provide much in the way of objective, scientific research. When reading the book, I did not find any experiments in peer-reviewed journals published in the Lancet, Nature, or any other journal and there weren’t any longitudinal studies or any serious, thoughtful research as to the widespread effects. Even more damning were the “case studies”, which really just seemed like casual anecdotes, rather than careful, observant, and objective case studies that were supervised and observed my healthcare professionals or other scientific researchers. Rather, the whole book attempted to damn the reputations of the people involved with the anti-aging industry as a method of disproving their credibility and to show why anything they say is a money-making scam. This book about medicine, somehow manages to leave the actual science and medicine out of the book, which makes this, in my opinion, a poorly written, unconvincing read and argument.
Finally, I am looking forward to finishing my oral history project. I am enjoying working with my aunt on them and seeing the finished projects of some of my classmates made me think about my options more and is helping me come up with more creative ideas that are simultaneously fun but also feasible within my schedule.