The Fine Line Between Science and Curanderismo

The Fine Line Between Science and Curanderismo

By Alan Perez

Defining the Fine Line

A fine line is a very small difference between things that may seem different. Some examples of this include hate and love, and humor and sarcasm. In this case we will discuss the fine line between science and spiritual healing. In many cases, people concern themselves with the idea of "seeing is believing." This has caused many to limit the scope of what they accept as fact to what is observable. The fine line between curanderismo and any science is that this concept has interfered with its progress immensely. For example, at one point in time the idea of molecular structure was doubted heavily by many people - even those in the scientific community - just as people today doubt the credibility of curanderismo simply because we can not physically see the internal healing take place. Another name for this concept is the well-known Scientific Method. 

The Scientific Method

The scientific method is the process by which many physicists, biologists, anthropologists, and members of every other scientific field conduct their research and explore. The importance of the scientific method goes beyond the scope of a quiz or a lab and is often applied subliminally in everyday life. The idea of developing a question and trying to answer it is a watered-down version of the scientific method. But this process has its flaws; particularly in the in the “experimental” phase. This works properly for things that can be repeated and visualized, but when working in the realms of subjects like quantum mechanics and curanderismo, it is very difficult to maintain this type of accuracy. This, in turn, has adverse effects on the credibility of the subject, especial when the topic is already under researched—like curanderismo.

The Struggles of Doing Research in Curanderismo

In the chapter "Curanderismo: Healers and Their Clients," by Elizabeth De La Portilla in the book Illness, Healing, and Religion, the author found that even "early ethnographers [they] read on the subject barely hid their disdain and condescension towards the people they interviewed." This is just one case of the dismissal of curanderismo culture and only perpetuates the notion that there is a little legitimacy in the healing processes. This limits the amount of reliable sources and credible documents for people and other research scientists that plan to build upon that research or possibly extrapolate a new branch of science. 

Parallels Between Science and Curanderismo

Parallels are not necessarily used to define one item using another, but they are used to draw connections that are not readily apparent. These parallels exist across several mediums, such as in pop culture, films, and books. Parallels are also useful when discussing the same topic with different interpretations. In the same chapter, it was mentioned that "Golondrina further believes that because we take in all types of energy, we use up the energy stored in the earth and do not return anything. This type of consumption is disrespectful towards natural order, and because of it, disasters occur." This is a striking similarity to the fundamental law of conservation of energy in physics which states that energy can never be created or destroyed and can only be altered from one form to another in nature. The connections are more apparent now, where we see that "the type of consumption is disrespectful towards natural order" is very similar to the idea of destroying energy being unnatural.

Normalization of Curanderismo Research

As mentioned earlier in my document, research is essential for the survival of any topic as well as its evolution. But in order for this to happen, the same thing that has happened in several scientific fields must occur: People must be open to new ideas that they will never fully understand. As a physicist myself, it would be highly hypocritical to be doubtful of any practice or idea just because I don't understand it. There is a saying in my field that states, "The further you explore a topic, the more you realize you don't know."