The Daily Journal first published this article, Health Care and the Laws of Nature, on August 8, 2018.

“If there is no God, everything is permitted.” – Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
The Laws of Nature
When science prevails over the laws of nature, controversy is near. Stories from antiquity warned against such hubris, like poor Icarus who plunged to his death during a maiden voyage with wings made from feathers and wax. Zeus intervened twice on the side of nature, first when he sentenced Prometheus to eternal torment for delivering the gift of fire to humanity, and again when he struck down love-stricken Orpheus with a bolt of lightning before Orpheus escaped from Hades.
Whether divine warnings or stories told to invoke fear, science celebrates similar transgressions as evidence that God may be man-made. Whether we live in a universe forged over billions of years or in just under seven days, what are the malleability of nature’s laws? In 1903 Orville Wright elevated above the ground for 12 seconds in a gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, but his legacy exists today in the context of war, travel and commerce. The impact from fire on an evolutionary timeline often omits reference that 10,000 years ago a spark may have transformed tuberculosis from an environmental microbe to a deadly disease that has killed more than 1 billion people. When science finally resurrects the dinosaurs, we can ask them about nature’s resilience. … Read more →