In my past life, I've been a freelance consultant for health-related products - not for a very long time. The industry is just rife with bullcrap. It's attributable to two words: organic and natural. But let's just simplify it as naturalism. Here's the textbook definition:-
A philosophical viewpoint according to which everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted.
But what happens when most people use the word natural as the ONLY basis of their arguments? Essentially, if X is not natural, then it's not good. If Y is not organic, then it sucks. The problem isn't so much in expressed statements, but more to our gut feeling that unnatural stuff is no good at all.
Here are the usual suspects falling into the trap of being perceived as unnatural - chemicals, alteration of original construct, and just about anything man-made. Think about nuclear plants, societal structures, vaccines, GMO-stuff, medication, etc. Personally, I'm all for marijuana and stuff like that. But making an argument that it's good just because it's a natural plant does not cut it. Words can be both blinding and liberating at the same time.
Here's a little secret: anything man-made is as natural as the rest of the universe!
Whatever we do, believe or not, actually arises from natural properties and causes of our mind, body, and connection to the rest of the world. One example that I've made in the past - birds build nests, and humans build everything else - just as naturally. On that note, I suspect that this cognitive bias on our concept of naturalism can be traced back to religious inquisitions and persecutions in the past.
If we're being intellectually honest, man-made stuff doesn't mean that it's bad at all. In fact, many man-made stuff has helped humanity progressed through the ages. Sure, nothing's perfect, and all man-made stuff does not guarantee full functionality for everybody. There's a statistical distribution and like all man-made stuff, it can be used for both good and bad.
The point I'm trying to make here for myself and others reading this: be a contrarian even if you're already one. Try to overcome this little limitation, and exercise critical-thinking in part of assessing things, and not just on the basis of what is perceived to be natural or not. It's a myth.
