Western approaches to HIV/AIDS

There are some very valuable things that western allopathic medicine has contributed to the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Perhaps most importantly, is the overall understanding and knowledge of how HIV is transmitted. This helps to educate more people about preventative measures they can take to help avoid contracting HIV/AIDS. I also think it's quite amazing that a baby born to a mother who has HIV has only a one-percent chance of becoming infected with HIV when reverse transcriptase inhibitors along with a caesarian birth are used.

How sophisticated is our understanding of cancer?

It depends who we mean when we say 'our.' As far as the information and knowledge of cancer that is in existence in the world; there's quite a huge amount of understanding. As far as one person, or a group of people understanding cancer...that's much more difficult. Though I will say that the only people who I know that have regained good health after cancer went through the route of self-regulation therapy, meditation and herbal/dietary therapy, the best results being from people who used NO chemo, radiation or surgery. I don't think I know of a single story of someone who used exclusively chemotherapy, radiation and surgery and came out the other end to recover good health.
So in short, I think that once again the ancient understanding of cancer far surpasses the 'modern' understanding.

TCM approach to cancer

The TCM approach to cancer treatment differs from western medicine in that it strives to bring harmony back into the patient (and there environment), while western medicine strives to kill the pathogen as if it's something completely independent and unrelated to the human patient.
It's also very important in TCM for the patient to take hold of their life and become involved in their treatment through lifestyle, diet and self-regulating Qigong practice. Often times Medical Qigong has a very profound effect in helping a cancer patient back to health, by changing the energetic aspects of the person so that their physical body grows and changes toward better health.

Are our genes still being shaped by natural selection.?

Are genes are absolutely being shaped by natural selection. As people become more reliant on drugs and technology to fix them, we lose our skills to adapt to the environment, and eventually the traits that enable these skills become lost or diluted. There are also super-bugs developing because of our over-population and reliance on antibiotics. The changes of natural selection happen to gradually for us to see immediate results, but it's safe to assume that modern technology has not saved us from natural selection...it's just procrastinating the inevitable.

Distinguishing between living/ non-living

This is a tough one. To me fire even seems like it could be alive, or the wind and water. Every part of this planet and the cosmos could be seen as living, as it's all part of the cycle that is life. On a more biological level...I would think that anything that eats, breathes and has a balance of the earth and the heavens is alive.

Language and tools used by chimps...

It's very significant that chimps use language to communicate with each other, and tools to help them function. It shows to me that they care about their quality of life, and even their free time or social standing. I know that my cat uses very specific words and tones to communicate with us as well...I think it may be some ancient Gaelic dialect...or possibly Sanskrit... she also uses the electric blanket to stay warm, so she uses tools too!

Chinese Medicine gaining respectability in the west...

For any of us hoping to be acupuncturists/ herbalists this is very important. With that said, part of Chinese Medicine becoming more accepted and respected in the west is going to have to come from a shift toward a more open viewpoint for people of the west. Aren't scientists and M.D's required to take basic cultural anthropology classes.?.. It seems like many people in the United States are very unclear on the concepts of ethnocentrism and and cultural relativism. As people open up and realize that there is more than one way to see reality, there will be more awareness of how stuck we have been on one eurocentric viewpoint.
It is nice to see some western clinical 'proof' that Chinese Medicine works, or that Qi ( or an element of Qi) is actually measurable. I think that these studies do help many people to respect Chinese Medicine more.