Category Archives: Newage
Skeptical Quickies
I had important things to do today like physical therapy, and shopping, and going out to lunch. I just got to sit down in front of the computer, and my kid has to get ready for a sleepover, so here are some links of interest. Monday we’ll do alternative yeast therapies, I promise!
Self-help guru gets 6 years in sweat lodge deaths – a newage self-help guru basically roasted a bunch of people alive, in the name of enlightenment.
FDA revokes Avastin’s approval for breast cancer treatment – but you can still get it prescribed off-label.
Science fights fluoridation – do modern opponents have some real science on their side?
American Pain Foundation creates informational website for CAM – it does talk about some of the risks of CAM treatments, but not comprehensively (aortic dissection isn’t mentioned in regards to spinal manipulation, for instance), and seems quite dewy-eyed and trusting when it comes to efficacy.
Canadian Medical Association Journal: natural health products should be subject to the same regulations as pharmaceutical drugs – “it is a near-universal truth that any substance that exerts a beneficial effect on a biological system will also have the potential for adverse effects.”
Why am I here?
I’ve been toying with the idea of a skeptical parenting blog for a while now. I tend to associate with a crunchy crowd, and I see a lot of woo being flung around as a result. It can be really frustrating to feel like the only rational person in a conversation!
Today I just couldn’t help engaging someone on Facebook, and the conversation was so emblematic of discussions with woo-believers that I was inspired to finally start writing about this kind of thing.
Here’s an outline of the arguments presented by the believer, to support her belief in Reiki:
- Chemo fails 97% of the time. Touch therapy is safer than that radiation!
- Scientific studies can’t assess Reiki because it uses energy that can’t be measured.
- Look, this scientific study shows that it works!
- There’s a conspiracy to keep positive studies from being published.
- It works for me and my clients.
- How can you say you know about it when you haven’t personally experienced it and I have?
- “Its [sic] all perspective. This idea that someone is right and someone else isn’t is the elite’s way of dividing and conquering us.”
- I came to this belief through rational, evidentiary means, but you won’t be swayed by them because you’re too narrow-minded.
- (After I asked to see this evidence, promising to be open-minded) OK, go read this 500 page book, and review all the citations in it. The author is David Wilcock.
- (After being asked to just provide the 3 most convincing citations) I’m not going to search through a 500 page book just to find the one citation involving Reiki! (But she expects me to.)
- Not accepting my personal anecdotal experience as convincing evidence is hurtful, you skeptical meanies!
Now in this case, there were two other skeptics in the discussion, so at least I didn’t have that sinking feeling that the whole world is crazy and I’m alone. But I was truly gobsmacked at how blind this woman was to the flaws in her reasoning. If I ever lack for something to write about, I can just go through that list of arguments and pick each one apart, for a pretty comprehensive overview of woo-rationalization!
So anyway, my motivation for finally blogging about this stuff is to express my frustration, to offer arguments against particular pseudoscientific practices, and to give a picture of what it’s like to be a skeptic and a parent, trying to raise skeptical children. I’ll surely also talk about more general parenting topics from a skeptical angle, and just brag about my kids and share their more overwhelmingly adorable moments.