Put down your sweaty iPod Touch and slide your fingers over the downy back of the Quackometer as it makes its debut in the funky new world of podcasting. Yes, I am the guest this week on the Guardian Science Weekly Podcast, and we discuss the language of quackery. My warm-up and support act is some Canadian academic chappie by the name of Steven Pinker. He sounds quite clever but [read more…]
Right. Skeptic Class. Stop what you are doing. Silence. Stop Talking. iPods out of your ears. Orac – no more insolence from you. Are you chewing? You are all here in detention class because I have been hearing very bad things about all of you. You have all brought shame on the Skeptics’ Circle. Now swallow your fish oil pills and listen. Your essays you have just handed in the [read more…]
The Internet is a wonderful thing. It allows you check stuff, like the claims of quacks, in a way that was not possible just a few years ago. This blog entry would have taken many months of library work and correspondence without the web and some of its amazing content, and now I can do it between mowing the lawn and popping down the pub for a pint. Dana Ullman [read more…]
Don’t forget to watch Channel 4 on Monday 13th. Richard Dawkins is delivering his documentary ‘Enemies of Reason’, with the first part entitled, ‘Slaves to Superstition’ The blurb says, There are two ways of looking at the world – through faith and superstition or through the rigours of logic, observation and evidence – in other words, through reason. Reason and a respect for evidence are precious commodities, the source of [read more…]
Iatrogenesis is not a concept that is confined to quackery, but like most of the words in my Quack Words series it tends to show up more often than not on quack web sites and so can be a good quackometer word. Iatrogenic illness covers the concept of harm having been done by the healer. Harm could come from many quarters including mistakes in diagnosis or treatment, professional negligence, adverse [read more…]
Patrick Holford has built up a very impressive and comprehensive empire; networks of web sites, charities, a college, educational trusts and of course, books, TV shows, supplements sales, and licensing deals. It is a very impressive achievement and it would be hard to argue that Patrick, and his philosophies, did not pretty much dominate the UK nutritionist scene. Some nutritionists might outsell him in book sales, but none have created [read more…]
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