Beware Of Sex/Gender Studies Supported By Conservatives

"It’s a science thingy breakdown! This one can barely be called a science thingy. It’s not great. Dr. Alan Smerbeck is here to debunk one of the go-to citations for conservatives’ homophobia. Does it hold up? No. Look I’m not going to pretend like it’s a close call. Listen to find out why this is a shit study."

Click on the link below for a podcast exposing the usual bad studies on this subject:

How Different Are The Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships?

A Reminder: Your Brain Alone Is Not Reliable

Recently, I have received a great deal of push-back on my Facebook page regarding some topics, for example: chiropractic, acupuncture, corporal punishment, GMOs, and nuclear power. Frankly, their arguments are no different than the Intelligent Design folks. As I frequently say, tell me what other than the consensus of scientists actually working in the discipline under discussion will give you a better understanding of reality regarding such.

Regarding consumer products, including food from GMOs, unfortunately, there is a strong unsupported conspiracy theory that for-profit corporations cannot perform unbiased scientific studies. Should we ignore any research funded by companies or special interest groups? Certainly not. These groups provide invaluable funding for scientific research. Furthermore, science has many safeguards in place to catch instances of bias that affect research outcomes. Ultimately, misleading results will be corrected as science proceeds. (link)(link)

Good Research Is Hard To Find

My summary of science-based thinking is: question claims; demand objective evidence; think critically (in that order). Unfortunately, even scientists frequently misuse the scientific method. The link below presents the details involved with scientific research and how it can be in error either through mistake or conscious fraud:

Pitfalls in Research: Why Studies Are More Often Wrong than Right

Testing The Limits Of Research Ethics

"If you are concerned about CRISPR—the gene-editing tool currently being used to treat cancer and augment a variety of organisms—then you are going to love the government's decision to lift a ban on experiments to create animal embryos with human stem cells, making them partly human."

Feds to Approve Research With Part-Human, Part-Animal Embryos