Pharmacies Have Gotten Away With Selling Snake Oil Too Long

"A national science advocacy organization is urging pharmacists to be worthy of the trust that customers have placed in them to guide them in their health decisions by steering patients away from useless fake medicine in the form of homeopathy. The Center for Inquiry today asked the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners and its member organizations to ensure that these fraudulent products are treated as the snake oil they are." (link)

Read the ingredients on all OTC products sold in all pharmacies. In the context of this post, look for "Homeopathic." Also, Google is your friend in getting science-based information. When Googling an OTC product, be aware of two situations:

• The first posts will be Ads in support of the product.
• Most of the "Reviews" are trying to get you to not purchase the searched-for item but ANOTHER bogus product!

ONLY take information from known scientific sources. If unsure, check out the source on this website: Media Bias/Fact Check.

Salonpas: Beware Of The Hype

"Salonpas is an over-the-counter topical NSAID used to treat pain. It’s probably safe and might be worth trying for minor pain, but the effect is small and the advertising is more hype than substance."

Click on the link below for more.

Salonpas - SkepDoc

Hearing Voices Of The Dead

"Scientists have identified the traits that may make a person more likely to claim they hear the voices of the dead.

"According to new research, a predisposition to high levels of absorption in tasks, unusual auditory experiences in childhood, and a high susceptibility to auditory hallucinations all occur more strongly in self-described clairaudient mediums than the general population."

Click on the link below for the latest research on clairaudience, the power or faculty of hearing something not present to the ear but regarded as having objective reality.

I have no idea why Paul had "visions" of Jesus, do you?

Scientists Are Figuring Out Why Some People Can 'Hear' The Voices of The Dead

A Crash Course In Critical Thinking

To move from gullibility/credulity/magical thinking to critical thinking/skepticism/science-based thinking is one of the most difficult actions a person can take. Why? The human brain has flaws and is resistant to change for many reasons. If you are thinking in the former way and are open-minded enough to unbiasedly consider the alternative, this post is for you. Click on the link below and you will find one of the better articles on the subject. It is worthy of the label of "Critical Thinking 101" at the college level.

How to Think Critically and Stay Informed in a Sea of Misinformation

The Thinking Behind Antifluoridation And All Pseudoscience

"I have studied quackery largely as a health behavior model in an attempt to understand not only the victims of quacks but also quacks themselves and why they do what they do. I have found that, contrary to the dictionary definition which implies that all quacks are frauds, many quacks are dedicated true believers in some kind of a cause. Quackery involves a wider scope than simply exploiting sick people and gullible seekers of superhealth. There is also a negative philosophy that constantly attacks conventional, scientifically based medicine and public health practices."

A classic from 1983 that is as timely today as it was then. This article is an excellent summary of harms of all pseudoscience, using antifluoridation as an example.

COMMENT:

My New Year's Resolution is to stop torturing myself by trying to challenge religion and all pseudoscience on their turf. All it does is elicit venomous personal attacks on me. I leave it to future generations to slowly change the culture of magical thinking. My focus from now on will be to support like-minded folks on Facebook and continue to post on this blog.

The Great Science Communicator

"Astronomer Carl Sagan had a 'consumer tested' method for busting pseudoscience. Here’s how it worked.

"In chapter 12 (The Fine Art of Baloney Detection) of Sagan’s ‘The Demon Haunted World,'' he lays out a method for detecting and debunking pseudoscience. Whether tackling astrology, channeling, creationism, homeopathy, or alien abductions, Sagan’s ‘Baloney Detection Kit’ can handle the challenge. Scientists utilize the tools in this kit as a regular part of their work, and I think it’s time we learn how to use them in our day-to-day lives."

Click on the link below:

How Carl Sagan Beat Pseudoscience (The Sagan Method)

COVID-19: Know Your Sources Of Information

I certainly realize that the management of the COVID-19 pandemic is a complicated task, to say the least. The parties in authority have to juggle the competing needs of public health and economics. That said, conservative media is aggressively promoting information that is more magical ideology than science.

Today I was listening to a podcast from "Hank Unplugged" (a conservative Christian production) that is emblematic of what I am talking about. It was an interview with Jay Richards talking about his new book entitled, "The Price of Panic: How the Tyranny of Experts Turned a Pandemic into a Catastrophe". I don't know about you, but having "the tyranny of experts" in the sub-title raises my bullsh!t detector. I will let one reviewer of the book speak for me:

• "Don't believe this propaganda. Jay W. Richards is a low-level business professor, Douglas Axe is a molecular biologist, and his research area is proving that God designed the world, and William Briggs is a minor statistician working to prove Libertarian ideas through the magic of statistics. None are public health experts, none are medical doctors and they have a major agenda to support Trump and the bonkers idea of herd immunity, which would lead to hundreds of thousands more deaths before a vaccine is widely available."

BTW, Jay Richards is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, which is "a politically conservative[4][5][6] non-profit think tank based in Seattle, Washington, that advocates the pseudoscientific concept[7][8][9] of intelligent design (ID)" (link). He also is a major force within the Great Barrington Declaration, which promotes, among other pseudoscience, herd immunity for COVID-19 (click here for more).

5G Technology: The Facts

 There have been conspiracy theories about cell phones since their advent: all have been debunked. But what about the new 5G technology? The video below does a nice job in clarifying the science behind it and objectively looks at the question of its danger.

All you need to know to understand 5G

Beware Of Media Promotion Of Prevagen

"From the memory supplement’s launch in 2007 through 2016, agency officials repeatedly raised concerns as the number of consumer complaints grew."

"Though drugs and dietary supplements are both regulated by the FDA under the Federal Food Drug & Cosmetic Act, they’re held to vastly different standards. The FDA requires drug manufacturers to prove through rigorous testing that their products are safe and effective before they are approved to enter the market. The agency lacks the same authority when it comes to supplements. Instead, the companies are responsible for ensuring their products are safe and lawful, and in many cases, they can introduce new dietary supplements to the market without even notifying the agency. As a result, supplements are generally presumed safe until proven otherwise."

Prevagen is just a canary in the coal mine of supplements

The Truth About "Boosting The Immune System"

"The concept that one can 'boost' immunity is a popular one. Although the only evidence-based approach to this is vaccination, the lay public is exposed to a wide range of information on how to boost immunity. The aim of this study was to analyze such information available on the Internet."

Boosting the Immune System, From Science to Myth

"'Immune-boosting' is a trending topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of 'immune-boosting' is scientifically misleading and often used to market unproven products and therapies. This paper presents an analysis of popular immune-boosting posts from Instagram. Of the sampled posts, all promoted 'immune-boosting' as beneficial, nearly all involved commercial interests, and many used scientific and medical rhetoric in their messaging."

“Immune Boosting” in the time of COVID

Two Controversial Topics In Research

Many magical thinkers oppose research findings falsifying their claims. Are such folks correct, at least in part? Click on the two links below for videos that do a good job of objectively analyzing Bayesian probability calculations and research study findings in general:

The Bayesian Trap

Is Most Published Research Wrong?

Memo To USA: Ignore Science At Your Peril

"From America's inception, there has always been a rebellious, anti-establishment mentality. That way of thinking has become more reckless now that the entire world is interconnected and there are added layers of verification (or repudiation) of facts. "As the great minds in this video can attest, there are systems and mechanisms in place to discern between opinion and truth. By making conscious efforts to undermine and ignore those systems at every turn (climate change, conspiracy theories, coronavirus, politics, etc.), America has compromised its position of power and effectively stunted its own growth. "A part of the problem, according to writer and radio host Kurt Andersen, is a new media infrastructure that allows for false opinions to persist and spread to others. Is it the beginning of the end of the American empire?"

Click on the link below for an extremely important 25-minute video.

Will America's disregard for science be the end of its reign?

Do Negative Ions Really Positively Affect Us?

"Do negative air ions improve mood, anxiety, depression, alertness?"

Despite a history of "research" supporting it, the video below presents the science:

Are Negative Ions Good For You?

If A Statement Feels Good, Does That Make It True?

 "If you repeat something enough times, it comes to feel good and true."

The above statement is a key to understanding the success of both advertisements and indoctrination. Click on the link below for a brief video showing that the ways information is presented to us can significantly affect how we interpret such.

The Illusion of Truth

Carl Sagan: Prophet Of Doom Or Hope

"Did Carl Sagan see 2020 coming 25 years ago? Here's why some people think he did.

"A certain excerpt from The Demon Haunted World has gone viral countless times in the last few years, often being called prophetic and frightening. What does it really mean, though? Did Carl Sagan predict the future? Science denial, conspiracy theories, power disparities, media influence, and authoritarianism were all things he showed great concern over, but did he have sufficient reason for concern in his own time? "This Demon Haunted World review and discussion is my way of continuing the mission of Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and their peers. As Sagan wrote just before his internet-famous words in DHW, 'Not explaining science seems to me perverse. When you're in love, you want to tell the world.'"

How Carl Sagan "Predicted" 2020... in 1995

New Book On The Dangers And Dishonesty Of Chiropractic

 "This book is an excellent, comprehensive reference for all things chiropractic. It provides solid facts to correct widespread misinformation. It provides evidence that should answer any question a reader might come up with. It doesn’t tell readers what to think, but it provides the tools to help them think clearly for themselves. Thank you, Edzard, for once again sharing your wisdom, knowledge, and experience with the world."

Edzard Ernst Tackles Chiropractic

Indoctrination Vs Critical Thinking

"Water to wine, walking on water, flaming chariot rising to heaven, giant fish eating a man and spitting him out after he learns his lesson–these all require no small amount of faith to accept, and solid, swift indoctrination kick-starts the young’uns. (When I was young we colored pictures and sang songs and used those funky felt boards--remember them--to memorize stories we knew nothing about.) Teach faith if you must but leave it out of the school. Or could it be that those who want us to replace critical thinking with church dogma are concerned (insecure) that their faith won’t stand up to scutiny? What does that say about their faith? Then again, maybe that’s the whole point." (link) 

"Repetitive learning – where students simply chant responses – is a popular form of indoctrination. It can be a useful way to commit information to memory, such as the alphabet or our multiplication tables, but it also can be used to impose political or religious doctrine and overwhelm critical thinking. In this circumstance, it is a form of manipulation." (link)

"The opposite of closed-mindedness is not a postmodern void in which there’s no such thing as truth. No, the opposite of closed-mindedness is open-mindedness — in which we seek the truth yet recognize that we could be wrong.

"Emphasizing open-mindedness and intellectual humility can help ensure you won’t indoctrinate students, even on subjects you feel strongly about. Of course, you have political views, and students know that. You can tell your students, as I do mine, that you will work to ensure that your views do not influence your evaluation of their progress in the course." (link)

How To Get Magical Thinkers To Stop And Think?

Changing one's mind is one of the most difficult things for humans to do. We all have confirmation biases, which "is an important type of cognitive bias that has a significant effect on the proper functioning of society by distorting evidence-based decision-making." Thus, it's important to reflect on this basic human tendency toward magical thinking and to combat it with science-based thinking (link)(link). However, easier said than done. Instead of spending a great deal of time directly attempting to educate folks who will be resistant to change, perhaps ending the conversation with something like this is warranted.*This may at least get your interlocutor to stop and think about what you are trying to communicate to him or her:

• "I want to know as much truth as possible. Thus, please tell me anything about what I am saying you think is false. However, keep in mind that "knowledge" is commonly held as "JUSTIFIED, true belief", thus, please justify it with objective evidence. Peace."

* Unfortunately, this will probably end the conversation.

Herbalife Or Herbadeath?

Herbalife Nutrition is a global multi-level marketing corporation that develops and sells dietary supplements. Over the decades, it has come under much scrutiny and criticism for its business practices and products. I was watching a segment on CNBC, a financial news channel, yesterday highlighting how "successful" the corporation has been during the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing in some detail how controversial this enterprise is, I thought I would make a blog post exposing the truth about it. Click on the links below for details:

Herbalife may not be a Ponzi scheme. But its science is definitely garbage

Herbalife or Herbadeath?

Can You Justify Your Beliefs?

Scenario 1

You have a medical complaint (subjective). How are you going to find out what the problem is? Will you go to a local chiropractor, naturopath, or some other quack (pseudoscientist)? Or, will you go to the appropriate licensed physician/physician extender (science-based practitioner) who can objectively determine the truth?

Scenario 2

You are told by a friend that there are space aliens in the military complex in the next town (subjective). Are you going to accept the claim because he or she is a friend who has always been truthful in the past (subjective)? Or, are you going to research the plausibility of the claim and any evidence of such by availing yourself of the findings from recognized experts in the appropriate fields (objective)?

Scenario 3

All of your life you have been told about a God who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. You have accepted this claim because you have loving family and friends and they all agree that this is The Truth (subjective). You also look around and see a reality that you feel must have been created and you long for a relationship with your creator to feel secure (subjective). Do you accept these claims without objective evidence (on Faith) or do you investigate objectively what science has to say about the claims for a God?

- - - - - - -

The word "science" is from the Latin for "knowledge." "Knowledge" is "JUSTIFIED, true belief." In the scenarios above, what actions are justified in understanding objective reality?