Skepticism and Pseudoscience
Robert J. Braidwood: More Than Just One Man
One cannot study prehistoric archaeology without encountering the name Robert J. Braidwood. An innovator of archaeological method and inquiry, Braidwood pioneered new ways of investigating the prehistoric past. He found an interest in that unique period of human history that marks a transition from hunting and gathering into food production through agriculture (Redman 1978; Harms [...]
If it quacks like a Quack…
The quack, Christopher Maloney, has left two comments on my blog. The first was a copy/paste of an open letter to PZ Myers… I’m not sure why he posted it on my blog. The second was this:
Wow, you are quick to condemn and slow to apologize. Haven’t you looked at PZ’s revisionist “oops, I burned [...]
Christopher Maloney is a Quack
In the state of Main, where “naturopaths” can call themselves “doctor,” a nut exists that makes the following pseudoscientific claims:
Parents waiting for vaccinations can provide their children with black elderberry, which blocks the H1N1 virus. A single garlic capsule daily cuts in half the incidence and the severity of a flu episode for children.
Claims that [...]
Mike Adams Pretends to know the Minds of Skeptics
In a recent article on the inter-webs, Mike Adams, self-proclaimed “health ranger” and an editor at NaturalNews.com, pretends to know something about skeptics.
Wow.
In a word: fail.
In his opening paragraphs he says,
skeptics” claim to be the sole protectors of intellectual truth. Everyone who disagrees with them is just a quack, they insist. Briefly stated, “skeptics” are [...]
Social Security for illegal immigrants?
Image via Wikipedia
There is an email going around in that urban legend fashion so popular with non-thinking and irrational conservatives who regularly drink the Rush Limbaugh / Fox News Kool-Aid that claims to be driving a petition to appeal to Obama (”regardless of whether you like him or not”) to veto a bill to give [...]
FTC Cracking Down on “Complementary Alternative Medicine” Blogs?
If so, this is good news for consumers. Frauds like Kevin Trudeau have been peddling their snake oil to anyone willing to shell out the bucks, often under the ironic guise of being “consumer watchdogs,” protecting consumers from “the establishment” and “big pharma.”
Trudeau is the obvious con artist extraordinaire among the CAM crowd, but there [...]
Scent Dog ID: Science or Pseudoscience?
Image by BL1961 via Flickr
I’ve blogged in the past about “Man’s Best Friend” and the archaeological evidence of the domestication of the human by canines (or perhaps I have that reversed). I’m a big fan of dogs and what I see as the special relationship humans have with their canine friends. By and large, it’s [...]
Woo traffic is still traffic
I invite the visitors of Loren’s blog to post here and discuss pseudoscience or what their thoughts are on the Aquatic Ape hypothesis, which is where this all began. I don’t know why Loren picked that as her “quote of the week,” -perhaps she likes the aquatic ape idea. I’d be interested to know why she thinks it holds water (no pun was planned on that).
What is pseudoscience?
Image by mot the hoople via Flickr
At its most basic, pseudoscience is fake science. The prefix pseudo- meaning “fake”- followed by the word science. But it’s more than that. Or, I should say, it’s not just that. Pseudoscience involves more than faking science, it often involves the perpetuation of concepts and ideas that are not [...]
“Does she really think dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago?”
Matt Damon on Sarah Palin. Regardless of what you think about celebraties using their notoriety to make political statements, I think Matt Damon nails her.
So to speak.
Sorry about the political post -I don’t usually stray that way, but I *do* write here about skeptical topics and Palin and her narrow-minded beliefs on the age of [...]
