Homeopathy Cured my Hamster January 8, 2010
Posted by Graham in : Health, Science and Rationaltiy , 1 comment so farI paid a short visit to my parents in the UK during the Winterval, but by the time I got there I had developed full-blown tonsillitis and spent most of the time feverish and delerious in bed.
Fortunately I was able to get to a doctor who took my temperature, peered down my throat, made the diagnosis- my father had already guessed correctly- and prescribed some antibiotics. The visit lasted only a few minutes- there was no time for a lengthy lifestyle analysis or discussion of my psychological state and so could hardly be called “holistic” but the whole experience was pleasant one, the doctor was chatty and very affable, I hadnt even had to wait long, and most importantly, within 24 hours I had made a miraculous recovery and had no barely symptoms left at all after 48hours.
Now, this is just anecdotal of course and proves nothing- maybe I would have got better anyway- but since this was a very rare trip to the doctor- my mother refers to all doctors as “quacks” – it seems worth noting that it was as pleasant and as trouble-free an experience as I could have hoped for.
However, as I sat in the waiting room I couldnt help noticing a prominent sign advertising the services of Homeopaths and Reflexologists; if I hadnt been so sick and had there been more time I would have loved to have asked the kind doctor his views on promoting such fraudulent “remedies” in his surgery, and to have had a chat about evidence-based medicine and the public perception of in general.
All this is by way of prelude to drawing your attention to the new 10:23 campaign in the UK: “Homeopathy- there’s nothing in it”.
This campaign is tackling head on the inconsistent postion of high street pharmacists like Boots who claim to have the best interests of their customers at heart and yet sell sugar pills and water as medicine.
One of the main excuses of homeopaths is that their methods are more “holistic”- they incude a lengthy interview covering many detials of the patients’ personal life before making proscribing the remedy, while allopathic medicine “only treats the symptoms”- the implication here is that there is always some kind of emotional/psychologiclal/spiritual component to illness.
Apart from the fact that this is largely mystical mumbo-jumbo- my tonsillitis for example was caused by the bacterium actinomyces and not by some kind of negative energy in my chakras- this whole process is side-stepped by the fact that anyone can just walk into a chemists’ shop and buy whatever type of sugar pill they fancy straight off the shelf. If homeopaths themsleves think that remedies should only be given by a trained practitioner after lengthy holistic interviews surely they should be coming on board fully behind the 10:23 campaign themselves.
The other aspect of this is that belief in quack medicine is inherently anti-science. I could give loads of examples from conversations I have had with mystically minded folk. Start by telling them that there is no scientific evidence to support the efficiacy of things like homeopathy and they will recount anecdotes along the lines of “homeopathy cured my hamster”, even though many conditions people seek treatments for- like the ‘flu- are self-limiting.
If like me you are more insistent, 9 times out of 10 they will attack science in general as being biased- “science has been wrong before” “science doesnt know everything” or most infuriatingly invoke something they call “the observer effect”- the idea that you can discount any scientific evidence whenever it suits you on the basis that the observer will affect what is being observed, possibly on the quantum level.
The claim here is that their own opinions are more vaild- infallible even- and less biased than science, which just displays a complete ignorance of the scientific method, which is by definition an attempt to overcome our own personal, subjective bias. Anecdotes are not evidence; lots of anecdotes do not constitute data.
I recently was discussing evidence-based medicine with a herbalist who had just completed a degree. I asked him about whether he had looked at clinical trials during his degree course; he had to some extent, but was quite happy to tell me that he didnt think it necessary to have evidence for everything.
His real interest it turned out was plant-spirit medicine and shamanism (which were not you will be relieved to hear covered on the degree); the degree was just a front to give more credibility for what he was really practicing. Since he made his own preperations from home-grown herbs I asked him how he could control the concentrations of active ingredients, which could vary wildly from plant to plant; his response was just to shrug his shoulders and say, “I know I make good stuff, the clients like it and know it is good stuff”. In other words, weather the treatments worked or not was immaterial; all that counts is can he sell them.
Another conversation I had on this topic was with someone I would certainly expect to support the role of science in the environmental movement, specifically climate change. When she questioned the value of evidence-based medicine, I pointed out that clinical trials on medical treatments are routine and trivial compared to say the incredibly complex body of evidence from many different scientific disciplines accumulated over decades that constitutes climate science; yet the evidence that homeopathy and other “alternative” therapies do not work is much less ambiguous than the evidence for climate change. I was shocked that her response was that there is no scientifc consensus on climate change, that science is all just a matter of opinion.
Quack medicine is not just an assault on science and reason but appears to lead people to abandon even the most basic standards of ethics, honesty and common sense.
Unfortunately, as I have covered on Zone5 many times, the environmental movement seems to have no discernment when it comes to quack medicine. Wherever you see the word “Green” or “Organic” you can be sure the homeopaths and the herbalists will not be far behind. Alternative therapists seem to make up a significant part of the environmental movement in general and are keen to protect their public image of progressive, natural and holistic alternatives to the nasty world of Big Pharma.
In fact, the persistence of these practices undermine our ability to understand and respnd to the much more serious issues confronting us and make the green movement the laughing stock of the more rational sections of society, and thereby feeds the climate change deniers’ case.
The 10:23 Campaign looks like being the start of a more direct way of tackling these issues head on, let’s all get behind it.
More information on this week’s episode on the Pod Delusion:
http://poddelusion.co.uk/blog/
Fascinating account of the inside world of CAM and more insights into homeopathy here:
http://aillas.blogspot.com/2009/12/open-university-perspectives-on.html
Ariane Sherine on The Pod Delusion #11 November 29, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Atheism, Podcast, Science and Rationaltiy, climate change , add a commentThis week’s Pod Delusion features a fascinating interview with the wonderful Ariane Sherine, creator of the Atheist Bus campaign and editor of the one essential Christmas gift this year, The Atheists’ Guide to Christmas.
The Atheists’ Guide is a brilliant anthology of atheist and science writing, comedy, fiction and even a section on silly party games, and the best thing about it is that half the profits go to the Terrence Higgins’ Trust
Pod Delusion #11 also includes some other great topical material on the Climate change email leaks (yes, these prove beyond doubt that climate change is a scam) and the new campaign against Boots for selling homeopathic remedies that they admit don’t work. Don’t miss!
The Heretic’s Guide to vegan Cookery November 12, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Food, Health, Science and Rationaltiy, book review , 1 comment so farBook Review: The Heretic’s Guide to Vegan Cookery
Warning! Not suitable for Breatharians
Andy Murray
The Good Elf Press 2009
187pp
Astrology is an amazing tool to run your life by, without having to waste time with the fraudulent pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo of Science. Astrology explains wars, thunderstorms and plagues. We can even use it historically. For example, if we know exactly when and where Queen Elizabeth was born, we can find out exactly who she was without having to waste time on fictitious history books. With it we can even discover why Einstein was so damn clever. Astrology is way better than sex.
You don’t have to be a vegan to enjoy Andy Murray’s brilliant Heretic’s Guide, which is packed with dozens of tasty simple recipes to satisfy even the most hardened omnivore at least some of the time, you dont even need to have any great interest in cooking or even food. That is because for our amusement and philosophical delectation there are numerous passages in between the recipes giving us fascinating and hilarious perspectives from the Mecca of New Age beliefs in Britain, the town of Glastonbury near where the author lives.
While waiting for the pumpkin soup to cook or in between making preperations for the Hazelnut and Celery Risotto you will be able to work up an appetite by rolling around clutching your belly after reading the sure -to-become-classic passages “Reiki Reiki Rise and Shine” “Cooking with Astrology” or “Breeding Gurus for Profit”.
This book has it all really- great advice on cooking with fresh ingredients and all the usual good reasons to grow your own and buy local; loads of easy to follow recipes including a big choice of soups, salads and dips; and inspirational chapter on cooking in the great outdoors, including a useful guide to wild food; Posh Things to Do with Vegetables; Main Meals; Side Dishes and Extras; Desserts, and Cakes and Biscuits.
And then the alternative Contents covers everything else- Cults, Gurus, Satanism, Religion, Crop Circles, Homeopathy- nothing is sacred and nothing is spared the sharp rib-splitting egg-whisk of Murray’s irreverence.
Homeopathic Cookery Doubters of this form of cookery pour scorn on the fact that a diner might receive a drop of gravy and a shred of carrot on a plate. How can this be a meal, they ask? What they fail to understand is that carbon,the building block of all life, has a memory. A potentised meal maintains a complete carbon hologram, the information of the whole, even down to the smallest atomic sum of its parts.A homeopathic amount of food is of course more than sufficient to provide all the nutritional benefits that would be expected from a plateful of food, and puts paid to any shrill cries of fraud. Filthy skeptics who come to the homeopathic table having already made up their tiny minds will trhow down their napkins and walk away still believing what they believe tio be true, and little can be done to change their wrongness.
Even the his own sacred Creed of Veganism is given the once-over. This is something I know a little about, because I once lived in a vegan community on the Welsh Borders. I was not especially into veganism per se and went there to learn to grow vegetables; I happily lived a vegan diet however, but was aware of an accute divide between some of my fellow communards, who seemed to be at each other’s throats all the time.
On one extreme there were the the vegans who were happy to eat anything so long as it was vegan, including skip food, vegan chocolate from Malaysia (or somewhere) and chip butty’s. This group of vegans were also keen to give over some of the best land we had to rescued sheep and ageing dogs, and generally turn the place into an animal sanctury.
All this tended to jar somewhat with the second group who apart from being rather snobby in their choice of edibles- Vegan Organic Wholefoods only, no white flour allowed, lots of Miso- didnt seem to like animals at all anywhere near them. Wild animals were OK in their own wild homes, but no pets, farm animals or incontinent retired donkeys of any kind permitted.
Murray gives a total of 7 Vegan groups, including the Fat Vegan, the Sensitive Vegan and the Style Vegan, but presumable fitsd into he first category of The Common Vegan:
The most widespread of all vegans, the common vegan has been quietly animal free for years and still hasn’t died. Usually healthy, fit and happy, they tend to be quite normal, although sometimes a little willowy to stand in a strong wind.
For Murray, veganism might well play a role in a sustainable future, but is mainly just about bloody good food. While no longer a Vegan myself, my animal-free taste buds have been re-awakened by the Heretics Guide and who knows, so have some of my chakras.
And with that I think Ill go and make a quick Potato Rosti.
Beyond Belief: When woo turns murderous November 7, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Science and Rationaltiy , add a commentMuch of the time woo cannot be directly attributed to any specific incidence of great harm, rather, superstitious and anti-science beliefs chip away at people’s ability to think straight, opens them up to exploitation to the unscrupulous who would sell them lies, and generally undermines democracy and freedom by slowly turning the population into a sludge-pool of half-wits. Sometimes however I come across examples of the perpetration of woo beliefs that just make me sick. The Ministry of Truth has a story detailing the insane practice of selling dowsing rods to Iraqi soldiers for the purpose of detecting explosives including landmines. Apparently, while the US military dismiss them as nothing more than “magic wands” the Iraqis swear by them.
But it doesn’t detect bombs and Iraqis are going to continue to die in attacks that might well have been prevented has their security forces invested in trained explosives sniffer dogs, which do work very well, while companies in the UK and Germany continue to rack up the profits from selling fancy-looking but utterly useless dowsing rods. This is not just fraud, its culpable involvement in negligent homicide
I cant help thinking though, without a touch of irony or humour, that maybe those who swear by dowsing for more benign effects- water etc- might be asked to test their faith with explosives. I wouldnt do this however; I’m afraid that some people I know would be happy to risk their lives trying.
Biodynamics on the Pod Delusion November 6, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Health, Podcast, Science and Rationaltiy , add a commentI am on this week’s episode of the UK-based Pod Delusion talking about Biodynamics and the environmental movement:
This week:
David Nutt’s Sacking and Government Policy by Simon Howard A.N Wilson’s Attitude to Science by Pete Hague Irrationality and Environmentalism by Graham Strouts Collective Worship in Schools by Owen Duffy
This is a weekly podcast full of great material on lots of interesting stuff including politics, current affairs, skepticism etc.. Enjoy!
Many thanks to ThetisMercurio for making the connection and getting me onto the Pod Delusion.
Biodynamics: Why Believe What Steiner said? September 21, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Gardens, Permaculture, Science and Rationaltiy , 24commentsIt is hard to know how best to respond to Judith Hoad’s article in the current edition of the IOFGA magazine Organic Matters in which she admonishes me for being “blinkered” in rejecting biodynamics, the esoteric practice of farming proposed by Rudolph Steiner, whose philosophy of anthroposophy has also lead to the creation of the independent Steiner-Waldorf schools and the Camphill communities.
“Unorthodoxies have their orthodoxies too:” she writes- “Graham Strouts, who heads the permaculture course in Kinsale, has learned and teaches techniques dependent on observations of phenomena in the natural world to replicate them in the human constructed world.- forest gardens are an example of this. (Permaculture is still regarded by some people as wild unorthodoxy). “However, he is blinkered when he slags off Biodynamic gardening as hocus pocus. Although some would regard Biodynamics as Astrology for plants and animals, what’s wrong with that? Years- lifetimes- of detailed observation of cosmic bodies and terrestrial plant and animal behaviour have formalized cultivation techniques.”
The first thing I would say is that to refer to something I may have said on hearsay without any reference, or context, or including any of the reasons I may have given to argue my case, is not just rude and bad practice, but misleading and pointless. (more…)
The Real Dirt on Organic Food August 5, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Food, General, Health, Peak Oil, Science and Rationaltiy , 13commentsUpdate Aug 10th: Thanks to Robbie for sending me the link to Dominic Lawson’s piece on the FSA report and responses from the organic movement in the Times.
Lawson quotes research suggesting farmers may have lower cancer rates possibly because pesticide use may protect against cancer! Now that has just got to be corporate spin…
The findings in last weeks’ FSA report that there is little to choose between organic and “conventional” food in terms of the major nutrients is hardly a surprise.
For many including myself, less rigidly defined labels such as “local” and “chemical-free” have been more important especially if we can see for ourseleves how the food is grown.
What is more surprising perhaps is some of the responses from some parties in the organic movement, which are not helping us understand the issues raised, or move the discussion onto other aspects of sustainable food and farming.
Rob Hopkins wrote to me to ask:
Might it be possible that this is actually an example of bad science, which just might have set out to prove a point, been subject to some kind of political interference and the might of the multinational food industry? Clearly it is very useful for some quite unpleasant institutions if we all believe organic farming is a waste of time. Might one argue that to believe that such a study is completely impartial and rigorous is somewhat naive? Might this report be an example of where we need to take what is presented as ‘good science’ with a rather large pinch of ‘organic’ salt?
In order to assess whether or not the review meets the highest standards of science, it is necessary to understand something about how science works, and this is an issue which goes right to the heart of what is wrong with environmentalism, because the movement in general is poorly informed about science, despite being dependent on it for assessing the general health of the environment. (more…)
The Mockery of Evidence-based Science July 23, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Health, Science and Rationaltiy, climate change , 12commentsBrilliant article here by John Gibbons in The Times making the same point that I have been making, linking climate change denial with Quackery and other types of pseudoscience.
When science is reduced to a game, anyone can play. Scientists say the arctic ice sheet is disappearing; I say they are stuffy old sausages; and besides, the world is actually getting colder. Maybe it is all about sunspots, or whatever other discredited theory can be shoehorned to match my intellectual whims. We trusted science to deliver dramatic improvements in health and life expectancy, as well as genuine technological advances . Now, at the time of our greatest peril, we have turned to the quacks, blow-hards and snake-oil salesmen. As Samual Beckett observed: “We are all born mad; some remain so”.
Fair to play to John for bringing this issue out into the mainstream press- and he gets extra marks for endorsing the brilliant Ben Goldacre.
Faith in Transition July 12, 2009
Posted by Graham in : General, Peak Oil, Science and Rationaltiy, Transition Towns, consciousness , 5commentsUpdate: 16/07/09
See Dan Dennett on “Belief in belief” here
Updates: I’ve just put a couple of updates for clarification and a couple more links. I’ve marked them in the text.
I also want to say, whatever about my concerns regarding the ideology behind Transition, there is heaps of great work being done in the movement, which is hugely influential in exploring responses to Peak Oil and Climate Change. I am particularly looking forward to reading the “Can Totnes District Feed Itself” report- I hope it has some recipes in it!
I paid a visit to a forum on Transition and permaculture over at Transition Culture recently- wow, I only just got out in time before they lynched me! Apparently, post-modern lunacy is alive and well in the Transition Land where in a very interesting discussion on Transition, Permaculture, inclusiveness and the like, it became apparent that some things are just not on the table for discussion- yes you guessed it, yours truly raised the old chestnut of the evils of faith and all Hell broke loose. I quickly found myself embroiled in a disappear-up-your-own backside post- modern attack on my freedom of speech and left the forum just before the hounds were let out to accuse me of “bashing people of faith”. (more…)
The Transition Timeline June 29, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Health, Peak Oil, Population, Powerdown, Science and Rationaltiy, Transition Towns, book review, climate change, community , 6comments
Book Review:
The Transition Timeline
for a local, resilient future
Shaun Chamberlin
Forward by Rob Hopkins
190 pp pbk
Chelsea Green 2009
The follow-up to Rob Hopkins’ seminal The Transition Handbook uses the method of “backcasting” from an envisioned future from which we create a timeline of how the transition to a more local, resilient world unfolded.
The first part goes through four different scenarios presented as “cultural stories” roughly along the same lines as the scenarios we are familiar with from Holmgren’s Future Scenarios, this time under the headings:
-Denial
-Hitting the Wall
-The Impossible Dream
-The Transition Vision
The transition approach is to look at these possible futures in terms of the cultural stories that we tell ourselves, the idea being that we have the power to make our own cultural stories and thereby empower ouselves to guide the future to a more desirable outcome:
Human Nature is the ability to choose our own path
The second part of the book takes a deeper look at the Transition Vision in the five areas of population and demographics; Food and Water; Electricity and Energy; travel and transport; Health and Medicine.
Each of these sections presents a thorough and well-researched overview of the current situation, ending with a Timeline of how we reached a more desirable situation by 2027.
At the back of the book Chamberlin states that “This book has not attempted to quantify the energy/emissions footprint of each aspect of the Transition Vision, but this represents a critical avenue for further work.”
Unfortunatley, this lack of analysis seriously compromises the usefulness of the book, as the projected scenarios may be widely implausible or purely aspirational. (more…)
