Science Blogs Pseudo-Skeptics Crave Scientific Respectablity They Cannot Have

[Mirzam]

This one is strictly for the non-vaxers among us!  

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/science-blogs-pseudo-skeptics-crave-scientific-respectablity-they-cannot-have/

Quote:

When it comes to medicine, the problem Gorski and his readers have is that their ideas about the causes of disease and how to treat it are not based on science.  This explains the propensity for medical quacks and some of Science Blogs’ apologists for quackery to present medicine as some form of science and try to convince people that it is entirely safe and reliable when not.  They seem not to understand and have also entirely lost sight of the fact that the term “quack” is slang used to describe someone who practices medicine.

[Chicharronita]

Thanks for posting this.

Quote:

The stupid it burns.

 LOL. 

[Taximom5]

I like this comment on the bottom:

"Reblogged this on No Compulsory Vaccination and commented:
When pseudo-scientists can’t back-up their assertions about the safety and / or effectiveness of drugs and vaccines, their answer has always been to launch personal attacks on their opponents. These tactics are no longer working. Even those who support Western medicine are sickened by their lack of science and abusive tactics. Their days are numbered – society is waking up. And it isn’t before time either."

I clicked on the No Compulsory Vaccination link, too, and there's some good stuff there, too.

[kathymuggle]

Thanks, Mizram.

The article did point out that a lot of the writers on medical skeptic blogs were male.  I must admit I find it a little odd - all the male writers - the balance seems off.  I also wonder how many of them have kids.

Edited by kathymuggle - 11/18/12 at 6:10pm

[kathymuggle]

The thing I dislike the most about skeptic blogs is their total, pompous, 100% assertion that they are right and that anyone who does not think as they do are stoopid.  Yeah, cuz science is fixed, never changing and it never gets anything wrong (snort!).

Read this if your blood pressure is good - what some skeptics think of those who don't like skeptics.  The pompousness is astounding!

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/06/10/the-antiskeptics/

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

” they (anti-skeptics) are at least vaguely aware that you are up to something…that you are a bit more prone to correct some belief they have, or to introduce critically evaluated knowledge into the conversation, or to mention some dumb-ass thing someone is doing with the particular disdain that comes from knowing how wrong it is. 

 They may just be good at avoiding learning something new."

[lolliegee]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle 

Yeah, cuz science is fixed, never changing and it never gets anything wrong (snort!).

Ha!

[kathymuggle]

Ok, I am obviously bored tonight, as I am all over this thread…..

but I see some ardent pro-vaxxers/skeptics in #8 and #5.  I am sure they see non-vaxxers in some of these as well...

http://www.cracked.com/article_16605_the-8-most-obnoxious-internet-commenters.html

ETA:  I thought this was a good read - a person who know longer calls himself a skeptic and why….

http://plover.net/~bonds/nolongeraskeptic.html

Edited by kathymuggle - 11/18/12 at 3:51pm

[Taximom5]

Wow, great link, kathymuggle!

Some memorable quotes:

"Science has a high media profile and a powerful lobby group: in the midst of a global recession and sweeping government cuts, science funding has generally held up or even increased. Hi-tech corporations have massive wealth and influence, and their products are omnipresent and seen as ever more desirable. "

and 

"That's right: the nerds won, decades ago, and they're now as thoroughly established as any other part of the establishment. And while nerds a relatively new elite, they're overwhelmingly the same as the old: rich, white, male, and desperate to hang onto what they've got. And I have come to realise that skepticism, in their hands, is just another tool to secure and advance their privileged position, and beat down their inferiors."

That certainly clarifies a whole lot at scienceblogs dot com (which I would rather not click on because I'm starting to think it's something of a hate site).

[Chicharronita]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle 

ETA:  I thought this was a good read - a person who know longer calls himself a skeptic and why….

http://plover.net/~bonds/nolongeraskeptic.html

Fantastic essay. I especially enjoyed the "Medical Science" paragraph and his comments on alternative medicine and homeopathy. Here are some good excerpts:

Quote:

And even at their worst, the hucksters of mumbo-jumbo are only minor-league con artists. Their crimes pale next to those of our financial institutions [but notice how "skeptics" hardly ever take them on]

Quote:

Our political system, education and culture leave a lot of people marginalised, lost, impotent, irrelevant, and made to feel so daily. But these people are not complete idiots. They know something is wrong (though they're not sure what), they know they have been denied knowledge and power (though they're not sure by whom), they know that official life has left them on the scrapheap (though they're not sure why). They look at the reality that has been dealt to them and ask, can this be all there is? 

[midstreammama]

Chicha, that last quote..wow. Pretty powerful.