Yes it is true. I live with, and will be marrying, a scientist (and a very scientisty scientist at that - he positively DRIPS with science from all parts of his body, particularly his gigantic brain - but is also able to chop down trees/build a vegetable garden/organise roadtrips round California/speak 4 languages/make compost, etc). At least once a day great gusts of laughter shoot out of him as he reads yet another claim about 'detox' or 'aligning meridians' or 'kinesthesiology' or some such nonsense; it is as if all these things, and particularly homeopathy, were invented merely to amuse him, in the same way that things like comedians and comic papers amuse other people.
I often squeak a bit about the time a physiotherapist cured my frozen shoulder by sticking a needle in it ("right, this is sort of acupuncture and it's the last resort, and I'm not guaranteeing anything"), but generally I agree, for there is such a thing as Reason, and whereas acupuncture sort of makes sense, homeopathy does not make sense and 'detox' makes least sense of all. (Please do watch the film from Sense about Science and laugh and laugh!)
My best friend once gave a session with a Reiki 'massage therapist' for Christmas (sadly, it was not administered by this person, who does Reiki massage AND animal training - which definitely makes sense). It was very pleasant in an "Islington-aromatherapy-candles-and-upmarket-whale-moanings" way, but - as is the way with Reiki massage - couldn't really be described as a massage, as it did not involve actual touching. As this useful article explains, "The practitioner holds his or her hands a few inches or farther away from the patient's body and manipulates the energy field from there". Quite brilliant, I am sure you will agree.
But I digress. There is not much to say other than the book I show above, Bad Science by Dr Ben Goldacre, fell into my hands a few weeks ago thanks to an unheated branch of WHSmith at St Pancreatitis station. I knew he would find it interesting, but little did I know that it would also cause the scientist with whom I live to shout with laughter, much in the same way that the simple-minded used to shout with laughter at Mr Blobby.
And now I am reading it, and it is brilliant. If you did now know this already, it is the work of Dr Ben Goldacre, who has a column in The Guardian called - yes, you have guessed it! - Bad Science. He is a hot tamale AND he is really clever AND he thinks "Dr" Gillian McKeith is an idiot! I love him, and am spending a very great part of the day looking at things on his website, particularly this very very funny piece, in which someone making a lot of money out of peoples' insecurities and ignorance is exposed as a total knobber.Enjoy, my friends, and remember: if it doesn't make sense, it may not be true.
Coming soon: Does God exist?
7 comments:
Hoorah! For some reason BBC America was running the Gillian woman back to back with Kim and Aggie right when I was doing some intensive project work from home. So I would be happily tweaking bezier curves and pondering whether it would be morally bankrupt to use a reflection gimmick on a pitch since I KNOW it'll help sell it and suddenly this vicious little blonde would be moaning about the consistency of some poor idiot's poo (I bring up the Kim and Aggie connection because for a whole two days it amused me to hear the shrieks from these women who never, ever seemed to get over their surprise of being called into an utterly horrific mess. Also - WHY do they keep smelling things they know are cat shit?).
The whole idea of shoving a pipe up someone's bum and calling the results science...
It's a good book that :).
The only bit I had trouble with was his suggestion I try to look at my sperm through a microscope.
I neither have the apparatus nor the apparatus.
Gillian McKeith is the craziest bitch on TV. And not in that good way, either.
Science! the best stuff ever!
I enjoyed that book very much too, and so did my Dad. My homeopathy-loving mother on the other hand, didn't want to partake. Science rules!
Sadly, people want quick fixes. Or to believe that there's some magical ingredient. Detox your system by eating properly? What? Are you mad? Detox your system by slathering some shit on your face and eating properly at the same time? More likely to work on the general public in this day and age, yes?
All things being equal - science or no - I think that each of us works in different ways. Less self-awareness = higher reliance on drugs and other people to fix things, more self-awareness = openmindedness to trying new things, changing the self to promote health and paying more attention to what our bodies are trying to tell us. I think an argument can be made for both sides - science? common sense? quick, temporary band-aid or long-term change?
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