Joe Schwarcz’s new book Quack Quack is an informative and entertaining look at quackery and pseudoscience past and present. A delightful read. Dr. Joe Schwarcz, the Director of McGill University’s Office of Science and Society, has written many books (seventeen by my count) mostly explaining the chemistry of everyday life.… read more "Quack Quack"
Stupid Videos and Marketing Ploys
Purveyors of so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) don’t have any credible scientific evidence. If they did, their treatments would not be called “alternative” but would have been accepted into mainstream practice and would just be called “medicine.” They tend not to appreciate science or even to understand it. They… read more "Stupid Videos and Marketing Ploys"
Energy Medicine Pain Relief Patches Are Laughable Quackery
There’s no acceptable scientific evidence that these patches work to relieve pain. The advertising features pseudoscientific energy medicine gibberish. Good for a laugh, but not to be believed. This book is titled “Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis. But there is no scientific basis. Recently I have seen numerous ads for… read more "Energy Medicine Pain Relief Patches Are Laughable Quackery"
European Manifesto Against Pseudo-Therapies
A new organization in Spain is trying to protect patients from becoming victims of pseudoscience. They have prepared a manifesto. Spain is standing up for science A manifesto has been organized by the Spanish organization APETP, which translates as the Association to Protect the Sick from Pseudoscientific Therapies. The organization has… read more "European Manifesto Against Pseudo-Therapies"
Luminas: Unbelievable Claims About Pain Relief
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. The claims for the Luminas pain relief patch are not just unscientific; they defy common sense. It’s quantum quackery. This will be a short post about a product that doesn’t deserve even this much attention. Recently my Facebook… read more "Luminas: Unbelievable Claims About Pain Relief"
The Scientific Attitude, Not the Scientific Method, Is the Key
A philosopher of science argues that science is not characterized by a specific scientific method but by the scientific attitude. Scientists value empirical evidence and follow the evidence wherever it leads. They are open to changing their mind rather than stubbornly clinging to an ideological belief system. Science is under… read more "The Scientific Attitude, Not the Scientific Method, Is the Key"
Pseudoscience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy
This new book addresses the neglected field of research on child and adolescent psychotherapy and does an excellent job of distinguishing treatments that have been proven to work from treatments that are based on pseudoscience. Pseudoscience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy: a Skeptical Field Guide is a new book with… read more "Pseudoscience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy"
How to Know What’s Really Real
Review of book: The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake, by Steven Novella et al. There are many classics of skeptical literature. We often hear how someone became a skeptic because they read a book by Carl Sagan, James… read more "How to Know What’s Really Real"
Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy Against Science
We live in a post-truth, anti-intellectual world where intuition, “common sense,” and fake news are often preferred to scientific evidence and where pseudoscience is often presented as valid science. Assuming that truth exists and is worth searching for, and that science is our most reliable tool in that search, how… read more "Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy Against Science"
Announcing: Video Lecture Course on Science-Based Medicine
A couple of years ago, the James Randi Educational Foundation commissioned me to develop a series of 10 video lectures on Science-Based Medicine. After a lot of work and many vicissitudes, it is now available. The lecture titles are: Science-Based Medicine vs. Evidence-Based Medicine What Is CAM? Chiropractic Acupuncture Homeopathy Naturopathy and… read more "Announcing: Video Lecture Course on Science-Based Medicine"