Denialism

Category: Denialism

  • Denialist comments—a brief analysis

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    MarkH
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    My recent post on a local “holistic” doctor brought a number of considered and interesting comments (all of whom are quite polite and patient, even when I disagree with them). Some of the issues deserve fleshing out. Heart disease is a major killer. Hypertension is one of the strongest risk factors for heart disease. In…

  • Bill Maher is a crank

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    MarkH
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    I must admit I have a love-hate relationship with Bill Maher. He is a funny guy, he is good at mocking some of the more ludicrous aspects of politics, and he has been an effective critic of this administration and some of its more egregious policies. However, I’ve also long held the position that both…

  • Presidential candidates and health care—watch them carefully

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    MarkH
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    Politically, I’m a leftie. That should be no surprise to anyone who knows me. But when it comes to science and medicine, my politics are irrelevant. Given that John McCain has already made some questionable public statements regarding vaccines and autism, this seems like a good time to see what the democrats are saying. Over…

  • Smoke and mirrors—cult medicine’s attack on science

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    MarkH
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    I generally enjoy Bill Maher. I mean, he seems like an ass, but I enjoy his shows—except when he talks about medicine. As any regular viewer knows, he regularly spouts the usual denialist canards about medicine. This week, he was interviewing Senator Arlen Specter, who, among other accomplishments, has survived Hodgkin’s Disease, a form of…

  • Why denialists ultimately fail

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    MarkH
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    Scientologists apparently have the answers to mental illness. HIV denialists swear that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS. But very few people are actually buying it—enough to cause trouble, surely, but the Tom Cruises and Peter Deusbergs of the world aren’t winning any Nobel Prizes. Why not? Because they offer nothing. HIV researchers and clinicians have emptied…

  • A history of denialism – Part II – Tobacco companies

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    MarkH
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    To continue to explain how terribly misguided Mooney and Nisbet are about ignoring denialist campaigns I think it’s time to go over the history of one of the most effective denialist campaigns ever. That is the concerted effort by the major tobacco companies (RJ Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, Lorillard, Phillip Morris, and British American Tobacco)…

  • A history of denialism – the ancients

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    MarkH
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    This week I think I’m going to spend some time discussing denialism throughout history. In part inspired by the recent attacks on some of the most effective scientific communicators we have by by Mooney and Matthew Nisbet, and PalMD’s post on some modern thinking by “ancients” I feel like it’s time to provide some more…

  • Obesity Crankery – A growing problem

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    MarkH
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    Recently, it seems there has been a backlash against medicine and the current knowledge of the relationship between diet, weight and overall health. I don’t actually believe this is directly the fault of scientists or doctors, who react to the trashy mainstream reporting of science with little more than the occasional raised eyebrow. However, many…

  • 60 Minutes on Calorie Disclosures

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    MarkH
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    Although we discussed this issue earlier, I can’t help to point to a new segment on 60 Minutes exploring the issue of whether big chain restaurants should have to disclose the amount of calories in their food products (Video). The denialism from the industry on this issue is pretty clear, but what’s interesting about the…

  • Why we don’t argue with denialists – the cartoon!

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    MarkH
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    From Cectic of course.