It never ceases to amaze me how utterly incapable some people are in admitting defeat. A few days ago, we recorded a bonus show reporting that a group of skeptics in Britain had staged a “mass suicide” at one of the largest pharmacy chain in the country. They consumed entire bottles of homeopathic “medicine” to demonstrate that they are no better than a placebo, arguing that Boots has no business selling what is essentially water as real medicine. Recently the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians responded by posting this up, and it’s worth a read if you want to have a good laugh:
Do these “skeptics” really think the public cares about Avogadro’s number [referring to the limit of how much substance is present in diluted form] when homeopathy has just significantly improved their toddler’s autism or offered help with any of a vast range of diseases which respond so well to homeopathic (and often not to conventional) treatment?
This is just another tantrum by the clueless wing of the scientific/medical community that can’t understand why the people don’t praise them for their ideological purity and courage, even when the fruits of their scientific labors rot like a brown banana. Note to protestors: maybe they’re just not that into you.
In other words, skeptics are big meanies who like to try and use science to ruin everyone’s good time. Don’t they know that people ignorant of the scientific method have continued to enjoy their products and attributed their body’s natural healing process to solutions that contain no trace amount of medicine at all? Who cares about intellectual integrity when you have “good feelings”?
Sad, just sad…
(props to James for the find)
February 8th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Well those Naturopaths should enjoy the further erosion of their credibility, then.
HOMEOPATHIC SOCIETY ‘MISLED’ MPS IN INQUIRY
http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/02/homeopathic-society-misled-mps-inquiry/
February 8th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I’ve been trying to follow this up a little and see what the mainstream media has made of it, and as far as I can tell they completely ignored it, it seems to be either skeptics or true believers on this no-one else has heard about it.
I challenge you to try and read this entire page, for me I got about 1/3 of the way down before the stupid got too much for me.
http://www.homeopathyworldcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/skeptics-1023am-january-30th
February 8th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
At least Canada is getting off it’s ass when it comes to this snake oil.
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2534645
February 8th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Actually this was pretty big in the UK – the 10:23 campaign was reported all over the UK press, and there were loads of people who turned out. I was one of Oxford’s “swallowers” – it was an awesomely fun day.
All over I thought that it got alot of support – largely because of some recent BBC show exposing the results of some rigorously done tests on the effect of homeopathic treatments on a bunch of cells. I also think it got alot of support because the government is cutting everything at the moment from Education to health to defence – and people are starting to ask why it spends some £200 million each year on homeopathy.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
If homeopathic or any other type of ‘alternative’ medicine actually worked, it would simply be called medicine.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Since it seems to be the lastest trend, I’ll post a link too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CccaGaKOlSI
February 8th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Been meaning to watch that Isaac, thanks!
I wondered briefly if they confused the english word homeopathy with the american word homeopathy, but it seems they haven’t. And remember since all water you drink has at some point come in contact with shit, it will make you constipated.
March 6th, 2010 at 5:00 am
It saddens me that the land of Dawkins and Hitchens could allow, let alone subsidize the manufacture and sale of water, cynically sold as medicine without even the false confidence of the sellers. Please, let’s not allow the same to pervade the remainder of the commonwealth nations which might support such nonsense.