|
 |
 |
|
Two Views of the War on Cancer. A review of the books Pink Ribbon Blues:
How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women's Health and The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.
Skeptical Inquirer 35:3, May/June 2011, p. 56-7. Defending Isagenix: A Case Study in Flawed Thinking Do
those who comment on a blog even read the articles they are responding to? Here is a case study in emotional thinking,
ad hominem arguments, logical fallacies, irrationality, and imsinformation. Skeptical Inquirer 35:1, p.41-45. Power Balance Technology Carrying a Power Balance card in your pocket will supposedly improve your athletic performance and cure what ails you. The alleged mechanism ("frequencies" in an embedded hologram) is laughable pseudoscientific bunk. Skeptical Inquirer 34:3 p. 47-49. May/June 2010. http://www.csicop.org/si/show/power_balance_technology/ The One True Cause of All Disease Alternative practitioners constantly claim that conventional medicine treats only symptoms while they treat underlying causes. They've got it backwards. Skeptical Inquirer 34:1, p. 33-35. January/February 2010. "Playing by the Rules" It is useless for skeptics to argue with someone who doesn't play by the rules of science and reason. If no amount of evidence will change your opponent's mind, you are wasting your breath. Skeptical Inquirer 33:3, p. 42-44. May/June 2009. “We Couldn’t Say It in Print If It Wasn’t True”: Akavar’s Version of Truth in Advertising. An ad for a weight-loss product falsifies its own slogan by printing outright lies. An attempt to find the advertised “published research” becomes a surreal odyssey. Skeptical Inquirer, 32:5, 46-9. Sep/Oct 2008. Gary Schwartz’s Energy Healing Experiments: The Emperor’s New Clothes? Gary Schwartz says his experiments reveal our natural power to heal based on our ability to sense and manipulate human energy fields. Has he discovered scientific truths, or has he only demonstrated the human talent for self-deception? Skeptical Inquirer, 32:2, 47-51. Mar/Apr 2008. http://www.csicop.org/si/2008-02/hall.html Masaru Emoto’s Wonderful World of Water. It can read, listen to music, hear your thoughts, heal you, and create world peace. Skeptical Inquirer, 31:6, 49-51, 69. Nov/Dec 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_6_31/ai_n21092938 Fix Your Ruptured Disk without Surgery?: The Truth behind the Ads. A chiropractor makes impressive claims for a device to decompress the spine; the claims fail to stand up to scrutiny, but do provide some amusement. Skeptical Inquirer, 31:5, 47-9,69. Sep/Oct 2007. http://www.livescience.com/health/070927_skeptical_back_pain.html Critical Chiropractor, Inept Publisher. Book review of The P.R.E.S.T.O.N. Protocol for Back Pain: The Seven Evidence-Based Practices for Living Pain Free, by Preston H. Long. Skeptical Inquirer, 30:6, 56-7. Nov/Dec 2006. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_6_30/ai_n27049866 Teaching Pigs to Sing: An Experiment in Bringing Critical Thinking to the Masses. A skeptic encounters psychics, astrologers, and other strange creatures and discovers firsthand how they react to science and reason. Included: a fable about testing the Tooth Fairy. Skeptical Inquirer, 30:3, 36-9. May/Jun 2006. http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-03/thinking.html Spanish translation of Tooth Fairy fable Andrew Weil: Harvard Hatched a Gullible Guru. Book review of Natural Health, Natural Medicine: The Complete Guide to Wellness and Self-care for Optimum Health, by Andrew Weil. Skeptical Inquirer, 30:1, 56-7/ Jan/Feb 2006. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_30/ai_n26718255 Blind Spots, Brain Maps, and Backaches: A New Chiropractic Delusion. A new test that measures the size of the blind spot to detect altered brain function and correct it with chiropractic adjustments is a house of cards built on flawed logic and one unbelieveable experiment. Skeptical Inquirer, 28:6, 43-6. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_6_28/ai_n6361833 Oxygen is Good - Even When It's Not There. Alternative medicine's claims for the efficacy of supplemental oxygen are less than convincing - especially when the supplement contains no oxygen. Skeptical Inquirer, 28:1, 48-50,55. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_28/ai_111897968/pg_1 Wired to the Kitchen Sink: Studying Weird Claims for Fun and Profit. An evaluation of Dr. John Upledger's craniosacral therapy illustrates an exercise proposed for skeptics to develop critical thinking and a bettter understanding of human psychology. Skeptical Inquirer, 27:3, 46-8. May/June 2003. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cranial2.html |