- Homeopathic medicine overdosers survive unscathed – The 10:23 Campaign gets covered by NPR.
- Headless monk forces ride to be moved – “BOSSES at a British theme park have been forced to move a new ride after workers reported seeing what appeared to be a headless monk, Sky News reports.” From Sarah.
- Bill Nye on America’s “horrible” science education – “He’s anxious that science education ramps up too late and, of course, that teachers are intimidated out of teaching the good science of evolution and other controversial subjects.”
- Another teen endangered by “alternative medicine” – “The story takes place in Philadelphia, at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and it involves a most unfortunate 16-year-old wrestler named Mazeratti Mitchell, who suffered a spinal cord injury while wrestling.”
The comment thread on the Bill Nye article is such a sad concentration of ignorance.
“First, do no harm,” Hippocrates said. Doesn’t that prove the homeopathologicals are on the right track?
I posted about the homeopathy overdose on facebook, and got this response:
“Homeopathic medicine is, simplistically, like acupuncture in that its a constitutional energetic remedy (there no testable amount of the constituent, its diluted out). You could stick a ton of needl…es in someone on points and they wouldn’t die, similar to taking a remedy w/ no impact. Some would get better b/c that was the point (or in the case of homeopathy, the remedy) they needed, some might get worse b/c they were particularly susceptible to that remedy (or point), and the majority of people would have no results. One can’t over dose on it, just like one can’t OD on an acupuncture needle.”
How do you argue against magical thinking??
On the amusement park story:
Paranormal expert Jim Arnold, who carried out tests at the site, said that “results were picked up immediately, with orbs, ghostly images in photography and Ouija reaction results being strongest around the site where they were proposing to build Storm Surge”.
Paranormal “expert” Jim Arnold, who carried out hand-waving exercises at the site, said that “our preconcieved conclusions were “verified” immediately, with bunk, bullshit and gobbledygook results being strongest around the site where we wanted them to be strongest, where they were proposing to build Storm Surge”.
There, fixed that for them.
@mrmisconception: He added: “The amusement park expense accounts were large enough to conclude that the only explanation could be that an ancient burial ground or settlement was being disturbed, prompting the extra overtime charges on their bill.”
@scribe999 :D
One of the commenters on the headless monk story suggested that because it’s a water theme park in Britain that they needed to get as much free publicity as possible. It seems to be the most plausible answer.
I cannot believe that I never subscribed to Bill Nye’s blog so I did that immediately. However, when I went to billnye.com I saw this:
Did you know that… Some blogs on Earth formed tens of thousands of years ago at the end of the last Ice Age?
I had to shake my head and say, WTF? Blogs were formed in the ice age? Needless to say I had to re-read it to get the right quote.
On the amusement park story:
Oh boy why didn’t Thorpe Park just make a competition about it? On the ride if when you get your photo at the end of the ride and a headless monk win a prize! Win a bigger prize if you give him bunny ears
On a side note it looks like mrmisconception has evolved into a human but don’t you miss being able to fly?
Homeopathic medicine overdosers survive unscathed
No, no, no homeopathy works on dilution you can’t over dose but you can underdose.
@dave_301
Well yes, but I got tired of eating only worms. ;)
I’m sure that they will be able to catch the headless monk in a cargo net, and when they pull back the hood they’ll find the contractor building the ride who was trying to get paid double to take the ride down and move it twenty feet or so and put it right back up again.
And he would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling skeptics.
Jinkies!
@hall of justice
Like, good call Scoob!
@grumblekitty: “How do you argue with magical thinking?”
Seriously. More like “how do you argue with word salad”?
Ancient British burial ground? What, are they worried the headless monk won’t queue properly?
RE: Bad science education
It will remain bad so long as the majority of public schools retain a curriculum established in the 19th century.
38 years ago I took 10th grade biology. I sketched the cell during anaphase and sliced up the frog.
And didn’t learn shit from it. I learned better anatomy from my uncle when he field dressed a deer.
I would hazard biology has 1000 times the complexity of inorganic chemistry, and chemistry 100 times that of physics.
Teaching biology before chemistry and chemistry before physics is the equivalent of starting a beginning violinist on Paganini and working toward “Mary had a little lamb”.
By teaching biology first, schools present a melange of facts that must be accepted “on faith” as their understanding requires knowledge not scheduled until Homecoming week of the senior year.
Small wonder that a majority of students cling to the “It just is” explanations they’ve received in sunday school.
Without physics/ chemistry, meiosis is not just marvelous, it’s miraculous.