Quickies
Skepchick Quickies, 7.1
Sorry for the delay today! The links are still good, I promise.
- Paleontology and creationism meet but don’t mesh. (Thanks to Tim.)
- Cracking the autism riddle. Or, you know, not. (Thanks to Whitebird.)
- Hey, a homeopathic cure that actually works. (Thanks to Pete.)
- In case you needed reminding, don’t listen to psychics.
I hate it that I didn’t think of the one condition homeopathy can unequivocally cure. Think of the billions to be made selling this cure.
Re the psychics:
“They are like a cancer doctor who tells a cancer victim they can cure them, when they know they really can’t, just to get the victim’s money,†he said.”
O, you know…. like a guy who is hanging around outside the clinic in need of a bath telling you he knows how to cure your cancer.
@The Skepdick: I can’t wait until they sell the dehydrated version!
Gah, Jen, totally screwing up my morning routine…;)
@MiddleMan: Dammit! Another idea I missed! Just imagine how easy it would be to carry in your pack.
If I mix together a bunch of homeopathic remedies and make a homeopathic preparation out of that, will it cure me of homeopathy?
@marilove: I know, I suck. I suddenly have meetings first thing in the morning now! What the hell is that all about?
I skimmed the autism link. I can’t help but notice they emphasize that these chemicals haven’t been fully evaluated as to their effects on the fetuses and pregnant women, yet at the same time they’re highly concerned about the rise in autism caused…by the unevaluated chemicals? The language is weird.
It gets weirder when it starts turning into a psycho-feminist rant by throwing around the term “extra-male.” I wasn’t aware mental retardation was a male attribute, or maybe I’m just taking offense where I shouldn’t be, and it was just weird language used in the article again….
@Jen: Oh, it’s not big deal! And that suuuucks.
Our corporate office is in Rhode Island. I work in Arizona. Rhode Island is 3 hours ahead. They like to make “9am conference calls”. Rhode Island time. That’s 6am Arizona time.
Also, the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend, I had a report due at 9am … Rhode Island time. And I couldn’t run another report to complete the report until Monday. Which was a Holiday. So I had to come in at 5am so that I could have it done by 6am our time.
FUN TIMES.
I feel sorry for the people in Hawaii having to deal with the time differences. O_o
@Marilove
Not much fun the other way either. Our head office is in Texas and they like to arrange 4pm/5pm conference calls so I often have to stay till 7pm. So far I’ve managed to avoid having those calls on the same days I’m in at 6am to talk to the dev team in the UK.
I don’t ever feel sorry for people in Hawaii.
I did pick up on the one problem that homeopathy can fix. The dehydrated water idea was used, many years ago, on the BBC program Blue Peter for an April Fools day prank. In that case the dehydrated water pills were activated by sunlight. They included a fake news report that a truck carrying crates of dehydrated water pills had overturned and accidentally flooded a nearby village.
Christ, just thinking about the Creation Museum makes me angry. I can’t imagine how those scientists managed to walk through the whole thing. Especially, since one of the prominent messages at that place is “The subject you are passionate about and have studied for most of your life is responsible for every bad thing that’s happened in the past 150 years.”
And poor Mr. Sato, those rocks he’s been studying in Japan must have been conspiring to keep him in the dark, otherwise he’d know about the flood from the bible thanks to all the evidence that supposedly supports it, right?! /snark
@NoAstronomer: “I don’t ever feel sorry for people in Hawaii.”
Hahahaha, I guess I have to agree. When the company I work for bought some other company out, it included Hawaii. A boss of mine recently went for a WEEK … paid. His wife was like, “Do not tell me anything at all about the trip or I will kill you in your sleep!” lol
That’s a riot. While I was waiting for the link to load I was thinking to myself the only thing homeopathy can cure for sure is thirst. And presto!
@Skepchicks
I shall always be grateful for your quickies
I shall not be sad when you withhold on me
In a pinch there is always Bad Astronomies
Did we ever promise exclusivity?
@LtStorm: I’ve heard autism referred to as an “extreme male brain” by some reputable researchers. I don’t really buy that description, it seems an oversimplification of a complex range of disorders.
I also have to take issue with you describing autism as mental retardation (it’s becoming an outdated term because of it’s negative connotations but common enough still). While some people with autism have mental retardation many do not have the below average cognitive function that defines retardation. Vice versa many with mental retardation (like my uncle who was born with FAS) do not have autism and are very sociable.
Water isn’t actually homeopathic though. Water doesn’t cause thirst, therefore it can’t cure it.
I, too, cannot stand that damn creation museum. 3/4 of a BILLION people lied to already. So now, not only are those fools at the discovery institute still spreading their disinformation, they are getting rich doing it. Grrrr
On a related note, I understand PZ will be visiting the “museum” with a bunch of his minions when he returns from Germany. That ought to be interesting.
@Bevans: At one time, all the molecules of your body were in proximity of water molecules, here and ther, and hither and yon besides.
Gradually, the water molecules disappeared through various processes. The molecules of your body remember their pleasant, enjoyable association with water molecules, and begin pining for it. Thus — thirst.
It is safe to conclude, that had the molecules of your body never been in contact with water molecules, they would not pine for the lost contact, and you would not experience thirst at all.
@Bevans: I think it was the sodium chloride that was the homeopathetic ingredient that caused the thirst. The H2O, as usual, was just the dilutent (delusion?) vehicle.
@Skepotter:
“It is safe to conclude, that had the molecules of your body never been in contact with water molecules, they would not pine for the lost contact, and you would not experience thirst at all.”
There is every chance, however, that a water molecule in your body right now once graced @Jen’s left nostril and still misses her terribly.
@DataJack: Uh, 750,000 is 3/4 of a Million.
Unless you’re British…
@MiddleMan: Oops! Anger makes the maths hard!
@Bevans: It’s the vanishingly small amount of sodium chloride in the water that makes it a homeopathic cure for thirst rather than a non-homeopathic cure for thirst.