Dowsing and Alternative Medicine Anyone?
April 3, 2008
Whenever I see a new flyer about on campus that advocates classes for things debunked long ago, I worry that I will lose so much touch with reality that I’ll begin walking into walls.
Most recently, there’s been a little yellow flyer for a “Dowsing 101″ class. It’s not actually something you can register for through the college. It’s being done by the “Crypto-Science Society” and presumably you show up, pay them, and learn how to use unbent coathangers dowsing rods.
Dowsing is the skill of using one’s intuition through the use of specialized tools to locate things such as underground water, oil wells, Archaelogical sites, and gold.
Dowsing has led to the discovery of some of our most productive wells with 96% accuracy.
Inconveniently, no source was provided for that last statistic.
Dowsing has already been debunked by James “The Amazing” Randi.
Actually, that’s not the only video of water dowsing being debunked.
Oh, but that’s not the only shit that my splendid campus has to offer… oh no indeed…
The Metropolitan State College of Denver offers an “Integrative Therapeutic Practices” degree which involves alternative medicine. You learn about acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, and guess what? That stuff has been debunked too!
I could be more detailed about exactly why a lot of the junk that they’re teaching is just dumb, but that’s for another time and for now I have provided links to The Skeptic’s Dictionary for information on it. The point I want to make is the very definition of alternative medicine is medicine that has not undergone rigorous scientific testing.
Personally, I think that it ought to be a college’s responsibility to make sure that what they’re teaching is not going to be stuff that’s already been proven false… especially if they’re teaching that bull shit as having practical applications. And when those practical applications involve getting neccessities…
I would not trust a generation of college graduates who wanted to use dowsing to get our water, oil, gold, and artifacts for the benefit of science. I would not trust a generation of college graduates who think that their untested treatments of disease are suitable for my health. What happens if their techniques fail (and I have reason to believe that they will)? Imagine the panic, chaos, and disaster that would result from failure to find what we are searching for when we are in dire need of resources. Imagine how many people’s health may be damaged by these untested or disproven medicines. Not to mention the damage done to this generation’s understanding of science.
No, society might not come crashing down… Dowsing isn’t really a profession that they’ll train for and there are other ways of getting water besides knowing where to drill for wells. There are still students going through real medical school who will become real doctors…
But damage can and will be done by ignorant students.
But that’s why colleges, especially public universitites, need to be held accountable for what they put in the minds of tomorrow’s leaders, scientists, and thinkers.
By the way, both the Crypto-Science Society and whoever is running the “Therapeutic Integrative Practices” program are eligible for the new MSCD Paranormal Challenge.
Fitna Pulled from Internet. Again.
March 29, 2008
Alas, my Friday has been ruined by news brought to my attention by Chicken Girl.
I’m not sure if anything proves that Islam is fascist better than its ability to terrorize internet hosting providers into silencing the truth about it.
Fitna was a short 16 minute film made by a Dutch MP named Geert Wilder who wanted to expose Islam for the violent, anti-democratic religion that it is. His hosting provider, Network Solutions, pulled his website after hearing news that he was making it. But, it finally got released on Live Leak yesterday until… today. It just got pulled… again…
On top of that, everybody from overly-liberal commentors on online articles to the UN are denouncing it as ‘hate speech.’
Here’s the video on Google Video which survived for your viewing pleasure. It’s rather gruesome so it’s not for the faint hearted and viewer discretion is advised.
Again, this is people getting pissed off just because somebody is bad-mouthing some religion. If somebody made the same documentary about nazism, would it still get the same reaction?
You’ll notice in the documentary that he is not just making random hate speech directed at Muslims, he’s making a plea to Muslims to renounce the violent aspects of the Quran.
Of course, the Muslims are just sending violent threats to the people willing to keep it on the Internet which pretty much proves the thesis of the film.
Islam is proving itself to be violent and anti-freedom and they’re whining about hate speech?
Geesh…
I Accidentally Went to a Bible Study Group
February 24, 2008
Yes, I know. How do you accidentally go to a Bible study group?
Well, I suppose I was kind of unintentionally forced… er… that sounds even more oxymoronic, but bear with me. Last night, my mum forced me to go see a movie they were showing on campus. What she didn’t know was that it was put on by one of the Christian organization. The movie in question was Amazing Grace (the title couldn’t have given her any clue as to the nature of the organization!), which was about the abolitionist movement in Britain and it’s religious motivations.
Although it had religious overtones, it was still a good movie, though the chair I was sitting in was a bit uncomfortable…
Anyway, afterwards, they divided us into little groups to discuss the movie. They printed out a sheet of movie questions, reminiscent of the movie questions teachers give to the class to make sure that they were paying attention.
At one point, they asked the question “If your society supports slavery, how can you change it?”
I said the secular thing to say. “Tell your society why they are wrong.”
“But why is slavery wrong?” they replied, in an attempt to force the discussion in a religious direction.
“You’re obviously causing needless suffering on to human beings which should be stopped.” An obvious answer, but unsatisfactory. The answer they were looking for was…
“People should not belong to people. People should belong to God.”
“I just think that people should belong to themselves” I retorted, and there were some awkward laughs as they took the discussion back in a secular direction.
But honestly, if they have to say that people belong to God, or that God created all men equal to prove that slavery is wrong, Christians have got some pretty lame morals. Slavery is wrong because nobody should belong to anybody. Slavery is wrong because nobody should be forced to work for other people. Slavery is wrong because it’s torturous. Slavery is wrong because it causes terrible suffering. Anybody who’s studied it and has any form of decent moral values should know that it’s wrong.
Why Christians are so desperate to make it seem like they have the best reasons why slavery is of interest to me. Perhaps it’s simply another “religious values are better than secular values” thing… but maybe there’s also a bit of guilt in the fact that the only restrictions the Bible places on slave ownership is that you can’t damage their eyes or their teeth.
Sorry to burst your sanctimonious-secularism-sucks bubble.
I Got Accused of Being a Nazi Today
January 30, 2008
This was written more for my Speech & Debate teacher who wanted a written account of why I had started crying in class today, but it tells all.
Today in History, we were talking about Jim Crow. This got me on a chain of thought about the KKK, which got me on a chain of thought about Hitler, and eugenics. Though these first two sentences seem unrelated to what upset me in class today, I find it much more thorough to describe all the events leading up to it, and it sounds better to start out in History class than it is to say that I was thinking about eugenics for no particular reason.
Anyway, I was thinking about eugenics and why, ultimately, it failed. Obviously, it’s unethical, and racist. Highly esteemed people like Ben Stein also like to say that the idea of eugenics came from Darwin’s theory of evolution. But as I was thinking about it, I realized that the racist part of eugenics was group selectionist.
Group selection is an out dated theory that says that groups with certain traits are selected against other groups, in the same way that individuals are selected against other individuals. An example would be a tribe that has individuals within it who are inclined towards martyrdom. This tribe would win more battles against other tribes, and would become more dominant. However, if an individual in this tribe did not possess a genetic tendency towards martyrdom, they would survive longer and produce more off spring, and group selection therefore did not work. The publication of The Selfish Gene in 1976 effectively debunked group selection and stressed that it was the genes of individuals that were being selected. Nowadays, if a biologist tries to use group selection as an explanation of something they (usually) get laughed at.
I found great humor in Hitler’s use of group selection in his eugenics projects (which I now realize is really not something to be laughed at) and, knowing that Ilana had read the same book that I had, knew that she would understand the joke of saying “Hitler was a group selectionist.” After all, creationists love to say that Hitler got his ideas for eugenics from Darwin, and therefore evolution should not be taught. If you say that Hitler got his ideas from group selection, it makes the whole thing look even sillier.
So, I waited until 8th period, when I remembered that I wanted to remind myself to tell her that I had had an amusing (like I said, it doesn’t seem quite as amusing now) thought and I said “Ilana, today in History, I realized that Hitler was a group selectionist.” She giggled a bit, as was expected, but Matt also heard it, and not knowing what group selection is (not that anybody else in that class of highly well informed freshmen knew what I meant by group selection) thought that I was saying that Hitler was good.
The “Lucia is a neo-Nazi” meme spread like wild fire in that corner of the classroom, and I tried my best to correct the assumption. The fact that I had started laughing partly at the original joke, partly at the stupidity of the classroom, did not help much.
Comments ranged from “Lucia! I’m Jewish! I take offense to that,” to, “Don’t bring Esserman into this! He’s Jewish too!”
Lindsey perked up, gave me a very cold look and said very soberly “That is so inappropriate, talking about Hitler like he’s a good person.”
Part of the reason why I took greater offense to this is I suspect that Lindsey is judging me for my religion, or lack thereof. I cite the time I confronter her about not opening the door for us. I said, “I’m just philanthropic like that.” She replied “No. You don’t believe in God because you think that you’re smarter than everybody else. That’s not being philanthropic, that’s being selfish.” Despite the lack of connection between being egotistic (I try not to be) and altruistic behavior, she got complimented by several people in that corner of the room for the comment.
However, it did almost seem like she was perking up because she has been convinced by the good ‘ol “Hitler was an Atheist!” propaganda… I’m skeptical that this is the reason she demonstrates such behavior towards me, however, and I can’t exactly prove it. But, I don’t even recall having a conversation with Lindsey prior to that point when she said I was selfish for not believing in God. I can’t really think of any other reason why she seems to hate me.
But what really set me off was that I’m stuck in this vast sea of ignorance, filled with waves of intolerance. It’s not the prolonged exposure to it that has been bothering me so much lately as to cause me to break down like I did. It’s just that I’ve been consciously acknowledging it more. After all, I did just get a book on anti-intellectualism.
If all I had to do to get accused of being a neo-Nazi was not believe in God (again, that’s not necessarily the reason) and breathe the word ‘Hitler’ along with another word that people don’t understand… It’s just depressing.
I don’t think that I really need to leave my Speech & Debate class just because of this. I just need to figure out a new way of coping. Yes, it’s tempting to just get my GED, drop out, and go to college… but I couldn’t exactly get into a place that would be more intellectually friendly like that. Maybe Metro… probably not CU… and I definitely could not get into a highly selective university like that…
Ok, I’ll give you brave… But he’s not standing firm for what he believes in… he’s dead.
I should think that some people would be disturbed to know that a human being can refuse medical treatment as a minor because of a religion that it can be argued that he did not choose, having been indoctrinated by his mother. But I think that the most disturbing and sad part of this whole incident is that not only the judge, but also the doctors supported his decision.
Just in case anybody says that I should sympathize with the boy because I’m 14 as well and I have strong opinions, I do acknowledge that a great deal of what I believe now (including most of these blog entries) are things that I will quite possibly strongly disagree with when I’m in college and even later in life.
But no matter what age I am, I still have a fear of being brainwashed by bastards like the boy’s mum. I have told all my friends that if I ever join a cult, I’m giving them permission to get me back by any means necessary, no matter how many human rights they have to violate… as long as they don’t kill me. This is only the friends whose judgment I trust, of course…
But the point is, I have enough sense to know that sometimes the judgment of the people around me is better than my own, and I think that if there were some rational me existing outside of the body of a Jehovah’s Witness me, I would have desperately wanted them to stop me from killing myself.
And those doctors who supported him… I’ll tell you what. If I were a doctor, I wouldn’t care if I lost my job, if I got sued, or even if some sort of Jehovah’s Witness fatwa was put on me (if such a thing existed.) I would sedate the boy, and personally stick the damn needle in his arm.
It would be the right thing to do. If I’m going to kill him passively, I might as well be putting the bullet in his head myself.
Of course, a few years from now I might look at this post in retrospect and think that I was the next best thing to Hitler.
Thankfulness
November 23, 2007
Mm… Thanksgiving. One of the best times of the year. No school, large meals, friends, family… and thankfulness.
So, I take it upon myself to share the short list of things that I’m thankful for.
1. Richard Dawkins
No, seriously. I know the man is hated, but he spontaneously offered to get me in touch with a speaker from his foundation to come speak to my CFI-On Campus group. I’ve been thinking about bringing one in for some time but I didn’t think we’d have the funds to do so. That’s a random act of kindness right there. Dawkins > Falwell. That, and his books have really helped me appreciate life and science even more than I used to. I’ve always liked science, and I’ve never been emo, so that’s saying something.
2. Living in a non-third-world country
I get to spend my time reading, watching TV, and doing fun stuff… Other people have to sit on a street corner and beg all day. Not only do I live in the States, I also have parents who provide me with food, a roof, and all the other comforts…
3. Living now, as opposed to in the Dark Ages
Technically, if I were living in the Dark Ages, they couldn’t kill me for being an Atheist for another two years until I turned sixteen, but I’m still glad that I live in a time when I don’t necessarily have to worry about someone trotting out an antiquated blasphemy law. Well, at least I hope they don’t. All I have to put up with is the awkward silences and the dirty looks… not the angry mobs with torches and pitchforks. Also, I have the benefit of living in a time when the scientific method has been developed. Not only are my living conditions greatly improved, but I also understand the world and get to experience the reality of it without having to fill in every blank with “God did it, God did it, God did it.” Most people don’t take advantage of this… *cough* Creationists *cough*
In addition:
4. Ice Cream
5. Chocolate, especially in the form of brownies and cookies.
6. Rainbows, and other pretty things.
7. Being alive.
I think that that covers it in a nut shell…
The last thing I want to talk about is this…
The definition of thankfulness if not only to express gratitude, but to hold responsible for. What the dictionary means by that is like… when you say “thank you” or something… What I’d like to point out is that I often hear people say “I thank God for saving me from cancer” or “thank God for ______.” What I see especially often is people saying grace before eating their food. They used to make me do it in Girl Scouts and often overreacted whenever I started eating before they said it…
“OH MY GOD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!? THEY HAVEN’T SAID IT YET! BAD BAD BAD!”
I eventually learned to restrain myself from picking up little crumbs and eating them just to be amused by their reactions, but the main issue I had with saying grace was that it seemed to take the credit away from the person who actually brought the snack. The grace we most commonly said went along the lines of this…
“We thank you for our food, Lord. Our family, friends, and you, Lord. We thank you for our food, Lord, to get us through the day.”
Of course, God did not just put everything in front of you. Normally, some organism (plant, or animal) had to be grown for a long period of time, before it was killed, and shipped off to your store. Somebody had to work for x amount of time to gain the money necessary to purchase the food, and then possibly had to work for x amount of time to prepare it so that it would be edible and tasty. You can thank your family for being kind and caring (at least, I hope that yours are), and your friends for being your friends.
The point is, to be truly thankful, I think you have to thank the right people and right things… and sometimes there isn’t really a reason why you have something to be thankful for except luck. Instead of thanking God for the vaccine that kept you from getting polio, thank medical science. Instead of thanking God for your food, thank your parents or food provider, or yourself if you provided the food. If you have something to be thankful for, there often is a person directly responsible for it. Don’t deprive them of credit.
