/The onset of reason, part 0.1

The onset of reason, part 0.1

Getting the “quacks” in a row!

I was wondering if it’s worth it for me to jump in the messy fight with quackery and pseudoscience in my pristine-all-sciency blog (pat-pat). Then, I figured – I am already doing it on other platforms, albeit little passively, so why not do it here – actively. Here I can share my opinions unobstructed by the number of symbols, or political correctness or whatever else I feel inhibits me elsewhere. And also, I’m learning to accept that however many reasonable people are out there who would think twice before believing some urban-legend, there are just as many “boys who cried wolf” people reinforcing that legend to back their agendas. Plenty of people just don’t know who to believe and why. Many just end up on the wrong web page in the search of valuable, scientifically backed, and yet accessible information on why they should accept one theory over another. So the more of us are vocal against fraud and misleading info, the better chances everyone has to be spared the exposure to it.

So, here I am with a new series of posts – “The onset of reason”. Let me just put it out there – I am not a debunking specialist, and I am not an all-understanding mind, when it comes to science or medicine myths. BUT I am interested in why they happen to be and persist, AND I simply have access to scientific literature, which I am curious to examine and try provide a science-backed opinion on why is something a fraud or a fact.

As real life in the lab keeps moving with a head-spinning speed, I have less and less time to write on here, but just as before, I am open to suggestions and discussions, and this will not be a fixed-in-time regularly-occurring series in my blog. Nonetheless, I hope you’d have as much fun as me reading, and would learn as much as I about what makes various quackeries so appealing to so many unsuspecting people.

As this is just an opening post, I’d like, for myself and for you, to introduce what ”quackery” is. I find the most entertaining explanation of the term in the “Why is a Fake Doctor Called a Quack?” post in Mental Floss, and Wikipedia:

the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices”.

And while home remedies can very well be of help, hundreds of years of science and medicine development must have led us away from witchcraft instead of bringing us back to it. So stay tuned for fun, and hopefully useful, shining-a-light on weird practices!