Mary

A lot of honesty there. Us skeptics aren’t immune to confirmation bias. We’re people, and we make all the same social mistakes, leaps of logic, and unscientific assertions as everyone else.

All we have is an intent to avoid doing so as a central tenet.

“All we have is an intent to avoid doing so as a central tenet.”

YES! And thanks.

Hmm. My own take on the whole gluten thing is – OK, we know there is a clear genetic disorder that causes problems. Only… we are only **just now** looking at some oddities that may arise as a result of differences in gut bacteria, so… there *is* a possible vector for additional sensitivity problems, related to the same class of foods, and it thus could be from differences in something for which he have done almost jack all of any kind of real research on. That said… I very, very, very, much doubt that dang near every other person I talk to has a sensitivity problem, but, some days at least, it appears as though that comes close to the number of people trying to give me, or someone else, where I work, advice on how much better they feel, now that they became semi-obsessive over gluten.

The only good thing about the whole mess is that eventually we are almost certainly going to be able to do targeted gene replacements, and its only going to be the gene-fearful equivalent of anti-vaxers who will still even need gluten free, and other similar things. The rest can just fix the bloody gene(s). So, in the long run, this is all just a bloody temporary irritant, I hope…

I love the way that article starts with a leap straight from “we don’t currently have any evidence” to “it is conclusively proved” without any intervening evidence. Then proceeds to talk about skeptics who get their logic wrong.

But that’s of a piece with a rattle-off-the-usual dismissal of something that the skeptic has decided is annoyingly irrational and therefore beneath their attention. Yes, they make valid points about common fallacies, but they don’t link those to the actual article very well. Or maybe that’s just me writing off what evidence they have based on them being so horribly wrong in their starting premise.

What I don’t understand is, why do people even care so much about what other people have chosen for their diets? You don’t actually need gluten to have a healthy diet, so if someone wants to do without it, so what? I think it’s fair enough to point out that gluten sensitivity may not be a thing, but if the person wants to be gluten-free anyway, then … Oh well? And in fact, someone pointed out to me recently that the rise in gluten-free dieters has led to a rise in gluten-free products and gluten-free menu items in restaurants, which is fantastic for people who have celiac disease. People who in the recent past had a hard time finding things they could without destroying their innards, and forget about eating socially — now have a lot more options, which I think is pretty cool. If some of the people popularizing this way of eating don’t actually need to eat that way, I find it hard to care too much.

Ingredients: anything at all*

*this statement not evaluated by the FDA.

I know some who works in as quality control for one of the supplement manufacturers. They do indeed do testing and follow guidelines to make sure they’re not putting allergens into the supplements and that they do contain what they’re supposed to. The powdered rice and sand are to make the material go through the machines more smoothly. She said the New York lab making these claims is using a new, unvalidated testing method.

“real grievances about issues such as bias in family courts”

I thought I read recently that this was a myth, that women do not really have an advantage in family court. (Unfortunately I cannot find the link to this information.)

Well…Anti-vaxxers, rather than being Marin-county sandal-wearers, turn out to be: misinformed, credulous, lacking in critical thinking skills, at least on the fringe of conspiracy-mindedness.

In other words they arrive at their position just about the way most Americans derive all their political/moral/scientific positions. All floating about in bubbles tailored to their enthusiasms and fears.

So what is the difference between the homemade tDCS devices and the laboratory versions?

Also, why would would someone interested in stimulating their brain with an experimental homemade device be dissuaded by the claims that it might cause temporary blindness?

Just one note for the Mother Jones article: SJW began as a way to describe somewhat naïve middle-to-upper-class white allies who were ultimately useless because they were busy turning activism into a competition (among other, ah, issues, e.g. thinking the world is America, showing contempt for IRL activists, tendency to language-police).

Racists and sexists then turned it into a term for normal people, so now we need another term to describe naïve and ultimately useless middle-to-upper-class white allies who think activism is some sort of competition. Which they will then use as a term for normal people. And we’ll need another term. Which they will then use as a term for normal people. And we’ll need another term.

Oh, while this is Radio Free Europe (and therefore propaganda, but at least it admits to it), this got in my Facebook feed. Missionary stew, anyone?

I’ve known that about depression and walking for most of my adult life. It’s still really hard to get out and walk.

Too many jokes that I can’t say!

Damn you Gwyneth, now my brain hurts and I’m hungry for steamed clams.

These DNA tests seem to be more popular with wannabes.

Kudos to Krawitt.

Hmm, interesting. All this time I thought evolution wasn’t directional, now the evolutionary biologists are talking about it reversing and being undone. Something seems to be poorly worded.

GNDR 322: “Female Trouble”

The flip side of the Gizmodo article is “But why does it work for Asprey?” Steve Magness digs in and concludes: it’s probably the drugs.

I tried that buttered coffee, it is one of the vilest things I’ve ever tasted. I felt physically ill after I drank less than a half cup and if I drank it on a regular basis I assure you I would lose weight if only because of the nausea.

The Gamergate article seems fine. I don’t see a pro-gamergate slant on it at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if things got heated enough that some Feminists got banned, but I don’t think they’re leaning in the direction of Pro-Gamergate at all.

Also, I kind of just assume that some portion of Feminists are 4chan sock puppets. That’s the kind of thing they do.

Is it just me, or is “backslide” a rather poor choice of words?

The ignorance on display in the comments of the GMO article is sickening.

Having said that the voluntary label is the right approach, no public health concern=no government labeling mandate.

“backslide |?bak?sl?d|
verb ( past backslid;past participle backslid or archaic backslidden |-?slidn| ) [ no obj. ]
relapse into bad ways or error”

Wikipedia:
Backsliding, also known as falling away,[1] is a term used within Christianity to describe a process by which an individual who has converted to Christianity reverts to pre-conversion habits and/or lapses or falls into sin, when a person turns from God to pursue their own desire.

See? This article actually makes sense. Unlike a lot of things I’ve seen about white Twitter activists trying to inject ‘nuance’ about Charlie Hebdo. (Read: Victim-blaming.)

And always remember, white people hated Martin Luther King.

Of course antivaxxers cluster. Bullshit spreads from one concerned parent to another, possibly more effectively than it does from concerned parent to very serious person to other concerned parents.

How is something that contains an actual drug (up to 13% by volume at that) considered homeopathic?

This is just incorrectly labeled and it feeds into the misconceptions that the general public has about homeopathy, i.e. that it is actually medicine.

Pathetic.

I loved Phil Plait’s final thought: “So if you want to feel smug and superior about the TV hosts, hey, that’s your choice. But people in glass planets shouldn’t throw asteroids.” Mainly I love it because it kept my smugness in check.

My love for Jessica Williams knows no bounds. I love everything she does. In contrast, there are few things I hate more than fetus dolls. As someone who has seen her fair share of fetuses at various weeks gestation, I can say with some authority that those dolls are bullshit. A better illustration of an intact 12 week fetus can be seen at Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/photos/medical/12weekfetus.asp

Looks like the sex hand out was not as it appeared at first glance, the teacher handed it out as a conversation starter about how attitudes have changed and had a poorly timed absence on the day the paper was distributed.

The follow up story can be read here.

I think it’s listed as homeopathic because it’s supposed to be diluted with water. The whole thing started when my friend Yvette, AKA Science Babe posted a video of herself getting tipsy on the stuff. It was funny but made the necessary point 🙂

The Fort Laramie Treaty left half of South Dakota in Sioux hands. Basically everything west of the Missouri River, plus a little more. (And a small bit of North Dakota and Nebraska.) That’s about the size of South Korea.

Meanwhile, still fighting alongside Custer, I see

While the Church is planning to canonize Serra. (Yeah, I know, Pentecostals aren’t Catholic, but I couldn’t help but notice the irony.)

Speaking of unscientific theories about what happened thousands of years ago, from the prestigious anthropological journal Duh! Quarterly, it turns out Kennewick Man really does have genetic affinities with Indians.

I think the observations behind “manslamming” are interesting. I don’t know how coloured my recollections of past incidents are, but I cannot for the life of me ever recall being body checked by a female pedestrian. While such collisions for me are extremely rare, they do happen, and as best as I can recall, it’s always another man involved in those situations. It leads me to wonder how many times I’ve had the path ceded to me unconsciously by other pedestrians because I’ve been the six foot tall male walking the other way.

Mary,

Well, if they found Dracula’s Coffin on Mars, they might not have found life on another planet, but at least we’d know that other planets have the undead! Wa ha ha! >:)

Mary, the Bletchley Park podcast interviewed Benedict Cumberbatch and the director, prior to the release of this movie, it gives some interesting insights, like that they brought the entire cast to Bletchley, to get a feel for the history, and they did a small amount of filming at Bletchley. Benedict seemed very enthused about playing the role of Turing. They have amalgamated some of the characters for the purpose of brevity.
I am going to see this movie tomorrow (Friday night Australian time), and will post my opinion after I get home.

And now Fox News is appropriating feminist memes. Lovely.

I saw The Imitation Game… a while ago, before Christmas, I think.
It was good! Touching. I doubt its historical accuracy, but, to be fair, films are rarely historically accurate, even historical films. Definitely go see it if you have the opportunity.

Just got back from the flicks – Worth every cent, I loved it. Powerful acting and great characters. It gets the major technical points right without taking too many liberties. But where it shines is with the acting, and social message. Hard to talk about it with out spoilers, go see it you won’t be disappointed.