Comments on The Skeptic's Field Guide: Podcast: Tutorial 21 - Factoid Propagation

The 10% brain thing is actually true, and if you d...

2009-04-04T10:54:00.000+10:00

The 10% brain thing is actually true, and if you donate to my paypal donate account, I'll email you the secret to unlocking the other 90%!

Here are some widely propogated incorrect factoids...

2009-03-30T07:20:00.000+10:00

Here are some widely propogated incorrect factoids that I am really sick of.
Kids get hyperactive if they eat sugar.
You get fat eating food late at night.
There is more cancer around these days because of all the pesticides and toxins in the environment. (that might be 2 incorrect factoids)
Shaving (for women)makes hair grow back thicker.
We only use 10% of our brain.

I haven't heard it phrased that way before. It und...

2009-03-11T21:16:00.000+10:00

I haven't heard it phrased that way before. It underlines the need to teach people how to become skeptical consumers of knowledge, by understanding what counts (or more importantly, what doesn't count) as good evidence.

The Jeni Barnett is a nice example of agnotology.

---"[Robert Proctor] has developed a word inspired by this trend: agnotology. Derived from the Greek root agnosis, it is "the study of culturally constructed ignorance."

As Proctor argues, when society doesn't know something, it's often because special interests work hard to create confusion. Anti-Obama groups likely spent millions insisting he's a Muslim; church groups have shelled out even more pushing creationism. The oil and auto industries carefully seed doubt about the causes of global warming. And when the dust settles, society knows less than it did before.

"People always assume that if someone doesn't know something, it's because they haven't paid attention or haven't yet figured it out," Proctor says. "But ignorance also comes from people literally suppressing truth—or drowning it out—or trying to make it so confusing that people stop caring about what's true and what's not.""---

Sorry. This is it. "Grand Celestial Do". Awesome.

And if you were following me on Twitter, you wouldn't have missed it!

Did you find the link to the 'Cosmic Fighting' sit...

2009-03-10T23:24:00.000+10:00

Did you find the link to the 'Cosmic Fighting' site you mentioned? I asked google but got thousands of false positives. :(

Also, only one correction? We speak much more rubb...

2009-03-10T13:25:00.000+10:00

Also, only one correction? We speak much more rubbish that that!

Hey Shiina, thanks for the feedback and it's great...

2009-03-10T13:24:00.000+10:00

Hey Shiina, thanks for the feedback and it's great to read you're enjoying what we do.

I take your point that "jab" is common usage in the UK, and therefore Barnett may have been using it unconsciously. However, just because it's common usage does not mean it's not a weasel word. "Collateral Damage" is also common usage and is still a weasel word.

The context and the tone in which she said it also indicates, as Jef said, it was used as a pejorative and intended to invoke an emotional response. Albeit, unthinking in her case. I would not assign intentionality to any of Jeni Barnett's thoughts or speech... ;D

Hey, I recently found your show and look forward t...

2009-03-10T11:00:00.000+10:00

Hey, I recently found your show and look forward to every podcast.

I just have one correction: you claimed that calling a vaccine a "jab" was a "weasel word". It's not, that's just what they call it in England. It's common useage.