Bill Maher's pseudoscience 2of2
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- The Skeptics Guide To The Universe podcast, discusses comedian Bill Maher. It draws on the fact that although a hero in sceptic and atheist circles for his anti-religious views and battles with the 9/11 "truth" movement, he also holds whacko views on medicine. He's anti-vaccine, and is suspicious of any medicine he sees as "western".
Is Bill Maher really that ignorant?
scienceblogs.co...
An Open Letter to Bill Maher on Vaccinations
by Michael Shermer
richarddawkins....
@Kretain
Also I'd be less critical of Maher if he only made these statements off-handedly but the fact is that when he was publicly challenged on these matters he had the chance to get it right but defended his stance once again with a series of poorly researched "facts" and assertions that have been shown to be bogus.
Also, I don't get your reluctance to call him on his BS because of the whole celeb thing; I could easily deflate your defense of him in your first comment on the same basis.
@rememberedhills That's not a denial of germ theory. He's just discussing what the priorities of the medical profession ought to be.
When you add refined white sugar, white flour, deep fried foods, alcohol, caffeine or petrochemicals health problems intensify. Eating foods raw & avoiding refined foods such as sugar & flour as well as deep fried foods & alcohol does reduce the probability of getting all the flus, colds & infections that people routinely take vaccinations for.
@St37One
I will check out House of Numbers, but only because you were open enough to check out Con's vids, but you still have yet to check the ones I think are most important... In reference though to House of Numbers I have read up a bit on it and I know there were several scientists interviewed who felt they were misrepresented AND say they were interviewed under false pretenses.
Furthermore one subject interviewed within the doc is featured in one of Concordance's videos (cont)
It seems to me these people have alot of trust in our medical system.
@vadimcream
I have just seen two videos by "concordance"
one on the origin of aids, and the other on germ theory denialism.
neither of those videos present any arguments to rebut the basic
arguments put forth by those who doubt or deny that HIV causes AIDS.
So, i still have yet to find intelligent arguments to support the HIV-AIDS hypothesis, or to rebut the common challenges/obvious weaknesses.
New Rule: If you're going to take the word of a Playboy bunny over that of all the PhDs currently working in modern medicine, you don't get to call yourself a RATIONALIST!!
He's not a germ theory denier.... at all. Or even against all vaccines.
@St37One
Oh and lastly I would recommend "30 Million Lives" parts 1 and 2. They address both the Perth group as well as the claims of the most significant figure in Aids denialism, Peter Duesberg.
In regards to Numbers, I will check it. I imagine it is in the same realm as a film like Loose Change, seems convincing at first glance but if you look at how the data is attained + scrutinized as well as the dubious creds of some of the "experts" one realizes that it's flim-flam.
@vadimcream
BTW
I have just now finished watching the "house of numbers" documentary on DVD.
I recomend that you watch it with an open mind. And I will look into concordances videos because after searching for some time, I have yet to come across intelligent and rational arguments to support the HIV/Aids hypothesis supported by anything other than "consensus"
Bill Maher's views on both religion & western medicine are correct. There is a dentist namde Dr. Weston Price who did experiments on cats where he gave one group a raw food diet & the other the same food in cooked form. The cats who ate the cooked food developed diseases similar to those found in humans & eventually died. Those that ate the raw diet lived healthy long lives without illness.
Western medicine has a lot of issues, and it has a lot of benefits. It is true that western medicine does very little in the form of preventative or therapeutic/holistic medicine. We have largely replaced holistic therapy with nutritionism, which isn't really helping anyone and in fact works to make people even more ignorant. However, we excel in trauma, (which saves a LOT of lives), and systematic diagnosis/treatment. Western medicine is good for a lot of reasons, but it does have flaws.
@vadimcream
You either can not think clearly, or you deliberately tried to change the subject.
My claim was that some reputable virologists are infact skeptical of the proposed causal link between HIV and AIDS, and you countered that with the notion that the "most respected" aids denialists are not virologists.
How does that qualify as a point worth raising?
...Well, it is controversial to give it to him but I think he deserve it for his position on diet, medical marijuana and anti-faith healing.
I noticed that this second clip has like 6000 views with the majority of people liking it. The first one has almost 30000 views and more dislikes than likes.
A funny example of laziness and willful ignorance going hand in hand :)
625vision, peer review is usually a great thing, but even it is subject to critique. Medicine is peer reviewed, yet still has unexpected side effects, and even when it does work its target is often not the source of the problem. Let's also not forget that if something is "peer-reviewed" that doesn't keep it from being incorrect. Just because enough people of similar background agree on something, doesn't mean a damn thing if most of them are wrong. In example, centuries of harmful prescriptions.
@rememberedhills
That is a false dichotomy, since obviously it is both the nature of the germs themselves and their environmental conditions that are necessary for the disease to occur.
If you eliminate either one, then you eliminate the disease.
You could make a similar argument in the context of free speech and toxic memes. Mere exposure is not enough to cause chronic infection, and focusing on eliminating bad memes is a bad strategy.
@St37One
HiV/Aids denialism is not supported by reputable virologists. There are those who are treated as such inside their community, but when you look at the most "respected" voices among them you'll find they are in fact experts in distantly related fields. It's not much different than the way in which 9/11 truthers with basic degrees are touted as authorities on physics and the such. If you're interested, the user "Concordance" has some very well researched vids on the subject.
@Kretain
I don't see the value of being anti or pro celeb. You take statements on a case by case basis and the validity of a claim has nothing to do with whether or not they're famous... Like it or not Maher is perceived by many as an educated voice of reason, and for many who don't investigate they will take him on his word and swallow new age med quackery more easily. He's no Jenny McCarthy, but there's no doubt these irresponsible comments do far more harm than good.
@UserNameForYeeTube Francis Pottenger did experiments where he fed cats uncooked meat & milk & another set of cats cooked meat & milk, the cats w/ the raw diet lived a healthy disease free life & cats w/ the cooked diet all succumbed to various illnesses & died. Paul Kouchakoff showed in the 1920's that white blood cells flock to the lower intestine when refined foods & cooked foods are eaten but when raw foods are eaten this doesn't occur. Physiologists previously thought this always happens
@vadimcream He's a talkshow host..
I just love how celebs in america get special status n increased potency with whatever they say.
He's not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination, he's a gloryfied housewife..
He gets paid to talk to people about things that are 'hot' and add a comedic twist to it.
He's not there to create information, nor to spread it.
His job is "make people forget that they hate their jobs for 1 hour per week", thats it.
Now, if you want to read more into that, hf.
@Kretain
Well that's cool if you could care less but we do and it's not a petty interest. The people in this podcast, and myself for that matter, are just concerned with the EFFECTS of Bill's statements and the careless spread of disinfo. It's not born out of gossipy-celebrity worship like you're intimating, it's not about "oooh can you believe what this famous person did?".
BM is not just any other celeb, he's a quasi-journalist, and therefore has an obligation to get this shit right.
@rememberedhills "What I've read about what they think I'm saying is not what I've said. I'm not a germ theory denier. I believe vaccinations can work. Polio is a good example. Do I think in certain situations that inoculating Third World children against malaria or diphtheria, or whatever, is right? Of course. In a situation like that, the benefits outweigh costs. But to me living in Los Angeles? To get a flu shot? No." No, he doesn't deny the germ theory.
@vadimcream Well, thats what usually happens when someone is on TV -.-
Just look at Bill (Orly?) O'Rielly, he spends each second hes on the air, spouting ignorance, but people still follow his lead.
Being anti or pro-celeb is what you should focus on, not the random crap they say.
Usually, they have just a big a clue as you do.
@vadimcream I don't call him on his BS because I don't really care, what he sais at any time or place, has little to no bearing on me or my life.
If he finds a plate of sallad to be of more medical worth then anti-biotics, then good for him.
I'll still use the lovely pills that make me better.
plus he's funny :)))
Haha, oh lady you've got to stop... wow, how many times are these guys going to avoid quotes, context, and keep using "essentially"? lol well they may have grabbed the essentials for your argument but wow, missing the truth by a mile. I'd try to educate this video but with the view count... I don't think I need to bother.