10:23 in Manchester

At 10:23am on January 30th, more than three hundred homeopathy sceptics nationwide took part in a mass homeopathic 'overdose' in protest at Boots' continued endorsement and sale of homeopathic remedies, and to raise public awareness about the fact that homeopathic remedies have nothing in them. The Greater Manchester Skeptics were proud to organise the Manchester overdose. Here is that event, recorded by the award-winning documentary film-maker Angela Byrne:

Puppy Dogs & Cancer Kids - The poor state of "evidence" for Homeopathy

I have to admit that sometimes we skeptics do leave ourselves open to reproach by being sceptical about subjects just because it seems pretty obvious to us how crazy the notion is.  Now this in itself is hardly sceptical, and is at best lazy and at worst arrogant.  Today I feel little better about this after reading through reams of blogs on the subject of the 10²³ Campaign reminding me that it’s just not realistic to expect individuals to sift through massive piles of peer-reviewed articles, written using medical, scientific, or statistical jargon, before they decide how best to treat their malaise.  That is indeed why we should be able to look to those with proven scientific or medical knowledge to guide us, such as doctors, scientists, and pharmacists.

Unfortunately, this means that I have put myself back on the hook.  I am a scientist.  I love science, and I love trawling through good papers with strong data, showing a really novel story.  I think (if I had been a scientist when it came out) I would have found Jacques Benveniste’s  Nature article proposing the molecular memory of water¹ extremely exciting, even with the foreboding editorial advice from then-editor John Maddox².  This is exactly the kind of article that you want to be proved right; imagine, water with molecular memory! It just doesn’t make sense, and that is why it would have been truly amazing.  Just think of all the scientists thought absurd in their time, only to be proved right. Yes, the world is round! No, the earth is not the center of the solar system! 

Bad advice for the winter.

Last Saturday I went out for a venue finding mission with some skeptical chums, and in between bars I was distressed to see that mad, bad and dangerous medical advice is never far away. Nearby to a possible venue we chanced upon a vegetarian health shop and in their window we found this:

I set out to find some Skepticism but I ended up finding more woo than the contents of a regency era romantic novel. Not everyone has the constitution of a ninja skeptic like myself, for instance the elderly may not take too well to this non-scientific claptrap. Please note that the advert points out that Mr. Moorhouse has been on Countryfile, but doesn't mention any qualifications that enable him to cure the common cold (let alone the flu!) This health shop should really have it's socks pulled up, this could be potentially deadly advice.

Digital Cables - Woo Style

Purchase a flat screen TV from almost any electrical retailer, and you can be almost guaranteed that you'll encounter a little woo. You'll be offered some form of expensive home-theater grade cables from a brand such as Profigold or Monster, which retail for frankly ridiculous prices. The reason for this is simple - a shop like Comet makes a larger margin from their cables, sometimes running to 80 or 90% profit compared to the 10 or 15% they get from the TV itself.

The jargon used by these companies can be overwhelming, battering potential customers into making a purchase with sheer complexity. Here's a couple of typical quote from Monster cable, arguably the most prominent of these companies: