Why People Believe Weird Things

[thermalsatsuma]

From the Guardian Bad Science column by Ben Goldacre comes this informative and well argued article about Homoeopathy. It is easy to see why homoeopaths get so defensive about clinical trials when they have so much at stake, but the vehemence of some of the reactions to honest enquiry really surprises me. I can understand that somebody might swear blind that their asthma has been helped by homeopathy, but if it can be shown that sugar pills have the same effect doesn't that tell you something about the power of the placebo effect rather than the efficacy of something diluted to the point of non-existence? Well worth reading.

If you want to wonder at the boundless imaginative power of the inquiring mind, you might be interested in An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything dreamt up by surfer dude and physicist Garrett Lisi. This article from the Daily Telegraph is probably a little bit more accessible than the raw theory.

Finally, this talk from Michael Shermer should raise a smile, I hope ...

Comments

[thebustocrookes.livejournal.com]

I CAN HAS SUGAREP PILLZ?

Ben Goldacre is fantastic, highlight of the Saturday Guardian. But as well as bashing the peddlers of such tosh, he makes a lot of interesting points about the placebo effect (e.g. some colours of sugared pills seems to work better than others), which is fascinating, maybe the NHS should insist all the pills they dish out are in the right colour?

Sadly, we don't seem to like to accept straightforward "evidence" in a lot of areas, we'd rather beleive in some nice story regardless of the facts...

[cerebralpig.livejournal.com]

I can highly recommend Michael Shermer's book: Why People Believe Weird things.
You can borrow mine if you like, although Neil has expressed an interest in reading it first. =)

[smwright.livejournal.com]

I, too, was going to recommend the Shermer book, Neil. :) Mike Root actually uses it as an ancillary text in his research methods class. Apparently, it's going quite well!