Ben Goldacre might be the only person who in the world who can sit on a toilet while speaking and still be taken seriously. He might be the love of my life!
If people really want to form an opinion on a subject as amazing and complex as science from the rantings of a self-promoting junior doctor with a hunger for celebrity status (and no other qualifications as far as I can tell), then I guess I should pity them. But I dont. Do some proper research on this guy first.
@WhelkDoctor1 Why research the guy? It's the subject you should research. It doesn't matter who presents an idea - the idea matters. But I do agree that no one should take one source and think now they're informed about a subject. You should always check out what the opposing viewpoint has to offer.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
So he's doesn't care about people being ripped off, and doesn't care about individual articles(i think), but he does care about spreading misinformation? Why is that then, when he just said he doesn't really care about people's welfare?
Irritating, smug, hypocritcal...mug who thinks he's a shining light because he pokes a bit of fun at Gillian McKeith and the like. Wow, what a man.
c'mon get real big pharma doesn't give a flying monkey about the commoner, we are rats that can potentially add wealth 2 their gold mountains, Bens a nice and clever guy. but so are many others on the other side of the fence. Just look at the over prescription of antibiotics by dr's today, that alone says a lot about how uninformed lots of them truly are. Its a difficult topic, free thinking intelligent parents are worried, thats a given, another given is that we dont automatically believe drs.
is an idiot, he's saying that sensationalist reporting which distorts science just to sell newspapers is really damaging. In the case of MMR, thousands of kids could develop measles, a disease which can cause brain damage or kill at a young age because of a claim made by one doctor that was later shown to be false.
Drug companies and bad doctors do a lot of damage and they should be open to criticism, but at the same time we should make sure that wild speculation doesn't damage public health.
Well said. See the website thedoctorwithin for real information on vaccine risks, and Google 'cultural dwarfs' by Martin J Walker for information on Ben Goldacre's agenda.
@macrobius No no, you're not a quack. You'd have to be considered a medical professional for that. You're just an unthinking sheep swallowing new age crap.
@Maxdwolf "No no, you're not a quack. You'd have to be considered a medical professional for that." Exactly. Modern medicine is the 3rd cause of death after heart disease and cancer. Obviously no disagreement there then. I suggest you keep your insults to yourself as they do not help your argument. You know nothing about me so your statement suggests that you believe yourself to have powers of extrasensory perception.
now if I didnt have the belief in my medically uneducated self I wouldnt of seeked other opinion which confirmed my initial gut feeling that she may have been wrong. Luckily I did. {i'm not a dr thats just a nick name from childhood] My point is its easy to debunk all alternative views because of shit papers like the mail etc, but the fact remains that the MMR may well be causing if not assisting to cause Autism in some kids. Mumps or Autism...mmm, I'll take the swolen neck.
wait a minute. "the fact remains that the MMR may well be causing if not assisting to cause Autism in some kids." There simply isn't any evidence of that. There aren't hundreds of normal kids who "turned" after having the MMR jab. Andrew Wakefield's orginal "research" was shown by proper academic review to be flawed and there exists no evidence of a connection between MMR and autism.
Ben Goldacre isn't suggesting that anyone who criticises drug companies or the medical establishment....
@drmarrese101 There is correlation between an increase in autism and an increase in MMR vaccination uptake. However correlation does not necessarily imply causation. There is no evidence to indicate the the MMR vaccination causes autism.
The increase in autism cases in recent years reflects the increased awareness of the disease.
Also mumps in adults is more can result in hearing loss and meningitis. Mumps is highly contagious with no curative treatment, so vaccination is the best denfence.
I'm sure Bens a nice guy, articulate, informed enthusiastic, maybe a TV career ahead. We are not all mail readers, studies can be massaged and manipulated easily, why would so many parents have 'normal' kids that turned after the MMR? are they all nuts, sensationalist uninformed non articulate un scientific mail readers? I have experience of a similar well educated dr of similar age, British and 'real' and not dusty and grey, making hideously bad uninformed decisions about my wifes condition,
I think part of it is a sense of humour, but it seems from his book that what he is trying to say is that he is not a 'consumer journalist', and his concern is improving the public understanding of science, rather than stopping people being ripped off. He is more interested in stopping poor use of evidence and scientific processes from undermining the usefulness of scientific evidence.
Personally, I think that is far more important.. but that's probably because I'm a bit of a science geek! XD
Ben Goldacre is a great national institution. It was interesting to see him speaking with such animated sincerity .We need more voices like his debunking the avalanche of twaddle and pseudo science
Ben Goldacre might be the only person who in the world who can sit on a toilet while speaking and still be taken seriously. He might be the love of my life!
FunkyMonkeyJunkie302 2 months ago
If people really want to form an opinion on a subject as amazing and complex as science from the rantings of a self-promoting junior doctor with a hunger for celebrity status (and no other qualifications as far as I can tell), then I guess I should pity them. But I dont. Do some proper research on this guy first.
WhelkDoctor1 6 months ago
@WhelkDoctor1 Why research the guy? It's the subject you should research. It doesn't matter who presents an idea - the idea matters. But I do agree that no one should take one source and think now they're informed about a subject. You should always check out what the opposing viewpoint has to offer.
WalterLiddy 3 months ago
lets test the placebo effect... STATEMENT: "If you watch Ben Goldacre videos for long enough, you will become mesmerized by his eyebrows!!"
toniroxxxxx 8 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
So he's doesn't care about people being ripped off, and doesn't care about individual articles(i think), but he does care about spreading misinformation? Why is that then, when he just said he doesn't really care about people's welfare?
Irritating, smug, hypocritcal...mug who thinks he's a shining light because he pokes a bit of fun at Gillian McKeith and the like. Wow, what a man.
merlin23 1 year ago
ALL I COULD THINK WAS: IF HE GOT BOTOX WOULD HIS EYEBROWS STOP IN THAT RAISED POSITION OR IN THE LOWER POSITION???
Questions we NEED answers to.
FelixCulpa81 2 years ago 9
hes such a good speaker, because hes not boring and will have a good laugh, but he takes what he does seriously. amazing man :)
VicKyCusTard 2 years ago 15
c'mon get real big pharma doesn't give a flying monkey about the commoner, we are rats that can potentially add wealth 2 their gold mountains, Bens a nice and clever guy. but so are many others on the other side of the fence. Just look at the over prescription of antibiotics by dr's today, that alone says a lot about how uninformed lots of them truly are. Its a difficult topic, free thinking intelligent parents are worried, thats a given, another given is that we dont automatically believe drs.
drmarrese101 2 years ago
is an idiot, he's saying that sensationalist reporting which distorts science just to sell newspapers is really damaging. In the case of MMR, thousands of kids could develop measles, a disease which can cause brain damage or kill at a young age because of a claim made by one doctor that was later shown to be false.
Drug companies and bad doctors do a lot of damage and they should be open to criticism, but at the same time we should make sure that wild speculation doesn't damage public health.
agunatak 2 years ago 5
I dont think the issue lies simply with over blown articles that are engineered to sell papers, we all know the story there.
drmarrese101 2 years ago
Well said. See the website thedoctorwithin for real information on vaccine risks, and Google 'cultural dwarfs' by Martin J Walker for information on Ben Goldacre's agenda.
macrobius 2 years ago
@macrobius Ah yes, I'm going to go read the unsubstantiated claims of a quack who thinks of homeopathy and acupuncture as "well-tried".
Maxdwolf 1 year ago
@Maxdwolf "Ah yes, I'm going to go read the unsubstantiated claims of a quack " you just did
macrobius 1 year ago
@macrobius No no, you're not a quack. You'd have to be considered a medical professional for that. You're just an unthinking sheep swallowing new age crap.
Maxdwolf 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Maxdwolf "No no, you're not a quack. You'd have to be considered a medical professional for that." Exactly. Modern medicine is the 3rd cause of death after heart disease and cancer. Obviously no disagreement there then. I suggest you keep your insults to yourself as they do not help your argument. You know nothing about me so your statement suggests that you believe yourself to have powers of extrasensory perception.
macrobius 1 year ago
now if I didnt have the belief in my medically uneducated self I wouldnt of seeked other opinion which confirmed my initial gut feeling that she may have been wrong. Luckily I did. {i'm not a dr thats just a nick name from childhood] My point is its easy to debunk all alternative views because of shit papers like the mail etc, but the fact remains that the MMR may well be causing if not assisting to cause Autism in some kids. Mumps or Autism...mmm, I'll take the swolen neck.
drmarrese101 2 years ago
wait a minute. "the fact remains that the MMR may well be causing if not assisting to cause Autism in some kids." There simply isn't any evidence of that. There aren't hundreds of normal kids who "turned" after having the MMR jab. Andrew Wakefield's orginal "research" was shown by proper academic review to be flawed and there exists no evidence of a connection between MMR and autism.
Ben Goldacre isn't suggesting that anyone who criticises drug companies or the medical establishment....
agunatak 2 years ago 6
@drmarrese101 There is correlation between an increase in autism and an increase in MMR vaccination uptake. However correlation does not necessarily imply causation. There is no evidence to indicate the the MMR vaccination causes autism.
The increase in autism cases in recent years reflects the increased awareness of the disease.
Also mumps in adults is more can result in hearing loss and meningitis. Mumps is highly contagious with no curative treatment, so vaccination is the best denfence.
creativespirit1990 2 years ago
I'm sure Bens a nice guy, articulate, informed enthusiastic, maybe a TV career ahead. We are not all mail readers, studies can be massaged and manipulated easily, why would so many parents have 'normal' kids that turned after the MMR? are they all nuts, sensationalist uninformed non articulate un scientific mail readers? I have experience of a similar well educated dr of similar age, British and 'real' and not dusty and grey, making hideously bad uninformed decisions about my wifes condition,
drmarrese101 2 years ago
do you reckon theres a disabled person sitting outside the toilet dying for a piss?
stamfordbridge1984 2 years ago
The perfect antidote to gillian mckeith and all those other bullshitters
fastertortoise2 2 years ago 2
His book is excellent!
daveattell 2 years ago
awesome - what an articulate man.
mvb101 2 years ago 3
Is Dr. Goldacre saying that he doesn't care about people getting ripped off and is glad to see it? If that's what is saying than that's repulsive.
Josh111485 2 years ago
I think it's this thing called "having a sense of humour".
hernonnymoose 2 years ago 3
Ok. I didn't realize he was kidding. Silly me. :-P
Josh111485 2 years ago
I think part of it is a sense of humour, but it seems from his book that what he is trying to say is that he is not a 'consumer journalist', and his concern is improving the public understanding of science, rather than stopping people being ripped off. He is more interested in stopping poor use of evidence and scientific processes from undermining the usefulness of scientific evidence.
Personally, I think that is far more important.. but that's probably because I'm a bit of a science geek! XD
aimsbabes92 2 years ago
Ben Goldacre is a great national institution. It was interesting to see him speaking with such animated sincerity .We need more voices like his debunking the avalanche of twaddle and pseudo science
in the media.
musonymous 2 years ago 4
great interview - good upload
robbo188 3 years ago 2