Bill Maher's Pseudoscience 1of2

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. Anti-vaccine, and suspicious of any medicine he sees as "western".

Is Bill Maher really that ignorant?
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2007/10/is_bill_maher_really_that_ignorant_...

An Open Letter to Bill Maher on Vaccinations
by Michael Shermer
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/4465

Ingredients for the perfect scientific conspiracy theory by Mark Jones

1) Find something that you know nothing about, but about which you have a vague sense of unease.
Vaccination - check
American diet - check
2) Make sure that lots of people share this sense of unease.
Anti-vax polls - check
No-one likes their 'smartie tube' punctured - check
3) Add some known provisos or grey areas.
Over-vaccination is a bad thing - check
Immune system problems make vax dangerous - check
4) Cite people with personal stories to tell as credible data.
Barbara Loe Fisher - check
5) Cherry pick 'experts' in the minority.
Dr Russell Blaylock - check
Dr Jay Gordon - check
6) Pretend you're just trying to publicise a little known problem.
"I'm just trying to represent an under-reported medical point of view in this country" - check
7) Find something dangerous sounding that can be blown out of all proportion.
Formaldehyde - check
Mercury - check
8) Insist you and your cohorts are not anti-whatever it is.
"Anyway, Ms. Fisher is someone who says she is not "anti-vaccine," but just has a lot of questions about the long term effect of using a lot of vaccines." - check
9) Exaggerate for effect.
"Is it worth it to get vaccines for every bug that goes around? Injecting something into my bloodstream? I'd like to reserve that for emergencies." - check
"If one side can say anything and its not challenged, then of course dissent becomes heresy in the minds of many." - check
"There are consequences to vaccines and antibiotics. Some people want to study that, and some, it seems, want to call off the debate." - check
"Ms. Fisher said 'If we want to create a society that is dependent on shots for immunity -- the same way we are getting dependent on prescription drugs, antibiotics, and surgery -- this is the path we should keep going down.'" - check
10) Deny there is a conspiracy, whilst implying there is one.
"In fact, when Howard Dean asked me that, my response was "I wouldn't call it a conspiracy." Any more than there's a conspiracy for the Pentagon budget to be obscenely bloated and operated largely for the corporate welfare of defense contractors." - check
"Is it conspiracy theory to believe that American medicine too much treats symptoms and not root causes of disease? " - check
11) Disingenuously spread misinformation thanks to one's high profile job.
Chat show - check
Twitter - check
Huffington Post - check

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Bill Maher
• sceptic
• atheist
• medicine
• western
• discussion
• podcast

[rememberedhills]

Why does Maher insist peer reviewed climate science is correct, but then totally dismisses peer reviewed science when it comes to medicine? He can't have it both ways.  He has selective contempt for conspiracy theorists.

[rememberedhills]

@laozi1 Telling people to use peer review averse quack medicine to cure cancer will likely kill them. No wonder it's illegal.

[nerdbutterlfy]

@VanDammesCokeDealer I don't know what you are trying to imply. But I would suggest that you start to read a little bit more. There are conflicts of interest going on within our government agencies. People taking pay offs, embezzling and etc. It's been in the news.

Reading may be tedious, but there's a wealth of knowledge out there.

[mrthebillman]

Putting words into someones mouth.

[VanDammesCokeDealer]

@nerdbutterlfy Yeah everybody who disagrees with the lunatic fringe is on the payroll of BIG-SOMETHING. Man, if only these ridiculous conspiracies were true and making some cash was that easy.

[grazzer88]

I don't agree with Bill on all his beliefs, but that doesn't mean i consider him or those beliefs irrational. I know for a fact he's thought about his decisions very hard. Bill Maher is a talk show host and as such anything he says can be taken out of context. Things get generalised so that it can fit into his show's timeslot and this should be understood. Taking anything at literal value and without understanding the complete context is a mistake on your part, not Bill's.

[parasitesarefunny]

Doctors are stupid.

[SuperPr3d]

...this is so classic that she has to use "scizophrenic" in this context, why should anyone think about him being a conspiracy-theorist anyway? We're so pushed into western society thinking that ppl are already accused of being dellusionary when having different views on life. We live in countries based on their economy, so the thought that rich companies want to stay rich at ALL cost is not really absurd, business is business, if its with human beings or just carots doesnt make a difference...

[YourSkyliner]

@eatthatmeatball uhh... you weird

[DayneAW]

@nerdbutterlfy

You forgot to capitalize the word "truth". When you say "Truth", it helps us to understand where you're coming from. It helps us to understand that what you are stating is no different than the other proclaimed "Truths" out there that have little to no evidence, other than testimonies, documentaries, and pseudoscientific "doctors", to support them. Said "doctors" just happen to NOT have the credentials to speak on these matters, while peddling supplements.

[DRnab1983]

I think he is just not educated in those matters

[nerdbutterlfy]

@LivinInHisWord Thank you, I agree. I've had the hardest time trying to expose family and friends to the truth. It's nice to know their are others out there that are awake.

High 5 back at ya!