The Skeptic’s Guide to Dismissing Public Claims of Illnesses
When the public starts whining about being sick, here is how to introduce them to science.
Remember:
A. Make them pay dearly for their anti-science ways. This is all about making the pain of the claim-to-illness so great and so visible that people will be reluctant to bring the illness up, for fear of reprisals and embarrassment.
B. Remove all the mirrors in your house as you will not find that you can look at yourself in them any more. Just part of the job and it goes with the territory.
~ The Management
The Skeptic’s Guide to Dismissing Public Claims of Illnesses
1. Tell them it is simply due to a change in methods of diagnosis. Cite another disease which is decreasing in diagnosis (does not matter what it is – and most will not catch on that this is a scientific claim on your part).
“There is no doubt that the number of autism diagnoses has increased in the last two decades, but the evidence strongly suggests this increase in an artifact of how autism diagnoses are made, and not representative of a true increase.” – Steven Novella, Autism Increase Continues to Only Stem from Diagnosis Changes
2. Tell them that it is all in their heads. Cite ‘Our Deceptive Minds’ and the epidemic prevalence of psychosomatic disorders. Point out psychology blogs and articles from our allies.
“We need broader understanding that the brain is also an organ and can manifest symptoms in a variety of ways. Psychogenic causes are just another item on the differential diagnosis.” – Steven Novella, It’s All in Your Head
3. Make the sickness out to be a result of weakness of their will, discipline, habits, or character = employ the embarrassment/guilt lever.
“Type 2 [diabetes] is caused by poor eating, lack of exercise and being obese.” – Shelly Hazen, Do Half of American Adults Have Diabetes? The Numbers May Not Be that Clear Cut
4. Cite the illness to be the result of The Food Babe or Dr. (pick one) stirring everyone up to levels of hysteria in order to sell products. Cite a Kavin Senapathy article as an example of evidence-based science in action. Strawman the idea that they are offering medical treatment advice to horrid diseases, rather than health and prevention or community activism.
“Along with all the pain, fear and sadness, there has been the constant tug of pseudoscientific predators offering nonsensical health advice. To me, Ms. Hari is the epitome of those predators. Not only are they after the pocketbooks of the cancer sufferers, they’re also doing them harm.” – Mark Alsip, Debunking The Food Babe
5. Make it out to be a matter of manliness or toughing it out. Everyone is suffering, they are just whiny. God allows suffering to teach us what he wants.
“The claws come out and all I hear is how I’m needy and whiny and need to ‘man up’ and etc.” – Dad and Buried
6. Accuse them of being anti-science. If children are involved, say you understand but accuse anyway, and visibly make sure that they are embarrassed. Make them pay dearly, and use plenty of science sounding words.
7. Cite the need to celebrate the diversity of all our differences and that everyone is unique. We just need to accept and appreciate those differences, even in ourselves and our children. Cite that they will mess with their kids’ heads.
8. Accuse the person of being part of a conspiracy theory group. Reframe their argument as a more familiar and radical one.
9. Enlist the aid of your friends to socially shame the person for bringing up the topic. Track them and troll them.
10. Report the person to the appropriate Agra or Pharma Public Relations group for monitoring and harassment.
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There exists a pro-science, educated and rational movement of conscience, on the part of people just like you and me. Professionals who apply skepticism daily in their STEMM disciplines; who nonetheless are raising a warning flag of concern. Welcome to my blog. Within its pages, I hope to illustrate genuine skepticism, or what is called Ethical Skepticism. Indeed, its mission is to promote the wonder of science through a contrast of authentic skeptical discipline, versus its distorted, pseudo-intellectual and socio-politically motivated counterfeit. I am a graduate level science and engineering professional who laments the imprisonment of science by control-minded special interests and bullying dogmatic social epistemologists. As you survey my blog, hopefully you will encounter ideas you’ve never personally considered before. Indeed, its mission is to foster foremost a discerning perspective for us all on the Cabal of pretenders who abuse and seek control in the name science. Science based upon a flawed philosophy called social skepticism.
What is Ethical Skepticism?
A series in parts, which defines the philosophy, tenets and structure of Ethical Skepticism
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The Tree of Knowledge Obfuscation
A compendium of fallacy and corrupted thought commonly employed inside Social Skepticism
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The Appeal to Skepticism Fallacy
The formal and informal fallacy of deceptively promoting one’s self and ideals through pretense of skepticism
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The Real Ockham’s Razor
It is plurality, and not the simplest explanation, which bears merit in professional research and the actual scientific method
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Sol-Nihilism and The Ten Endamnedments
The compulsory set of core religious beliefs misrepresented as skepticism, atheism, free thinking and science
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ABOUT SOCIAL SKEPTICISM AND SSKEPTICS
Social Skepticism is a form of weaponized philosophy which masquerades as science, science enthusiasm or science communication. Social skepticism enforces specific conclusions and obfuscates competing ideas via a methodical and heavy-handed science embargo. It promotes charades of critical thought, self aggrandizement and is often chartered to defend corporate agendas; all while maintaining a high priority of falsely impugning eschewed individuals and topics. Its philosophies and conclusions are imposed through intimidation on the part of its cabal and cast of dark actors, and are enacted in lieu of and through bypassing actual scientific method. The social skeptic is a catalyseur. A third party exploitation specialist abetting conflict between the public and science. They do not seek truth in any specific matter; rather, they seek the power that fomenting conflict between science and its stakeholders creates for them and their cronies. They presume to tender preferred final conclusions in lieu of science, without having to account under any semblance of scientific rigor, save for at most skepticism itself. They afford no method of peer review, eschew any assessment of entailed risk or the harm they serve to cause to both persons and science; yet promote stacks of highly questionable conclusivity, by means of the free pass established through the intimidating power of their Cabal and its cadre of dark actors.
Social Skeptics falsely identify themselves as ‘skeptics.’ Indeed rather, SSkeptics are self or institutionally appointed Bernaysian engineering activists, posing as rational and logical subject matter authorities enforcing one specific answer in a broad array of pluralistic topics of contention, while at the same time “doubting“ all other potentialities. Far from actually practicing skepticism and abandoning the scientific method when it does not suit their embargo, SSkeptics seek to intimidate scientists and the media, enforce doctrines lacking scientific basis and imperiously pass them to the public as unassailable truth.
The Difference Between Ethical and Social Skepticism
Ethical Skepticism is a blend of Empirical and Philosophical Skepticism, the tenets of both of which are vetted as to their efficacy in delivering value and clarity inside man’s knowledge development process. It rejects the abuse of Cartesian Doubt as a racket of a priori simplistic predictive based knowledge, self delusion and Methodical Cynicism. Instead, Ethical Skepticism dictates a mute disposition on any topic which science has not studied or the Ethical Skeptic himself has not studied. Ethical Skepticism petitions for Ockham’s Razor plurality in research when sponsorship has shown adequate necessity, and opposes all efforts to squelch such research.
Ethical Skeptics apply skepticism as one of a set of tools employed inside a life characterized by open curiosity, discipline, observation. They continually investigate in order to ask the right question in accordance with the complete scientific method; not defend the right answer. They bear paramount, the personal and professional ethic of defending the integrity of the knowledge development process. Skepticism is a way of preparing the mind and data sets, in order to accomplish science.
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Social Skepticism is false a priori deduction combined with stacked provisional abductive reason used as a masquerade of science method in order to enforce a belief set as constituting science. It is an abuse of Cartesian Doubt as a racket of a priori, simplistic, provisional, risk-ignorant knowledge, self delusion and methodical cynicism. It seeks an embargo of certain aspects of man’s knowledge development process. It rejects Philosophical Skepticism and employs Empirical Skepticism only when its tenets support specific knowledge embargo agendas. Instead of tendering mute disposition on any topic which science has not studied, Social Skepticism corrupts science into methodical cynicism employed to to squelch such research and enforces false interpretations of scientific conclusions to support its embargo goals.
Social Skeptics wear SSkepticism as an identity, apply intimidation and doubt only to subjects they disdain, and enforce an embargo regarding any and all observations or science which might serve to undermine their Cabal authorized ontology. They eschew data collection; instead undertaking social activism and unethical activity, any means necessary to enforce the ‘right answer’ and secure the power of their sponsor institutions. Social Skeptics abuse skepticism to act in lieu of science, not as subset thereof.
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