Why is so much mainstream "science" bogus?
#1
Posted 15 May 2007 - 11:05 AM
There is more than fashion at work, however. As I document daily on my Food & Health Skeptic blog, there is a constant flood of absurdities appearing in the medical literature. There needs to be more than fashion behind that. And what is behind it is simply attention-seeking. Every scientist wants to be seen as someone who has "discovered" something. But real discoveries are rare so the slightest hint that a scientist has observed something going on will be trumpeted worldwide. And because real discoveries are rare, any purported discovery will be piled onto by lots of other scientists who want to be in on the glory of having made a contribution to the elucidation of this new phenomenon.
The clearest example of this is the cholesterol and polyunsaturated fats obsession. To cut a long story short, there is NO evidence that a low cholesterol diet lowers the amount of cholesterol in your blood nor is there any evidence that saturated fats in your diet are bad for you. In fact, some studies have shown that people on a diet low in saturated fats die SOONER. I have a research review up -- just above this post -- that sets out in detail the evidence concerned. Yet we are still bombarded with messages about the desirability of a diet low in cholesterol and low in saturated fats. Our supermarkets are full of products that prominently and proudly proclaim that they are "low" in those constituents.
So why have the research findings not got through to the general public? Because scientists themselves ignore research that does not suit them. Let me tell you why:
The "easy" area of medical research is epidemiology: Take a large group of patients. Get reports from them on where they stand on a variety of attributes (e.g. how fat they are or how much fat they eat) and then wait to see who dies. Once you have got a large enough group of dead patients you then look through your files to see if there is something that the dead patients tend to have more of. Very often you find something, as you would on chance alone. Real scientists refer to such a procedure as "data dredging" and discount it but real scientists are a rare breed. Attention-seeking scientists are far more common and it is their reports of such rubbish findings that fill the medical literature.
But such rubbish findings are a godsend to other scientists. They can then put in for big funding to study this new finding. There is a new bandwagon that they can leap onto. But the only really conclusive way of verifying or falsifying the new "finding" is a longditudinal double-blind study -- i.e. you have to get a large and representative group of people and get half of them to change their ways in some respect (e.g. eat less fat). You then wait for years and see which group dies soonest. And at the end of that time what do you find? You typically find that the epidemiological hypothesis is not confirmed. The intervention (change) you have done to people's habits is just as likely to have done harm as good but most often it has done nothing at all. And that is where the cholesterol and saturated fat research has arrived at after all the years during which the "evil fat" gospel has been rammed down people's throats.
So where do you go from there? Do you admit that the theory you have built your career on (and which has delivered to you a cornucopia of research dollars) was all wrong? I think you can guess the answer to that. What you say is: "More research is needed" -- and carry on as before. And the poor old mug taxpayer coughs up more dollars to keep the nonsense alive.
And much the same applies to global warming theory. It initially looked good but, as more and more evidence accumulates, the holes in it get bigger and bigger. You can see that in the IPCC reports. They have progressively scaled down their predictions of what sea-level rise we are to expect. But there is NO WAY that they can admit that the whole thing is a crock so, as the evidence turns against them, they ratchet up the hysteria to keep those research dollars flowing. And it works. "More research is needed" has become the mantra of many politicians too.
But it leaves the average person totally betrayed. Attention-seeking medical scientists have led him towards useless lifestyle changes that may even harm him and attention-seeking climate scientists have led him to support political programs that will certainly impoverish him. So dishonest science is in fact a far greater evil than the rather wacky tribe of kneejerk nature-lovers.
Clinging to disproven theories is also rampant in my own field of academic specialization -- psychology -- but, fortunately, nobody takes much notice of psychologists.
http://john-ray.blogspot.com/
Defenders of the status quo are always stronger than reformers seeking change,
UNTIL the status quo self-destructs from its own corruption, and the reformers are free to build on its ashes.
#2
Posted 15 May 2007 - 11:12 AM
Edited by muppet, 15 May 2007 - 11:14 AM.
#3
Posted 15 May 2007 - 11:16 AM
#4
Posted 15 May 2007 - 11:50 AM
#5
Posted 17 May 2007 - 12:07 AM
$$$$.....power...ego....status...the usual.
Science usurped religion in its role of 'explainer of the unexplainable for the masses', and with that comes power/status/ego/$$$.
Scientific method is the pinacle of human logic achieved through 3000+ years of evolution of thought from the greatest thinkers. It proved it worth by moving mankind out of the pre-enlightenment dark ages, it produced the greatest representation of that logic in the American constitution, which was a direct result of the English enlightment movement, and the results of that is the great nation of America, just look at nations of the world who reject scientific thinking and how they fare.
So, lets not blame 'science' and fall prey to the backward thinking of anti-science crowd who would return us to the dark ages. The blame is squarely with human nature as it always is. If mankind could be given a list of 'absolute truths' by a 'God' , its certain the first one would read 'man will distort all these truths for his own gain'.
Mark.
Edited by entropy, 17 May 2007 - 12:10 AM.
#6
Posted 17 May 2007 - 07:44 AM
Why is so much mainstream "science" bogus?
$$$$.....power...ego....status...the usual.
Science usurped religion in its role of 'explainer of the unexplainable for the masses', and with that comes power/status/ego/$$$.
Scientific method is the pinacle of human logic achieved through 3000+ years of evolution of thought from the greatest thinkers. It proved it worth by moving mankind out of the pre-enlightenment dark ages, it produced the greatest representation of that logic in the American constitution, which was a direct result of the English enlightment movement, and the results of that is the great nation of America, just look at nations of the world who reject scientific thinking and how they fare.
So, lets not blame 'science' and fall prey to the backward thinking of anti-science crowd who would return us to the dark ages. The blame is squarely with human nature as it always is. If mankind could be given a list of 'absolute truths' by a 'God' , its certain the first one would read 'man will distort all these truths for his own gain'.
Mark.
Yes, I agree and believe, wholeheartedly, in the scientific process. I believe in well designed scientific studies ... how else can we make reasonable progress? But, as you say, "power, money and status" too often misuse and abuse this valuable method ... for disreputable gain. It will never change. The only answer is education. At least Bill Gates is spending some money on creative and motivating methods of education ... and on promoting SCIENCE. So, maybe there is hope. The internet also helps to empower the masses.
#7
Posted 17 May 2007 - 05:23 PM
Mark S Young
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#8
Posted 17 May 2007 - 07:21 PM
#9
Posted 17 May 2007 - 09:13 PM
[img]http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:fN2gdh359es3uM:http://static.firedoglake.com/2006/05/img_fewgoodmen.jpg[/img]
But you can't handle the truth!
Or as he said to me:
I like all you Navy boys. Every time we gotta go some place to fight, you give us a ride. ...
Edited by Rogerdodger, 17 May 2007 - 09:16 PM.
BIGGEST SCIENCE SCANDAL EVER...Official records systematically 'adjusted'.
#10
Posted 17 May 2007 - 09:15 PM
Richard Wyckoff - "Whenever you find hope or fear warping judgment, close out your position"
Volume is the only vote that matters... the ultimate sentiment poll.
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