The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science (50 page)

83
They have a family member hold their shrinking part in place:
David Brooks,
The Social Animal
, Short Books, 2011, p. 151.

83
we believe that alcohol is a disinhibitor:
Kate Fox,
Watching the English
, Hodder, 2004, p. 261.

84
Studies by researchers in Switzerland:
Dominique de Quervain, Urs Fischbacher, Valerie Treyer, Melanie Schellhammer, Colin Schnyder, Alfred
Buck and Ernst Fehr, ‘The Neural Basis of Altruistic Punishment’,
Science
305, no. 5688, pp. 1254–58 (August 2004).

84
We have an additional, irresistible urge to divide the world:
Graham Lawton, ‘The Grand Delusion’,
New Scientist
, 14 May 2011.

84
A study by three major US universities found:
‘Roots of Unconscious Prejudice Affect 90 to 95 percent of People’,
Science Daily
, 30 September 1998.

84
the only thing necessary to trigger tribal behaviour in humans:
J. Anderson Thompson Jnr,
Why We Believe in God(s)
, Pitchstone, 2011, p. 38.

84
social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson describe:
Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson,
Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)
, Pinter and Martin, 2007, p. 13.

85
Psychologists know this as the ‘makes sense stopping rule’:
Jonathan Haidt,
The Happiness Hypothesis
, Arrow, 2006, p. 65.

86
One of the neatest looked at unconscious sexism:
Graham Lawton, ‘The Grand Delusion’,
New Scientist
, 14 May 2011.

86
Psychologist Deanna Kuhn found:
Michael Shermer,
Why People Believe Weird Things
, Souvenir Press, 2007, pp. 299, 300.

86
One had people reading two arguments about the death penalty:
Thomas Gilovich,
How We Know What Isn’t So
, Simon & Schuster, 1991, p. 54.

87
In 2004, clinical psychologist Drew Westen:
Drew Westen, ‘The Political Brain’,
Public Affairs
, 2007, pp. x–xiv.

88
participants trying to find a photograph of themselves:
Graham Lawton, ‘The Grand Delusion’,
New Scientist
, 14 May 2011.

88
participants reading an essay about Rasputin:
David Eagleman,
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
, Canongate, 2011, pp. 62–63.

89
A cognitive error we all share, known as the spotlight effect:
Graham Lawton, ‘The Grand Delusion’,
New Scientist
, 14 May 2011.

89
Gamblers rewrite their memories:
Thomas Gilovich,
How We Know What Isn’t So
, Simon & Schuster, 1991, p. 55.

89
Athletes tend to put their victories down to training:
Thomas Gilovich,
How We Know What Isn’t So
, Simon & Schuster, 1991, p. 55.

89
74 per cent of drivers:
Graham Lawton, ‘The Grand Delusion’,
New Scientist
, 14 May 2011.

89
94 per cent of university professors:
Thomas Gilovich,
How We Know What Isn’t So
, Simon & Schuster, 1991, p. 77.

89
When husbands and wives are asked to guess what percentage:
Jonathan Haidt,
The Happiness Hypothesis
, Arrow, 2006, p. 69.

89
Half of all students in one survey predicted:
David Brooks,
The Social Animal
, Short Books, 2011, p. 214.

89
having acted reasonably in the face of unfair provocation:
Roy Baumeister,
Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty
, Barnes & Noble/W. H. Freeman, 1997, p. 43.

89
The Nazis believed that they were on a mission of good:
Roy Baumeister,
Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty
, Barnes & Noble/W. H. Freeman, 1997, p. 34.

89
He writes, ‘The perpetrators of evil …’:
Roy Baumeister,
Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty
, Barnes & Noble/W. H. Freeman, 1997, p. 38.

89
‘many especially evil acts …’:
Roy Baumeister,
Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty
, Barnes & Noble/W. H. Freeman, 1997, p. 29.

90
We typically have a bias that tells us we are less susceptible to bias:
Emily Pronin, Daniel Y. Lin, Lee Ross, ‘The Bias Blind Spot: Perceptions of Bias in Self Versus Others’,
Personal and Social Psychology Bulletin
, March 2002.

7: ‘Quack’

page

94
four million pounds a year:
‘NHS money “wasted” on homeopathy’, BBC News, 22 February 2010.

94
billions in … the US:
‘The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States’, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, December 2008.

94
Over fifteen thousand NHS prescriptions:
Martin Beckford, ‘NHS spending on homeopathy prescriptions falls to £122,000’,
Daily Telegraph
, 30 August 2011.

94
score above 70 per cent:
‘NHS money “wasted”’ on homeopathy’, BBC News, 22 February 2010.

94
Questions have been asked in Parliament:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100629/debtext/100629-0003.htm
.

94
the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee recommended:
‘NHS money “wasted” on homeopathy’, BBC News, 22 February 2010.

94
Even ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair has become involved:
‘Blair downplays creationism fears’, BBC News, 2 November 2006.

94
an eightfold drop in NHS prescriptions:
Martin Beckford, ‘NHS spending on homeopathy prescriptions falls to £122,000’,
Daily Telegraph
, 30 August 2011.

94–95
just 0.001 per cent of the NHS’s annual drug budget:
Martin Beckford, ‘NHS spending on homeopathy prescriptions falls to £122,000’,
Daily Telegraph
, 30 August 2011.

96
which began in 1790:
(The birth of homeopathy is sometimes placed at 1792, but 1790 apparently represents the start of Hahnemann’s experiments.) Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst,
Trick or Treatment
, Corgi, 2008, p. 119.

97
one molecule … in your pill is one in a billion billion billion billion:
Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst,
Trick or Treatment
, Corgi, 2008, p. 124.

97
a sphere of water that stretches from the earth to the sun:
Ben Goldacre,
Bad Science
, 4th Estate, 2008, p. 33.

99
It is said that Vithoulkas dodged his judgement day:
‘George Vithoulkas Makes a Fool of Himself’,
The Quackometer
, 24 February 2010.

99
typically merciless statement that was published on Randi’s personal blog:
James Randi, ‘A Correction’,
Swift
blog, 30 December 2008.

102
Written by Dr Michael Shermer:
Michael Shermer,
Why People Believe Weird Things
, Souvenir Press, 2007, pp. 309–331.

107
The American rationalist-celebrity Rebecca Watson:
Rebecca Watson interview, YouTube, uploaded 7 July 2008.

107
This is why James Randi frequently rejects the title ‘debunker’:
‘The $18,000 question’,
Straits Times
, 30 May 1991.

108
the man Professor Chris French calls ‘the patron saint of the Skeptics’:
Interview, Chris French and James Randi, YouTube, April 2008, on behalf of
The Skeptic
magazine.

109
Randi himself has said that ‘any definitive tests … have been negative’:
Interview [AP]
St. Petersburg Times
(Florida), 24 July 2007 and at JREF Staff page,
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/staff.html
.

110
Nature
, published a study:
E. Davenas et al., ‘Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE’,
Nature
333, June 1988.

110
Benveniste was initially sceptical of homeopathy:
Heretics of Science
, episode one, BBC2, 1994.

110
his best researcher, Dr Elisabeth Davenas:
Heretics of Science
, episode one, BBC2, 1994.

110
the results were reportedly replicated by four laboratories:
Maddox, Stewart, Randi, ‘“High-dilution” experiments a delusion’,
Nature
, 28 July 1988. (Description of
Nature
replication that follows is sourced from the BBC documentary, the
Nature
articles and
Trick or Treatmen
t, by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst).

110
Dr Elisabeth Davenas – a homeopathy proponent:
Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst,
Trick or Treatment
, Corgi, 2008, p. 151.

111
When the result was revealed, some of Benveniste’s scientists wept:
Heretics of Science
, episode one, BBC2, 1994.

111
Their report was published in
Nature
in July 1988:
Maddox, Stewart, Randi, ‘“High-dilution” experiments a delusion’,
Nature
, 28 July 1988.

111
Benveniste fought back:
‘Dr Jacques Benveniste replies’,
Nature
, 28 July 1988.

111
He described the investigation as a ‘pantomime’:
Heretics of Science
, episode one, BBC2, 1994.

111
Benveniste finished his grand defence:
‘Dr Jacques Benveniste replies’,
Nature
, 28 July 1988.

112
Two years later, he was fired:
Heretics of Science
, episode one, BBC2, 1994.

112
‘Shang et al.’:
Aijing Shang et al., ‘Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy’,
Lancet
, 27 August 2005. (I made repeated attempts to approach Shang and members of his team for comment and assistance, but unfortunately they declined to help.)

115
‘One day,’ he said, ‘we are going to be able to get our drugs on the phone’:
Heretics of Science
, episode one, BBC2, 1994.

115
‘Today you can send a strand of your hair’:
Interview with Andy Lewis,
The Quackometer
.

115
‘milk of the dolphin’:
These are treatments recommended by Nancy Herrick in ‘Animal Mind, Human Voices’, noted on
Reviewed
by Edi Mottershead (accessed at:
http://www.minimum.com/reviews/animal-mind.htm
) and the biography of Herrick on the website of the Hahnemann Clinic, Point Richmond:
http://www.herrickmorrison.com/sitemap.html
.

116
The Cancer Act 1939:
Section 4: ‘(1) No person shall take any part in the
publication of any advertisement –. (a) containing an offer to treat any person for cancer, or to prescribe any remedy therefore, or to give any advice in connection with the treatment thereof ’.

8: ‘Some type of tiny wasps’

page

118
Morgellons was named in 2002, by American mom Mary Leitao:
Brigid Schulte, ‘Figments of the Imagination?’,
Washington Post
, 20 January 2008.

118
Using a microscope:
Chico Harlan, ‘Mom fights for answers on what’s wrong with her son’,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, 23 July 2006.

118
blue, black and white fibres:
Elizabeth Devita-Raeburn, ‘The Morgellons Mystery’,
Psychology Today
, 1 March 2007.

118
patients in ‘every continent except Antarctica’:
http://www.thecehf.org/morgellons-disease-bizarre-truth.html
.

118
Even folk singer Joni Mitchell has been affected:
Matt Diehl, ‘It’s a Joni Mitchell concert, sans Joni’,
Los Angeles Times
, 22 April 2012.

118
thousands of sufferers in the US have written to members of Congress:
Brigid Schulte, ‘Figments of the Imagination?’,
Washington Post
, 20 January 2008.

118
In 2008, the CDC established a special task force:
‘CDC to Launch Study on Unexplained Illness’, CDC Press Briefing Transcript, Moderator: Dave Daigle, 16 January 2008, 2:00 p.m. EST.

120
academics such as Jeffrey Meffert:
Brigid Schulte, ‘Figments of the Imagination?’,
Washington Post
, 20 January 2008.

120
Dr Mary Seeman, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry:
Michael Mason, ‘Is It Disease or Delusion? U.S. Takes on a Dilemma’,
New York Times
, 24 October 2006.

120–21
Dr Steven Novella of
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe
agrees:
‘Delusional Parasitosis’, sciencebasedmedicine.org, 18 May 2011.

121
In the spring of 2005, Randy Wymore:
Interview with author and Brigid Schulte, ‘Figments of the Imagination?’,
Washington Post
, 20 January 2008.

122
the moment they discovered the job was related to Morgellons:
Randy Wymore, presentation, fourth Annual Morgellons Conference in Austin, Texas, 2 April 2011.