Another preview – When I Went to Your House – added to the RF2 page.
I’ve been reading two critiques of alternative medicine, or rather its adherents, recently. One is the Salerno book Sham which I’ve mentioned already. It’s very readable and reasonable until the last chapter which spoils it with some surprising stuff which dives from the negative politically correct effects of the feminisation of schools and workplace culture to some unwarranted indignation that ‘a stern, tough-talking president is labelled as reckless and macho’ and, even sadder, ‘It took 9/11 to reassert the legitimacy of aggression in American society, to move us from notions of ‘feeling your pain’ to notions of inflicting it.’ A shame because he’s spot on in other places such as the spurious psychology that is spreading into the mainstream in all aspects of society.
The other place, where I didn’t expect to find it, is in Derren Brown,
who while claiming to be on a rant and asking the reader’s indulgence,
actually makes a much better case against bad science and unprovable
claims than Salerno. This book is far better than you’d expect from a
TV magician’s Christmas stockingfiller, both wider and deeper in scope.
Still spending the odd hour on new recordings between watching football on TV and playing Marvel superheroes on the Playstation.