Unnecessary meanness
Posted: 20 Jun 2009, 12:31
"Wow! So, the FDA has finally admitted that the mercury in amalgam fillings is having devastating results on our children’s health. It’s on the Internet, so it must be true."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/18/fda-r ... -fillings/
"According to the British Homeopathic Association (does that mean the fewer members they have the more powerful the group?) June 14-21 is Homeopathy Awareness Week."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/15/homeo ... ness-week/
"This time out you not only get ONE bizarre medium, but TWO, count’em TWO mediums for the price of admission in one thrill ride filled to overflowing with woo. I won’t even bother to question the complete lack of any rational thought whatsoever or whether or not this romp has logic holes big enough to drive a hearse through."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/13/drag- ... e-theater/
"At this point, Michael (clearly less naive than I) asked if he was being punked, if this whole day was a setup and a joke on him. I told him no, this was real, and this guy was just a nut."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/11/not-skeptical-enough/
"Simon Singh is a journalist in the UK; he writes for the Guardian. Moreover, he’s a science journalist, and a good one who, like so many of us, prefers reality the way it is. The British Chiropractic Association, however, prefers reality to bend to their will."
"Unsurprisingly, the BCA took a dim view of this. So of course they produced copious variable-controlled double blind studies with statistically significant testing procedures to back up their claim. HAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha! No, that would be silly! Of course they didn’t do that. They sued him instead."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/10/i-kno ... rd-singhs/
And I found all of these mean-spirited comments on the same blog, and I only had to go back ten days. I probably missed some, too, as I was skimming. One of the things that I sometimes do not hear enough about when people on our side are arguing about the skeptics is the really mean and disrespectful comments that skeptics seem to like to make on a regular basis for no good reason. These prominent skeptics on skepticblog.org seem to think, as most skeptics do, that this type of discourse is fair game. You would have a hard time finding this type of meanness on a blog like that of Dean Radin. I believe that, at least in the scientific community, there should be punishment for speaking about other people or concepts in this manner. This disrespect helps to dissuade people from becoming scientists, and it stifles reasoned discussion. Does anyone else have any thoughts on how to reign in this disrespectfulness?
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/18/fda-r ... -fillings/
"According to the British Homeopathic Association (does that mean the fewer members they have the more powerful the group?) June 14-21 is Homeopathy Awareness Week."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/15/homeo ... ness-week/
"This time out you not only get ONE bizarre medium, but TWO, count’em TWO mediums for the price of admission in one thrill ride filled to overflowing with woo. I won’t even bother to question the complete lack of any rational thought whatsoever or whether or not this romp has logic holes big enough to drive a hearse through."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/13/drag- ... e-theater/
"At this point, Michael (clearly less naive than I) asked if he was being punked, if this whole day was a setup and a joke on him. I told him no, this was real, and this guy was just a nut."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/11/not-skeptical-enough/
"Simon Singh is a journalist in the UK; he writes for the Guardian. Moreover, he’s a science journalist, and a good one who, like so many of us, prefers reality the way it is. The British Chiropractic Association, however, prefers reality to bend to their will."
"Unsurprisingly, the BCA took a dim view of this. So of course they produced copious variable-controlled double blind studies with statistically significant testing procedures to back up their claim. HAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha! No, that would be silly! Of course they didn’t do that. They sued him instead."
http://skepticblog.org/2009/06/10/i-kno ... rd-singhs/
And I found all of these mean-spirited comments on the same blog, and I only had to go back ten days. I probably missed some, too, as I was skimming. One of the things that I sometimes do not hear enough about when people on our side are arguing about the skeptics is the really mean and disrespectful comments that skeptics seem to like to make on a regular basis for no good reason. These prominent skeptics on skepticblog.org seem to think, as most skeptics do, that this type of discourse is fair game. You would have a hard time finding this type of meanness on a blog like that of Dean Radin. I believe that, at least in the scientific community, there should be punishment for speaking about other people or concepts in this manner. This disrespect helps to dissuade people from becoming scientists, and it stifles reasoned discussion. Does anyone else have any thoughts on how to reign in this disrespectfulness?