Richard Dawkins: "The Enemies of Reason"
Part II below:
The Enemies of Reason is a two-part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. From the makers:Is it rational that the dead can communicate with the living and give sound advice on how they should live their lives? What about sticking pins into your body to free the flow of Chi energy and cure your illness? Or the bending of spoons using your mind alone? Is that rational? Richard Dawkins doesn’t think so, and feels it is his duty to expose those areas of belief that exist without scientific proof, yet manage to hold the nation under their spell. He will take on the world’s leading proponents in their field of expertise, meet the victims who have used them and expose the history of the movements – from the charlatans who have milked these practices to the experiments and testing that have failed to produce conclusive results.
[Thanks to www.exchristian.net for this].
4 comments:
I watched this a few months back. Enjoyed it thoroughly. I heartily recommend it. In fact, I think many of the Christians among us will be able to find common ground with Dawkins on the issues he addresses here. Better still if we can all find common ground around reason itself.
Hello fellow members, just watched (Pt2) of "The enemies of reason", & like Joseph found it quite enjoyable. In fact i'd also viewed it then & having watched it again seemed to 'Evoke' a more immediate response: In the sense that it's not all 'Mumbo-jumbo' nonsense as 'R.Dawkins' depicts in this interesting programme furthermore, although certain aspects of it seemed a bit 'Far-fetched' there were other, quite fascinating parts in my opinion; why would someone opt for this 'Alternative remedy' in the first place?.... Perhaps it's to do with 'Psychology' (All in the mind) therefore, don't you think it a good idea if the more 'Orthodox' forms of treatments worked alongside 'alternative medicine', then the 'Patient' would feel more comfortable & secure in the knowledge that he/she is being looked after in the best possible way!.....Believe me i know from 'Personal experience's' that 'Orthodox medicine' is not the 'Be-all(and end-all)' of a patients wellbeing, & long-term recovery, from whatever ailment he/she is suffering from!?
First of all, single quotes are not a panacea; they obfuscate your writing and make it harder to follow. Proper punctuation makes your text much more reader friendly.
Second, when you say "orthodox medicine", then I assume that you mean evidence-based medicine. Why should we spend time and money on medicine for which there is no evidence of effectiveness?
Additionally, so-called "alternative medicine" is not always innocuous. Certain regimes (e.g. chelation therapy for autism) are dangerous; many actively discourage evidence-based treatments. Almost all of them are expensive, and almost all of them make claims that are not backed up by any evidence. If you want to spend your money on reiki, go for it, but neither you nor anyone else is allowed to lie to people telling them that there is any reliable evidence that reiki does anything at all other than make practicioners richer and patients poorer.
I watched this with my girlfriend a few months ago and was most amused by the scene with Dawkins depicting the level of concentration/dilution in homeopathy. Slightly less amusing was the fact that tax payers money is being spent on homeopathy. My girlfriend, who works for a private health care provider also told me that they offer homeopathic remedies.
Sadeviltan, of course orthodox (or as Shygetz rightfully points out, evidence based medicine) isn't the be all and end all, proof of this lies with the drugs that aren't available yet but will be in 10 years time. However, just because medical science hasn't cured all ills yet, doesn't mean that ancient pre-scientific ideas actually work.
Returning to homeopathy for instance. The only trials acknowledged to be soundly carried out have seen no difference between the patients treated with pure distilled water and homeopathic remedies. Thats a pretty good indicator that its bunk.
Indeed, based on what dawkins revealed about dilution, you have more of my urine in a homeopathic remedy than you do the active ingredient.
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