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"Denialism and the Whitecoat Underground" Atheists Talk #062 March 22, 2009 |
Skepticism is generally a healthy thing. Requiring evidence and
questioning other people's claims can help us avoid falling prey to
quacks and con artists of all stripes. It can keep us from throwing our
time, money and hope into a pit from which we can never get it back.
However,
the tools of skepticism, like any other tools, can be misused. They can
be selectively and inappropriately applied to create doubt even where
almost no doubt remains. This tactic is referred to as bogus
skepticism, or denialism. It's used frequently in discussion of
politically charged topics, such as man-made global warming and the very existence of the Holocaust.
PalMD
is an internist (a doctor of internal medicine) who has blogged
extensively about medical denialism at White Coat Underground,
Science-Based Medicine and previously at denialism blog. He also hosts
a podcast (or PalCast) in which he talks about many of the same issues.
The contentious topics he's covered include the dangers of secondhand
smoke, claims of a vaccine-autism link, "alternative" medicine and
diagnoses of diseases without any physiological basis. He'll talk with
us about the difference between skepticism and denialism and how to
spot a denialist.
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