1. New age therapies cause 'retreat from reason'

Comment #61657 by Sathya_Sai_Baba on August 6, 2007 at 7:06 am

Has anyone here read "Unweaving the Rainbow"? Dawkins has already tackled new age therapy in this book and this documentary will just be an extension to it. There's nothing really new going on here guys. It's the same old battle of defending reason.

2. New age therapies cause 'retreat from reason'

Comment #61477 by Sathya_Sai_Baba on August 5, 2007 at 10:05 am

To discipline:

This is exactly what a 'new atheist' should be thinking about. The battle of a new atheist is not essentially religion vs. science. It is faith vs reason which manifest extremely potently in the two aforementioned respectively. These new age therapies are yet another creation of a superstitious faith-based mind and are also capable of inflicting suffering or at least hindering its alleviation by convincing desperate people they can heal themselves by freeing up meridian channels.

This doesn't dilute our efforts, it makes them all the more focused as it more truly targets our enemy - faith and dogma. However, I'm not an American and have no experience of what it's like on the streets - I'll find out in a week as I'm going to Penn State for a year on exchange! Then I'll comment with some weight behind it :)

3. The Gullible Age: Review of 'The Enemies of Reason'

Comment #61447 by Sathya_Sai_Baba on August 5, 2007 at 7:25 am

This is priceless!! I'm sorry Richard, but I'm afraid I'll be forced to download your documentary illegally as I live in Australia. If you like, I'll donate a few more bucks to your organisation, however I have bought two of your books so far though ;)

Anyway, this is so funny as my girlfriend and her Mum are totally in to this stuff. Ever since we started going out it's been a bone of contention with us. I won't elaborate as it's lengthy, but I have given her a copy of Richards's "Unweaving the Rainbow". Stayed tuned for later comments relating to their "New Age" medicine theories.

The point is that I recently sat through a "kinesiology balance" delivered by my girlfriend's mum.... What a fucking joke that was. I couldn't say no as they were so genuine in their desire to heal me. So, at my G.P's office the next day, after he prescribed me some antibiotics, (that actually worked despite my alleged bad meridian flow) I asked him his opinions on kinesiology. He summed up all the alternative medicines as just being old tech. Something a little like this: "50 years ago before medicines became widely available to the public, this was the only type of medical treatment you had. So it works, but poorly, the theory behind it is absolutely bogus and based on superstition made-up from trial and error observations, and should be obsolete. Sure you can drive a model-T Ford and it'll get you home, but why would you want to when you've got more efficient, faster and safer models available at cheaper prices (also true of conventional vs. alternative medicines)?"

It's so laughable and yet sad at the same time as you can see the people who believe it, so desperately want to believe it...

4. Interview with Michael Behe

Comment #61434 by Sathya_Sai_Baba on August 5, 2007 at 6:29 am

Did anyone else pick up on that Colbert didn't advertise his book at the end of the segment. I'm a fan of Colbert and I've never seen him not hold up the book and repeat its title at the end of the interview segment. He clearly must not be a fan of Behe.

Instead of the "Colbert Bump" he got the "Colbert Snub" :)