Post hoc ergo propter hoc; this is one of my favourite logical fallacies, not just because it sounds cool but because it’s so commonly used and easy to spot. It translates as ‘after this therefore because of this’ and the essence of it is that a conclusion has been reached based solely on the order… Read More 12 Days of Scepticism: Day 5- Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
It’s time to tackle a tricky subject. Everyone has heard of the placebo effect but there are a lot of misconceptions out there about what it really is and whether or not it’s ‘real’. Let’s start with a basic description of what it is: when a person is given a fake treatment for an illness,… Read More The Placebo Effect: The Myth and The Reality
I did something I don’t normally do yesterday. I got into an online debate about climate change. I was playing some silly game or other on my phone and looked in the chat room. Normally there’s just stuff about where to find energy and what enemies to kill but this time I just saw the… Read More Don’t Feed The Trolls
Brace yourselves. I’ve written a post about something close to my heart: pseudoscience in healthcare. In this particular instance it is chiropractic; if I have the energy at some point I will cover other types of nonsense like homeopathy, iridology, acupuncture (yes, acupuncture doesn’t work, get over it) and other such ‘complimentary’ therapies in future… Read More Chiropractic: A Dangerous, Unethical Waste of Time
Scepticism is important, scientific scepticism in particular. At it’s core is a questioning attitude towards claims or knowledge that haven’t been achieved empirically. Claims should not just be taken for granted but put through a series of tests to ascertain their validity. Does the claim have reasonable prior probability or does it go against the… Read More Confirmation Bias
