Dear 'The Reminiscent'
When you said "Life passed me by without noticing"
I did notice you, I just ignored you because you're a wanker.
Life.
More than the Sum of Our Parts We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert. - J. Robert Oppenheimer
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Bodyism and my BFF
Today’s topic, boys and girls, is BULLSHIT.
Let me recite to you an abbreviated version of a conversation I had with a Biochemist female friend (BFF) of mine, not long ago:
---
BFF- I’m drinking a drink which is making me lose weight!
Me- Oh SHIT! Wtf is it dude!?
BFF- It’s called Body Brilliance, from a company called Bodyism. You can buy it in Holland and Barrett! http://store.bodyism.com/product/15/Start+Here+Pack (click here)
[instantly skeptical at the mention of Holland and Barrett, who have a reputation for spewing hypocritical, misleading bullshit and peddling woo]
Me- You do realise it’s €190 for 500g of this, and they don’t tell you what the ingredients are, let alone how it works?
BFF- Must be Antioxidants
[there is no mention of antioxidants on the website]
Me- You do realise that there is little evidence that Antioxidants have any health benefits, and those that do show some support are in areas like neuron protection. Not weightloss.
BFF- It speeds up your metabolism.
[no it doesn’t]
Me-…. ANYWAY. These guys also sell Powerbands. You should def be skeptical of everything about what this company stands for. They make extraordinary claims with no support, and charge extortionate amounts. Including for well known bullshit like Powerbands.
BFF- Well HAS worked. I felt the effects as soon as I drank it!
Me- Just because it seemed to work for you, doesn’t mean it actually worked…
BFF- Well then you try it!
Me- You are clearly missing the point, if that's your argument. You are not a significant population sample in a controlled setting
BFF- My point is that it has worked on me, I never said it would work on other people
[I fucking hate this argument]
Me- I've eaten BBQ food consistently over the past month and lost weight. Ergo BBQ food makes me lose weight.
BFF- Well that's a lie
Me- I swear to you it's not. It's just a correlation which is ignorant of other factors
BFF- Don’t be a little bitch, just cos you know I’m right.
---
So that was an irritating conversation. And, unfortunately, not an uncommon one. Even among the friends I thought had the capacity to think for themselves.
Boys and girls, before you believe anything, try and understand it first. If it makes no sense, it’s probably bullshit. And don’t defend your bullshit beliefs with more bullshit. The world will rot under the load of manure. Instead, try and learn and move forwards with improved beliefs. Don't retard progress with your own selfishness (on a macro level, this is the result).
Just to make sure I wasn't mistaken, in case this really is a medical breakthrough, I sent this e-mail to Bodyism:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please could you tell me the ingredients in your product Body Brilliance (http://store.bodyism.com/product/15/Start+Here+Pack)
Also, could you explain to me the biological mechanisms of how it works.
Kind regards,
Matt
I’ll post here what the response is. If I get one.
====
Edit:
Response below the fold:
Monday, 23 April 2012
Letters from Life
Dear 'the 99%',
FYI, the contents of your fridge:
A mostly evaporated pot of, now crystallised, honey.
No lid.
Debatable as to whether it should be in the fridge at all, let alone the sole contents.
Best regards,
Life.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
UK Riots
I like to think that everyone reading this blog will know my point of view on the riots, so i wont bother clarifying.
But i do have a couple of quick points:
Firstly, how comes the police were so quick to respond with violence and kettling to pre-organised, peaceful student protests last year, yet so hesitant when it comes to violent riots?
My guess is because they were prepared for the student protests, and had standing orders from high up to give them the power to do it, which they happily excercised without consequence to themselves.
But for these riots, they happened so suddenly, it took the upper echelons a while to get back to them on what type of force they could use.
As Peter Tatchell pointed out yesterday, deaths in police custody since 1998 = 333, officers convicted = 0.
Added to that the recent spate of uncovered corruption in The Force.
There are other points i was going to make, but i'm in a rush so not going to bother - you get the idea. While i should clarify that i'm not anti-police (generalising 'police' is no fairer than generalising 'youths' when talking about rioters, and in general they do a great job of a necessity), there is still a serious issue with the police force that must be addressed. Their hands are tied without orders, and when those orders come through, there is no accountability. We have a broken society being protected and enforced by a broken police force. That makes little sense.
The police need just as much of a shake-up as the rest of society.
While we are on the topic of the rest of society, it'd be good to get a team together of Psychologists, Sociologists, Economists and Historians to diagnose, then form evidence-based solutions to, the complex socio-economic problems that have been brewing for a long time that have led to these riots. Or more specifically, led to the creation of the type of people who are rioting senselessly, for no cause.
^Matt
---Edit---
This article is well worth a read.
But i do have a couple of quick points:
Firstly, how comes the police were so quick to respond with violence and kettling to pre-organised, peaceful student protests last year, yet so hesitant when it comes to violent riots?
My guess is because they were prepared for the student protests, and had standing orders from high up to give them the power to do it, which they happily excercised without consequence to themselves.
But for these riots, they happened so suddenly, it took the upper echelons a while to get back to them on what type of force they could use.
As Peter Tatchell pointed out yesterday, deaths in police custody since 1998 = 333, officers convicted = 0.
Added to that the recent spate of uncovered corruption in The Force.
There are other points i was going to make, but i'm in a rush so not going to bother - you get the idea. While i should clarify that i'm not anti-police (generalising 'police' is no fairer than generalising 'youths' when talking about rioters, and in general they do a great job of a necessity), there is still a serious issue with the police force that must be addressed. Their hands are tied without orders, and when those orders come through, there is no accountability. We have a broken society being protected and enforced by a broken police force. That makes little sense.
The police need just as much of a shake-up as the rest of society.
While we are on the topic of the rest of society, it'd be good to get a team together of Psychologists, Sociologists, Economists and Historians to diagnose, then form evidence-based solutions to, the complex socio-economic problems that have been brewing for a long time that have led to these riots. Or more specifically, led to the creation of the type of people who are rioting senselessly, for no cause.
^Matt
---Edit---
This article is well worth a read.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Prince Charles the Snake Oil Salesman
I've moaned before about Prince Charles here.
It's always nice find your views reflected by those better than you. So when Prof. Edzard Ernst - King Badass Scientist - calls Charles a 'snake oil salesman', it makes you feel like all is (almost) right with the world.
Here is the article in the Guardian which explains the situation quite well - Essentially, Prof. Ernst has gotten into trouble by bringing up Charles on his promoting of quackery. Particularly of trying to get Homoeopathy onto the NHS.
Prof Ernst is being forced to step down from his position due to pressure to close his entire unit (from none other than Clarence House). I sincerely hope he goes on to find himself in a position which facilitates his baddassery, and enables him to make as much noise as possible on the very serious issue of evidence-based medicine(, the universe and everything else)
^Matt
It's always nice find your views reflected by those better than you. So when Prof. Edzard Ernst - King Badass Scientist - calls Charles a 'snake oil salesman', it makes you feel like all is (almost) right with the world.
Here is the article in the Guardian which explains the situation quite well - Essentially, Prof. Ernst has gotten into trouble by bringing up Charles on his promoting of quackery. Particularly of trying to get Homoeopathy onto the NHS.
Prof Ernst is being forced to step down from his position due to pressure to close his entire unit (from none other than Clarence House). I sincerely hope he goes on to find himself in a position which facilitates his baddassery, and enables him to make as much noise as possible on the very serious issue of evidence-based medicine(, the universe and everything else)
^Matt
Sunday, 24 July 2011
A good post
Lack of blog posts have been causing readership to fall recently, but the crappy blogger stats would say that seeing as i got 5k views in 5 hours thanks to PZed's link.
HOWEVER, there is a genuinely good excuse for not blogging this past month. I got a life. And the rest of my time was spent trying to get a job to fund said life.
For now, enjoy this blog post by comic neuroscientist Dr. Dean Burnett (Welsh. Not French.) about a minor shit-storm kicked up by Johann Hari caused by him doin' plagarisms.
Given the recent crisis within the media industry, it might be good to see some attention taken off Murdoch. (Although, it would still be better to attend to the Eurozone crisis and the drought in East Africa...)
^Matt
HOWEVER, there is a genuinely good excuse for not blogging this past month. I got a life. And the rest of my time was spent trying to get a job to fund said life.
For now, enjoy this blog post by comic neuroscientist Dr. Dean Burnett (Welsh. Not French.) about a minor shit-storm kicked up by Johann Hari caused by him doin' plagarisms.
Given the recent crisis within the media industry, it might be good to see some attention taken off Murdoch. (Although, it would still be better to attend to the Eurozone crisis and the drought in East Africa...)
^Matt
Monday, 18 July 2011
Letters from Life
Dear Interviewees.
When being interviewed, best to not use the word 'ejaculate'.
That is all.
Life
^Matt
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