When it comes to the greater dynamic sciences, the number of variables grow into the thousands, the millions, and into the billions. Variables such as sciences related to people.

We don’t yet have the technology to incorporate so many variables.

Heck, we can’t even predict the weather with 100% accuracy, using the super computer power available to us now.. but we’re getting closer. How many dynamic variables are involved? Let’s say 100. Heck, let’s say a thousand variables are now involved in weather forcasting.

Compare this to the millions or billions of variables involved with the operation of the human body. Billions or even trillions of variables. Maybe I’m wrong, there could be more or less.

A new science, epigenetics, states that our genes may express themselves in thousands of ways each, and the method of expression is influenced by our thoughts and by the environment.

Quantum physics now states that a particle’s position is influenced by our “observation”. Meaning, not so much meaning how we look at it with our eyes, but rather, how we think about it. Some very high-profile physicists are publicly acknowledging these principls.

Now… tell me again..what’s so crazy about the ideas from this guy Oz ?

No offense, really, but if you’re an MD, and not familiar with any of this stuff.. then.. you’re out-of-”practice” !

Most of the Skeptologic content is truthful, though elementary. When it comes to pure science, I couldn’t agree more. When it comes to big pharma, fda, nih, ama, etc, each of those entities has an agenda. Some good, some bad. When they’re all in bed together, I would say that a certain amount of dishonesty paves the way, for cash is king.

We don’t see people arguing over the actual speed of light, or any other static concept. The answers are known.

But when the “establishment” is threatened with an alternative, it means that money is diverted away. It’s easy to poo-poo a new, out-of-the-establishment procedure which shows results.

Remember, there are a lot of variables involved, so maybe these alternative procedures don’t work every time. And it’s the same with pharma. It’s much easier to test new products in Europe or in Asia because the population type is very similar vs. here in the US where the clinical tests are much more extensive due to the varying makeup.

But maybe you could be right as well, this guy Oz could be in it just for the buck.
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true purpose of business is to solve problems. The nature of Big gov’t is that it creates

big problems. When Big Business and Big Gov’t get together, the result is a Big Mess.

Science & tech has of course been of tremendous benefit to humanity. The issue is with

dishonesty, which happens whether or not business is in bed with gov’t. But it appears that

dishonesty levels rise when Big Business & Big Gov’t are sleeping together. I don’t believe

in big conspiracy theories because of the logistics involved; I think that mass social trends

appear and those in position take advantage of those changing trends to profit from, it’s

their right to do so. For example, we now have an obesity problem, let’s say it’s caused by

HFCS consumption. Joe, one of the heads of Big Pharma, has an idea. He knows that HFCS is

here to stay, and he knows that processed foods are expanding their presence around the

globe. He has a vision of creating a vaccine that will counteract the effects of obesity

caused by HFCS. Maybe the next step is to lobby Congress to get the product distributed.

Who knows. You say that aspartame is perfectly safe because you read that only those who are

allergic to it will suffer. All the tests cannot be in yet, because people have been

affected by it in various ways. I think that Monsanto ( a name we can fully trust ) owns a

major brand of aspartame. Monsanto claims that GM foods are safe, but they also know that

negative-effect trends caused by their products will not become apparent in quite a while.

Maybe Big Pharma will get an idea then to create a vaccine to counteract the effects of GM

foods. A particle accelerator test is hi-tech & complex and no one (except someone with an

ego issue) disputes the results and no one else really cares, there’s just NO real money

involved. The results are conclusive and the test can then be repeated anywhere in the

world. Tests involving humans or living creatures are complex and results are more

inconclusive. It’s more complex than ax2 +by + c = 0. I bet it’s something closer to an infinite series. Sometimes, it’s more effective to observe patterns because science doesn’t

have the means or time to perform expensive tests (and which don’t yet exist). If a trend

has been established (a trend being a collective), I would suspect that the cause of

the trend is common to most of each of the instances. Regarding common quantum theory: a particle’s position depends on our observation of it. This “science” is far-removed from Newtonian physics. It may even involve our thoughts. Epigenetics seems to be. Fluoride also has an affinity for aluminum, a suspected cause of Alzheimers.. When I read “there has been no scientific proof…” of a cause and an effect, it’s simply a warning to me to be cautious. Science is black and white, just look into any field such as math, chemistry, physics. But, when millions of variables are involved (such as the way our genes are expressed), the observations are powerful. In context, it’s about honesty. Everything you believe is absolutely true… for you. Good luck.

Quantum theory is very hard to grasp. Things get very weird at the quantum level and I can see why you would think the current scientific explanations sound weird, I do too. If this guy has an interesting hypothesis, great. He needs to do experiments to try to falsify it and see if it holds up. If he is right, and others can repeat the experiment then his hypothesis will become a theory, that is how science works. He could be brilliant, or he could be a crank, I don’t know, but if he is right the scientific method will vindicate him. Just because his theory sounds more logical to you is not what makes him right and the others wrong. Saying that something isn’t true just because you can’t imagine how it could be possible is a logical fallacy, the argument from personal incredulity.

“Homeopathic results may be PSYCHO-logical in nature”

Exactly! Psychological, as in they are all in the heads of the people who believe it works. It does not actually cure anything. It is called the placebo effect, confirmation bias, and post hoc reasoning. This is why we can’t simply trust only our own observations, human thinking is often flawed. The placebo effect was little comfort to that poor little girl who died of a treatable condition though.

“Science says that aspartame affects ONLY those with phenylketonuria.. so do you really believe this “scientific fact”?”

Yes. Multiple independent studies confirm this. I don’t just take the opposite position of the government, which is what you seem to do for almost everything.

“HFCS is not simply sugar;”

Very basic chemistry disagrees with this statement.

“it affects our appetite functions, hence more obesity, but have more of it.”"

You are confusing correlation with causation. The cause of obesity (and hence the increase in diabetes from the obesity) is caused by eating too many calories and not burning more than you consume. I am not saying HFCS is healthy, after all it’s sugar and sugar has a lot of calories, but singling it out for some weird reason does not make sense. HFCS is used a lot in the US rather than cane sugar because of a few simple reasons. The main reason is that we grow a lot of corn in the US, rather than sugar cane, another is that it is easy to transport and easier to cook with since it is in liquid form. It’s not a big government conspiracy, it’s simple economics and practicality. I have quite a sweet tooth myself and have eaten and continue to eat products that have it. I am not obese or even overweight, I am actually quite thin.

“If you feel that fluoride works, then go ahead & feel compelled to use it.”

What I “feel” is irrelevant when is comes to the data that shows it works. I know why you think it does not: because the government put it in the water, so you don’t trust it.

“There are whole civilizations who’ve never used fluoride, yet have great teeth.”

Which ones? How do you know that? If that is true, there could be another explanation. Also, in many places, fluoride is in the water naturally. If fact, many municipal water companies actually take fluoride out of the water in places where there is too much. We know the right concentration that drinking water should have, since too little fluoride makes for too many cavities, and too much will turn your teeth brown.

“We need to use our intuition. Einstein was aware of this. ”

Ah, invoking Einstein, I was waiting for that. I agree that we need to use our intuition, to suggest new paths to try and think outside the box, absolutely. But then we need to test our assumptions. We need to filter these things through the lens of science and reason so we know what is true and what works. Einstein is a great example. His ideas were way out there, but guess what: they held up to the science. Every experiment ever done on relativity, for example, has confirmed his theory over and over again. That is why it holds up.

“But who says that the currently accepted quantum theory is accurate? Lewis Little doesn’t think so. Science is, after all, an understanding of how nature operates. We’ve a long way to go. Science can’t explain what “was” before the big bang, (the BB theory is an assumption). So, right there, the gap is alreasy too wide; it’s more of a void.”

Just because science can’t explain everything yet does not mean that what we do know is invalid. And it does not mean you can fill in the gaps with whatever fairy tale you wish. This is a logical fallacy.

If homeopathy works, is it invalid just because it can’t be explained yet?

Homeopathy is completely and utterly ridiculous…it’s water. But I understand that me thinking it’s ridiculous is not a reason to think it does not work. The reason to think it does not work is that it has been tested over and over and over again. Every time, it has failed. You alt med promoters just don’t seem to understand that if you test something and it is found not to work that that means that it does not work, but you keep using it anyway. There is real harm in something like this. Homeopaths promote things like homeopathic “vaccines” for things like malaria. If someone who is going to go into an area where they might be exposed to the disease and all they got was an injection of magic spirit water invented in the 19th century by a guy who made up his own laws (e.g. law of similars) then that person may die. Did you hear about the parents who treated their baby with only homeopathy when she got eczema? The baby suffered and died because her parents were treating her with homeopathy (water). Conventional treatments would have easily cured her. She is dead now because of their silly beliefs. Want a bigger list? Go here: http://whatstheharm.net/homeopathy.html

“Back to FDA: Connect these words: Searle, Rumsfeld, aspartame, FDA. How is the FDA truly protecting us? Do I really need to offer evidence of other instances ad nauseum?”

Aspartame is not harmful unless you have phenylketonuria. Throwing in a scary sounding name like Rumsfeld is a red herring. I know I can’t convince you otherwise. I know that unlike a skeptics, who base ourselves in reality and change our minds when new evidence comes to light, there is no way I can convince you that aspartame is safe. You will never change you mind. But hey, if you want an explanation, you can listen to this: http://tinyurl.com/ybozn7y

“Is fluoride harmful, and does it really help enamel.. or does it make it brittle? Are upcoming “fat” vaccines essential, or, do we simply need to outlaw HFCS (corn syrup)?”

Sorry, but there is massive evidence that fluoride helps enamel, but I know that it will not convince you. And HFCS is sugar in liquid form. It has the same effect on your body as sugar. We do not need to ban sugar, you just need to take off your tin foil hat. http://tinyurl.com/yzvepfd

You think “Big Pharma” is the modern day government snake oil? Why? Because they have to actually prove that their products work in controlled trials? You would prefer that they could just make up any claim they wanted and sell you something that has not been tested? Or do you just not trust them because they make money off of their products? Sounds more like anti-corporatism to me. The reason that their drugs are so expensive is that they take years and hundreds of millions of dollars in R&D to create. And they reason for that is that they actually have to do the research, unlike alt med that just makes things up. And by the way, last time I checked, s.c.a.m. (supplements, complimentary, and alternative medicine) was also a multi-billion dollar industry. Big Placebo does not give away their products for free either. How does that make one bad and not the other? Because one is all natural? All natural means nothing. http://skeptologic.com/2008/04/25/100-all-natural-nonsense/

Your own belief system centers around the need for acquiring scientific proof, which is great for the most part.

And just think about what you “know”. It’s the result of what you were “taught”. Maybe you were taught that medicine is practiced one way and one way only.

If a theory can’t be proven scientifically utilizing the several known laws of physics and rules of math, then that theory is moot until a further advanced notice.

But who says that the currently accepted quantum theory is accurate? Lewis Little doesn’t think so. Science is, after all, an understanding of how nature operates. We’ve a long way to go. Science can’t explain what “was” before the big bang, (the BB theory is an assumption). So, right there, the gap is alreasy too wide; it’s more of a void.

Getting back to Earth: If the AMA and the FDA were created to “protect” the public, then, they’ve veered off-course a bit (you remember Frank Zappa? He warned that our government will kill us if we let it be trusted). Actually, the AMA got started because of competition from homeopathic doctors. If homeopathy works, is it invalid just because it can’t be explained yet? If astounding observations involving epigenetics can’t be scietifically proven, does this classify the matter as invalid? In which part of the brain is our “self” situated? What makes you think so?

Back to FDA: Connect these words: Searle, Rumsfeld, aspartame, FDA. How is the FDA truly protecting us? Do I really need to offer evidence of other instances ad nauseum?

The FDA recently banned a naturally available ingredient which helped folks with thyroid issues. And exactly who did benefit from this move? (it was the company who couldn’t come up with an improved version over the naturally available product) Is everyone today crazy, or is the profit potential for prescribing mood drugs just too risky to overlook? Is fluoride harmful, and does it really help enamel.. or does it make it brittle? Are upcoming “fat” vaccines essential, or, do we simply need to outlaw HFCS (corn syrup)?

Sorry, but Big Pharma is the modern-day, gov’t approved, snake oil collective sales company.

Have a pleasant evening.

I use H Pylori as an example. When it was first proposed that bacteria could cause stomach ulcers, people in the scientific community thought it was crazy. Now that it’s been proven, treating H Pylori is a routine part of medical practice. If you want your “alternative” therapy to be accepted by medical practitioners, simply prove that it works in a scientifically rigorous way and we’ll all send you patients.

“Do you think you know everthing [sic] about body, soul, spirit, what we are, why we are here, and so on?”

Interesting question. I see what you are implying and it is a logical fallacy. No, I do not know everything about the human body and neither do doctors or scientists. That is what science is for, to learn as much as we can. Just because we do not know everything does not make the things that we do know invalid. Nor does it allow you or anyone else to fill in the gaps with whatever mystical belief system you choose. As far as a soul or spirit, these are metaphysical concepts for which there is no scientific evidence.

“Is the basis of every one of your very own belief systems perfect?”

Let me clear this up for you. I do not have any belief systems, therefore I don’t make any claim to them being “perfect,” whatever that means. Any person can make up any belief such as religions, ghosts, conspiracy theories, alternative medicines, etc. Am I supposed to believe them all? Of course not. As a skeptic, I only believe in what can be proven to me scientifically. If that is not clear enough, here is a video that explains it very well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI