Monthly Archives: August 2018

Is it likely that alternative medicine works? The importance of prior probability

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Fallacy Man

Prior probability is basically just the plausibility of a result, given everything else we know about the universe. In other words, when evaluating a hypothesis or a study, you should weigh your confidence in the result not only on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Courts don’t determine scientific facts

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Fallacy Man

Most people have probably seen the recent news that Monsanto has been ordered to pay $289 million following the ruling by a California jury that Monsanto’s glyphosate (a.k.a. Roundup) is dangerous and likely contributed to Dewayne Johnson’s cancer. I could … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science, Rules of Logic | Tagged , , , | 54 Comments

Scientism: Is it a straw man or a legitimate critique?

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Fallacy Man

If you browse through the comments on this blog/Facebook page, or the pages of just about any other pro-science page, you will quickly find accusations of “scientism.” Indeed, among those who like to disagree with scientific results, this seems to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 40 Comments