Tag Archives: Bad arguments

Understanding abstracts: Does the study say what you think it says?

I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about scientific studies and how to analyze them, but there is a very important topic that, until now, I have only mentioned briefly: abstracts. Abstracts are intended to be useful … Continue reading

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Understanding the reported risks of medicines, foods, toxic chemicals, etc.

We are constantly bombarded with news reports and claims like, “A new study found that chemical X increases your risk of disease Y by 100%” or “doing X makes you twice as likely to have Y,” but what do those … Continue reading

Posted in Nature of Science, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

5 reasons why anecdotes are totally worthless

Personal anecdotes are often the primary ammunition of those who deny science. If you ask anyone in the alternative medicine or anti-vaccine movements for their evidence, you will almost certainly get flooded with anecdotes. A quick internet search will reveal … Continue reading

Posted in GMO, Nature of Science, Rules of Logic, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Global warming hasn’t paused

The notion that there has been a recent pause or hiatus in global climate change is one of those myths that just will not die. Numerous studies have shown that it simply isn’t true, and the claim is based on … Continue reading

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Evolutionary mechanisms part 4: Natural selection

Natural selection is probably the most well known of the evolutionary mechanisms, and it is the one that most people think of when someone says, “evolution.” It is, however, often misunderstood, and people frequently fail to appreciate its complexity. Therefore, … Continue reading

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