Tag Archives: evaluating evidence

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

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Fallacy Man

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

8 lessons that MythBusters taught us about science and skepticism

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Fallacy Man

This is a sad week for me, because this week I must bid farewell to one of my all time favorite TV shows: MythBusters. In a world where educational television has degraded to the point that it consists largely of … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged | 11 Comments

5 reasons why anecdotes are totally worthless

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Fallacy Man

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

Research, you’re doing it wrong: A look at Tenpenny’s “Vaccine Research Library”

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Fallacy Man

“I’ve done my research.” If you’ve ever debated someone who disagrees with a scientific  consensus, then you’ve probably encountered that sentence, especially if they were an anti-vaccer. It is the mantra of the anti-science movement, but it’s nearly always misused. … Continue reading →

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

The genetic fallacy: When is it okay to criticize a source?

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Fallacy Man

Last week, I wrote a post on the hierarchy of scientific evidence which included the figure to the right. In that post, I explained why some types of scientific papers produced more robust results than others. Some people, however, took … Continue reading →

Posted in Rules of Logic | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments