Tag Archives: evaluating evidence

How not to science: Lessons from flat earthers and climate change deniers

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Fallacy Man

Science is an amazingly powerful tool for disentangling fact and fiction. When done correctly, it is a systematic, objective, unbiased, and self-correcting method for understanding our universe. Unfortunately, many people don’t appreciate the objectivity that science requires, and instead view … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, GMO, Nature of Science, Science of Evolution, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Acupuncture is just a placebo

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Fallacy Man

Acupuncture is an extremely popular form of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) that has even worked its way into many “integrative” hospitals. It is also fiercely defended by its believers. Unfortunately, it is not well defended by actual evidence, so I … Continue reading →

Posted in Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

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

If anecdotes are evidence, why aren’t you drinking paint thinner?

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Fallacy Man

I want to begin this post by doing something atypical for me. I want to tell you about an amazing cure-all that I that was recently introduced to: turpentine (aka paint thinner). According to the vast wealth of knowledge available … Continue reading →

Posted in Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Facts aren’t political (or religious)

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Fallacy Man

On this blog/Facebook page, I try very hard to stick to scientific facts and avoid discussing politics. Nevertheless, I am frequently accused of being political, even when I am simply reporting a fact. For example, I often post facts about … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments