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gorskon's profile
David Gorski, MD, PhD
David Gorski, MD, PhD
David Gorski, MD, PhD
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@gorskon

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David Gorski, MD, PhDVerified account

@gorskon

Surgeon/scientist promoting science in medicine and exposing quackery. Editor of Science-Based Medicine. My opinions do NOT represent those of my employers.

Michigan, USA
sciencebasedmedicine.org
Joined October 2009

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    1. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

      David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

      I don't agree (quite) with everything in this Tweetstorm, but I do agree with most of it, and she makes several good points. 1/https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026889702543122433 …

      David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

      Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
      A thread. Ten years ago, critical thinking peaked. The organised skepticism movement was successfully imported from USA to UK (mainly by me) and the UK media was getting pretty good at not giving platforms to quacks.
      Show this thread
      1 reply 5 retweets 10 likes
      Show this thread
    2. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

      For instance, skepticism in some ways has become harder, but we should have expected that. Testing and refuting Uri Gellar is rather easy from a practical point of view. Refuting the conspiracy theories spewed by the likes of Alex Jones and Trump supporters is harder. 2/

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      Show this thread
      David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

      David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

      I've also always taken issue with skeptics who would attack (even politely) cancer patients who've fallen for quackery. Contrary to how quacks like #Burzynski have tried to portray me, I go out of my way not to attack the VICTIMS of cancer quackery. 3/https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026894457059401730 …

      David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

      Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
      I used to argue the toss with other skeptics when they’d be extremely sarcastic at eg cancer patients who bought into alt med. They’d tweet things like “well if you believe that then I have this magic rock to sell you”. It doesn’t help, it’s just distressing.
      Show this thread
      9:00 AM - 8 Aug 2018
      • 4 Likes
      • James C.Coyne Robin Miller, Computer Negotiator Epon Cherrilaf (Insert Reference Trolls Don't Get) a dabbler 👀
      1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

          The reason? Attacking the victim doesn't just appear cruel. It often is cruel. 4/https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026894794952531968 …

          David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

          Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
          The wellness movement exploits distress, selling quack cures for problems which might exist in the future, or exist now but aren’t curable. But it does it under the guise of kindness, so attacking those who fall for it just looks cruel.
          Show this thread
          2 replies 1 retweet 4 likes
          Show this thread
        3. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          Of course, one has to realize that, no matter how polite and reasonable I appear to be when dissecting alternative cancer cure testimonials, advocates of quackery will ALWAYS try to portray me as "attacking the victim." Reasonable people (usually) see through such attacks. 5/

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        4. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

          Now here's a key point: Belief is identity. To be honest, I think skeptics have always known that for religion; so it's strange that we often don't realize that it applies to a lot of other irrational beliefs. 6/https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026895507833147392 …

          David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

          Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
          We no longer have a critical thinking community or leaders as capable of getting headlines as Jones or Paltrow or Peterson are. And we can’t use the old tactics of mocking silly beliefs, because belief is now identity.
          Show this thread
          1 reply 3 retweets 3 likes
          Show this thread
        5. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

          So belief in quackery like chronic Lyme disease is identity. "Lose the belief, lose the identity" is a powerful observation about why CLD patients resist disconfirming science and information about their diagnosis. It also applies to antivaxers. 7/https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026896885217419265 …

          David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

          Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
          The disease they have google-diagnosed themselves with (or found a quack) has become an identity. And so the self-worth and community of Lyme Warriors relies on not only a fake disease being real, but on the patient continuing to have it. Lose the diagnosis, lose the identity.
          Show this thread
          3 replies 2 retweets 3 likes
          Show this thread
        6. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          The same is true about a lot of other quackery and fake diagnoses: Adrenal fatigue, for instance. Lose the belief, lose the identity. More importantly, lose the belief, lose the support structure one's built up around that identity. 8/

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        7. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

          Now here's one area where I disagree. She thinks reporting has gotten worse. I don't. At least in some areas, it's gotten markedly better. 9/https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026898781416112128 …

          David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

          Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
          But along with this new generation of quackery-as-identity communities, there is also a new generation of producers and journalists who weren’t around when Randi took Jose Alvarez around Australia to fool the media. They didn’t see Storm.
          Show this thread
          1 reply 2 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        8. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          Antivax, for instance. Reporting on vaccine issues and the claim that vaccines cause autism has gotten arguably much better. Ten years ago, any story about vaccines included an antivaxer for "balance." That is much less frequent now, almost nonexistent. 10/

          1 reply 2 retweets 2 likes
          Show this thread
        9. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

          It's also true that the discovery of how many "leaders" in the male-dominated skeptic movement were sexual harassers or just misogynistic has hurt the movement, particularly among women. 11/https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026891453635723265 …

          David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

          Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
          Turned out the male-dominated movement had a bunch of sexists in it. There was an early Me Too type thing, bunch of the biggest names turned out to be sex pests, others turned out to be racists, anti feminists or other types of wankers.
          Show this thread
          1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes
          Show this thread
        10. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          And don't even get me started on how many skeptics like "thinkers" like Jordan Peterson...ugh. 12/

          2 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
          Show this thread
        11. David Gorski, MD, PhD‏Verified account @gorskon 8 Aug 2018

          David Gorski, MD, PhD Retweeted Tracy King

          It's important to remember, though, that in the age of Trump, more than ever beliefs appear to be tied to identity, which is why gaining traction as skeptics and trying to fight bullshit have become so much harder. 13/13https://twitter.com/tkingdot/status/1026894193921347587 …

          David Gorski, MD, PhD added,

          Tracy KingVerified account @tkingdot
          Partly because of identity politics, it’s more difficult to challenge beliefs in 2018 than it used to be. Beliefs are tied to identity and identity is tied to distress, and it’s not ideal to cause distress. This is another reason skepticism didn’t go mainstream.
          Show this thread
          2 replies 1 retweet 4 likes
          Show this thread
        12. End of conversation

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