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 …
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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/
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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 @tkingdotI 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 thread1 reply 0 retweets 4 likesShow this thread -
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,
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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/
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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,
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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 @tkingdotThe 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 thread3 replies 2 retweets 3 likesShow this thread -
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/
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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,
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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/
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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,
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And don't even get me started on how many skeptics like "thinkers" like Jordan Peterson...ugh. 12/
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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 @tkingdotPartly 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 thread2 replies 1 retweet 4 likesShow this thread
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