1 00:00:38,069 --> 00:00:26,460 now I'm 23 that's a very nasty case of 2 00:00:40,740 --> 00:00:38,079 hiccups welcome to the skeptic zone the 3 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:40,750 podcast from Australia for science and 4 00:00:55,470 --> 00:00:52,630 hello and welcome to the skeptic zone 5 00:00:58,990 --> 00:00:55,480 show number 37 for the third of July 6 00:01:01,510 --> 00:00:59,000 2009 this is Carly Sturgis filling in 7 00:01:03,790 --> 00:01:01,520 for Richard and Stefan unfortunately 8 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:03,800 Richard seems to have the skeptic flu 9 00:01:08,950 --> 00:01:06,890 poor dear anyway he'll still be joining 10 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:08,960 us later in the show for the think tank 11 00:01:13,810 --> 00:01:11,330 so send your best wishes to Richard 12 00:01:16,930 --> 00:01:13,820 firstly we have dr. Rachel Dunlop 13 00:01:18,850 --> 00:01:16,940 talking to Simon Singh himself he'll be 14 00:01:21,250 --> 00:01:18,860 coming to Australia and touring in 15 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:21,260 Adelaide and now Sydney where I know you 16 00:01:25,180 --> 00:01:23,090 can get tickets from the University of 17 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:25,190 Sydney website you can hear all about 18 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:27,770 his continuing legal battle with british 19 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:30,410 chiropractors then we have my review of 20 00:01:35,530 --> 00:01:33,170 the new book from richard wiseman 59 21 00:01:37,780 --> 00:01:35,540 seconds think a little change a lot 22 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:37,790 which is only just being released out in 23 00:01:43,719 --> 00:01:40,850 the UK that will be followed by a grain 24 00:01:46,330 --> 00:01:43,729 of salt with Iran segev now let's get 25 00:01:57,430 --> 00:01:46,340 into the zone but first let's hear about 26 00:02:02,930 --> 00:01:59,810 the Australian city Perth with a 27 00:02:04,970 --> 00:02:02,940 population of around 1.5 million people 28 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:04,980 has something in common with many other 29 00:02:09,169 --> 00:02:07,170 cities there's crimes to be solved 30 00:02:11,930 --> 00:02:09,179 people searching for missing loved ones 31 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:11,940 and cases of psychics claiming that 32 00:02:16,730 --> 00:02:14,730 they're the answer now it's rather the 33 00:02:19,460 --> 00:02:16,740 media do a story that's critical of 34 00:02:21,350 --> 00:02:19,470 so-called psychic investigators and I'm 35 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:21,360 personally of the opinion that most are 36 00:02:25,550 --> 00:02:23,970 genuinely deluded or confused into 37 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:25,560 thinking that they have the ability to 38 00:02:31,730 --> 00:02:28,170 solve crimes rather than just evil 39 00:02:33,100 --> 00:02:31,740 people on june the 27th the west 40 00:02:36,530 --> 00:02:33,110 australian sunday times newspaper 41 00:02:38,900 --> 00:02:36,540 reported that WA detectives resorted to 42 00:02:40,610 --> 00:02:38,910 using a psychic medium who claims to 43 00:02:43,010 --> 00:02:40,620 speak to the dead in the hunt for 44 00:02:44,690 --> 00:02:43,020 Corinne Rainey's killer according to a 45 00:02:47,420 --> 00:02:44,700 new book that will be published next 46 00:02:50,030 --> 00:02:47,430 month now the case revolves around 47 00:02:52,340 --> 00:02:50,040 Corinne rainy who disappeared after 48 00:02:56,060 --> 00:02:52,350 dance class at Bentley community center 49 00:02:57,949 --> 00:02:56,070 on August the 7th 2007 her body was 50 00:03:01,580 --> 00:02:57,959 discovered a week later in a bush grave 51 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:01,590 a king's park in central Perth Debbie 52 00:03:05,750 --> 00:03:03,570 Maloney told The Sunday Times that the 53 00:03:08,570 --> 00:03:05,760 police gave her mrs. Rainey's diary as 54 00:03:11,030 --> 00:03:08,580 an energy source so she can perform a 55 00:03:13,100 --> 00:03:11,040 technique known as psychometry where 56 00:03:16,430 --> 00:03:13,110 people communicate with the dead and see 57 00:03:19,250 --> 00:03:16,440 past present and future events there is 58 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:19,260 a statement by the police yesterday WA 59 00:03:24,310 --> 00:03:22,170 Police spokesman Neil stanberry declined 60 00:03:26,630 --> 00:03:24,320 to respond to maloneys assertions or 61 00:03:28,820 --> 00:03:26,640 categorically deny that detectives 62 00:03:30,740 --> 00:03:28,830 involved in operation dargan the 63 00:03:34,460 --> 00:03:30,750 investigation into mrs. Rainey's murder 64 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:34,470 had used the services of Maloney instead 65 00:03:39,259 --> 00:03:36,810 he issued a statement saying WA Police 66 00:03:41,930 --> 00:03:39,269 does not use psychics or seek their 67 00:03:43,340 --> 00:03:41,940 services however for any person contacts 68 00:03:45,740 --> 00:03:43,350 police with what they believe is 69 00:03:48,130 --> 00:03:45,750 important information about a crime we 70 00:03:50,479 --> 00:03:48,140 will consider what they have to provide 71 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:50,489 he said that police did not publicly 72 00:03:55,850 --> 00:03:52,650 comment about each person they spoke to 73 00:03:57,710 --> 00:03:55,860 as a part of their investigations now 74 00:03:59,750 --> 00:03:57,720 whilst the Sunday Times newspaper was 75 00:04:02,180 --> 00:03:59,760 allowing Maloney a vehicle to tout her 76 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:02,190 psychic detective claims the daily 77 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:04,410 newspaper The West Australian had a 78 00:04:07,970 --> 00:04:06,810 different story to put forward some of 79 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:07,980 the points that they raised in the 80 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:09,510 following article were 81 00:04:15,110 --> 00:04:12,090 reported upon last year particularly the 82 00:04:17,150 --> 00:04:15,120 experiences of parent Don Spears was the 83 00:04:18,770 --> 00:04:17,160 father of one of the missing women who 84 00:04:21,770 --> 00:04:18,780 is suspected to be a victim of the 85 00:04:25,370 --> 00:04:21,780 clermont serial killer and unsolved in a 86 00:04:27,730 --> 00:04:25,380 city case since the mid-1990s the West 87 00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:27,740 Australian reported on 30th of june with 88 00:04:33,409 --> 00:04:30,510 we won't listen to psychics Rainey 89 00:04:35,270 --> 00:04:33,419 sister the sister murdered woman Corinne 90 00:04:36,860 --> 00:04:35,280 Rainey has criticized a psychic who 91 00:04:39,020 --> 00:04:36,870 claims to have information upon her 92 00:04:41,900 --> 00:04:39,030 death saying that she's trying to profit 93 00:04:43,730 --> 00:04:41,910 from the family's grief Sharon cotton 94 00:04:45,830 --> 00:04:43,740 Howe said that yesterday her family had 95 00:04:47,990 --> 00:04:45,840 not been contacted by psychic Debbie 96 00:04:50,450 --> 00:04:48,000 Maloney and had no interest in speaking 97 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:50,460 to her about her alleged insight into 98 00:04:55,250 --> 00:04:53,610 the murder of mrs. Rainey mrs. cotton ho 99 00:04:57,469 --> 00:04:55,260 said her family had been contacted by 100 00:04:59,750 --> 00:04:57,479 several psychics since mrs. Rainey's 101 00:05:02,300 --> 00:04:59,760 death but had declined their office of 102 00:05:03,950 --> 00:05:02,310 help she said she had read the extra for 103 00:05:06,290 --> 00:05:03,960 Maloney's new book which addressed the 104 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:06,300 rainy case but it had offered no new 105 00:05:11,180 --> 00:05:09,210 information mrs. cotton ho was upset 106 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:11,190 that Moloney had used her sister's 107 00:05:16,010 --> 00:05:13,650 murder as a means of publicizing a book 108 00:05:18,020 --> 00:05:16,020 everything she has said has been public 109 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:18,030 knowledge for the last two years mrs. 110 00:05:22,550 --> 00:05:20,610 cotton ho said we are not bothering with 111 00:05:23,870 --> 00:05:22,560 psychics unless someone comes up with 112 00:05:27,020 --> 00:05:23,880 something that hasn't been made public 113 00:05:29,270 --> 00:05:27,030 it's really not worth listening to the 114 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:29,280 father of clermont serial killer victim 115 00:05:33,379 --> 00:05:31,650 Sarah Spears also warned victims 116 00:05:35,629 --> 00:05:33,389 families not to listen to psychics 117 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:35,639 saying yesterday they fed off misery and 118 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:38,370 drove him to a mental breakdown Don 119 00:05:42,830 --> 00:05:40,650 Spears said up to 400 psychics and 120 00:05:46,570 --> 00:05:42,840 clairvoyants her contact him since Sarah 121 00:05:49,339 --> 00:05:46,580 disappeared on January the 27th 1996 122 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:49,349 they'd offered false information but he 123 00:05:52,670 --> 00:05:50,849 had been so desperate to find his 124 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:52,680 daughter that he had listened to them 125 00:05:56,719 --> 00:05:54,210 and offered had followed their 126 00:05:58,310 --> 00:05:56,729 instructions the false hope that they 127 00:06:01,250 --> 00:05:58,320 had created led him to have a breakdown 128 00:06:03,439 --> 00:06:01,260 late in 1996 when he found himself 129 00:06:06,710 --> 00:06:03,449 sitting in an armchair at home with in 130 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:06,720 chunks of hair from his scalp mr. sphere 131 00:06:10,939 --> 00:06:08,970 said psychics like Moloney had never 132 00:06:12,950 --> 00:06:10,949 proved to be effective and just deepened 133 00:06:15,409 --> 00:06:12,960 the anguish experienced by the families 134 00:06:17,959 --> 00:06:15,419 of victims in conclusion the best 135 00:06:19,940 --> 00:06:17,969 background I can recommend is a book by 136 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:19,950 Debbie Marshall on the Claremont serial 137 00:06:26,210 --> 00:06:23,490 killer case called The Devil's garden 138 00:06:28,159 --> 00:06:26,220 chapter 28 it reads as follows a long 139 00:06:29,420 --> 00:06:28,169 time skeptic Bret Christian who grew up 140 00:06:31,010 --> 00:06:29,430 in Claremont believes that the 141 00:06:32,749 --> 00:06:31,020 clairvoyants have proven to be one of 142 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:32,759 the biggest problems in the macro case 143 00:06:37,100 --> 00:06:35,130 either while meaning or malicious they 144 00:06:39,559 --> 00:06:37,110 add he says nothing more than further 145 00:06:41,540 --> 00:06:39,569 heartache to those already in grief the 146 00:06:43,700 --> 00:06:41,550 saddest thing about their visions then 147 00:06:45,740 --> 00:06:43,710 not only usually wrong but they are 148 00:06:48,170 --> 00:06:45,750 foisted on people when they are their 149 00:06:50,089 --> 00:06:48,180 most vulnerable we at the skeptic zone 150 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:50,099 will continue to monitor the claims of 151 00:07:11,300 --> 00:06:52,289 Debbie Maloney especially what she has 152 00:07:16,679 --> 00:07:14,100 so now joining us on the phone line from 153 00:07:19,409 --> 00:07:16,689 London is Simon Singh hello Simon and 154 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:19,419 welcome to the skeptic zone it's my 155 00:07:23,279 --> 00:07:21,610 pleasure my pleasure every night to talk 156 00:07:25,610 --> 00:07:23,289 to you at last because we saw responded 157 00:07:27,929 --> 00:07:25,620 in the past every melons and so on and 158 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:27,939 and then looking for ticket to get into 159 00:07:31,679 --> 00:07:30,490 Australia and making in person yes well 160 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:31,689 that's part of the reason why we're 161 00:07:35,459 --> 00:07:33,250 talking to you today obviously is to 162 00:07:37,260 --> 00:07:35,469 promote your Australian tour you're 163 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:37,270 going to be in Adelaide for the Adelaide 164 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:39,250 Festival of ideas and we're all course 165 00:07:43,290 --> 00:07:40,930 also here to talk to you about the 166 00:07:44,700 --> 00:07:43,300 current libel case being brought against 167 00:07:47,550 --> 00:07:44,710 you by the British Chiropractic 168 00:07:49,260 --> 00:07:47,560 Association I'll get on to that in a 169 00:07:51,869 --> 00:07:49,270 moment Simon but i just wanted to start 170 00:07:53,820 --> 00:07:51,879 off by giving our listeners and aren't 171 00:07:56,209 --> 00:07:53,830 that familiar with your work a little 172 00:07:58,860 --> 00:07:56,219 bit of detail about your career to date 173 00:08:01,350 --> 00:07:58,870 you have a PhD in particle physics from 174 00:08:03,089 --> 00:08:01,360 cambridge university and you're now a 175 00:08:05,129 --> 00:08:03,099 very successful science writer and 176 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:05,139 communicator having produced 177 00:08:10,350 --> 00:08:07,090 documentaries for the BBC and written 178 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:10,360 four books but can you give us some idea 179 00:08:16,529 --> 00:08:12,490 about how you did your move from physics 180 00:08:18,390 --> 00:08:16,539 to science communication um yes I think 181 00:08:20,369 --> 00:08:18,400 I always wanted to be a physicist so I 182 00:08:22,439 --> 00:08:20,379 was you know thought there was nothing 183 00:08:25,709 --> 00:08:22,449 more amazing than being able to discover 184 00:08:27,570 --> 00:08:25,719 the secrets of the universe and so I did 185 00:08:32,189 --> 00:08:27,580 a degree in physics i did a PhD in 186 00:08:35,670 --> 00:08:32,199 physics I were to CERN on my PhD looking 187 00:08:38,310 --> 00:08:35,680 for the top quark and then I got to a 188 00:08:40,290 --> 00:08:38,320 point where I could just see that the 189 00:08:44,189 --> 00:08:40,300 people around me with that much quicker 190 00:08:46,500 --> 00:08:44,199 and smarter and sharper than me and I 191 00:08:48,210 --> 00:08:46,510 thought you know if people are going to 192 00:08:53,189 --> 00:08:48,220 make great discoveries it's going to be 193 00:08:57,569 --> 00:08:53,199 then and probably not me and so in my 194 00:09:00,090 --> 00:08:57,579 mid-20s I decided to move out of physics 195 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:00,100 research and and thought well if I can't 196 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:03,250 do physics research and maybe the next 197 00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:05,050 best thing is to be able to write about 198 00:09:10,350 --> 00:09:07,540 it and talk about it and so that's what 199 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:10,360 I made the move into first into TV I 200 00:09:14,910 --> 00:09:12,370 worked on a TV series called tomorrow's 201 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:14,920 world which i think is probably a bit 202 00:09:19,940 --> 00:09:17,210 like beyond 2000 203 00:09:25,130 --> 00:09:19,950 it's a very popular science magazine 204 00:09:26,990 --> 00:09:25,140 show on TV Darren a documentaries I made 205 00:09:29,540 --> 00:09:27,000 a documentary about a fair Mars Last 206 00:09:32,510 --> 00:09:29,550 Theorem for the most notorious problem 207 00:09:35,060 --> 00:09:32,520 in the history of math and it was a very 208 00:09:37,670 --> 00:09:35,070 successful program and it was such an 209 00:09:39,610 --> 00:09:37,680 amazing story it's a great mathematical 210 00:09:42,050 --> 00:09:39,620 story but it's also a story about 211 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:42,060 assuming obsession and childhood 212 00:09:47,630 --> 00:09:44,130 ambition and all sorts of very human 213 00:09:49,340 --> 00:09:47,640 thing so that's what I decided to write 214 00:09:52,250 --> 00:09:49,350 a book about the same subject and and 215 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:52,260 since then I've been writing probably 216 00:09:59,270 --> 00:09:55,050 more than being involved in in broadcast 217 00:10:00,770 --> 00:09:59,280 media mmm well do did you work much in 218 00:10:03,050 --> 00:10:00,780 research you mentioned stone that you 219 00:10:07,010 --> 00:10:03,060 did during a PhD but do you ever miss 220 00:10:09,110 --> 00:10:07,020 doing that kind of thing um I do because 221 00:10:11,210 --> 00:10:09,120 well you know what because I'm a science 222 00:10:12,470 --> 00:10:11,220 to enlist you know I'm talk to the 223 00:10:14,570 --> 00:10:12,480 scientists I'm hearing about the 224 00:10:16,310 --> 00:10:14,580 wonderful things they're doing and you 225 00:10:18,350 --> 00:10:16,320 know you visit labs and anything was 226 00:10:21,260 --> 00:10:18,360 amazing i was back concerned just a few 227 00:10:22,340 --> 00:10:21,270 weeks ago looking at the new experiments 228 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:22,350 that they're going to be up and running 229 00:10:30,140 --> 00:10:26,810 again in September um but I have 230 00:10:33,050 --> 00:10:30,150 tremendous fun doing what I'm doing as a 231 00:10:36,770 --> 00:10:33,060 science journalist and it's sort of was 232 00:10:40,910 --> 00:10:36,780 I think I was supposed to do because i 233 00:10:42,650 --> 00:10:40,920 love you know learning different ideas 234 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:42,660 from different areas of science and i 235 00:10:46,460 --> 00:10:44,010 enjoyed thinking about different ways to 236 00:10:49,670 --> 00:10:46,470 make those ideas exciting and 237 00:10:52,700 --> 00:10:49,680 interesting to a general audience and so 238 00:10:53,930 --> 00:10:52,710 I think I just ended up doing the thing 239 00:10:56,300 --> 00:10:53,940 that I was supposed to do all along 240 00:10:58,070 --> 00:10:56,310 perhaps but I couldn't do what I do do 241 00:10:59,930 --> 00:10:58,080 now if I hadn't been through that 242 00:11:01,970 --> 00:10:59,940 process of doing a PhD that was a 243 00:11:06,470 --> 00:11:01,980 tremendous insight into how science 244 00:11:09,260 --> 00:11:06,480 works and with a stepping stone towards 245 00:11:11,570 --> 00:11:09,270 what i do now also things like a wood 246 00:11:14,570 --> 00:11:11,580 while i was in college i taught in south 247 00:11:16,370 --> 00:11:14,580 africa for a while i taught in india so 248 00:11:19,190 --> 00:11:16,380 again just teaching and talking two 249 00:11:21,020 --> 00:11:19,200 small kids about science you know helped 250 00:11:22,460 --> 00:11:21,030 develop skills which many years later 251 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:22,470 turned actually really valuable for 252 00:11:28,579 --> 00:11:25,490 there's odd combination experiences i've 253 00:11:30,770 --> 00:11:28,589 had along the way have helped me become 254 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:30,780 a massage right of the lion today 255 00:11:36,710 --> 00:11:33,690 yeah it's it's funny actually Simon 256 00:11:38,630 --> 00:11:36,720 because i myself have a PhD in cell 257 00:11:41,180 --> 00:11:38,640 biology research but i also do a lot of 258 00:11:44,030 --> 00:11:41,190 science communication i do a children's 259 00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:44,040 show science our children show with with 260 00:11:47,870 --> 00:11:45,510 Richard Saunders the producer of this 261 00:11:49,370 --> 00:11:47,880 podcast and I'm starting to move into 262 00:11:50,810 --> 00:11:49,380 that area too but I'm worried I'm going 263 00:11:52,340 --> 00:11:50,820 to miss the bench you know I really do 264 00:11:54,620 --> 00:11:52,350 like getting in there and getting my 265 00:11:56,570 --> 00:11:54,630 hands dirty and you know making things 266 00:11:58,760 --> 00:11:56,580 blow up and and all that sort of stuff 267 00:12:03,980 --> 00:11:58,770 it's it's fascinating work really fun 268 00:12:06,020 --> 00:12:03,990 stuff yes it is it and I mean I mean the 269 00:12:08,420 --> 00:12:06,030 great thing is you can do both you know 270 00:12:12,110 --> 00:12:08,430 you know necessary have to make the leap 271 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:12,120 one way or the other but but but it's 272 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:13,530 interesting is he working with young 273 00:12:18,290 --> 00:12:15,930 children I remember when I first wrote a 274 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:18,300 book I give talks in museums and 275 00:12:23,390 --> 00:12:21,090 bookshops and you talk to grown-ups who 276 00:12:24,620 --> 00:12:23,400 were clearly clearly interested in what 277 00:12:26,690 --> 00:12:24,630 you were saying because they'd walked 278 00:12:28,670 --> 00:12:26,700 all the way to the museum to come and 279 00:12:31,130 --> 00:12:28,680 hear you speak but when you talk to 280 00:12:33,710 --> 00:12:31,140 school kids you know half the kids in 281 00:12:36,290 --> 00:12:33,720 the class may not be that turned on by 282 00:12:37,910 --> 00:12:36,300 science so you have to work harder to 283 00:12:41,420 --> 00:12:37,920 get them interested and you develop 284 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:41,430 tricks and ideas and to make the science 285 00:12:46,070 --> 00:12:43,530 relevant or interesting or or or 286 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:46,080 enticing and then you take those tricks 287 00:12:49,670 --> 00:12:47,730 and ideas and you present them back to 288 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:49,680 the grown-ups and the grown-ups love 289 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:52,530 them just as much so I found that why i 290 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:55,050 lecture too grown up to those developed 291 00:12:58,790 --> 00:12:57,210 out of the ideas that I use when I'm 292 00:13:01,700 --> 00:12:58,800 trying to get kids excited about those 293 00:13:04,430 --> 00:13:01,710 same ideas so we we've you know we've 294 00:13:07,310 --> 00:13:04,440 done big theater project here in London 295 00:13:09,170 --> 00:13:07,320 and again a lot of fear Tigers come out 296 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:09,180 of work we've done with wicked yeah 297 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:11,130 that's true we find the same thing in 298 00:13:15,310 --> 00:13:13,410 fact we do it show that we do for very 299 00:13:18,350 --> 00:13:15,320 young kids sort of between the ages of 300 00:13:20,030 --> 00:13:18,360 sort of five up to eight years old and 301 00:13:21,980 --> 00:13:20,040 then we'll do it for kids in high school 302 00:13:23,750 --> 00:13:21,990 and we don't have to change that much 303 00:13:26,210 --> 00:13:23,760 and then we do this a similar show to 304 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:26,220 the high school show for adults and they 305 00:13:33,830 --> 00:13:30,330 all they all love it yeah i mean its 306 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:33,840 eyes a little bit part we talking to 307 00:13:38,900 --> 00:13:35,130 grown ups as though they were five year 308 00:13:40,250 --> 00:13:38,910 olds but it's and there's a 309 00:13:41,990 --> 00:13:40,260 demonstration which I won't describe 310 00:13:44,100 --> 00:13:42,000 because it's quite dangerous I wouldn't 311 00:13:46,199 --> 00:13:44,110 want anybody else to repeat it but but 312 00:13:48,990 --> 00:13:46,209 yeah but some of these demonstrations 313 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:49,000 are just amazing whatever age you are 314 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:51,730 and they capture people attention and it 315 00:13:56,519 --> 00:13:54,730 gives you that wow moment and then eats 316 00:13:57,870 --> 00:13:56,529 the questions and arrived at event the 317 00:13:59,250 --> 00:13:57,880 question that a five-year-old the last 318 00:14:02,130 --> 00:13:59,260 will be very different from the question 319 00:14:04,310 --> 00:14:02,140 to the Graduate would ask or somebody 320 00:14:07,410 --> 00:14:04,320 else but they're all inspired by that 321 00:14:11,370 --> 00:14:07,420 magical moment that suddenly brought the 322 00:14:13,410 --> 00:14:11,380 fire alive mmm yeah well you mentioned 323 00:14:14,759 --> 00:14:13,420 science communication and journalism as 324 00:14:17,550 --> 00:14:14,769 well which is something that you do a 325 00:14:19,620 --> 00:14:17,560 lot of there has been quite a lot of 326 00:14:21,210 --> 00:14:19,630 criticism of late of the quality of 327 00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:21,220 science journalism and in particular 328 00:14:27,180 --> 00:14:23,110 this is something that Ben Goldacre does 329 00:14:28,620 --> 00:14:27,190 a lot of what's your opinion of the 330 00:14:30,060 --> 00:14:28,630 quality of science journalism in the 331 00:14:35,220 --> 00:14:30,070 world now do you think that it's under 332 00:14:37,139 --> 00:14:35,230 threat oh if it's a complicated it's a 333 00:14:40,500 --> 00:14:37,149 really complicated picture movement just 334 00:14:42,150 --> 00:14:40,510 this week in fact tomorrow is the World 335 00:14:45,509 --> 00:14:42,160 Federation of science journalists a 336 00:14:46,639 --> 00:14:45,519 meeting in London and so they'll be 600 337 00:14:50,220 --> 00:14:46,649 journalist from all over the world 338 00:14:52,439 --> 00:14:50,230 meeting to talk about different ideas in 339 00:14:54,180 --> 00:14:52,449 science that are emerging and the 340 00:14:58,110 --> 00:14:54,190 different issues confronting sighs turns 341 00:15:01,110 --> 00:14:58,120 around the world and the scientists that 342 00:15:03,030 --> 00:15:01,120 are bothering to come to London are the 343 00:15:05,790 --> 00:15:03,040 specialists science correspondence and 344 00:15:08,790 --> 00:15:05,800 they probably have a scientific 345 00:15:12,030 --> 00:15:08,800 background and they certainly care about 346 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:12,040 science and they're the best science 347 00:15:16,019 --> 00:15:13,690 correspondence we have that they're 348 00:15:18,389 --> 00:15:16,029 great and they they do a great job and 349 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:18,399 that's fantastic the problem is when 350 00:15:23,250 --> 00:15:21,490 science becomes a really big story it 351 00:15:26,180 --> 00:15:23,260 often gets taken out of the hands of the 352 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:26,190 science correspondent and gets given to 353 00:15:30,930 --> 00:15:28,690 whoever's writing for the front page or 354 00:15:33,569 --> 00:15:30,940 whoever the the columnist is it's got 355 00:15:36,900 --> 00:15:33,579 you know the most sensational column in 356 00:15:39,660 --> 00:15:36,910 the newspaper and so on and and that's 357 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:39,670 when you when there's a concern of the 358 00:15:45,030 --> 00:15:41,850 science being distorted or 359 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:45,040 sensationalized or you either have on 360 00:15:50,850 --> 00:15:47,290 one extreme scare mongering or on the 361 00:15:53,699 --> 00:15:50,860 other extreme miracle cure and that 362 00:15:56,340 --> 00:15:53,709 that's the concern I think is that split 363 00:15:57,569 --> 00:15:56,350 between the credible science journalist 364 00:15:57,960 --> 00:15:57,579 who really know what they're doing you 365 00:16:01,499 --> 00:15:57,970 just 366 00:16:03,170 --> 00:16:01,509 job and the non-specialist who often get 367 00:16:06,300 --> 00:16:03,180 hold of the wrong end of the stick and 368 00:16:08,639 --> 00:16:06,310 who are generally keen to sensationalize 369 00:16:11,340 --> 00:16:08,649 anyway and who then distort the subject 370 00:16:13,319 --> 00:16:11,350 on important issues whether it's genetic 371 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:13,329 modification whether it's global warming 372 00:16:17,340 --> 00:16:15,490 or whether it's swine flu or MMR or 373 00:16:19,259 --> 00:16:17,350 whatever and I think they're real 374 00:16:21,749 --> 00:16:19,269 concerns about the way science is 375 00:16:24,179 --> 00:16:21,759 reported by the general non-specialist 376 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:24,189 early yes what MMA is a very good 377 00:16:28,860 --> 00:16:26,410 example of that particularly in the UK 378 00:16:31,470 --> 00:16:28,870 is and that I mean that campaign has 379 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:31,480 been attributed or at least a part of it 380 00:16:36,389 --> 00:16:33,370 to the fact that it was reported in the 381 00:16:38,759 --> 00:16:36,399 mainstream media quite incorrectly I 382 00:16:40,110 --> 00:16:38,769 guess you could say and that's resulted 383 00:16:43,350 --> 00:16:40,120 in a huge drop in the rate of 384 00:16:45,269 --> 00:16:43,360 vaccination for MMR in in the UK which 385 00:16:46,679 --> 00:16:45,279 of course is now still a problem and of 386 00:16:48,749 --> 00:16:46,689 course it's a problem across the rest of 387 00:16:54,210 --> 00:16:48,759 the world including Australia we see it 388 00:16:58,439 --> 00:16:54,220 here as well yes and with interesting to 389 00:16:59,369 --> 00:16:58,449 see how that all unfolded generally sort 390 00:17:01,889 --> 00:16:59,379 of thought well this is such an 391 00:17:03,689 --> 00:17:01,899 important story it's about parents and 392 00:17:05,250 --> 00:17:03,699 about their children and we must get the 393 00:17:07,590 --> 00:17:05,260 message out there and if NMR is 394 00:17:09,419 --> 00:17:07,600 dangerous we must we must save these 395 00:17:10,890 --> 00:17:09,429 babies from this terrible harm is being 396 00:17:12,929 --> 00:17:10,900 inflicted on them and we must make 397 00:17:14,429 --> 00:17:12,939 parents aware of it and suddenly the 398 00:17:16,949 --> 00:17:14,439 stores were splashed on the front page 399 00:17:18,510 --> 00:17:16,959 and that you know the colonists would 400 00:17:20,069 --> 00:17:18,520 want to have their opinion and another 401 00:17:21,779 --> 00:17:20,079 columnist would they were my friends and 402 00:17:23,939 --> 00:17:21,789 mother and her child had this or that 403 00:17:27,210 --> 00:17:23,949 and it became about personal experiences 404 00:17:30,539 --> 00:17:27,220 and one-off stories and anecdotes and 405 00:17:32,730 --> 00:17:30,549 which other lobby group to get access to 406 00:17:35,460 --> 00:17:32,740 the journalists would would have the 407 00:17:37,830 --> 00:17:35,470 most coverage and it was also this idea 408 00:17:40,590 --> 00:17:37,840 of balance though the year has one 409 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:40,600 scientist he says that there's no good 410 00:17:44,789 --> 00:17:42,610 evidence whatsoever to suggest that the 411 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:44,799 MMR vaccine a dangerous you have to 412 00:17:50,850 --> 00:17:47,770 balance that with potentially the 413 00:17:53,370 --> 00:17:50,860 renegade scientist the maverick who 414 00:17:55,860 --> 00:17:53,380 disagrees all the mother with the 415 00:17:59,399 --> 00:17:55,870 heart-rending story on the other side 416 00:18:02,250 --> 00:17:59,409 and that that's not really a fair fight 417 00:18:03,659 --> 00:18:02,260 because if you've got 99 percent of 418 00:18:06,630 --> 00:18:03,669 scientists saying one thing and one 419 00:18:08,310 --> 00:18:06,640 percent saying the other well from the 420 00:18:09,870 --> 00:18:08,320 listeners point of view all the hearing 421 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:09,880 is a one-on-one fight between two 422 00:18:14,340 --> 00:18:11,770 scientists it looks like opinions of 423 00:18:15,690 --> 00:18:14,350 I did the journalist really struggle 424 00:18:19,710 --> 00:18:15,700 with this idea of balance because 425 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:19,720 balance in a ways if part of you know 426 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:22,210 the core of journalism but but if the 427 00:18:26,460 --> 00:18:24,970 evidence is so one sided I think what 428 00:18:29,070 --> 00:18:26,470 scientists feel is it is unfair to 429 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:29,080 represent a balance in evidence and but 430 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:32,130 by by having a balance of interviewees 431 00:18:37,230 --> 00:18:34,690 yes that's true i mean that happens in 432 00:18:39,570 --> 00:18:37,240 this country as well and the one percent 433 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:39,580 is a lobby group with respect to the 434 00:18:43,980 --> 00:18:42,490 anti back slowly group here and i have 435 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:43,990 spoken to journalists myself personally 436 00:18:48,060 --> 00:18:45,850 who are interviewing me about that issue 437 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:48,070 and they'll say well we have to speak to 438 00:18:52,470 --> 00:18:49,930 the other side and i've tried to explain 439 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:52,480 that to them but as you say it's very 440 00:18:56,250 --> 00:18:54,130 difficult for them to understand that 441 00:18:57,900 --> 00:18:56,260 that's the one percent fringe as opposed 442 00:19:03,690 --> 00:18:57,910 to the ninety-nine percent of evidence 443 00:19:05,910 --> 00:19:03,700 but yeah I because I'm in Australia it's 444 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:05,920 for child to go to school with 445 00:19:14,190 --> 00:19:10,930 vaccination essential no it's not it's 446 00:19:17,310 --> 00:19:14,200 not enforced children are given a book 447 00:19:18,570 --> 00:19:17,320 which details their vaccination schedule 448 00:19:20,790 --> 00:19:18,580 and whether or not they've handled their 449 00:19:27,030 --> 00:19:20,800 vaccinations but there are exemptions 450 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:27,040 available it's not enforced I mean it's 451 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:28,570 a discussion it's emerging in this 452 00:19:33,090 --> 00:19:30,450 country as to whether that would be a 453 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:33,100 good thing or a bad thing or how it 454 00:19:36,930 --> 00:19:35,050 would be enforced and so on and I think 455 00:19:40,110 --> 00:19:36,940 that's a really interesting discussion 456 00:19:43,890 --> 00:19:40,120 that journalist and the public and 457 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:43,900 teachers and parents can have you know 458 00:19:48,060 --> 00:19:45,970 bringing their own opinion as to whether 459 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:48,070 that would be effective or how it might 460 00:19:54,390 --> 00:19:52,330 work but that that discussion has to be 461 00:19:56,820 --> 00:19:54,400 based on the science and scientific 462 00:20:00,000 --> 00:19:56,830 facts that were fairly certain off as 463 00:20:02,820 --> 00:20:00,010 opposed to the discussion being about 464 00:20:05,250 --> 00:20:02,830 the scientific facts between renegades 465 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:05,260 and Mavericks and lobby groups against 466 00:20:08,820 --> 00:20:06,490 the scientists who sort of know what 467 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:08,830 they're talking about so there's 468 00:20:12,810 --> 00:20:10,330 certainly a role for public discussion 469 00:20:15,180 --> 00:20:12,820 of the issues but those that public 470 00:20:17,010 --> 00:20:15,190 discussion has to be based on the best 471 00:20:18,810 --> 00:20:17,020 available evidence yeah absolutely 472 00:20:20,370 --> 00:20:18,820 actually I've read a little bit of 473 00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:20,380 coverage of that recently there was an 474 00:20:24,660 --> 00:20:22,510 article written i think it was in The 475 00:20:25,529 --> 00:20:24,670 Guardian in fact a couple of articles 476 00:20:27,389 --> 00:20:25,539 and one of them 477 00:20:29,129 --> 00:20:27,399 saying that they should be special 478 00:20:32,940 --> 00:20:29,139 schools for people that don't get their 479 00:20:36,269 --> 00:20:32,950 kids vaccinated by mm okay yeah I've 480 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:36,279 been exactly idea yeah anyway let's get 481 00:20:39,989 --> 00:20:37,690 on to the British Chiropractic 482 00:20:43,769 --> 00:20:39,999 Association Simon which is what we want 483 00:20:45,299 --> 00:20:43,779 to talk about now you are currently and 484 00:20:47,489 --> 00:20:45,309 I know this some of this you can't 485 00:20:48,989 --> 00:20:47,499 discuss for legal reasons but can you 486 00:20:51,690 --> 00:20:48,999 just explain briefly to our listeners 487 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:51,700 about the case that the BCA has brought 488 00:20:58,249 --> 00:20:55,210 against you for defamation or libel yes 489 00:21:01,680 --> 00:20:58,259 sure I'm interesting history first I am 490 00:21:04,580 --> 00:21:01,690 my background is in physics and my first 491 00:21:08,009 --> 00:21:04,590 three books were sort of about 492 00:21:12,269 --> 00:21:08,019 mathematics or cosmology or technology 493 00:21:14,190 --> 00:21:12,279 in the form of cryptography and it was 494 00:21:15,930 --> 00:21:14,200 quite a jump when I moved from from 495 00:21:18,180 --> 00:21:15,940 those kind of subject to writing about 496 00:21:21,659 --> 00:21:18,190 alternative medicine and the reason I 497 00:21:24,239 --> 00:21:21,669 made that jump was because I was aware 498 00:21:26,609 --> 00:21:24,249 of young students using homeopathy to 499 00:21:30,029 --> 00:21:26,619 protect themselves against malaria which 500 00:21:32,039 --> 00:21:30,039 is a patently ridiculous thing to do but 501 00:21:35,820 --> 00:21:32,049 these students who are pretty smart more 502 00:21:37,589 --> 00:21:35,830 obviously being said bad advice about 503 00:21:39,930 --> 00:21:37,599 the supposed claims of homeopathy 504 00:21:41,159 --> 00:21:39,940 homeopathy yeah there's no reason why 505 00:21:43,289 --> 00:21:41,169 homeopathy should protect anybody 506 00:21:44,879 --> 00:21:43,299 against malaria and then however it's 507 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:44,889 the suggested handle either and 508 00:21:50,969 --> 00:21:48,369 therefore it will be very unwise for 509 00:21:52,830 --> 00:21:50,979 student to take homeopathy thinking 510 00:21:54,659 --> 00:21:52,840 might protect them against malaria but 511 00:21:58,349 --> 00:21:54,669 this was happening so I did a little 512 00:22:00,989 --> 00:21:58,359 investigation and a young student 513 00:22:02,820 --> 00:22:00,999 approached han homeopath and every 514 00:22:05,399 --> 00:22:02,830 single one of these ten homeopaths was 515 00:22:07,649 --> 00:22:05,409 willing to give her homeopathy to 516 00:22:09,089 --> 00:22:07,659 protect her on what she said she was 517 00:22:12,659 --> 00:22:09,099 going to be going on a 10-week truck to 518 00:22:14,969 --> 00:22:12,669 a West Africa so that made me realize it 519 00:22:17,249 --> 00:22:14,979 that there's a lot of misinformation 520 00:22:19,889 --> 00:22:17,259 about alternative therapies some of it 521 00:22:21,539 --> 00:22:19,899 may be potentially dangerous maybe 522 00:22:24,659 --> 00:22:21,549 there's not pretentious to investigate 523 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:24,669 this and to look at the evidence for a 524 00:22:28,739 --> 00:22:27,369 range of alternative therapies to talk 525 00:22:30,539 --> 00:22:28,749 about evidence in general Howard 526 00:22:32,279 --> 00:22:30,549 evidence accumulated in medicine what is 527 00:22:34,769 --> 00:22:32,289 evidence-based medicine what a clinical 528 00:22:36,330 --> 00:22:34,779 trials how they work and what do they 529 00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:36,340 say about the range of alternative 530 00:22:39,420 --> 00:22:38,950 therapies and so I started writing a 531 00:22:42,330 --> 00:22:39,430 book 532 00:22:46,620 --> 00:22:42,340 trickle treatments which I co-authored 533 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:46,630 with Professor EDS other beds added the 534 00:22:52,110 --> 00:22:48,730 world's first professor of alternative 535 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:52,120 medicine and so he spent the last 15 536 00:22:58,170 --> 00:22:54,490 years looking at all of the evidence and 537 00:23:01,350 --> 00:22:58,180 the idea was to take his research to 538 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:01,360 fate other people's research and tell 539 00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:03,250 the public about what works and what 540 00:23:08,580 --> 00:23:05,560 doesn't work what's safe and what's 541 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:08,590 dangerous and the picture is complicated 542 00:23:12,030 --> 00:23:09,810 you have to look each therapy 543 00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:12,040 individually because some of them 544 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:14,710 actually do seem to work and many others 545 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:16,330 don't but we you know we put a look at 546 00:23:22,230 --> 00:23:19,930 the evidence in order to decide and when 547 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:22,240 the book was published back in april two 548 00:23:28,250 --> 00:23:25,410 thousand eight i wrote a few articles 549 00:23:30,650 --> 00:23:28,260 and one of the answers i wrote about 550 00:23:35,220 --> 00:23:30,660 what were well as i wrote with a bad 551 00:23:36,780 --> 00:23:35,230 chiropractic and yes because there's a 552 00:23:39,510 --> 00:23:36,790 whole chapter in your book simon on 553 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:39,520 chiropractic isn't there that's why yes 554 00:23:46,050 --> 00:23:43,570 and many people work with chiropractic 555 00:23:47,700 --> 00:23:46,060 real turnip if you know it's just spinal 556 00:23:49,530 --> 00:23:47,710 manipulation and missing liberate the 557 00:23:52,530 --> 00:23:49,540 spine will fix somebody's back you know 558 00:23:54,810 --> 00:23:52,540 that sounds very reasonable and it's 559 00:23:56,670 --> 00:23:54,820 fairly reasonable and there's some 560 00:23:58,980 --> 00:23:56,680 evidence to show the chiropractor's can 561 00:24:01,500 --> 00:23:58,990 help with back problems I don't think 562 00:24:02,910 --> 00:24:01,510 it's very convincing evidence but the 563 00:24:06,750 --> 00:24:02,920 back problems are notoriously difficult 564 00:24:09,050 --> 00:24:06,760 so you know if nothing else works in 565 00:24:13,290 --> 00:24:09,060 chiropractic maybe what what helps you 566 00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:13,300 but my concern in the article was the 567 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:14,950 fact that chiropractors were sometimes 568 00:24:21,030 --> 00:24:18,570 making claims that go beyond the back 569 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:21,040 and this goes back to their historical 570 00:24:24,810 --> 00:24:22,930 roots if you go back to the invention of 571 00:24:27,450 --> 00:24:24,820 chiropractic by a chap called Daniel 572 00:24:31,170 --> 00:24:27,460 Parma parlor believed he could treat 573 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:31,180 anything by spinal manipulation because 574 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:33,730 the spine carried what he called a mate 575 00:24:37,890 --> 00:24:35,890 energy through to the rest of the 576 00:24:41,100 --> 00:24:37,900 nervous system through to the rest of 577 00:24:42,420 --> 00:24:41,110 the body so if you add s the reason you 578 00:24:44,550 --> 00:24:42,430 were death was because there was a 579 00:24:46,650 --> 00:24:44,560 blockage in the innate energy in your 580 00:24:49,260 --> 00:24:46,660 spine which wasn't getting through to 581 00:24:51,390 --> 00:24:49,270 your ear and therefore if you fix the 582 00:24:53,350 --> 00:24:51,400 spine you can fix the deafness and in 583 00:24:55,900 --> 00:24:53,360 fact the first perfectly cured 584 00:24:58,180 --> 00:24:55,910 was a profoundly deaf man in America 585 00:25:01,270 --> 00:24:58,190 second person teachers have had serious 586 00:25:03,580 --> 00:25:01,280 heart disease yeah that that's the root 587 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:03,590 of chiropractic now a lot of that 588 00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:06,490 disappeared and most chiropractors 589 00:25:12,100 --> 00:25:09,980 mainly deal with back problems but some 590 00:25:14,950 --> 00:25:12,110 of them still claim to treat childhood 591 00:25:17,799 --> 00:25:14,960 conditions like asthma colic ear 592 00:25:21,340 --> 00:25:17,809 infections and so on and that's where my 593 00:25:23,980 --> 00:25:21,350 article was really centered I I question 594 00:25:25,780 --> 00:25:23,990 the evidence on that and the British 595 00:25:31,750 --> 00:25:25,790 Chiropractic Association sued me for 596 00:25:33,340 --> 00:25:31,760 libel yes yeah and so the interesting 597 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:33,350 thing about this case though and I 598 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:35,330 wanted to ask you a little bit about the 599 00:25:39,669 --> 00:25:37,490 libraries in the UK as well because 600 00:25:40,990 --> 00:25:39,679 they're quite different to Australia but 601 00:25:44,140 --> 00:25:41,000 the interesting thing about this was 602 00:25:46,030 --> 00:25:44,150 when you went to court the judge defined 603 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:46,040 the word bogus which I believe you used 604 00:25:50,380 --> 00:25:48,530 in your article as a different meaning 605 00:25:53,020 --> 00:25:50,390 to what you intended to believe is that 606 00:25:55,990 --> 00:25:53,030 correct I'm sorry what you intended to 607 00:25:58,750 --> 00:25:56,000 mean yeah I mean to go back one step I 608 00:26:02,650 --> 00:25:58,760 mean I think you know if there was a 609 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:02,660 misunderstanding then the best 610 00:26:06,549 --> 00:26:04,850 chiropractic association will offer the 611 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:06,559 right of reply in the guard and they had 612 00:26:09,909 --> 00:26:08,090 500 words where they could have written 613 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:09,919 their their account or their view or 614 00:26:18,220 --> 00:26:12,770 showing their evidence they were offered 615 00:26:20,890 --> 00:26:18,230 a clarification but they seem to prefer 616 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:20,900 taking a legal option so we ended up 617 00:26:27,460 --> 00:26:23,690 going to court and we haven't had the 618 00:26:30,039 --> 00:26:27,470 full trial yet but but before that we 619 00:26:32,799 --> 00:26:30,049 had a ruling on meaning which even go to 620 00:26:35,230 --> 00:26:32,809 the high court and the judge says this 621 00:26:36,669 --> 00:26:35,240 is what your article means so that when 622 00:26:39,669 --> 00:26:36,679 we do have the trial we know what we're 623 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:39,679 arguing about and the judge decided that 624 00:26:46,630 --> 00:26:43,850 I was not only saying that these 625 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:46,640 treatments aren't backed by evidence but 626 00:26:52,180 --> 00:26:48,730 that the chiropractors are also 627 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:52,190 deliberately dishonest in using these 628 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:53,870 treatments so it's not that their 629 00:26:57,750 --> 00:26:55,250 interpretation of the evidence is 630 00:27:01,000 --> 00:26:57,760 different from mine is that they 631 00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:01,010 actively and dishonestly promote 632 00:27:05,290 --> 00:27:02,510 treatments that they know to be 633 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:05,300 ineffective I don't think that's that I 634 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:06,890 know that's not what I meant 635 00:27:10,180 --> 00:27:08,330 and I don't think that's what a 636 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:10,190 reasonable interpretation of the article 637 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:11,210 is which is why we're currently 638 00:27:16,690 --> 00:27:13,090 appealing the judge's ruling on meaning 639 00:27:19,510 --> 00:27:16,700 the judge took the phrase happily 640 00:27:23,260 --> 00:27:19,520 promotes bogus therapies to mean 641 00:27:26,650 --> 00:27:23,270 knowingly promotes fortune of therapies 642 00:27:31,300 --> 00:27:26,660 now a bogus therapy to mean I'm 643 00:27:33,010 --> 00:27:31,310 scientific I'm proven ineffective all 644 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:33,020 sorts of different meanings happily can 645 00:27:39,130 --> 00:27:37,850 mean innocently blithely unknowingly in 646 00:27:42,700 --> 00:27:39,140 blissful ignorance all sorts of 647 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:42,710 different things now we are arguing and 648 00:27:45,340 --> 00:27:43,970 I think we're on failing the ground 649 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:45,350 whether we win the appeal or not I don't 650 00:27:48,790 --> 00:27:47,330 know or whether we even get her than the 651 00:27:51,940 --> 00:27:48,800 course of appeal is still is still 652 00:27:53,860 --> 00:27:51,950 debatable at the moment but if the 653 00:27:57,210 --> 00:27:53,870 content of the article is very important 654 00:28:01,030 --> 00:27:57,220 and earlier in the article I call 655 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:01,040 chiropractors and fundamentalists I say 656 00:28:08,350 --> 00:28:05,090 they have wacky ideas and so though that 657 00:28:10,210 --> 00:28:08,360 sort of paint a picture of chiropractors 658 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:10,220 has been fundamentalist having wacky 659 00:28:16,300 --> 00:28:13,610 ideas being eccentric being deluded but 660 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:16,310 not being deliberately dishonest yeah 661 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:19,490 and that's why we think the judge took 662 00:28:25,510 --> 00:28:22,970 an unreasonable interpretation yes well 663 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:25,520 you have submitted your appeal and Jack 664 00:28:31,390 --> 00:28:29,330 of Kent who is a little legal blogger in 665 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:31,400 the UK has been following your case very 666 00:28:37,750 --> 00:28:34,730 closely and blogging about updates and I 667 00:28:40,630 --> 00:28:37,760 believe that the reply has come in from 668 00:28:42,940 --> 00:28:40,640 the BCA and I read this on his blog just 669 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:42,950 last night and their reply is something 670 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:45,650 like 26 pages to your 12 pages of 671 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:47,810 defense is that right can you ain't 672 00:28:54,540 --> 00:28:49,970 allowed to talk about that yes it's 673 00:28:57,940 --> 00:28:54,550 slightly this dates back i think too 674 00:28:59,560 --> 00:28:57,950 probably be end of last year so these 675 00:29:03,670 --> 00:28:59,570 are late legal documents are they back 676 00:29:05,260 --> 00:29:03,680 to last year but Jack attended just got 677 00:29:07,030 --> 00:29:05,270 hold of them from the from the court 678 00:29:09,610 --> 00:29:07,040 because they're public records and 679 00:29:11,380 --> 00:29:09,620 people can access them and so he's 680 00:29:14,230 --> 00:29:11,390 talking as I would have submitted my 681 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:14,240 defense hmm which is why I think my 682 00:29:19,670 --> 00:29:17,930 article was reasonable they then submit 683 00:29:22,730 --> 00:29:19,680 their reply which 684 00:29:25,340 --> 00:29:22,740 an attack on my defense and that's a 685 00:29:27,020 --> 00:29:25,350 sort of basis from which the trial will 686 00:29:28,790 --> 00:29:27,030 sort of emerged further down the road 687 00:29:32,210 --> 00:29:28,800 but I do say I think my defenses maybe 688 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:32,220 12 pages there reply think was possibly 689 00:29:37,610 --> 00:29:36,210 even 36 pages OIC ok so one of the other 690 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:37,620 things that's happened recently Simon 691 00:29:40,730 --> 00:29:38,970 and this isn't directly related to your 692 00:29:43,820 --> 00:29:40,740 case but I wanted to ask you about it 693 00:29:45,950 --> 00:29:43,830 anyway was the what's become known as 694 00:29:48,710 --> 00:29:45,960 the car apocalypse which occurred 695 00:29:51,140 --> 00:29:48,720 recently where there is it the McTeer 696 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:51,150 Mick Timoney Association of 697 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:53,850 chiropractors sent out an email to all 698 00:29:58,250 --> 00:29:55,770 their members asking them to remove any 699 00:30:00,410 --> 00:29:58,260 reference on their websites to the fact 700 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:00,420 that they treat children for colic do 701 00:30:08,330 --> 00:30:03,450 you know much about this I've been 702 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:08,340 following it on the web the I suppose it 703 00:30:12,530 --> 00:30:10,890 started with somebody submitting a 704 00:30:15,670 --> 00:30:12,540 complaint to the advertising it 705 00:30:20,810 --> 00:30:15,680 Standards Authority about one 706 00:30:22,670 --> 00:30:20,820 chiropractor promoting a chiropractic 707 00:30:24,350 --> 00:30:22,680 for the treatment colic and the 708 00:30:26,990 --> 00:30:24,360 advertising thousand authority in 709 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:27,000 Britain is pretty good they tend to look 710 00:30:29,900 --> 00:30:28,530 at the scientific evidence and if the 711 00:30:31,910 --> 00:30:29,910 scientific evidence doesn't stand up 712 00:30:33,350 --> 00:30:31,920 then they uphold the complaint and 713 00:30:34,970 --> 00:30:33,360 that's what happened in this case they 714 00:30:39,650 --> 00:30:34,980 said that this chiropractor should stop 715 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:39,660 advertising the treatment of colic and 716 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:42,690 that happened I think probably in May of 717 00:30:50,420 --> 00:30:45,770 this year which is just a few weeks ago 718 00:30:54,010 --> 00:30:50,430 after that some bloggers skeptics 719 00:30:57,260 --> 00:30:54,020 rationalist kind of got together and 720 00:31:00,560 --> 00:30:57,270 started submitting further complaints 721 00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:00,570 about chiropractors I think Polly 722 00:31:06,350 --> 00:31:02,910 amathaka stands Authority partly to 723 00:31:07,940 --> 00:31:06,360 trading standards partly I think to the 724 00:31:11,620 --> 00:31:07,950 general chiropractic Council as well 725 00:31:14,030 --> 00:31:11,630 that that oversees chiropractors and 726 00:31:16,340 --> 00:31:14,040 they seem to dumb if on a massive 727 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:16,350 massive scale you may know more others 728 00:31:20,210 --> 00:31:18,210 for me but I think literally there have 729 00:31:23,630 --> 00:31:20,220 been hundreds of complaints submitted 730 00:31:26,540 --> 00:31:23,640 okay there are 75 that i read about at 731 00:31:31,340 --> 00:31:26,550 least 50 that the reaction from the 732 00:31:33,890 --> 00:31:31,350 chiropractors is not surprisingly one of 733 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:33,900 shock because now all of you trial 734 00:31:38,870 --> 00:31:36,450 practice are being investigated either 735 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:38,880 by advertised as Authority Trading 736 00:31:43,580 --> 00:31:40,410 Standards all the general chiropractic 737 00:31:47,270 --> 00:31:43,590 counsel and there's a huge spotlight 738 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:47,280 being shown on chiropractors he made the 739 00:31:52,460 --> 00:31:49,050 sort of planes that were mentioned in my 740 00:31:57,310 --> 00:31:52,470 article so while i'm sort of embroiled 741 00:31:59,720 --> 00:31:57,320 in a legal battle the the blogosphere 742 00:32:03,980 --> 00:31:59,730 had sort of been carrying on its own 743 00:32:07,310 --> 00:32:03,990 battle separately which is a well which 744 00:32:08,570 --> 00:32:07,320 is he's told me that evening well it's 745 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:08,580 interesting isn't it because it's a 746 00:32:12,410 --> 00:32:09,930 little bit like what happened with the 747 00:32:15,050 --> 00:32:12,420 journey Barnett and LB sating with Ben 748 00:32:19,250 --> 00:32:15,060 Goldacre late last year where they 749 00:32:21,110 --> 00:32:19,260 threatened been with legal action for 750 00:32:23,810 --> 00:32:21,120 putting up the audio of her show where 751 00:32:25,370 --> 00:32:23,820 she was damning the MMR and as soon as 752 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:25,380 that got out to the blogosphere it 753 00:32:29,690 --> 00:32:27,210 became a Streisand effect and of course 754 00:32:32,330 --> 00:32:29,700 everybody found out about it and this is 755 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:32,340 a similar stance in the fact that this 756 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:34,170 email was sent to all the members of the 757 00:32:39,110 --> 00:32:36,810 mech Timoney chiropractors saying do not 758 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:39,120 show this to anyone do not tell your 759 00:32:42,710 --> 00:32:40,890 patients about this this email is 760 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:42,720 private and of course it was in 761 00:32:46,610 --> 00:32:44,970 published on quack ometer and now 762 00:32:53,420 --> 00:32:46,620 everybody knows about it and it's gone 763 00:32:56,180 --> 00:32:53,430 global and viral yes i do know i'm i'm 764 00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:56,190 sort of in mine I get well for whatever 765 00:33:00,290 --> 00:32:58,170 reason whether AIDS related or whatever 766 00:33:02,180 --> 00:33:00,300 the reason is i'm not particularly 767 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:02,190 techie i'm not i've never really got 768 00:33:08,390 --> 00:33:05,730 into the web and facebook and the 769 00:33:12,470 --> 00:33:08,400 blogosphere and so on but over the last 770 00:33:15,710 --> 00:33:12,480 year it's fascinating to see the power 771 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:15,720 of the web in this sort of situation for 772 00:33:21,860 --> 00:33:17,850 example there's a Facebook group a link 773 00:33:23,570 --> 00:33:21,870 to the libel case and I think about 774 00:33:27,890 --> 00:33:23,580 seven and a half hours of supporters now 775 00:33:30,620 --> 00:33:27,900 and and it the last year was quite lowly 776 00:33:34,580 --> 00:33:30,630 fighting this legal battle but the 777 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:34,590 support and the messages of goodwill 778 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:36,930 coming out of that group have been 779 00:33:42,590 --> 00:33:39,930 really important for me and I think it's 780 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:42,600 been a way for supporter to talk to each 781 00:33:47,970 --> 00:33:45,370 other and discuss issues and so on 782 00:33:50,490 --> 00:33:47,980 and then things like the way the 783 00:33:52,650 --> 00:33:50,500 bloggers have given really informed 784 00:33:54,750 --> 00:33:52,660 intelligent debate and discussion on 785 00:33:56,010 --> 00:33:54,760 this issue whether it's Jack of counting 786 00:33:58,170 --> 00:33:56,020 there's a very strong legal background 787 00:34:00,930 --> 00:33:58,180 to others who have a more of a 788 00:34:03,930 --> 00:34:00,940 scientific event and you can kind of 789 00:34:05,610 --> 00:34:03,940 analyze things more scientifically or 790 00:34:08,700 --> 00:34:05,620 whether it's those who are more active 791 00:34:11,970 --> 00:34:08,710 and actually initiate some of these 792 00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:11,980 things that are going on the powers of 793 00:34:15,899 --> 00:34:14,110 it is immense and if something I've only 794 00:34:18,330 --> 00:34:15,909 really become aware of in the last say 795 00:34:20,909 --> 00:34:18,340 six months as I've started to watch and 796 00:34:22,860 --> 00:34:20,919 monitor what's going on hmm well in 797 00:34:25,619 --> 00:34:22,870 particular sense about science have been 798 00:34:27,810 --> 00:34:25,629 critical to the to your campaign which 799 00:34:29,820 --> 00:34:27,820 is keeping libel laws out of science and 800 00:34:31,860 --> 00:34:29,830 I believe there are now last time I 801 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:31,870 checked there were 10,000 signatures on 802 00:34:40,770 --> 00:34:36,010 the petition for getting the liabilities 803 00:34:45,810 --> 00:34:40,780 in the UK changed yes sort of Mike's in 804 00:34:47,220 --> 00:34:45,820 my case is the yeah abba's I'm very 805 00:34:50,430 --> 00:34:47,230 concerned about my case and the fact 806 00:34:52,919 --> 00:34:50,440 that that my ass was being challenged 807 00:34:55,980 --> 00:34:52,929 under the liable fisting here in England 808 00:34:59,040 --> 00:34:55,990 but the bigger issue is how lively in 809 00:35:01,740 --> 00:34:59,050 general can have a slightly scary effect 810 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:01,750 or a very scary effect on journalists in 811 00:35:08,150 --> 00:35:05,530 general and percent of a sign to start 812 00:35:10,020 --> 00:35:08,160 of a campaign and I'm you know I'm 813 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:10,030 closely associated with sense of a 814 00:35:16,740 --> 00:35:11,850 science and involved in the campaign 815 00:35:19,290 --> 00:35:16,750 it's about trying to with the split 816 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:19,300 limit through this way the problem with 817 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:20,890 the libel laws in England are they are 818 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:24,810 horrendously expensive you could easily 819 00:35:31,290 --> 00:35:28,330 get a bill for two million dollars at 820 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:31,300 the end of the case if you lose if 821 00:35:36,150 --> 00:35:33,490 you're journalist you're pretty much 822 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:36,160 fighting an uphill battle it's very easy 823 00:35:43,410 --> 00:35:41,650 for people to bring a libel suit as a 824 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:43,420 journalist short you're guilty until 825 00:35:48,270 --> 00:35:45,850 proven innocent that's a reverse burden 826 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:48,280 of proof in Bible learning word there's 827 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:53,290 no there's no financial support for 828 00:35:57,900 --> 00:35:56,770 people as know basically completely full 829 00:35:59,160 --> 00:35:57,910 of thunder yourself if you're a 830 00:36:01,230 --> 00:35:59,170 newspaper publisher 831 00:36:03,450 --> 00:36:01,240 was a lone journalist it's a very 832 00:36:05,819 --> 00:36:03,460 difficult situation and I'm saying the 833 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:05,829 end of it if you lose you could end up 834 00:36:11,579 --> 00:36:08,530 with a two million dollar bill so when 835 00:36:14,460 --> 00:36:11,589 somebody sees you for libel the smart 836 00:36:17,849 --> 00:36:14,470 thing to do is to back out quickly and 837 00:36:20,910 --> 00:36:17,859 just to say sorry retract apologize and 838 00:36:24,390 --> 00:36:20,920 can get out of it because if you win the 839 00:36:26,789 --> 00:36:24,400 case it'll take up a year of your life 840 00:36:28,950 --> 00:36:26,799 and you'll probably end up losing a few 841 00:36:31,230 --> 00:36:28,960 thousand dollars anyway because you 842 00:36:33,809 --> 00:36:31,240 never recover all of your your costs and 843 00:36:36,930 --> 00:36:33,819 you never recover your time anyway so 844 00:36:40,079 --> 00:36:36,940 winning is pretty bad and losing is 845 00:36:43,470 --> 00:36:40,089 catastrophic it bad and that means that 846 00:36:45,450 --> 00:36:43,480 ever say journalists withdraw articles 847 00:36:49,140 --> 00:36:45,460 that often maybe don't need to be 848 00:36:50,910 --> 00:36:49,150 withdrawn our journalists dirt articles 849 00:36:53,910 --> 00:36:50,920 before they're printed so they take care 850 00:36:55,890 --> 00:36:53,920 anything that might possibly be sued 851 00:36:59,309 --> 00:36:55,900 later on because they don't want that 852 00:37:01,319 --> 00:36:59,319 risk and going to trial and they often 853 00:37:04,740 --> 00:37:01,329 end up you're not even writing about 854 00:37:06,900 --> 00:37:04,750 certain subjects because the risks have 855 00:37:11,569 --> 00:37:06,910 been taken to court are there and that 856 00:37:15,510 --> 00:37:11,579 means you end up with a press which is 857 00:37:18,089 --> 00:37:15,520 intimidated from the get-go and so the 858 00:37:20,789 --> 00:37:18,099 idea of this campaign is to reform 859 00:37:24,299 --> 00:37:20,799 English libel laws to put it into 860 00:37:27,150 --> 00:37:24,309 context a libel case in England costs a 861 00:37:30,059 --> 00:37:27,160 hundred and forty times more than the 862 00:37:31,890 --> 00:37:30,069 European average yeah there's something 863 00:37:33,870 --> 00:37:31,900 fundamentally wrong with our system when 864 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:33,880 it's so expensive and there's something 865 00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:35,530 fundamentally wrong when that vast 866 00:37:39,900 --> 00:37:38,710 expense terrifies journalist from 867 00:37:42,990 --> 00:37:39,910 writing what they really ought to be 868 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:43,000 writing about so that campaign I think 869 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:44,650 never about fourteen thousand signatures 870 00:37:52,020 --> 00:37:48,730 and as well as massive support from the 871 00:37:53,730 --> 00:37:52,030 public we've got people like Stephen Fry 872 00:37:57,450 --> 00:37:53,740 who I know you were talking to recently 873 00:37:59,430 --> 00:37:57,460 Tim Minchin you know the performers and 874 00:38:01,589 --> 00:37:59,440 writers who care about skepticism and 875 00:38:04,260 --> 00:38:01,599 rationalism scientists like Richard 876 00:38:08,849 --> 00:38:04,270 Dawkins and Sir Martin Rees the 877 00:38:11,339 --> 00:38:08,859 astronomer royal the poet laureate has 878 00:38:12,510 --> 00:38:11,349 signed up all sorts of people who either 879 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:12,520 care about science 880 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:15,610 or free speech or journalism they're all 881 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:18,370 back in the case and if if listeners can 882 00:38:22,970 --> 00:38:19,930 also sign up to the petition I'll be 883 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:22,980 fantastic it's a sense about science org 884 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:25,690 sense about science not old and the 885 00:38:29,310 --> 00:38:27,250 reason why the team to get overseas 886 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:29,320 support and why so many overseas people 887 00:38:37,770 --> 00:38:33,490 are signing up is because potentially 888 00:38:39,810 --> 00:38:37,780 somebody outside of England can end up 889 00:38:41,340 --> 00:38:39,820 in an English law court had not just 890 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:41,350 potentially and it does happen it's 891 00:38:48,990 --> 00:38:44,890 called libel tourism if if somebody 892 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:49,000 wants to confront a journalist the best 893 00:38:52,350 --> 00:38:50,410 thing they can do is bring them to 894 00:38:55,170 --> 00:38:52,360 English law court because the expenses 895 00:38:57,630 --> 00:38:55,180 are so great the chances are that the 896 00:38:59,700 --> 00:38:57,640 journalist will have to back down so our 897 00:39:01,050 --> 00:38:59,710 Lord in England are getting other people 898 00:39:03,110 --> 00:39:01,060 into trouble and that's one of the 899 00:39:05,250 --> 00:39:03,120 reasons also why we want to change it I 900 00:39:07,470 --> 00:39:05,260 think it's also really important to 901 00:39:10,470 --> 00:39:07,480 emphasize Simon and I've had some people 902 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:10,480 comment about this to me that this is 903 00:39:15,390 --> 00:39:12,490 not just about keeping libel laws out of 904 00:39:17,190 --> 00:39:15,400 science this is about reforming the 905 00:39:18,990 --> 00:39:17,200 library laws across the board and it's 906 00:39:21,590 --> 00:39:19,000 much more about free speech isn't it 907 00:39:24,390 --> 00:39:21,600 because some people have said to me well 908 00:39:26,490 --> 00:39:24,400 we shouldn't be an exceptional special 909 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:26,500 group that's almost like a special 910 00:39:29,940 --> 00:39:28,450 pleading in a sense saying don't put 911 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:29,950 those laws on us it's not just about 912 00:39:36,050 --> 00:39:32,050 science writers it's about journalism as 913 00:39:38,670 --> 00:39:36,060 I'm yes you're absolutely right it's um 914 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:38,680 it's about bloggers it's like people 915 00:39:42,180 --> 00:39:40,450 that buy about politics about people 916 00:39:44,340 --> 00:39:42,190 that want about anything I think sent 917 00:39:46,490 --> 00:39:44,350 about science a keen on the science 918 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:46,500 angle because there is a scientific 919 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:50,530 charity and also there's sort of been a 920 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:53,410 fashion recently for science being taken 921 00:39:57,780 --> 00:39:56,170 to the court there's a cardiologist in 922 00:40:00,510 --> 00:39:57,790 England at the moment called Peter 923 00:40:02,730 --> 00:40:00,520 wilmshurst he's being sued for libel Ben 924 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:02,740 Goldacre was sued for libel last year 925 00:40:10,830 --> 00:40:05,010 when he wrote about a vitamin salesman 926 00:40:13,110 --> 00:40:10,840 so scientists or the topical and it's a 927 00:40:15,510 --> 00:40:13,120 good subject because the issues were 928 00:40:19,020 --> 00:40:15,520 writing about oblique interest about 929 00:40:22,470 --> 00:40:19,030 child health and about issues that 930 00:40:24,390 --> 00:40:22,480 affect the public health issues so it's 931 00:40:26,340 --> 00:40:24,400 not like gossip it's not about politics 932 00:40:28,980 --> 00:40:26,350 so it's a good 933 00:40:32,820 --> 00:40:28,990 ample which hopefully may lead to a 934 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:32,830 change in the law but if not the only 935 00:40:37,860 --> 00:40:34,930 example an edgy set goes beyond science 936 00:40:39,150 --> 00:40:37,870 and it affects journalist whatever they 937 00:40:42,350 --> 00:40:39,160 write about and as I said earlier 938 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:42,360 wherever they like about it absolutely 939 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:44,770 well Simon we're very much looking 940 00:40:49,740 --> 00:40:47,530 forward to having you in Australia as a 941 00:40:51,870 --> 00:40:49,750 guest of the Adelaide Festival of ideas 942 00:40:54,720 --> 00:40:51,880 now you're doing a lecture in Adelaide 943 00:40:56,730 --> 00:40:54,730 on the twelfth of July and then you'll 944 00:40:59,660 --> 00:40:56,740 be popping over to Sydney to give a 945 00:41:02,760 --> 00:40:59,670 special lecture on the fifteenth of July 946 00:41:04,050 --> 00:41:02,770 and lists can yeah I'm good on the other 947 00:41:05,550 --> 00:41:04,060 laughing I'm giving about Josh laughing 948 00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:05,560 I'm taking part in three different 949 00:41:11,970 --> 00:41:10,090 panels I think my precious is the panel 950 00:41:13,860 --> 00:41:11,980 sessions are very much sort of 951 00:41:16,050 --> 00:41:13,870 brainstorming of ideas so we'll be 952 00:41:19,740 --> 00:41:16,060 looking at evolution in a general sense 953 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:19,750 so where the big ideas come from we'll 954 00:41:24,870 --> 00:41:22,570 be looking at of drugs and 955 00:41:26,310 --> 00:41:24,880 pharmaceuticals in one session and then 956 00:41:28,260 --> 00:41:26,320 I'll be delivering one leg from 957 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:28,270 particular on alternative medicine and 958 00:41:31,770 --> 00:41:30,370 trickle treatment and then I becoming 959 00:41:33,690 --> 00:41:31,780 over Sydney which would be great fun 960 00:41:36,450 --> 00:41:33,700 make Sydney for 45 years now and really 961 00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:36,460 before coming back and be talking about 962 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:39,250 alternative medicine and skepticism 963 00:41:43,350 --> 00:41:41,290 again when i get to sydney well 964 00:41:44,940 --> 00:41:43,360 fantastic well thank you very much for 965 00:41:46,350 --> 00:41:44,950 your time today Simon and we look very 966 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:46,360 much forward to seeing you in a couple 967 00:41:54,750 --> 00:41:49,330 of weeks in Australia I'm looking 42 968 00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:54,760 I'll see you soon take care this is 969 00:42:00,390 --> 00:41:57,850 brian dunning from sceptile calm skep 970 00:42:02,460 --> 00:42:00,400 tide is a short weekly podcast taking a 971 00:42:05,550 --> 00:42:02,470 critical look at the pseudo-sciences 972 00:42:07,650 --> 00:42:05,560 that infect popular culture whenever I'm 973 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:07,660 not locked in the recording studio I'm 974 00:42:22,430 --> 00:42:20,000 yellow that welcome to the token skeptic 975 00:42:24,620 --> 00:42:22,440 book review with our first book 59 976 00:42:26,809 --> 00:42:24,630 seconds think a little change a lot 977 00:42:30,950 --> 00:42:26,819 you'll be able to see the video of this 978 00:42:34,579 --> 00:42:30,960 review next week featured at WWE talkin 979 00:42:35,990 --> 00:42:34,589 skeptic org professor richard wiseman is 980 00:42:38,390 --> 00:42:36,000 based at the University of Hartford 981 00:42:40,490 --> 00:42:38,400 share in the UK and has gained an 982 00:42:42,370 --> 00:42:40,500 international reputation for research 983 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:42,380 into quirky areas of psychology 984 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:45,450 including deception humor luck and the 985 00:42:52,010 --> 00:42:49,530 paranormal the book 59 seconds think a 986 00:42:54,319 --> 00:42:52,020 little change a lot is very appealing 987 00:42:57,890 --> 00:42:54,329 it's only sold in the UK at the moment 988 00:43:00,440 --> 00:42:57,900 for about 12 pounds I got mine 47 pounds 989 00:43:03,260 --> 00:43:00,450 by an online site which worked out at 990 00:43:05,299 --> 00:43:03,270 around about 14 Australian dollars mine 991 00:43:08,359 --> 00:43:05,309 even arrived without a hidden tarantula 992 00:43:11,539 --> 00:43:08,369 in terms of appearance it weighs in at a 993 00:43:13,579 --> 00:43:11,549 solid 358 pages including the detailed 994 00:43:15,559 --> 00:43:13,589 footnotes at the end as a bright 995 00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:15,569 appealing cover and is not that 996 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:17,130 dissimilar in construction to his 997 00:43:22,700 --> 00:43:19,530 earlier work quirkology the curious 998 00:43:24,710 --> 00:43:22,710 science of everyday lives peel back that 999 00:43:26,660 --> 00:43:24,720 bright cover and you'll discover that 59 1000 00:43:29,329 --> 00:43:26,670 seconds has even more in common with 1001 00:43:31,339 --> 00:43:29,339 quirkology dr. Wiseman has become rather 1002 00:43:33,470 --> 00:43:31,349 good at putting as much information as 1003 00:43:35,660 --> 00:43:33,480 he possibly can into these two recent 1004 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:35,670 books whenever I've talked about his 1005 00:43:39,380 --> 00:43:37,530 research to others I usually just 1006 00:43:41,150 --> 00:43:39,390 recommend quirkology rather than 1007 00:43:43,490 --> 00:43:41,160 tracking down every paper is authored 1008 00:43:45,890 --> 00:43:43,500 from psychology of deception to power 1009 00:43:49,130 --> 00:43:45,900 psychology to personality and luck and 1010 00:43:50,510 --> 00:43:49,140 so forth now I originally thought that 1011 00:43:52,700 --> 00:43:50,520 this was going to be more like two of 1012 00:43:55,849 --> 00:43:52,710 his earlier works which funnily enough 1013 00:43:57,559 --> 00:43:55,859 are self-help books since this is a book 1014 00:44:00,289 --> 00:43:57,569 that challenges many of the claims of 1015 00:44:02,150 --> 00:44:00,299 the self-help genre I guess the best way 1016 00:44:05,750 --> 00:44:02,160 to beat the fruits is to join them and 1017 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:05,760 be tastier and more nutritious there's 1018 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:07,770 the luck factor which investigated how 1019 00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:10,170 good and bad luck result from measurable 1020 00:44:14,690 --> 00:44:12,450 habits for example lucky people by 1021 00:44:16,460 --> 00:44:14,700 expecting good luck might expend more 1022 00:44:18,740 --> 00:44:16,470 efforts in their endeavors resulting in 1023 00:44:21,530 --> 00:44:18,750 more success reinforcing their belief in 1024 00:44:23,420 --> 00:44:21,540 good luck there is also did you spot the 1025 00:44:25,609 --> 00:44:23,430 gorilla how to recognize hidden 1026 00:44:27,710 --> 00:44:25,619 opportunities in your life which applies 1027 00:44:29,569 --> 00:44:27,720 the metaphor for those priceless ideas 1028 00:44:29,900 --> 00:44:29,579 and opportunities which seem obvious in 1029 00:44:32,660 --> 00:44:29,910 hind 1030 00:44:34,849 --> 00:44:32,670 side to one's business life and home 1031 00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:34,859 it's the structure of the book which 1032 00:44:39,289 --> 00:44:37,530 might throw you now this isn't the luck 1033 00:44:41,720 --> 00:44:39,299 factor or did you spot the griller 1034 00:44:43,460 --> 00:44:41,730 whilst every research discussion goes 1035 00:44:46,549 --> 00:44:43,470 for no more than five to six pages 1036 00:44:48,770 --> 00:44:46,559 there's a 59 seconds or less tip which 1037 00:44:51,289 --> 00:44:48,780 features nearly every ten pages also 1038 00:44:53,359 --> 00:44:51,299 that's mixed in with some quizzes some 1039 00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:53,369 charts to fill in a few four times 1040 00:44:57,910 --> 00:44:55,650 fifteen second tips and text boxes and 1041 00:45:00,500 --> 00:44:57,920 it's all neatly divided into chapters 1042 00:45:02,450 --> 00:45:00,510 it's a very practical book that you 1043 00:45:04,819 --> 00:45:02,460 encouraged to write in much like is 1044 00:45:07,130 --> 00:45:04,829 earlier to self-help books but it's a 1045 00:45:09,500 --> 00:45:07,140 lot thicker I guess the format of a 1046 00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:09,510 self-help book is one I associated with 1047 00:45:13,730 --> 00:45:11,730 a less solid nonfiction research book 1048 00:45:14,900 --> 00:45:13,740 appearance but you certainly can't say 1049 00:45:16,370 --> 00:45:14,910 that you're not getting your money's 1050 00:45:18,500 --> 00:45:16,380 worth with how much research and 1051 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:18,510 activities which are stacked in bunches 1052 00:45:22,730 --> 00:45:21,450 throughout of course being the professor 1053 00:45:25,220 --> 00:45:22,740 of the public understanding of 1054 00:45:27,500 --> 00:45:25,230 psychology in the UK he has a lot of 1055 00:45:29,500 --> 00:45:27,510 opportunities to conduct tests and trial 1056 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:29,510 them many of these appear in the book 1057 00:45:34,130 --> 00:45:32,130 romance made simple in chapter 7 1058 00:45:36,650 --> 00:45:34,140 relationships drew upon the research 1059 00:45:38,839 --> 00:45:36,660 done on his quirkology website a large 1060 00:45:41,870 --> 00:45:38,849 scale online survey that examined the 1061 00:45:45,049 --> 00:45:41,880 psychology of romantic gestures another 1062 00:45:47,359 --> 00:45:45,059 in chapter 2 persuasion tested how much 1063 00:45:49,190 --> 00:45:47,369 money people donate to a perfect charity 1064 00:45:52,069 --> 00:45:49,200 box which was done in conjunction with 1065 00:45:53,870 --> 00:45:52,079 borders book stores across the UK dr. 1066 00:45:56,569 --> 00:45:53,880 Wiseman regularly pops out new quizzes 1067 00:45:58,519 --> 00:45:56,579 activities and studies online I wouldn't 1068 00:46:00,710 --> 00:45:58,529 be surprised if many listeners have also 1069 00:46:03,079 --> 00:46:00,720 enjoyed his kind of supernatural version 1070 00:46:05,660 --> 00:46:03,089 of the children's game wheres wally or 1071 00:46:08,150 --> 00:46:05,670 where's Richard which was played last 1072 00:46:09,859 --> 00:46:08,160 month by a Twitter and on his blog to 1073 00:46:12,829 --> 00:46:09,869 try at the psychic abilities of his 1074 00:46:14,690 --> 00:46:12,839 readers when reading 59 seconds I quite 1075 00:46:16,069 --> 00:46:14,700 enjoy discovering how many little tips 1076 00:46:18,260 --> 00:46:16,079 for happiness or encouraging 1077 00:46:20,089 --> 00:46:18,270 socialization have been recognized by 1078 00:46:22,730 --> 00:46:20,099 myself or others in casual discussion 1079 00:46:25,700 --> 00:46:22,740 and are either agreed or disagreed upon 1080 00:46:28,670 --> 00:46:25,710 by scientific research for example 1081 00:46:30,620 --> 00:46:28,680 episode 115 of the geologic podcast 1082 00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:30,630 talked about how socialising whilst 1083 00:46:36,019 --> 00:46:33,690 walking a dog seems so much easier there 1084 00:46:38,529 --> 00:46:36,029 in chapter 6 on stress with a heading 1085 00:46:41,059 --> 00:46:38,539 pause for thought research shows that 1086 00:46:42,950 --> 00:46:41,069 most researchers acknowledge that when 1087 00:46:43,970 --> 00:46:42,960 the most important factors centers on 1088 00:46:46,730 --> 00:46:43,980 the social benefit 1089 00:46:48,830 --> 00:46:46,740 of owning a dog a large body of research 1090 00:46:50,390 --> 00:46:48,840 has demonstrated that spending time with 1091 00:46:52,099 --> 00:46:50,400 other people is a major source of 1092 00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:52,109 happiness and health and dogs 1093 00:46:56,090 --> 00:46:54,090 inadvertent of an effective ability to 1094 00:46:58,130 --> 00:46:56,100 bring people together is likely to play 1095 00:47:00,680 --> 00:46:58,140 a major role in promoting the well-being 1096 00:47:02,950 --> 00:47:00,690 of their owners however some of the 1097 00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:02,960 comments did seem a little dubious in 1098 00:47:08,870 --> 00:47:06,690 chapter 9 parenting one of the in 59 1099 00:47:10,970 --> 00:47:08,880 seconds or less summaries claimed that 1100 00:47:12,380 --> 00:47:10,980 research shows that people with surnames 1101 00:47:14,150 --> 00:47:12,390 beginning with the letter towards the 1102 00:47:16,700 --> 00:47:14,160 start of the alphabet are more 1103 00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:16,710 successful life and traditional names 1104 00:47:20,810 --> 00:47:19,050 with royal associations are seen as 1105 00:47:23,240 --> 00:47:20,820 particularly successful and intelligent 1106 00:47:25,849 --> 00:47:23,250 well I wondered if that was also true 1107 00:47:28,340 --> 00:47:25,859 across cultures some of the research is 1108 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:28,350 still being done a study in chapter 10 1109 00:47:34,370 --> 00:47:31,650 on personality looked at the 2d 24 D 1110 00:47:36,980 --> 00:47:34,380 ratio of fingers or the casanova effect 1111 00:47:39,770 --> 00:47:36,990 which was conducted by long distance for 1112 00:47:42,650 --> 00:47:39,780 dr. Wiseman using psych ops Jim under 1113 00:47:45,710 --> 00:47:42,660 down on 37 of the best-known leading men 1114 00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:45,720 and 9 comedians if the phenomenon is 1115 00:47:51,140 --> 00:47:47,970 genuine it might be able to tell us more 1116 00:47:53,720 --> 00:47:51,150 about the magic x factor or XY factor of 1117 00:47:56,300 --> 00:47:53,730 masculine to feminine psychological and 1118 00:47:58,220 --> 00:47:56,310 physical abilities finally those of you 1119 00:48:01,030 --> 00:47:58,230 who follow richard wiseman on Twitter or 1120 00:48:04,790 --> 00:48:01,040 check out his new site for the book at 1121 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:04,800 wwt nine seconds BDS will know that 1122 00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:05,970 there's additional features that 1123 00:48:11,150 --> 00:48:08,730 complement the book there's the 59 1124 00:48:13,849 --> 00:48:11,160 seconds tips which so far include the 1125 00:48:16,430 --> 00:48:13,859 power of purchases and glasses and 1126 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:16,440 mirrors one on how buying experiences is 1127 00:48:19,970 --> 00:48:17,970 better for once happiness than buying 1128 00:48:22,190 --> 00:48:19,980 goods and the influence that tall 1129 00:48:24,410 --> 00:48:22,200 glasses and a mirror in the kitchen can 1130 00:48:26,510 --> 00:48:24,420 have on a diet it's a very clever 1131 00:48:28,630 --> 00:48:26,520 advertisement for the book as it for 1132 00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:28,640 grants the useful advice and as expected 1133 00:48:34,240 --> 00:48:31,170 makes clear just how much research went 1134 00:48:36,620 --> 00:48:34,250 into each of the 59 seconds or less tips 1135 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:36,630 don't forget that you can see the video 1136 00:48:43,849 --> 00:48:38,850 version of this book of you at my new 1137 00:48:46,970 --> 00:48:43,859 site wwn skeptic org starting from next 1138 00:48:48,830 --> 00:48:46,980 week oh and if dr. Richard Wiseman is 1139 00:48:50,450 --> 00:48:48,840 listening to this podcast to hear one of 1140 00:48:53,390 --> 00:48:50,460 the very first reviews of his book 1141 00:48:57,300 --> 00:48:53,400 online he might let you know via his 1142 00:49:01,830 --> 00:48:57,310 website at WWF teen seconds be 1143 00:49:04,770 --> 00:49:01,840 or on his personal blog at WWE and 1144 00:49:06,870 --> 00:49:04,780 wordpress com you might comment how many 1145 00:49:27,980 --> 00:49:06,880 times he heard me make an allusion to it 1146 00:49:39,180 --> 00:49:30,769 let's all take this with a grain of salt 1147 00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:39,190 seas around ticket hello this is around 1148 00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:42,210 segev taking life with a grain of salt 1149 00:49:46,829 --> 00:49:44,650 anybody who actively supports a sports 1150 00:49:49,079 --> 00:49:46,839 club that knows the feeling the team on 1151 00:49:50,819 --> 00:49:49,089 the field unites the supporters often 1152 00:49:53,249 --> 00:49:50,829 dressed in apparel that identifies them 1153 00:49:55,799 --> 00:49:53,259 with a team when the team scores a goal 1154 00:49:57,150 --> 00:49:55,809 or a try or a six complete strangers 1155 00:49:59,430 --> 00:49:57,160 will hug and give each other high-fives 1156 00:50:01,620 --> 00:49:59,440 as if they've known each other since 1157 00:50:03,690 --> 00:50:01,630 kindergarten at the end of the game 1158 00:50:05,370 --> 00:50:03,700 should support his encounter supporters 1159 00:50:07,589 --> 00:50:05,380 of the other team that will together 1160 00:50:10,620 --> 00:50:07,599 mock them or engage in friendly or not 1161 00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:10,630 so friendly banter in some cases they 1162 00:50:14,579 --> 00:50:12,970 might engage in physical fighting no 1163 00:50:16,579 --> 00:50:14,589 doubt with the aim of convincing the 1164 00:50:19,140 --> 00:50:16,589 other fans to change their allegiance 1165 00:50:21,539 --> 00:50:19,150 this kind of identification with a group 1166 00:50:23,249 --> 00:50:21,549 is not limited to sports of course it 1167 00:50:25,529 --> 00:50:23,259 can be seen in the pride that people 1168 00:50:27,630 --> 00:50:25,539 feel about their country waving flags or 1169 00:50:29,370 --> 00:50:27,640 national days and often proclaiming 1170 00:50:32,759 --> 00:50:29,380 there's to be the best country in the 1171 00:50:34,170 --> 00:50:32,769 world this is the time to pause and say 1172 00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:34,180 that Australia really is the best 1173 00:50:40,519 --> 00:50:36,249 country in the world into the rest of 1174 00:50:46,349 --> 00:50:43,890 examples of group loyalty abound in most 1175 00:50:49,470 --> 00:50:46,359 cases people see loyalty to a group as a 1176 00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:49,480 positive a virtue more importantly what 1177 00:50:54,059 --> 00:50:51,970 is seen as disloyalty to a group is 1178 00:50:57,720 --> 00:50:54,069 frowned upon and often punished in 1179 00:50:59,220 --> 00:50:57,730 various ways the examples of sports in 1180 00:51:01,589 --> 00:50:59,230 national background do not usually 1181 00:51:03,359 --> 00:51:01,599 involve a moral judgment but there are 1182 00:51:05,370 --> 00:51:03,369 many groups that require their members 1183 00:51:08,039 --> 00:51:05,380 whether official or unofficial to share 1184 00:51:11,009 --> 00:51:08,049 some values or ideas the most obvious 1185 00:51:12,509 --> 00:51:11,019 such group is a political party as a 1186 00:51:15,479 --> 00:51:12,519 political parties supposed to represent 1187 00:51:17,670 --> 00:51:15,489 ideology the expectation might be that 1188 00:51:20,220 --> 00:51:17,680 as a party's ideology inevitably changes 1189 00:51:22,950 --> 00:51:20,230 over time so will voters and members 1190 00:51:25,529 --> 00:51:22,960 change their allegiance however that is 1191 00:51:27,809 --> 00:51:25,539 rarely the case voting patterns in 1192 00:51:28,950 --> 00:51:27,819 Australia show quite clearly that most 1193 00:51:31,950 --> 00:51:28,960 people vote for the 1194 00:51:33,780 --> 00:51:31,960 party in every election it would be fair 1195 00:51:36,060 --> 00:51:33,790 to assume that they are loyal to the 1196 00:51:39,300 --> 00:51:36,070 party rather than agree with all these 1197 00:51:41,460 --> 00:51:39,310 policies in the US where most people are 1198 00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:41,470 registered members of a party there is 1199 00:51:45,089 --> 00:51:43,330 very little change in party membership 1200 00:51:47,010 --> 00:51:45,099 though it is not clear what level of 1201 00:51:50,010 --> 00:51:47,020 adherence there is to party membership 1202 00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:50,020 on election days it is fairly easy to 1203 00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:51,730 guess how evolution would have made 1204 00:51:56,730 --> 00:51:54,490 humans prone to group loyalty since 1205 00:51:58,680 --> 00:51:56,740 humans are social animals being able to 1206 00:52:01,130 --> 00:51:58,690 rely on support from others members of 1207 00:52:04,230 --> 00:52:01,140 the group is paramount to survival as 1208 00:52:05,700 --> 00:52:04,240 humans evolved he would be surprising if 1209 00:52:08,579 --> 00:52:05,710 they hadn't evolved a freeloader 1210 00:52:11,220 --> 00:52:08,589 detection mechanism suckers spend a lot 1211 00:52:13,020 --> 00:52:11,230 of energy on lost causes so some level 1212 00:52:15,599 --> 00:52:13,030 of sucker proofing would have been an 1213 00:52:17,609 --> 00:52:15,609 important development with suckers being 1214 00:52:19,530 --> 00:52:17,619 less common reciprocity would have 1215 00:52:21,270 --> 00:52:19,540 become a major factor in who gets the 1216 00:52:24,630 --> 00:52:21,280 support of the group and who doesn't and 1217 00:52:25,859 --> 00:52:24,640 group loyalty would have been born of 1218 00:52:27,750 --> 00:52:25,869 course this is a simplistic 1219 00:52:29,700 --> 00:52:27,760 representation of both evolution and 1220 00:52:31,740 --> 00:52:29,710 group loyalty but he does provide a 1221 00:52:33,240 --> 00:52:31,750 broad brush view of how the tendency 1222 00:52:36,930 --> 00:52:33,250 could have become part of what it means 1223 00:52:40,020 --> 00:52:36,940 to be human in his book blindness author 1224 00:52:41,849 --> 00:52:40,030 Josie saramago describes a situation in 1225 00:52:44,820 --> 00:52:41,859 which people find themselves in separate 1226 00:52:46,980 --> 00:52:44,830 rooms in an isolated hospital and as 1227 00:52:49,079 --> 00:52:46,990 resources become scarce the different 1228 00:52:50,250 --> 00:52:49,089 rooms become separate groups that fight 1229 00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:50,260 each other in a manner that is 1230 00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:53,170 astonishingly brutal in the context of 1231 00:52:58,170 --> 00:52:55,330 fighting for survival that does not seem 1232 00:52:59,820 --> 00:52:58,180 so incredible but Saramago splott puts 1233 00:53:02,370 --> 00:52:59,830 the characters in different rooms in a 1234 00:53:04,650 --> 00:53:02,380 completely arbitrary manner as all those 1235 00:53:07,620 --> 00:53:04,660 people are blind and they scramble into 1236 00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:07,630 rooms without any thought or plan many 1237 00:53:11,790 --> 00:53:09,970 people I know who read the book thought 1238 00:53:13,950 --> 00:53:11,800 that despite the obviously fictitious 1239 00:53:16,140 --> 00:53:13,960 plot the element of loyalty to an 1240 00:53:19,620 --> 00:53:16,150 arbitrarily formed group was completely 1241 00:53:21,720 --> 00:53:19,630 realistic while blindness is just a 1242 00:53:24,180 --> 00:53:21,730 novel the behavior of people living 1243 00:53:26,099 --> 00:53:24,190 under authoritarian regimes has shown 1244 00:53:27,599 --> 00:53:26,109 that in the face of pressure to behave 1245 00:53:31,230 --> 00:53:27,609 as the rest of the group expect one to 1246 00:53:33,089 --> 00:53:31,240 most people would comply while it may be 1247 00:53:34,920 --> 00:53:33,099 possible to justify a blind group 1248 00:53:37,230 --> 00:53:34,930 loyalty under the Nazi regime for 1249 00:53:39,450 --> 00:53:37,240 example as being the result of fear of 1250 00:53:40,710 --> 00:53:39,460 retribution the same cannot be said of 1251 00:53:42,270 --> 00:53:40,720 the students participate 1252 00:53:45,240 --> 00:53:42,280 dating in the third way of teaching 1253 00:53:49,170 --> 00:53:45,250 experiment by ron jones in california in 1254 00:53:52,380 --> 00:53:49,180 1969 in that experiment later depicted 1255 00:53:54,750 --> 00:53:52,390 in the 1981 movie the wave students were 1256 00:53:56,310 --> 00:53:54,760 arbitrarily split into groups with one 1257 00:53:58,380 --> 00:53:56,320 group being put in charge of the other 1258 00:54:00,870 --> 00:53:58,390 and given free reign to do whatever they 1259 00:54:03,030 --> 00:54:00,880 wanted to members of the other group the 1260 00:54:04,980 --> 00:54:03,040 patterns of behavior were disturbing as 1261 00:54:07,650 --> 00:54:04,990 the dominant group mistreated the other 1262 00:54:09,240 --> 00:54:07,660 group in an extraordinary way but 1263 00:54:11,100 --> 00:54:09,250 another obvious development was that 1264 00:54:13,200 --> 00:54:11,110 both groups quickly became cohesive and 1265 00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:13,210 developed some internal structures that 1266 00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:14,890 were unique to each a group and helped 1267 00:54:19,620 --> 00:54:17,890 it create a group identity listeners 1268 00:54:21,540 --> 00:54:19,630 might be intrigued as to what the 1269 00:54:23,580 --> 00:54:21,550 skeptical angle might be for looking at 1270 00:54:26,190 --> 00:54:23,590 screw loyalty since it is evidently a 1271 00:54:28,050 --> 00:54:26,200 natural behavior my answer would start 1272 00:54:30,450 --> 00:54:28,060 by saying that there are good reasons to 1273 00:54:32,580 --> 00:54:30,460 suspect that believing claims made by 1274 00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:32,590 figures of personal authority to be true 1275 00:54:37,830 --> 00:54:35,490 regardless of evidence is also natural 1276 00:54:39,660 --> 00:54:37,840 there are good potential evolutionary 1277 00:54:41,880 --> 00:54:39,670 explanations for belief in general and 1278 00:54:44,190 --> 00:54:41,890 faith in particular and Richard Dawkins 1279 00:54:47,340 --> 00:54:44,200 claims that religion is a side effect of 1280 00:54:49,890 --> 00:54:47,350 this evolved trade despite faith being 1281 00:54:52,260 --> 00:54:49,900 almost universal and probably natural we 1282 00:54:54,660 --> 00:54:52,270 skeptics do not accept it we strive to 1283 00:54:56,550 --> 00:54:54,670 change the way people think hoping to 1284 00:54:59,100 --> 00:54:56,560 instill critical thinking in as much of 1285 00:55:00,840 --> 00:54:59,110 society as possible even though most of 1286 00:55:03,510 --> 00:55:00,850 us would recognize that we can only make 1287 00:55:05,700 --> 00:55:03,520 small steps in that direction in the 1288 00:55:07,710 --> 00:55:05,710 same way the fact that group loyalty is 1289 00:55:09,660 --> 00:55:07,720 natural behavior does not mean that it 1290 00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:09,670 is good or even acceptable to an 1291 00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:13,330 inquiring mind in his 1998 article a 1292 00:55:19,110 --> 00:55:15,970 critique of group loyalty philosopher 1293 00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:19,120 Laura Calhoun writes in spite of the 1294 00:55:23,700 --> 00:55:21,490 positive connotations of loyalty the 1295 00:55:25,980 --> 00:55:23,710 concept is itself morally neutral and 1296 00:55:28,040 --> 00:55:25,990 remaining loyal to a group whose values 1297 00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:28,050 one does not share is irrational I 1298 00:55:33,420 --> 00:55:31,930 couldn't agree more moreover I suggest 1299 00:55:35,610 --> 00:55:33,430 that as skeptics we should be very 1300 00:55:37,290 --> 00:55:35,620 suspicious of group behavior or any 1301 00:55:39,450 --> 00:55:37,300 signs that people behave or make 1302 00:55:40,830 --> 00:55:39,460 decisions based on what they're supposed 1303 00:55:43,950 --> 00:55:40,840 to because of their group belonging 1304 00:55:45,810 --> 00:55:43,960 because of loyalty to their group the 1305 00:55:48,270 --> 00:55:45,820 most obvious cases are as mentioned 1306 00:55:49,920 --> 00:55:48,280 earlier in politics but we should also 1307 00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:49,930 be very cautious not to play the game 1308 00:55:53,870 --> 00:55:52,810 ourselves skeptical groups are important 1309 00:55:55,370 --> 00:55:53,880 to many of us 1310 00:55:56,780 --> 00:55:55,380 and I'm not suggesting we harm such 1311 00:55:58,840 --> 00:55:56,790 groups in order to show we do not 1312 00:56:01,340 --> 00:55:58,850 participate in the group loyalty game 1313 00:56:03,110 --> 00:56:01,350 but if the group we belong to or The 1314 00:56:05,180 --> 00:56:03,120 Skeptical movement in general is doing 1315 00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:05,190 something we do not agree with it is our 1316 00:56:15,760 --> 00:56:07,170 duty to follow our own logic and 1317 00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:19,190 join us now for drinking skeptically in 1318 00:56:32,210 --> 00:56:26,610 the think tank well cheers everybody 1319 00:56:34,820 --> 00:56:32,220 once again in the think tank glasses are 1320 00:56:36,860 --> 00:56:34,830 flying everywhere here we are in our 1321 00:56:38,270 --> 00:56:36,870 favorite Club once again just waiting 1322 00:56:39,770 --> 00:56:38,280 for the bus announcements because I know 1323 00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:39,780 that our listeners just love to hear the 1324 00:56:43,940 --> 00:56:41,010 pass announcements when we're here doing 1325 00:56:46,990 --> 00:56:43,950 the thing tank and also before we start 1326 00:56:50,480 --> 00:56:47,000 is a new feature new healing method 1327 00:56:52,580 --> 00:56:50,490 suggested to us by Darren who shouted us 1328 00:56:54,890 --> 00:56:52,590 the drinks last time yes he has 1329 00:56:56,210 --> 00:56:54,900 suggested that if listeners want to send 1330 00:56:57,590 --> 00:56:56,220 us a little bit of money to cover a 1331 00:57:00,740 --> 00:56:57,600 round of drinks we could send them 1332 00:57:04,310 --> 00:57:00,750 remote healing you see we would drink to 1333 00:57:06,340 --> 00:57:04,320 their health all right and we're not 1334 00:57:10,130 --> 00:57:06,350 sure what to call it may be toast ology 1335 00:57:14,150 --> 00:57:10,140 solid or something like that so if you 1336 00:57:17,420 --> 00:57:14,160 send us via the paypal button on our www 1337 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:17,430 60 votes toasting Don TV remote toasting 1338 00:57:22,520 --> 00:57:20,010 and say this is for a round of drinks 1339 00:57:24,470 --> 00:57:22,530 for the think tank we will toast your 1340 00:57:26,150 --> 00:57:24,480 health your good luck or anything else 1341 00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:26,160 you'd like us to toast joining me 1342 00:57:30,530 --> 00:57:27,810 tonight in the think tank in our 1343 00:57:33,290 --> 00:57:30,540 favorite club is dr. Richie hi Richard I 1344 00:57:37,460 --> 00:57:33,300 Dr Ng young I'm still getting over this 1345 00:57:39,170 --> 00:57:37,470 Richard um fluey coldy thingy I had to 1346 00:57:40,790 --> 00:57:39,180 get over it before next week i do i'm 1347 00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:40,800 flying out the town next week i should 1348 00:57:49,700 --> 00:57:44,970 get over by them hello Diane well i'm 1349 00:57:52,490 --> 00:57:49,710 still getting awesome we have new son 1350 00:57:54,140 --> 00:57:52,500 member john benim oh hello Joe I know 1351 00:57:56,210 --> 00:57:54,150 it's good to see you thank you for 1352 00:57:58,670 --> 00:57:56,220 coming along all the way across town of 1353 00:58:00,170 --> 00:57:58,680 course yes I too have been spending most 1354 00:58:01,670 --> 00:58:00,180 of the week recovering as anyone 1355 00:58:03,920 --> 00:58:01,680 listening to my twitter feed will know 1356 00:58:06,980 --> 00:58:03,930 and what's your twitter name it's joe 1357 00:58:10,790 --> 00:58:06,990 been hmoo state jo ven 1358 00:58:13,100 --> 00:58:10,800 hjm you good heavens I like to make 1359 00:58:15,740 --> 00:58:13,110 things complicated also joining us 1360 00:58:18,830 --> 00:58:15,750 tonight is Iran Sega from ah the famous 1361 00:58:21,830 --> 00:58:18,840 a grain of salt pirated hiya Ron and 1362 00:58:25,040 --> 00:58:21,840 zone member amanda rose hi Amanda hello 1363 00:58:27,470 --> 00:58:25,050 now Amanda Iran and I will all be going 1364 00:58:30,020 --> 00:58:27,480 to town next week me and you must be 1365 00:58:33,820 --> 00:58:30,030 well by then because otherwise you'll 1366 00:58:38,870 --> 00:58:33,830 have to find alternative accommodation 1367 00:58:40,490 --> 00:58:38,880 I'm not sharing a room alright well I 1368 00:58:42,109 --> 00:58:40,500 just knock the microphone I'm so excited 1369 00:58:44,090 --> 00:58:42,119 to go to town I'll see what I can do 1370 00:58:45,830 --> 00:58:44,100 until then now a quick few snippets 1371 00:58:48,530 --> 00:58:45,840 before we get into the more interesting 1372 00:58:50,180 --> 00:58:48,540 things listen to Peter writes to me and 1373 00:58:52,780 --> 00:58:50,190 says are you aware that there was a 1374 00:58:56,750 --> 00:58:52,790 fellow by the name of Richard Saunders 1375 00:59:01,400 --> 00:58:56,760 1613 to 1692 who was a famous astrologer 1376 00:59:03,350 --> 00:59:01,410 and mole mappa mole mapper you see you 1377 00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:03,360 same ol Murph imagine what do you mean 1378 00:59:09,230 --> 00:59:06,810 would you care to extrapolate remove 1379 00:59:11,650 --> 00:59:09,240 your shirt and you map the moles on your 1380 00:59:14,359 --> 00:59:11,660 skin and what do you deduce from that 1381 00:59:16,040 --> 00:59:14,369 heaven mam'selle enough so you marry me 1382 00:59:18,440 --> 00:59:16,050 to the Stars or something like can I 1383 00:59:21,140 --> 00:59:18,450 don't dance yeah cannot maybe that's 1384 00:59:23,630 --> 00:59:21,150 what so there we are actually you know 1385 00:59:25,870 --> 00:59:23,640 this makes them exactly as much sense as 1386 00:59:28,190 --> 00:59:25,880 iridology Zoomer haps it's just a 1387 00:59:29,960 --> 00:59:28,200 phrenology possibly yeah feeling the 1388 00:59:31,820 --> 00:59:29,970 lumps on your head the holes me here 1389 00:59:35,440 --> 00:59:31,830 just trying to see if possibly some 1390 00:59:39,380 --> 00:59:35,450 diagnostic now another listener modern 1391 00:59:42,890 --> 00:59:39,390 rights and asks a question maybe you dr. 1392 00:59:46,340 --> 00:59:42,900 AG could um could answer briefly us 1393 00:59:50,150 --> 00:59:46,350 about pubmed pad grew up started again 1394 00:59:52,670 --> 00:59:50,160 asks about pubmed and Google Scholar 1395 00:59:54,590 --> 00:59:52,680 search engine are you familiar with that 1396 00:59:58,820 --> 00:59:54,600 can you give so Ellison is a quick 1397 01:00:02,620 --> 00:59:58,830 overview of them oh well pubmed is the 1398 01:00:04,790 --> 01:00:02,630 National Institute of Health list of 1399 01:00:06,080 --> 01:00:04,800 biologicals articles that have been 1400 01:00:09,650 --> 01:00:06,090 published in the peer-reviewed 1401 01:00:13,040 --> 01:00:09,660 literature and it mostly covers life 1402 01:00:14,450 --> 01:00:13,050 sciences so Joe knows about it too so 1403 01:00:15,650 --> 01:00:14,460 Joe and I use it all the time in our 1404 01:00:17,840 --> 01:00:15,660 work if you want to search for 1405 01:00:19,910 --> 01:00:17,850 information that's been peer review 1406 01:00:20,690 --> 01:00:19,920 published then you would usually go to 1407 01:00:24,849 --> 01:00:20,700 PubMed fur 1408 01:00:29,359 --> 01:00:24,859 and type in a topic or an author's name 1409 01:00:32,210 --> 01:00:29,369 and Google Scholar search also picks up 1410 01:00:33,740 --> 01:00:32,220 articles from PubMed from PubMed yes it 1411 01:00:37,790 --> 01:00:33,750 does so they're both good reliable 1412 01:00:40,760 --> 01:00:37,800 sources you'd say well that's reliable 1413 01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:40,770 as the information that you come up with 1414 01:00:45,349 --> 01:00:44,010 from them so yeah ne ne ne there there 1415 01:00:47,300 --> 01:00:45,359 much like any database there are 1416 01:00:49,849 --> 01:00:47,310 hundreds of databases out there that you 1417 01:00:53,450 --> 01:00:49,859 can access peer reviewed articles 1418 01:00:56,510 --> 01:00:53,460 whether it's some that's offered sanaa 1419 01:00:57,770 --> 01:00:56,520 medline and Google Google's one that's 1420 01:00:59,630 --> 01:00:57,780 probably the most accessible to people 1421 01:01:01,310 --> 01:00:59,640 because so many people use Google Earth 1422 01:01:03,349 --> 01:01:01,320 and it's easy for them to get to the 1423 01:01:06,230 --> 01:01:03,359 problem with a lot of those some 1424 01:01:08,510 --> 01:01:06,240 databases though is that you can find an 1425 01:01:09,620 --> 01:01:08,520 article that you want but these days 1426 01:01:11,630 --> 01:01:09,630 most people tend to look for things 1427 01:01:13,069 --> 01:01:11,640 online primarily and a lot of the time 1428 01:01:15,680 --> 01:01:13,079 to actually access the articles you 1429 01:01:17,660 --> 01:01:15,690 often need to be a paying member so 1430 01:01:19,819 --> 01:01:17,670 often you'd need to be you know if you 1431 01:01:22,160 --> 01:01:19,829 work in hospital or some sort of medical 1432 01:01:24,500 --> 01:01:22,170 area you may get free access through 1433 01:01:26,089 --> 01:01:24,510 your institution but if you are just an 1434 01:01:27,140 --> 01:01:26,099 individual out there how much taxes the 1435 01:01:29,300 --> 01:01:27,150 articles are can be quite difficult 1436 01:01:30,680 --> 01:01:29,310 unless you just pick yourself up and go 1437 01:01:32,690 --> 01:01:30,690 up to your library with your little 1438 01:01:35,240 --> 01:01:32,700 reference and own actually find the 1439 01:01:37,579 --> 01:01:35,250 article in the library itself so okay 1440 01:01:39,410 --> 01:01:37,589 yeah but the alternative thing you can 1441 01:01:41,270 --> 01:01:39,420 do to that Joe is you can twitter the 1442 01:01:43,520 --> 01:01:41,280 article you want and you'll probably get 1443 01:01:45,109 --> 01:01:43,530 it in about a minute and somebody across 1444 01:01:46,190 --> 01:01:45,119 the world who has access so this 1445 01:01:47,960 --> 01:01:46,200 happened to you today didn't know 1446 01:01:49,280 --> 01:01:47,970 yesterday no this happened to me well 1447 01:01:50,839 --> 01:01:49,290 actually did happen to me yesterday but 1448 01:01:52,790 --> 01:01:50,849 it happened to me a week and a half ago 1449 01:01:56,150 --> 01:01:52,800 as well when I was looking for the 1450 01:02:00,440 --> 01:01:56,160 Australian pharmacy journal article 1451 01:02:02,930 --> 01:02:00,450 about why homeopathy works and Scott 1452 01:02:05,420 --> 01:02:02,940 from Canada who writes the blog 1453 01:02:06,680 --> 01:02:05,430 science-based pharmacy wrote to me and 1454 01:02:08,690 --> 01:02:06,690 said do you have the article and my 1455 01:02:11,420 --> 01:02:08,700 university subscribes to that particular 1456 01:02:14,270 --> 01:02:11,430 journal but they about two months behind 1457 01:02:17,420 --> 01:02:14,280 in getting up to date online the journal 1458 01:02:19,579 --> 01:02:17,430 so I twitted it and somebody sent it to 1459 01:02:22,640 --> 01:02:19,589 me on email just really quick I mean 1460 01:02:24,140 --> 01:02:22,650 twitter is okay I mean I love to it well 1461 01:02:25,970 --> 01:02:24,150 a lot of people regarded as a waste of 1462 01:02:27,829 --> 01:02:25,980 time but for an information source if 1463 01:02:29,240 --> 01:02:27,839 you need help or information on 1464 01:02:31,730 --> 01:02:29,250 something Twitter's fantastic now your 1465 01:02:33,940 --> 01:02:31,740 twitter name is dr. rachy it is yeah 1466 01:02:35,740 --> 01:02:33,950 yeah what would her name is Diane 1467 01:02:38,170 --> 01:02:35,750 the school Diane underscore we've heard 1468 01:02:41,109 --> 01:02:38,180 your twitter name around segev ever 1469 01:02:43,240 --> 01:02:41,119 leave her answer yet and you are I'm 1470 01:02:45,550 --> 01:02:43,250 floppy at mule floppy-eared meal on 1471 01:02:46,930 --> 01:02:45,560 Twitter and I'm just skipping zones on 1472 01:02:48,310 --> 01:02:46,940 twitter is fantastic and I give a 1473 01:02:49,569 --> 01:02:48,320 shout-out Richard to the people that 1474 01:02:52,690 --> 01:02:49,579 helped me yesterday because I was 1475 01:02:55,420 --> 01:02:52,700 actually called up by journalists who is 1476 01:02:57,190 --> 01:02:55,430 looking to do a story on the BCA Simon 1477 01:02:59,650 --> 01:02:57,200 seen chiropractic which we'll get to it 1478 01:03:00,940 --> 01:02:59,660 we'll get to that a moment yet and the 1479 01:03:02,890 --> 01:03:00,950 journalist was after the original 1480 01:03:05,380 --> 01:03:02,900 guardian article that appeared in August 1481 01:03:08,589 --> 01:03:05,390 2008 which of course has now been pulled 1482 01:03:10,750 --> 01:03:08,599 and I've sent out a call on Twitter and 1483 01:03:12,130 --> 01:03:10,760 I think within about maybe a minute 1484 01:03:14,620 --> 01:03:12,140 which was at the time it took me to read 1485 01:03:18,190 --> 01:03:14,630 check and refresh I had about 12 people 1486 01:03:20,800 --> 01:03:18,200 that had sent me links and or PDFs and 1487 01:03:22,270 --> 01:03:20,810 or emails so thanks very much to all 1488 01:03:23,740 --> 01:03:22,280 those people that did that because that 1489 01:03:25,030 --> 01:03:23,750 means that we can get it out to the 1490 01:03:26,950 --> 01:03:25,040 Australian media which is fantastic 1491 01:03:28,990 --> 01:03:26,960 there's very interesting things 1492 01:03:31,780 --> 01:03:29,000 happening there and a couple of other 1493 01:03:35,410 --> 01:03:31,790 quick items those people who listen to 1494 01:03:37,660 --> 01:03:35,420 the 365 days of astronomy podcast the 1495 01:03:39,700 --> 01:03:37,670 one that George her ab sings the theme 1496 01:03:45,370 --> 01:03:39,710 to and you talk about on Australian 1497 01:03:48,550 --> 01:03:45,380 television subtly one again yeah our 1498 01:03:50,500 --> 01:03:48,560 reporter Kylie Sturgis in fact as we're 1499 01:03:51,700 --> 01:03:50,510 recording on the first of the think 1500 01:03:54,849 --> 01:03:51,710 tanks being recorded on the first of 1501 01:03:57,309 --> 01:03:54,859 July and her episode is out today so you 1502 01:03:59,319 --> 01:03:57,319 can listen to Kylie Sturgis on the 365 1503 01:04:01,990 --> 01:03:59,329 days of astronomy podcast which also 1504 01:04:03,970 --> 01:04:02,000 reminds me dr. Richie and myself are 1505 01:04:07,599 --> 01:04:03,980 trying to organize ourselves to get over 1506 01:04:10,599 --> 01:04:07,609 to Perth we are in early August August 1507 01:04:13,150 --> 01:04:10,609 there ought to speak at the secular week 1508 01:04:14,859 --> 01:04:13,160 over there at the University of Western 1509 01:04:16,690 --> 01:04:14,869 Australia most likely American 1510 01:04:18,460 --> 01:04:16,700 University of Westminster and I think 1511 01:04:20,319 --> 01:04:18,470 it's all going very well we're just 1512 01:04:22,329 --> 01:04:20,329 trying to get ourselves a little bit of 1513 01:04:24,040 --> 01:04:22,339 funding to cover a affairs I mean we're 1514 01:04:25,390 --> 01:04:24,050 not bit we're not going to get paid 1515 01:04:27,190 --> 01:04:25,400 obviously for talking or being there 1516 01:04:29,620 --> 01:04:27,200 anything like that but we just need to 1517 01:04:31,480 --> 01:04:29,630 get there so if anybody's in Perth and 1518 01:04:34,690 --> 01:04:31,490 would like to help us you can contact 1519 01:04:36,309 --> 01:04:34,700 Kylie via our website or you can happily 1520 01:04:38,650 --> 01:04:36,319 donate to the skeptics island that will 1521 01:04:40,450 --> 01:04:38,660 help us to yeah which would be great to 1522 01:04:41,740 --> 01:04:40,460 go and do some lectures in Perth we're 1523 01:04:42,690 --> 01:04:41,750 really looking forward to it really one 1524 01:04:44,250 --> 01:04:42,700 I hope that 1525 01:04:47,700 --> 01:04:44,260 we can do this after Melbourne which was 1526 01:04:50,310 --> 01:04:47,710 so accepting all right I'm going to 1527 01:04:52,170 --> 01:04:50,320 throw open the floodgates to you first 1528 01:04:55,500 --> 01:04:52,180 of all dr. eat you with your item of 1529 01:04:57,390 --> 01:04:55,510 news well yes I think some people may 1530 01:04:59,130 --> 01:04:57,400 have heard about this but we are very 1531 01:05:01,980 --> 01:04:59,140 very proud at the zone to announce that 1532 01:05:04,020 --> 01:05:01,990 we have managed to wrangle Simon Singh 1533 01:05:06,510 --> 01:05:04,030 to come to Sydney he's going to be 1534 01:05:08,760 --> 01:05:06,520 giving a lecture a public lecture on the 1535 01:05:13,500 --> 01:05:08,770 fifteenth of july at the seymour centre 1536 01:05:15,270 --> 01:05:13,510 in sydney and that is hosted by sydney 1537 01:05:17,160 --> 01:05:15,280 ideas but Simon has been brought to 1538 01:05:19,589 --> 01:05:17,170 australia by the Adelaide Festival of 1539 01:05:23,069 --> 01:05:19,599 ideas so if you're in Adelaide he's also 1540 01:05:26,220 --> 01:05:23,079 doing a seminar as he mentioned earlier 1541 01:05:27,270 --> 01:05:26,230 in his interview on the sunday the 12th 1542 01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:27,280 and he's doing a couple of panels 1543 01:05:31,260 --> 01:05:30,010 throughout the weekend as well but if 1544 01:05:33,750 --> 01:05:31,270 you are in Sydney and you want to come 1545 01:05:36,180 --> 01:05:33,760 to the lecture if you go to the website 1546 01:05:38,400 --> 01:05:36,190 just do a search for Sydney ideas and 1547 01:05:40,099 --> 01:05:38,410 Simon Singh and you can get a special 1548 01:05:43,079 --> 01:05:40,109 skeptics discount price for tickets 1549 01:05:45,599 --> 01:05:43,089 normal price is twenty dollars and you 1550 01:05:46,920 --> 01:05:45,609 can get them for ten dollars if you go 1551 01:05:49,859 --> 01:05:46,930 to the website and type in the 1552 01:05:52,559 --> 01:05:49,869 promotional code skeptics 09 is that 1553 01:05:56,339 --> 01:05:52,569 skeptics with me the K and an S on hand 1554 01:05:58,710 --> 01:05:56,349 yes get a predicts 09 with a k you can 1555 01:06:00,510 --> 01:05:58,720 get tickets for ten dollars yeah so 1556 01:06:02,339 --> 01:06:00,520 we're very excited that Simon's been 1557 01:06:04,859 --> 01:06:02,349 able to come to see me so that's great 1558 01:06:06,870 --> 01:06:04,869 yeah yeah and it was it was nice to her 1559 01:06:08,819 --> 01:06:06,880 it was a nice that you were able to 1560 01:06:09,839 --> 01:06:08,829 interview him that our listeners would 1561 01:06:11,490 --> 01:06:09,849 have heard earlier in the show and 1562 01:06:13,230 --> 01:06:11,500 actually what you didn't hear was I was 1563 01:06:14,339 --> 01:06:13,240 sitting on producing that in the 1564 01:06:17,700 --> 01:06:14,349 background that was a great interview 1565 01:06:19,020 --> 01:06:17,710 yeah it was good you yep so a lot of his 1566 01:06:20,640 --> 01:06:19,030 talk is going to be about trick or 1567 01:06:23,579 --> 01:06:20,650 treatment in fact him he's going to do a 1568 01:06:25,559 --> 01:06:23,589 lot of talk about alternative medicine 1569 01:06:27,329 --> 01:06:25,569 and the alternative medicine modalities 1570 01:06:29,130 --> 01:06:27,339 that he addressed in the book trick or 1571 01:06:30,750 --> 01:06:29,140 treat men with great book yeah and 1572 01:06:32,400 --> 01:06:30,760 tastic I mean all his books are great I 1573 01:06:34,109 --> 01:06:32,410 read the code book and I couldn't put it 1574 01:06:36,599 --> 01:06:34,119 down yeah seriously I was up all night 1575 01:06:38,730 --> 01:06:36,609 it was it's a brilliant way to learn all 1576 01:06:42,120 --> 01:06:38,740 about codes and ciphers he explains it 1577 01:06:44,579 --> 01:06:42,130 so well and need the Enigma machine from 1578 01:06:45,750 --> 01:06:44,589 the Second World War yep you read sew 1579 01:06:47,550 --> 01:06:45,760 ins book and you understand how the 1580 01:06:48,720 --> 01:06:47,560 bloody thing work it's it's he's a 1581 01:06:51,030 --> 01:06:48,730 really good writer well he's actually 1582 01:06:52,740 --> 01:06:51,040 getting some really big media interest 1583 01:06:54,150 --> 01:06:52,750 in Australia because of this too I 1584 01:06:56,339 --> 01:06:54,160 actually and I think it's going to 1585 01:06:58,799 --> 01:06:56,349 really put the whole bc 1586 01:07:00,420 --> 01:06:58,809 libel case in the spotlight in Australia 1587 01:07:02,279 --> 01:07:00,430 which yeah I think it's really good 1588 01:07:04,499 --> 01:07:02,289 because because we know all about it but 1589 01:07:05,849 --> 01:07:04,509 the job the general public don't and in 1590 01:07:08,099 --> 01:07:05,859 fact I was talking to a journalist a 1591 01:07:11,519 --> 01:07:08,109 couple of days ago about chiropractic in 1592 01:07:13,109 --> 01:07:11,529 general and he said to me well most 1593 01:07:15,170 --> 01:07:13,119 people in the ennis the Australian 1594 01:07:17,880 --> 01:07:15,180 public don't know it's quackery and 1595 01:07:19,019 --> 01:07:17,890 although not all of it is quackery the 1596 01:07:20,549 --> 01:07:19,029 bits where they say they can cure 1597 01:07:24,079 --> 01:07:20,559 deafness and colic and things like that 1598 01:07:28,140 --> 01:07:24,089 in children is potentially and allegedly 1599 01:07:31,650 --> 01:07:28,150 quackery notice what I said they're 1600 01:07:34,650 --> 01:07:31,660 little bit leged Lee some people have 1601 01:07:36,900 --> 01:07:34,660 said some people may have said there is 1602 01:07:40,440 --> 01:07:36,910 some suggestion that I think you can say 1603 01:07:42,299 --> 01:07:40,450 that there's no evidence for don t you 1604 01:07:43,829 --> 01:07:42,309 can say small enough evidence well I've 1605 01:07:46,140 --> 01:07:43,839 heard some people have allegedly said 1606 01:07:47,370 --> 01:07:46,150 that anyway go on but interestingly in 1607 01:07:48,690 --> 01:07:47,380 Australia and I don't know if it's the 1608 01:07:50,849 --> 01:07:48,700 same in other parts of the world you 1609 01:07:52,950 --> 01:07:50,859 know our private health funds cover 1610 01:07:54,900 --> 01:07:52,960 things like that they cover chiropractic 1611 01:07:57,509 --> 01:07:54,910 as well as acupuncture and some sort of 1612 01:08:00,420 --> 01:07:57,519 you know aroma therapies and things like 1613 01:08:02,940 --> 01:08:00,430 that I try to remove the coven wine 1614 01:08:05,609 --> 01:08:02,950 actually called my help fund and try to 1615 01:08:06,749 --> 01:08:05,619 remove cover for unproven modality I 1616 01:08:08,729 --> 01:08:06,759 basically said I do not I'm not 1617 01:08:10,910 --> 01:08:08,739 interested in paying for anything that's 1618 01:08:14,190 --> 01:08:10,920 unproven yeah I want that removed and 1619 01:08:15,599 --> 01:08:14,200 it's just not possible no an option well 1620 01:08:18,450 --> 01:08:15,609 that's interesting because just recently 1621 01:08:20,339 --> 01:08:18,460 a health provider private health 1622 01:08:22,289 --> 01:08:20,349 provider in this country has put up ads 1623 01:08:24,629 --> 01:08:22,299 I don't know if you've seen them Joe 1624 01:08:26,039 --> 01:08:24,639 they say you can modify your cover now 1625 01:08:27,649 --> 01:08:26,049 to choose whether you want less 1626 01:08:32,070 --> 01:08:27,659 alternative therapies and more 1627 01:08:33,479 --> 01:08:32,080 conventional so maybe the tides turning 1628 01:08:34,950 --> 01:08:33,489 a little bit maybe there have been more 1629 01:08:36,329 --> 01:08:34,960 people like yourself ringing up and 1630 01:08:38,459 --> 01:08:36,339 saying I'm not paying for this nonsense 1631 01:08:41,300 --> 01:08:38,469 I wondered whether I saw those ads 1632 01:08:44,760 --> 01:08:41,310 actually as well and I noted that they 1633 01:08:47,579 --> 01:08:44,770 specifically said the person he answered 1634 01:08:50,430 --> 01:08:47,589 I would like less alternative therapies 1635 01:08:52,890 --> 01:08:50,440 and more you know optical or something 1636 01:08:56,839 --> 01:08:52,900 yeah therapy or everything that adds the 1637 01:08:59,339 --> 01:08:56,849 lipton tea yes whether they're in the 1638 01:09:02,339 --> 01:08:59,349 alternative salon and she's green tea oh 1639 01:09:04,499 --> 01:09:02,349 this is gone yeah it's better than the 1640 01:09:05,420 --> 01:09:04,509 mud with stepping on my face we're back 1641 01:09:09,170 --> 01:09:05,430 yard 1642 01:09:12,230 --> 01:09:09,180 that's actually really funny hat lipton 1643 01:09:14,030 --> 01:09:12,240 green tea green tea for this is really 1644 01:09:15,590 --> 01:09:14,040 good for you just as well because our 1645 01:09:19,160 --> 01:09:15,600 treatments have no therapeutic benefit 1646 01:09:20,510 --> 01:09:19,170 whatsoever mmm of course I'm only here 1647 01:09:22,460 --> 01:09:20,520 so I can boast about it to the girls at 1648 01:09:23,870 --> 01:09:22,470 tennis so you'd be looking forward to 1649 01:09:26,120 --> 01:09:23,880 [\h__\h] out a hundred and fifty dollars 1650 01:09:28,610 --> 01:09:26,130 for me to slot model over you well it is 1651 01:09:33,140 --> 01:09:28,620 so fabulously exclusive exclusive 1652 01:09:35,390 --> 01:09:33,150 leaving their very own backyard now 1653 01:09:38,410 --> 01:09:35,400 that's refreshing and naturally rich in 1654 01:09:42,230 --> 01:09:38,420 antioxidants lipton tea can do that 1655 01:09:44,720 --> 01:09:42,240 that's your rat now Joe has an old brand 1656 01:09:45,860 --> 01:09:44,730 which is not really a rant well not 1657 01:09:47,630 --> 01:09:45,870 really around what have you got there 1658 01:09:51,380 --> 01:09:47,640 John but it's a Segway I believe it's a 1659 01:09:53,990 --> 01:09:51,390 Segway it's some really interesting 1660 01:09:56,450 --> 01:09:54,000 little tidbit that i came across today 1661 01:09:58,220 --> 01:09:56,460 while i was looking up bum only know if 1662 01:10:00,620 --> 01:09:58,230 i was actually looking up something to 1663 01:10:02,960 --> 01:10:00,630 do with them homeopathy and malaria 1664 01:10:06,440 --> 01:10:02,970 because i come across a case it was 1665 01:10:09,230 --> 01:10:06,450 actually a weird little connection about 1666 01:10:13,130 --> 01:10:09,240 a woman who had suffered some severe 1667 01:10:15,290 --> 01:10:13,140 consequences of not taking prophylactic 1668 01:10:21,220 --> 01:10:15,300 treatment for malaria prior to traveling 1669 01:10:23,300 --> 01:10:21,230 to it was toga toga toga in Africa yeah 1670 01:10:27,860 --> 01:10:23,310 sorry if I get the name that country 1671 01:10:29,360 --> 01:10:27,870 wrong but she suffered you know ended up 1672 01:10:31,990 --> 01:10:29,370 in ICU for months and months and months 1673 01:10:34,280 --> 01:10:32,000 with severe constant you know 1674 01:10:35,900 --> 01:10:34,290 consequences of untreated malaria 1675 01:10:37,430 --> 01:10:35,910 because I'm takin homeopathic remedies 1676 01:10:39,170 --> 01:10:37,440 in the cot in the process of looking 1677 01:10:42,740 --> 01:10:39,180 this all up I came across this really 1678 01:10:46,580 --> 01:10:42,750 interesting little piece from it's from 1679 01:10:51,170 --> 01:10:46,590 1851 and it's from I think the London 1680 01:10:55,040 --> 01:10:51,180 journal of medicine and if 1815 1881 1681 01:10:56,810 --> 01:10:55,050 audio yeah 1851 and if you'll bear with 1682 01:10:59,480 --> 01:10:56,820 me I'll read you a little bit of it 1683 01:11:06,470 --> 01:10:59,490 because it's quite astounding and it's 1684 01:11:10,390 --> 01:11:06,480 from a doctor by the name of Cormac just 1685 01:11:16,939 --> 01:11:14,479 yeah dr. Carmack and it's regarding 1686 01:11:18,590 --> 01:11:16,949 their relations with homeopathy to the 1687 01:11:22,700 --> 01:11:18,600 editor of the provincial medical and 1688 01:11:26,660 --> 01:11:22,710 surgical journal July 29 1851 and dr. 1689 01:11:28,760 --> 01:11:26,670 Cormac says to adopt resolutions setting 1690 01:11:31,640 --> 01:11:28,770 forth that the homeopathic dogma and the 1691 01:11:34,550 --> 01:11:31,650 doctrine of infinitesimal doses have no 1692 01:11:37,640 --> 01:11:34,560 truthful basis and are in fact men 1693 01:11:40,130 --> 01:11:37,650 nonsensical delusions maybe quite proper 1694 01:11:42,290 --> 01:11:40,140 in as much as some honest but weak and 1695 01:11:44,180 --> 01:11:42,300 undisciplined mines have been seduced by 1696 01:11:45,979 --> 01:11:44,190 the hardy assertions and false reasoning 1697 01:11:48,470 --> 01:11:45,989 by which these errors have been 1698 01:11:51,860 --> 01:11:48,480 supported but something more is required 1699 01:11:54,290 --> 01:11:51,870 if it be true as I think it is that this 1700 01:11:56,290 --> 01:11:54,300 fashionable quackery is so susceptible 1701 01:11:58,939 --> 01:11:56,300 of adaptation to the most contradictory 1702 01:12:01,280 --> 01:11:58,949 prejudices of shallow men and women as 1703 01:12:04,640 --> 01:12:01,290 to have become a sort of protein deceit 1704 01:12:12,979 --> 01:12:04,650 able to lure lucca by every imaginable 1705 01:12:17,560 --> 01:12:12,989 while from the sick and vasily oh LOL we 1706 01:12:21,050 --> 01:12:17,570 go from the secon decision for yourself 1707 01:12:23,660 --> 01:12:21,060 the worst part of homeopathy is in my 1708 01:12:26,479 --> 01:12:23,670 opinion the dishonesty of the majority 1709 01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:26,489 of those who live by it when patients 1710 01:12:31,610 --> 01:12:29,010 are once secured they are I think very 1711 01:12:34,130 --> 01:12:31,620 rarely treated in accordance with the 1712 01:12:36,020 --> 01:12:34,140 principles of Hanuman but are retained 1713 01:12:39,020 --> 01:12:36,030 by the combination of every current 1714 01:12:41,450 --> 01:12:39,030 medical novelty which made the time be 1715 01:12:45,229 --> 01:12:41,460 most in favor with the money throng of 1716 01:12:47,990 --> 01:12:45,239 quack fences attention please members 1717 01:12:49,670 --> 01:12:48,000 and get it is now 925 p.m. and in five 1718 01:12:51,650 --> 01:12:49,680 minutes time or persons over the age of 1719 01:12:55,520 --> 01:12:51,660 18 must be scored from the premises 1720 01:12:58,640 --> 01:12:55,530 thank you it's not a bus announced a 1721 01:13:00,979 --> 01:12:58,650 beaver bus announcement event continues 1722 01:13:03,590 --> 01:13:00,989 if homeopathy you were honestly 1723 01:13:05,720 --> 01:13:03,600 practiced it might be annika amicably 1724 01:13:07,760 --> 01:13:05,730 dealt with but as it is truly a 1725 01:13:10,729 --> 01:13:07,770 combination of any and every available 1726 01:13:12,830 --> 01:13:10,739 Charlotte Charlotte anak trick it cannot 1727 01:13:15,290 --> 01:13:12,840 be effectively opposed as a distinct 1728 01:13:17,300 --> 01:13:15,300 medical heresy and therefore all that 1729 01:13:17,810 --> 01:13:17,310 remains for us as men of science and 1730 01:13:20,660 --> 01:13:17,820 rendering 1731 01:13:22,450 --> 01:13:20,670 30 is to give notice that we exclude 1732 01:13:24,950 --> 01:13:22,460 from all professional intercourse 1733 01:13:27,169 --> 01:13:24,960 practitioners who are in any way engaged 1734 01:13:30,020 --> 01:13:27,179 in using or upholding assist in which we 1735 01:13:34,939 --> 01:13:30,030 think bears upon its very face fraud as 1736 01:13:37,760 --> 01:13:34,949 well as absurdity wow I find a terrible 1737 01:13:41,689 --> 01:13:37,770 person I find it terribly depressing I 1738 01:13:45,530 --> 01:13:41,699 150 years years of past enough enough 1739 01:13:48,439 --> 01:13:45,540 that Iran yep um I'm sure I've been 1740 01:13:50,959 --> 01:13:48,449 trying to look into good pharmacies mmm 1741 01:13:52,490 --> 01:13:50,969 for a while so whenever I go past the 1742 01:13:58,149 --> 01:13:52,500 pharmacy I go in and have a look and see 1743 01:14:00,290 --> 01:13:58,159 whether they sell any quite great any 1744 01:14:03,020 --> 01:14:00,300 better mentor definitely if they sell 1745 01:14:06,979 --> 01:14:03,030 anything that's with some medical claim 1746 01:14:08,569 --> 01:14:06,989 and I make a list of those who don't now 1747 01:14:12,080 --> 01:14:08,579 i only found one place that actually 1748 01:14:13,939 --> 01:14:12,090 doesn't sell anything that's not from a 1749 01:14:17,450 --> 01:14:13,949 suti call or you know just this stuff 1750 01:14:20,270 --> 01:14:17,460 like stuff like toothpaste I'm Selena 1751 01:14:22,879 --> 01:14:20,280 anything nobody no vitamins is stuff 1752 01:14:24,530 --> 01:14:22,889 like that only one place but a fun about 1753 01:14:26,750 --> 01:14:24,540 three or four places they do not sell 1754 01:14:30,229 --> 01:14:26,760 anything that has medical claims 1755 01:14:31,879 --> 01:14:30,239 attached to it without evidence and I 1756 01:14:33,589 --> 01:14:31,889 thought it might be a good idea to make 1757 01:14:38,479 --> 01:14:33,599 a list of public list of these places 1758 01:14:41,180 --> 01:14:38,489 and so listeners know of such places 1759 01:14:43,760 --> 01:14:41,190 maybe they could send us the details and 1760 01:14:45,169 --> 01:14:43,770 people and we'll publish it somewhere 1761 01:14:47,569 --> 01:14:45,179 we'll have to probably think about where 1762 01:14:50,270 --> 01:14:47,579 we do it in what form that's um probably 1763 01:14:52,069 --> 01:14:50,280 Twitter tonight Seif Twitter to if 1764 01:14:55,160 --> 01:14:52,079 listeners go to a contact page at the 1765 01:14:58,520 --> 01:14:55,170 skeptic zone TV you'll find Iran's email 1766 01:15:00,800 --> 01:14:58,530 oh yeah Iran at skeptic zone TV and they 1767 01:15:02,209 --> 01:15:00,810 can send you yeah yeah just that we 1768 01:15:05,300 --> 01:15:02,219 found anything and anyone in the world 1769 01:15:08,089 --> 01:15:05,310 as well because that is you know to just 1770 01:15:10,850 --> 01:15:08,099 give these people who do the right thing 1771 01:15:14,089 --> 01:15:10,860 a bit of a boost hmm what a good idea 1772 01:15:18,020 --> 01:15:14,099 what a good idea ok price later on well 1773 01:15:20,959 --> 01:15:18,030 um how exciting mamando in iran off to 1774 01:15:23,089 --> 01:15:20,969 town next week absolutely yes time nice 1775 01:15:27,049 --> 01:15:23,099 week this time next week be sitting in 1776 01:15:28,020 --> 01:15:27,059 my row something in a 380 Joe and I will 1777 01:15:32,799 --> 01:15:28,030 take over 1778 01:15:36,489 --> 01:15:32,809 don't mention the a318 a319 channa i buy 1779 01:15:39,549 --> 01:15:36,499 a 380 in Vegas the downside is it's a 1780 01:15:42,669 --> 01:15:39,559 Qantas one but where does it might get a 1781 01:15:45,069 --> 01:15:42,679 hole in them but we love points we love 1782 01:15:47,020 --> 01:15:45,079 all hello I'm just frequent flyer hello 1783 01:15:49,209 --> 01:15:47,030 know who have the best safety record in 1784 01:15:51,250 --> 01:15:49,219 the world I do quanis event I would fly 1785 01:15:52,779 --> 01:15:51,260 with Qantas anytime anywhere I think 1786 01:15:56,049 --> 01:15:52,789 they're the best airline and address 1787 01:15:57,399 --> 01:15:56,059 must I must say I flying with them is 1788 01:15:59,589 --> 01:15:57,409 not the problem but if you're trying to 1789 01:16:03,479 --> 01:15:59,599 get customer service that's enough 1790 01:16:05,680 --> 01:16:03,489 message that and they'll sort it out 1791 01:16:08,739 --> 01:16:05,690 happened to Adam Savage this week on 1792 01:16:11,669 --> 01:16:08,749 Twitter did you about that yeah he had a 1793 01:16:14,469 --> 01:16:11,679 bill from a particular talent at ELQ I 1794 01:16:16,449 --> 01:16:14,479 AT&T yes for how much less than a 1795 01:16:19,299 --> 01:16:16,459 hundred thousand dollars were there many 1796 01:16:20,680 --> 01:16:19,309 dollars and he tweeted that and said 1797 01:16:22,359 --> 01:16:20,690 this is ridiculous and everyone 1798 01:16:23,770 --> 01:16:22,369 retweeted it and they eventually called 1799 01:16:28,569 --> 01:16:23,780 him i said i don't worry about that and 1800 01:16:33,370 --> 01:16:28,579 cancelled the bill i got a huge gas bill 1801 01:16:35,739 --> 01:16:33,380 yeah yeah but i may be justified oh it's 1802 01:16:38,410 --> 01:16:35,749 oh I didn't realize that you had to be 1803 01:16:40,199 --> 01:16:38,420 done justice yeah generally speaking no 1804 01:16:44,410 --> 01:16:40,209 because I just I'm not happy with it 1805 01:16:46,479 --> 01:16:44,420 good enough it's a dark for a while I'm 1806 01:16:47,919 --> 01:16:46,489 going home to look at my twitter Amanda 1807 01:16:50,049 --> 01:16:47,929 thank you very much for being with us 1808 01:16:52,589 --> 01:16:50,059 tonight Iran Thank You jatha you guys 1809 01:17:30,009 --> 01:16:52,599 enjoy your trip we won't miss you Oh 1810 01:17:35,569 --> 01:17:32,689 thank you for joining us here today for 1811 01:17:37,489 --> 01:17:35,579 a skeptic zone and don't forget you can 1812 01:17:39,709 --> 01:17:37,499 contribute to the Perth tour of the 1813 01:17:42,139 --> 01:17:39,719 skeptic zone with Richard Saunders and 1814 01:17:44,989 --> 01:17:42,149 dr. Rachel Dunlop at the University of 1815 01:17:49,810 --> 01:17:44,999 Western Australia in early August check 1816 01:17:55,179 --> 01:17:49,820 out the site at wwc a pegs on TV and 1817 01:17:58,790 --> 01:17:55,189 also our blog at wwc aiptek zone 1818 01:18:00,949 --> 01:17:58,800 wordpress com we will feature more news 1819 01:18:02,929 --> 01:18:00,959 and details as it comes to hand but we 1820 01:18:05,209 --> 01:18:02,939 can really appreciate some donations 1821 01:18:08,149 --> 01:18:05,219 just by clicking on the paypal button or 1822 01:18:10,310 --> 01:18:08,159 contacting us on the side join us again 1823 01:18:12,919 --> 01:18:10,320 next week when we talk to Shane Killian 1824 01:18:15,409 --> 01:18:12,929 yes he of the bogo city videos and 1825 01:18:18,109 --> 01:18:15,419 Richard pays a visit to the Australian 1826 01:18:23,989 --> 01:18:18,119 Museum in Sydney thanks and stay 1827 01:18:28,250 --> 01:18:23,999 skeptical you've been listening to the 1828 01:18:31,520 --> 01:18:28,260 skeptic zone visit our website at wwc a 1829 01:18:35,500 --> 01:18:31,530 petting zoo TV for comments contacts and