Sat, 21 August 2010
0:00:00 Comments[5]
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- Hi Chris,
You are correct. I would have had no problem with them demonstrating how science can be used to test any modality (including acupuncture). I felt they were presenting acupuncture as if it was a modality that was supported by the science - which it is not. These concerns were borne out by the contact I had with the Festival and the way the person who contacted me presented research which has been shown to be flawed as evidence of efficacy beyond placebo. - @Lucas, I think the point about Phil Plait was that, because he is an expert in astronomy, he feels he is also an expert in the fallacies of astrology.
@Jo Benhamu, good on you for contacting the ppl at the Ultimo Science Festival about their acupuncture tours. It seemed to me (initially) you were missing the point a bit - I thought you were saying that a science festival was no place to highlight the application of science to acupuncture. I personally see no problem with conducting research into acupuncture - it is something amenable to the scientific method after all. Of course I think it is a poor allocation of funds that would otherwise be much spent better elsewhere, but it is something that can be studied with science.
The problem (now that I've looked at the web site at
http://www.ultimosciencefestival.com/usf10/?cat=9
) is that they are claiming that their science is showing positive benefits! "There’s more to acupuncture than meets the eye" they claim. So they are either being dishonest or are self-deluded, or just poor scientists. (Or they've come up with some wonderful new breakthrough in acupuncture research that will explain not only that acupuncture actually works reliably, but also why all the previous studies did not :) ). For these reasons I agree, it is not appropriate for their tours to be conducted as part of a festival highlighting science.
Thank you for the podcast, and please keep up the excellent work!
Cheers,
Chris
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