Science & Society

Even a website by researchers who support the use of Ivermectin say you need to get vaccinated. So why do people like Joe Rogan and other podcaster/influencers lean into anti vaccine anti science and counterfactual rhetoric? Vaccines should not be mandated for those who just don’t want them but the rest of us should not have to accept anti-scientific reasons. If someone does not want to be vaccinated fine no one should be forced. Adjust by accepting online schooling, remote work, eating carry out instead of dine in, etc. Have the integrity to admit it’s because you just don’t want it, no…

A survey of over 1,000 mothers who were part of the Understanding Parental Estrangement Survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center in 2019 and estranged from their adult children revealed a disconnect between what the kids might say is the reason and parents believe.  While adult children often explain their estrangements as stemming from emotional abuse, conflicting expectations about roles, and personality clashes, nearly 80 percent of the mothers in the survey believed that an ex-husband or their son- or daughter-in-law had turned their children against them. Very…

Mass formation psychosis does not exist as a term used in psychology, or social psychology according to two professionally done fact checks by Reuters and the Associated Press. A prediction for 2022 is that Mass Formation Psychosis being total or almost total nonsense will not stop people from using the term to attack any group they dislike.  This will be and currently is used on the anti-vaccine right who have equated their overall politics with a philosophy that does not accept the process of science.  Rooted in miseducation regarding that process from hypothesis to…

If you read social media, you might believe we're teetering on the brink of societal collapse due to COVID-19 but one metric tells the real health story; ICU beds. Deaths have been cut almost in half from this time last year while ICU occupancy is down 40 percent. If you're a positive person, you'll note that this is a win and big thanks go to the health care system that critics demand be replaced by something like VA hospitals, which very few veterans agree is good, or Medicare, which very few old people think is good. You'll also note that vaccines work, and those are the product of Big…

Though efforts to change mascots and team names have had some success, like the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians, more than 2,000 mascots referencing Indigenous terms and images are estimated to exist in the U.S. today, from high school to pro sports, including the Atlanta Braves, with their “tomahawk chop” chant that gained renewed attention during the 2021 World Series. Yet when efforts to change the name were driven by political activism, it actually increases prejudice against Native Americans, according to new work which gaged people’s attitudes relative to the removal of two…

Breaking Grichka Bogdanoff one of two brothers who attained a PhDs in questionable circumstances and went on to popularize their views has died of COVID 19.  He was not vaccinated against Covid 19 according to a statement released by his agent.  Grichka Bogdanoff, l’un des jumeaux stars des années 1980, est mort du Covid-19 https://t.co/h0Q6P0vqrv — DocfromMars (@docfromMars) December 28, 2021 The two brothers attained the PhD in the European system by publishing papers containing their theories regarding what may have occurred at or near the big bang in reputable journals. …

It's that time of the year, a few days until Christmas and you bought everything on that Amazon wishlist but it doesn't feel all that creative. If you are like me, masks everywhere can be a bit of a downer, so you want things you can order. These are not what I like to call "aspirational" gifts, the kinds of things parents want their children to want in order to feel like better parents. They are all good, I have watched, read, or used them all this year, so they aren't yet another 'how to make a piece of paper turn using flame' experiment science, they are actually enjoyable science. And…

There was a time when politicians worried about a "slippery slope" when it came to political actions. While dirty politics by individuals was always assumed - President Lyndon Johnson set the modern standard for that - overt actions by parties were more thoughtful. The reason was simple; once there was a precedent, the other party could do the same thing when they got into power. That all changed this century. President Obama reneging on his pledge to honor campaign finance reform spending caps allowed him to outspend his opponent, Senator John McCain, by double in 2008.  And public…

Big words are scary and express ideas that are not easily understood and are not easy to be logical about. Apparently, the word neurodivergent is woke now. While the woke want to call pedophiles “minor attracted people” and conservatives are outraged by this (for all the wrong reasons). Of course, simple mathematical ideas that one would learn beyond grade school are also woke and therefore bad. The left has had similar issues with the technical names of chemical compounds such as (DiHydrogen Monoxide) and the psychological idea of Autogynephilia.  That last one I don't 100% buy myself…

Dr. Mehmet Oz became famous thanks to a celebrity worship culture that progressives embraced in their desire to believe in alternatives to medicine. Just a few years after President Clinton trashed nuclear science in America, removed supplements from any real FDA oversight, and showed his love for alternatives to vaccines by throwing money that could have gone to science to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine so they could continue to find out placebos can't replace medicine, Oprah Winfrey turned Dr. Oz into a national sensation. In 2003, he had everything coastal…