The Desi Science Page

"By definition, Alternative Medicine has either not been proven to work, or been proven not to work. Do you know what they call Alternative medicine that's been proven to work? Medicine! "

- Tim Minchin

Here's a twitter thread about the so-called alternative medicine

https://twitter.com/desisciencepage/status/1275968042887819264?s=19

Tim Minchin's STORM

Tim Minchin's "Storm" is a nine-minute beat poem that satirizes alternative medicine, pseudoscience, and New Age beliefs. The poem is highly critical of those who reject scientific evidence in favor of unfounded and irrational claims.

In "Storm," Tim Minchin highlights the importance of skepticism, critical thinking, and the scientific method. He argues that we should be wary of those who claim to have knowledge or insight without any evidence to back it up, and that we should always question our own beliefs and assumptions. ''Storm" is a humorous but pointed critique of anti-scientific thinking, and it encourages viewers to embrace rationality and evidence-based thinking in their lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U

A Poorly Conceived Study Fails to Prove Ayurveda Works

Quackery is alive, well, and government-supported in India, as demonstrated by a terrible study of Ayurveda.

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-poorly-conceived-study-fails-to-prove-ayurveda-works/

Homeopathic Dilution explained by Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins clearly explains how homeopathic medicine marked with 30C are diluted. Clip taken from 'Enemies or reason' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN6U6cpGzss

'An open letter to Alternative Medicine'

By Timothy Caulfield

Timothy Caulfield is a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta and an active science communicator

https://healthydebate.ca/2021/03/topic/dear-alternative-medicine/

7 Common arguments for alternative medicine debunked

"Alternative medicine proponents argue for their viewpoints in similar ways to religious apologists. Their arguments are just as ill-informed and irrational as any religious fundamentalist’s. So, debunking them takes little more than basic critical thinking skills and a little understanding of how drugs are researched and regulated. Naturopathy is pseudoscience, essential oils don’t work, homeopathy is a scam, the supplement industry is bogus, and the terrible arguments their proponents present are definitely no help" - GM Skeptic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=levbjG4t5tc

'What Used to Be Fraud Is Now Alternative Medicine'

By Steven Novella, MD

https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/alternativemedicine/66316

How Sam Harris Beats Quacks Every Time (The Harris Method)

Sam knows how pseudoscience preaching quacks manipulate their audiences, evade criticism, and recruit followers. So, he rarely misses a beat in taking them down, whether the topic is quantum healing, alternative medicine, religion, or mysticism.- GM Skeptic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ3ttXGVXI

The Cargo Cult Science of Creationism and Alternative Medicine

How Quacks Imitate Science | By GM Skeptic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymujUx5z_Xk

Understanding the Drug Discovery Process

It’s estimated that only around 1 in 5,000 identified drug candidates eventually reaches approval and widespread use.

https://www.compoundchem.com/2016/01/16/drug-discovery/

Distinguishing Science and Pseudoscience

Full article: https://quackwatch.org/related/pseudo/

7 Warning Signs of Bogus Science

Full article: https://quackwatch.org/related/signs/

Common Questions about Science and “Alternative” Health Methods

Full article: https://quackwatch.org/related/scivsalt/

The Skeptic’s Guide to Quack-Speak

Although there is no perfect way to distinguish science from pseudoscience, there are some warning signs that make it much more probable that what you are dealing with is pseudoscience

Full article: https://debunkingdenialism.com/2016/09/19/the-skeptics-guide-to-quack-speak/

It’s just water: how homeopathy debunks itself

https://thelogicofscience.com/2015/08/10/its-just-water-how-homeopathy-debunks-itself/

Homeopathy Explained – Gentle Healing or Reckless Fraud?

This is a brilliant overview by Kurzgesagt (by the way, if you haven't subscribed to this YouTube channels yet, please do straight away!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HslUzw35mc

Five Reasons Homeopathy Is Worse Than Placebo

Full article: https://debunkingdenialism.com/2018/04/23/five-reasons-homeopathy-worse-placebo/

Alternative medicine: The allure and harm of Big Placebo

By Thinking Is Power / Melanie Trecek-King

https://thinkingispower.com/alternative-medicine-the-allure-and-harm-of-big-placebo/

Dr. Harriet Hall's (@HHSkepDoc) free 10 part lecture series on so-called Complementary and Alternative Medicine

https://www.skepdoc.info/multimedia/videos-2/

How to Market Your Alternative Medicine Scam | Pseudoscience Buzzwords

By ScienceIsDope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJp12kIyhGY

Why Homeopathy is utter nonsense!

A live experiment to disprove the dilution principle of this SCAM!

Preparation of Harpicum Toiletalis 30C (by Anand - Pale Blue Thoughts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFQ3vcMeW6g

Dispelling the myths of homeopathy | @ShantanuWai | @TEDxPICT | @TEDx

Dr Shantanu Abhayankar is a homeopath-turned-modern-medicine-doctor specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology. Dr Abhayankar is also a brilliant science communicator who's vocal about alternative medicine scams including homeopathy. Dr Abhayankar has also translated some of the works of Richard Dawkins into Marathi.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKcRklWkcA

How to sell pseudoscience in 9 easy steps

By Thinking Is Power

The best way to protect yourself against the hucksters and their snake oil is to learn the techniques they use to sell it. So let’s have a bit of fun and pretend to be grifters selling bunk! http://thinkingispower.com/how-to-sell-pseudoscience-in-9-easy-steps/