The more I learn about these con-artist quacks the more I hate them!

Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science – Martin Gardner (1957)

            Martin Gardner is a name I recognized referenced in many of the books I read about pseudo-science, quackery, and delusions.  This book, Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science, was the first work of the past 100 years that sought to include all the major nonsensical, seemingly scientific claims that many people at the time believed in.  Sadly, there are still many slightly-educated fools that believe these things up to today.

            The book is divided into chapters, each dealing with a specific subset of quackery.  One of the first topics explored are the claims that the Earth is not a spheroid, but flat.  Another of these pseudo-scientific fads which still has followers, and which had many more in the past, is the claim that the Earth is hollow, and that mysterious creatures and entities reside there.  Mr. Gardner does a great job describing the claims put forth and explaining just what the many logical and intellectual fallacies the proponents of this nonsense fall into, fooling themselves into certitude.

            There are chapters on the “flying saucer” nonsense, and chapters on the many medical quackeries that fleeced so much money from so many sick and suffering people between 1880-1950.  One of the ways in which these beliefs and ideas are kept alive is by removing some of the older verbiage and replacing it with seemingly well-researched scientific-esque language.  This is what allowed the full on lie that is chiropractic “medicine” to be practiced in the USA to this day.  Originally, the quack that invented the chiropractic claimed that all the body’s diseases and ailments were caused by “sublimations” of the spinal vertebrae, and that by manipulating them and applying heat or massage treatments, all manner of disease could be cured.  Of course, the wacko that created this flim-flam denied the existence of germs, and never accepted the germ-theory of disease.  These days the chiropractors in the USA hide their quackery under the words of physical therapy, and rehabilitation.  It is all bullshit, and chiropractic “care” is as effective as a sit in a hot tub.  Temporary “relief,” followed by renewed pain and symptoms.  The crooks in chiropractic care have survived to this day, milking the American health insurance cartels for millions of dollars in worthless care.

"Wait outside by the slender tree.  Your treatment will soon begin."

            Other parts of the book discuss the lies of homeopathy, acupuncture, phrenology, and more.  It may seem sad that people fall for this stuff, but the real sadness lies in the hearts and minds of the assholes who sell the sick, infirm, and suffering quackery as medicine.  Those bastards are just as bad as the asshole that created Scientology once his science fiction books did not sell (because they sucked).  It seems if you couch any crazy idea in seemingly scientific wording, unsuspecting people will eat it up.  That is why it is important for everyone everywhere to have at least a working knowledge of science and the scientific method, and of logic and reasoning.  A desperate person will turn to anyone offering answers.  The assholes that prey on these desperate people deserve to suffer every possible pain imaginable.  This book, or this one by James Randi (http://rxttbooks.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-masterful-reference-for-those-of-us.html ), or this one by Harry Houdini (http://rxttbooks.blogspot.com/2014/09/houdini-was-trying-to-school-us-about.html ) , should be required reading in all public schools.  It would create a better educated citizenry, but then again, our political leaders may not want that!

(This book is available in .pdf format here: http://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Martin-Gardner-Fads-and-Fallacies-in-the-Name-of-Science.pdf )

The evil that men do is hard to explain sometimes

Invisible Eagle: The Hidden History of Nazi Occultism – Alan Baker (2000)

            It is very difficult for normal humans to understand what can drive a group of people to commit unspeakable atrocities and horrors against other humans.  When such twisted and malicious ideas become national governmental policy?  Even worse.  The National Socialist government of Germany engaged in such atrociously clinical and rigorous genocide and mass murder that even today, 60-plus years later, people still seek the reasons behind such actions.  How could this happen?  How could a country that has always been at the forefront of rational science and philosophy get taken over by a megalomaniac whose inner circle drove all of Germany to some of the most insane acts ever committed?  It is a question that people will grapple with for a long time.  Many people, however, are convinced that the pure evil on Nazi ideology and actions had to come from something more sinister than the human mind.  This book explores the many claims laid out by people over the past decades seeking to explain this evil.

            One of the most common claims about Nazi Germany is that from the top down, it was a fully satanic endeavor.  Others claim that the Nazis were involved with deeply Occult matters that fueled their insanity.     Still others assert that Hitler did not kill himself, and instead escaped to a secret base in Antarctica where the Nazis had discovered some mystical secret.  Each of these things, while implausible, seems to help those who claim them as real to rationalize away the evil perpetrated by Hitler and his assholes.  It is too scary to imagine that a roomful of supposedly well-educated governmental leaders could just come up with the horrors of the Holocaust while sipping tea and enjoying some classical music. 

Aleister Crowley could come up with those horrors while chillin' at the Starbucks!

            It is indeed true that certain members of Hitler’s inner circle, especially Heinrich Himmler, were deeply obsessed with certain occult and esoteric ideas such as Theosophy, the Ice World Theory, and other crack pot ideas that were all the rage in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  These bastards used these borrowed ideas to shore up their claims of an ancient Aryan master race that was diluted and “mongrelized” by interbreeding with the “lesser” races of the Earth.  They also shared a deep anti-Semitism which condensed itself into the most horrific attempted genocide of recent times.  Hitler himself did not believe in these occult things, but he was perfectly willing to use their ideas in shaping his propaganda.  He even mentioned how pathetic Himmler was in his devout beliefs in the more outlandish of these pseudo-theological ideas.  No matter, for he knew exactly how to utilize them to his own ends. 

            This book does a great job of explaining exactly what these influences were, and how they were put into action by the Nazi Party.  It also shows the ease with which an evil idea is rationalized by those who think themselves to be better than others.  It is a slippery slope that leads from racist ideas to the notion that the “lesser” races need to be wiped out for the good of the “Master” race.  It is also easy to forget that the Nazis not only sought to exterminate the Jewish people, but to cull the homosexuals, the infirm, the mentally and physically disabled, the “mixed races,” etc., not to mention any intellectuals that did not agree with the Nazis and any person opposed to their rule.  Their evil came straight from their own hearts, and to lay blame for it on the Occult or on Satan or on some sort of vague idea is a disservice to those that suffered and died under these fucking assholes.  It also keeps us from seeing this as it happens in our own day today.  Atrocities are caused by humans, against humans.  When such racist and evil ideology is used as a governmental platform, it strikes fear in me.  It is also important to note that many high ranking and powerful members of the UK and the USA wholeheartedly supported the Nazi party with money and arms and fully agreed with their racist bullshit. We have not yet rid ourselves of the evil of racism, and we may never do so.  However, we must remain ever vigilant against racist ideas being implemented as official state policy.  That is when a small evil turns into a big EVIL.

(This book can be downloaded in .pdf format here: http://www.germanophobia.net/books/IE.pdf )

Blind belief in anything spells trouble

A Dictionary of Common Fallacies – Philip Ward (1977)

Anyone that knows me knows that there is nothing I love more that reference books.  I love to read them cover to cover, and have loved it ever since I would sit in the school library at lunchtime reading the dictionary.  I think the new term for folks like me is “Power Nerd.”  I can dig it.

            Of course, some reference books are better than others, and some cover topics I could give half a fuck about, but since I have been on a related kick lately this book was appealing to me.  Quite a lot of what humans think of as common knowledge of history or science is actually collective ignorance hiding behind what sounds like truth.  Sometimes a fallacy can be pointed out, explored, and explained and people will continue to believe it, passing it around like gospel truth.  This is because people are generally lazy ass bastards who only spout off the first thing they heard without any critical analysis of the subject at hand.

            Take for example the stories people tell of poisoned candy at Halloween.  Every year, people scared the shit out of parents by declaring that someone has poisoned Halloween candy, has inserted razor blades into candy apples, or has infected the candy with some sort of disease.  People fear this, and they keep their kids from trick-or-treating because of it.  Looking back at the record, both historical and in old newspapers, there are only two cases of candy poisoning.  Both cases were from immediate relatives of the children involved, uncles, parents, etc., who poisoned candy given specifically to their relatives.  There has never been a single case of a random stranger poisoning children who trick-or-treat at their home.  Yet, every single year, the scare tactics begin on the newscasts and the newspapers, scaring the shit out of concerned parents.  The ones who suffer are the kids who just want to dress up in costume, have fun, and get free candy.  What a load of shit.

"Hey, kid.  You want some candy?"

 

            Common acceptance of fallacies affects us all, even those who should know better, such as the people running our countries’ governments and making decisions which affect the rest of us.  While this is not the most readable book, and some of it is outdated, it would still be cool if more people read it or at least kept it in their offices for reference when bullshit lobbyists come begging for special favors.