[lbo-talk] putting quackery to the test

ravi gadfly at exitleft.org
Tue Aug 8 09:53:31 PDT 2006


At around 8/8/06 12:23 pm, info at pulpculture.org wrote:
> At 12:09 PM 8/8/2006, Carrol Cox wrote:
>> I was no fonder of the so-called "hippie culture" than anyone on this
>> list, but the use of "hippie" in this thread is probably more misleading
>> than is the sloppy use of "post-modern" by many writers. The sort of
>> medicine being (for the most part rightly) sneered at is no more
>> connected with hippies than it is with Iowa farmers or detroit auto
>> workers.
>
> ravi actually used the term and it was used to sneer at those of who he
> (wrongly) believes sneer at hippie medicine on this list and elsewhere.
>
> you see? it wasn't originally used to actually sneer at hippies, but to
> sneer at the straw opponent of homeopathic medicine.
>
> The response, on my part, was to mock ravi's movking of me, Doug, and
> others because he was engaged in logical fallacy -- arguing with a straw
> opponent that didn't even exist in the article to which he replied.
>

Huh?! I am not "mocking" you or Doug! In fact the bulk of my posts were made before you even entered the discussion! And I did not introduce the word "hippie" into the discussion:

My original post: http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20060807/043534.html No mention of 'hippie' as far as I can tell.

Doug's use of the word 'hippie': http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20060807/043535.html
>
> But that's what the article reported - a comparison of hippie
> arthritis treatments to orthodox ones (and a placebo).
>

My response to the above from Doug: http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20060807/043538.html
> What you are talking about above is a result that may demonstrate that
> professional-racket medicine is more successful than hippie-medicine and
> placebos. Well, if so, why not? Billions are spent on
> professional-racket medicine, not to forget (as I mentioned), that
> professional-racket medicine borrows at will (and to enormous profit)
> from hippie-medicine (tribal remedies, ayurveda, etc). One would expect
> it to show better results.

Even in my repeating a term offered by Doug, I fail to see where I am "mocking" anyone!

Talk about strawmen!

--ravi

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