Healthy skepticism
"Scientists have proved/discovered that ..." – with such words, a report about a genuine discovery, a stupid joke, and an advertisement for a product that you could do without perfectly can begin. A group of British scientists with academic pedantry undertook to prove that the words "scientists have proved" are often completely groundless. In the USA and England, it is possible to sell and advertise products without disclosing the underlying know-how. But the statements must still correspond to the truth and not contradict the laws of nature.
An informal association called Sense About Science (in this case, it can be translated as Common Scientific Sense) is an independent charitable society whose activity is to respond "to the misinterpretation of science and scientific data on such topics of public interest as, for example, plastic bottles, fluoride or a triple measles vaccine"rubella mumps, as well as debates about genetic modification, stem cell research, and radiation."
The Sense About Science Society, which emerged in 2002, now unites about 2,000 British scientists and enjoys the support of the Royal Society, an analogue of our Academy of Sciences. In one of the recent issues of the online publication The Scientist, it was told about the next Sense About Science campaign, which did not require much effort from the participants, only the application of professional knowledge for the benefit of fellow citizens and in the name of the purity of science. Activists of Sense About Science called 11 companies offering medical products with a description of their advantages in terms that may seem strictly scientific to the layman. As expected, there was no science behind any of them.
Transcripts of conversations published in a separate book, for the edification of posterity
The devil contacted the baby: detailsThe first on the list of voluntary experts was a manufacturer of lamps made of rock salt, which have a beneficial effect on the human body due to the ions that are released when heated.
Physicist Jennifer Large asked a representative of the company how they emit their "healing" ions? "This happens when the light bulb is heated," was the answer. "Yes, but I'm doing a bit of science now, and as far as I know, the chemical bonds by which ions are held in the salt molecule are quite strong. I'm interested in whether the energy of an ordinary light bulb is enough to break them?"– Large continued to inquire. "Yes, they actually heat up great, scientists have proved that." "And in more detail?" – Jennifer persisted. "There are many internet sites that will tell you about salt lamps." "Is there anything more specific than a website?" And here was an unambiguous and truthful answer – "no"!
Biologist Harriet Ball (Harriet Ball) talked with a nutritionist of a reputable manufacturer of yogurt enriched with vitamins. It was advertised, especially focusing on the Activ8 complex contained in it – eight B vitamins, which, according to the text of the commercial, optimize energy metabolism. The company's specialist explained that Activ8 "extracts the optimal amount of nutrients from what you have eaten and directs them exactly where you need them." "Do people need it, who already eat in a balanced way, and already get these very vitamins in the right amount?" "Well, if they already get enough vitamins from food, yogurt optimizes it..." "What does it mean – optimizes?" "Well, it means – it will highlight the main thing from your food using vitamins and minerals that are in your healthy food." "If a person is fed more vitamins than he needs, they will at best simply be eliminated from the body," Ball notes. "Oh, well, then they will simply stand out and do no harm."
In the scientific world, it is customary to formalize the results of research and discoveries in the form of reports and articles, to report them at conferences – in short, at least to tell your colleagues everything as it is, what was done and on what basis certain conclusions were made. Harriet decided to leave the employee of the company alone and asked if it was possible to get acquainted with the results of clinical trials confirming the effectiveness of the vitamin complex Activ8. It turned out that they do not exist.
Another physicist from Sense About Science, Eric de Silva, phoned the manufacturers of the Q-Link medallion. It is supposed to be worn around the neck, and then it will protect against electromagnetic radiation, cure hangovers and skin irritations, improve golf results and increase road safety. A customer service representative tried to explain how it works: "Well, you have an energy field because your body produces electrical impulses. This is called the biofield, the energy field around your body." "Are you talking about nerve impulses?" de Silva asked cautiously. "Oh, yes, these!" "And this item, the medallion... does he somehow strengthen or weaken them?" – "Strengthens"... The scientist spent another ten minutes trying to get at least a clear answer, hoping that by the words "electromagnetic vibrations" his interlocutor means the same thing as his fellow physicists. In vain.
And why?Idiots have always been and will be, five hundred years ago they gave the last for toad eye powder, now they pay for dietary supplements, people pay not for a thing, but for the hope of it – you can't argue with that.
To switch the channel, read the label on a jar of yogurt and choose the one that contains the components you understand and costs as much as a jar of yogurt should cost, at best – to have an explanatory conversation with an old neighbor who came to borrow a few thousand for the "necessary medicine" - everyone can do it. But, according to the management of the Sense About Science project, since you are a scientist and understand how it really works or doesn't work, it's worth doing something more than curl your lips and say how such nonsense infuriates you. British scientists are urged not to be lazy and to let manufacturers understand that any statement may require proof.
And British scientists have proved to us that it is worth listening to our doubts, which are based on common sense. It won't get any worse.
Source: Woman's Day