Re: [Goanet] Feedback needed from Goan Medical doctors
Here is the article to which Stephen was referring: http://www.epaperoheraldo.in/epaperpdf/2212014/2212014-md-hr-17.pdf Crystal healing is just another example of many forms of quackery that are practiced in the world today. Quackery is almost as big a business today as modern medicine. Indeed, it is to the practice of modern medicine (when ethically conducted) what black market and fraud are to legitimate business. The trouble however is that a fraudster or an unethical medical doctor can be prosecuted under well-defined laws. But this is not the case with quacks who peddle nonsense like crystal healing. They are not only free to fool and fleece the public, but as in the present case, they get free publicity through the popular media, the members of which are more often than not scientifically illiterate, or worse, anti-science in their ideological stance. There is a stereotypic modus operandi followed by all quacks, which is easy to recognize. They prey upon the gullibility of the lay public, especially those who are desperately looking for any respite from sickness and pain. They say that they are performing miracles, believing that they are privileged individuals who are blessed with the rare heavenly gift of healing. After merely attending some New Age workshop or reading a Self-Help book they claim that literally overnight they have become great healers. They dispense selectively remembered anecdotes that feed their confirmation bias while conveniently forgetting those that crap on it. Without retaining any understanding of basic high school physics, chemistry and biology, nor the slightest clue about the difficult concepts of modern science they use scientific sounding terms such as energy, vibrations, frequency, resonance, electromagnetic waves, electric charge, cells, etc. One surefire weapon in their arsenal is an appeal to religious feelings and to the popular misguided reverence towards ancient wisdom. Prescientific faith-based or superstitious beliefs, such as karma, chakra, chi, soul, spirit, and so on, figure prominently in their self-promotional shtick. Having absolutely no idea of what it entails, they tell others that they have conducted extensive research into whatever quack remedy that they are peddling at any given moment. They also pose as universal experts on all types of quack remedies. If you read the Herald interview in question you will detect all the above signs of a quack’s sales pitch. The truth is crystals and stones have no physical effect on the human body. The use of scientific terms such as frequencies, vibrations, etc. is totally nonsensical in the context of disease and treatment. As far as science is concerned, whether it is basic physics and biology, or medicine, itself, the verbiage in the answers to the reporter’s questions may as well have been muttered by an inebriated person in a drunken stupor. No scientific theory or experiment supports any of the assertions made in the interview. It is really unfortunate that newspapers deceive their readers in this manner. Here is a nice article by a science writer in a recent issue of Skeptical Inquirer exposing the absurdity of crystal “healing”: http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/diamonds_a_doctors_best_friend/ Here is a quote that sums it all up: QUOTE But instead of having the answer to all our maladies stuck in stone beneath our feet, crystals, while something to look at and study, have no biological or physical mechanisms through which they could affect human health. Perhaps a glittering diamond would make you happy, and therefore alleviate stress or give you calm, but it certainly does not tap into a yet undiscovered “human frequency” like someone searching for a radio station. Nothing about the natural world suggests that a certain arrangement of a mineral’s atoms will do anything for the human body other than please the eye. Can we reduce crystal healing to the absurd? UNQUOTE Cheers, Santosh > On Friday, January 24, 2014 7:13 PM, Santosh Helekar > wrote: > > Can you please send me the article to which you are referring? Perhaps, I > > will > be able to offer the feedback that you seek. I share your concern about > quackery > being spread through the internet and by the popular press. > > Cheers, > > Santosh > > > > >> On Friday, January 24, 2014 1:46 AM, Stephen Dias > wrote: >> > Ref; Article on Herald Café appeared on dated 22th January 2014 titled >> HEALING WITH CRYSTALS >> >> In an interview with Patricia Ann Alvares with Crystal Haler Tarminder >> Manchanda she highlights the curative value of crystals while >> debunking myths >> >> I, Dr Joe D’Sousa ex-professor of Microbiology at Goa University and >> reader of Herald found this article weird and query which would take >> people for a ride and could do more harm than good. I would like the >> reaction from our Medical Practitioners and physicians in Goa in the >>
Re: [Goanet] Feedback needed from Goan Medical doctors
I just want to let you know that reading a newspaper article or any crap written by somebody on the internet is not research. Falcao does not know this because he is not a scientist or academic, and is not familiar with real research of any kind. Research, especially original scientific research is published in peer-reviewed journals. These journals are today accessible through the internet. They are usually password protected, and therefore can only be accessed by people who have a subscription to them, or who are members of a university library because of their academic affiliation. In my case, I have access through both means because I am a professional medical neuroscientist affiliated with a medical research institute and a university medical school. Regarding the quack article on Herald, I was hoping that somebody could provide me with a direct link to it or a scanned copy of it. This is because a simple Google search did not pull it up. A specialized search was also not successful because Herald articles are not archived in any academic databases. Stephen provided a link to the Herald epaper home page, which I was aware of. But I was not sure whether the Herald Cafe page was included in the epaper. However, after going through one of the epaper issues page by page I was able to see that piece of crap. I will comment on it in my next post to Goanet. Cheers, Santosh Hide message history On Saturday, January 25, 2014 4:23 AM, Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão wrote: > > >Santosh Helekar chimbelcho at yahoo.com on Fri Jan 24 17:13:35 PST 2014 wrote: >Can you please send me the article to which you are referring? Perhaps, I will be able to offer the feedback that you seek. I share your concern about quackery being spread through the internet and by the popular press. >Cheers, >Santosh > >COMMENT: >I thought Mr. Helekar was good at research on the internet? >Maybe I was wrong. >Stephen has mentioned the media, the date, and the heading under which the article was published. I myself read it on the net after Stephen’s post. >Sometimes it does help to feign ignorance. It does make a complainant repeat what is obvious. > > >Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão. > >
Re: [Goanet] Feedback needed from Goan Medical doctors
Try your luck Santosh Stephen On 25 January 2014 15:53, Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão wrote: > > Santosh Helekar chimbelcho at yahoo.com on Fri Jan 24 17:13:35 PST 2014 > wrote: > > Can you please send me the article to which you are referring? Perhaps, I > will be able to offer the feedback that you seek. I share your concern about > quackery being spread through the internet and by the popular press. > > Cheers, > > Santosh > > > > COMMENT: > > I thought Mr. Helekar was good at research on the internet? > > Maybe I was wrong. > > Stephen has mentioned the media, the date, and the heading under which the > article was published. I myself read it on the net after Stephen’s post. > > Sometimes it does help to feign ignorance. It does make a complainant repeat > what is obvious. > > > > Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão.
[Goanet] Feedback needed from Goan Medical doctors
Santosh Helekar chimbelcho at yahoo.com on Fri Jan 24 17:13:35 PST 2014 wrote: Can you please send me the article to which you are referring? Perhaps, I will be able to offer the feedback that you seek. I share your concern about quackery being spread through the internet and by the popular press. Cheers, Santosh COMMENT: I thought Mr. Helekar was good at research on the internet? Maybe I was wrong. Stephen has mentioned the media, the date, and the heading under which the article was published. I myself read it on the net after Stephen’s post. Sometimes it does help to feign ignorance. It does make a complainant repeat what is obvious. Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão.
Re: [Goanet] Feedback needed from Goan Medical doctors
Can you please send me the article to which you are referring? Perhaps, I will be able to offer the feedback that you seek. I share your concern about quackery being spread through the internet and by the popular press. Cheers, Santosh > On Friday, January 24, 2014 1:46 AM, Stephen Dias > wrote: > > Ref; Article on Herald Café appeared on dated 22th January 2014 titled > HEALING WITH CRYSTALS > > In an interview with Patricia Ann Alvares with Crystal Haler Tarminder > Manchanda she highlights the curative value of crystals while > debunking myths > > I, Dr Joe D’Sousa ex-professor of Microbiology at Goa University and > reader of Herald found this article weird and query which would take > people for a ride and could do more harm than good. I would like the > reaction from our Medical Practitioners and physicians in Goa in the > interest of people of Goa who may have to suffer adverse consequences > of this false cure as I do not see any scientific proof of this new > system of medicine. I want you all to guide the public so that people > of Goa are not led astray by dubious methodlogy of cure. > > I would like to get the feedback from the medical practitioners and > advice the public by writing articles in the public interest and also > request to inform me via this mail Id of my friend. > > Thank You > > Dr. Joe D’Sousa > Panjim >
[Goanet] Feedback needed from Goan Medical doctors
Ref; Article on Herald Café appeared on dated 22th January 2014 titled HEALING WITH CRYSTALS In an interview with Patricia Ann Alvares with Crystal Haler Tarminder Manchanda she highlights the curative value of crystals while debunking myths I, Dr Joe D’Sousa ex-professor of Microbiology at Goa University and reader of Herald found this article weird and query which would take people for a ride and could do more harm than good. I would like the reaction from our Medical Practitioners and physicians in Goa in the interest of people of Goa who may have to suffer adverse consequences of this false cure as I do not see any scientific proof of this new system of medicine. I want you all to guide the public so that people of Goa are not led astray by dubious methodlogy of cure. I would like to get the feedback from the medical practitioners and advice the public by writing articles in the public interest and also request to inform me via this mail Id of my friend. Thank You Dr. Joe D’Sousa Panjim
