Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Dr Dunning, meet Professor Kruger... but I see you're already acquainted

Is there something about the post of "Com-Post Editorial Writer" that attracts people with this special combination of misinformed ignorance and smug certainty?
No, acupuncture is not a 'traditional practice'. No, acupuncture has not been proven to be any better than cheap placebos. If the editor honestly believed that "traditional practices" were as effective as costly hospital practices then he or she would be in a strident paroxysm of hysteria, demanding to know why hospitals aren't using these cheaper alternatives.

I would advise the writer to look these things up, but the role of Com-Post Editorial Opinionator is to retail middle-class received opinions and tell the readers what they already think, and "looking things up" would interfere.

8 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

This S.C. fellow appears eager to prick the Com-Post's bubble.
~

Helmut Monotreme said...

Acupunture has proven to be just as effective as failed surgery. If the patient is going to die on the table anyway, why wouldn't it be cheaper to stick him or her with a few pins rather than spend all of that money on doctors and drugs and hospitals?

mikey said...

I am suspicious of Acupuncture because of it's name. They clearly decided to call it that to provide themselves with a ready excuse for failure. It clearly states in the name that it requires "Accuracy". So if the patient dies, they can say "whoopsie - I guess we missed."

Sirius Lunacy said...

Puncture my acu and I'll kick you inna fork!

El Manquécito said...

Didn't Heyerdahl prove the South Pacific origins of acupuncture in "Acu Acu"?

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

I prefer the traditional approach of real medicine, myself.

Substance McGravitas said...

Your doctor gives you a needle, the acupuncturist gives you a needle. What's the diff?

Hamish Mack said...

It makes me wonder (it makes AK wonder) if the Com Post is trying to reflect the uninformed state of the New Zild hoi polloi rather than, as SC correctly points out, all that researching stuff.