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Big Picture Science

Skeptic Check: Betting on Pseudoscience

Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2019

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Psychics may not be able to predict the future or sense your thoughts. Nonetheless, they rake in hundreds of millions of dollars every year. But the harm from pseudoscience can go far beyond your wallet – especially when it promotes unscientific treatments for serious disease. Find out what alarming discovery led one naturopath to quit her practice and why scientific ignorance is not bliss.  It’s our regular look at critical thinking, but don’t take our word for it. Guests: Robert Palmer – Member of the Guerilla Skeptics on the Wikipedia editing team and columnist for the Skeptical Inquirer on-line magazine Lee McIntyre – Research fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and lecturer on ethics at Harvard Extension School Britt Marie Hermes – Former naturopath doctor; now doctoral student in evolutionary genetics at the University of Kiel, Germany   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast.

0:05.0

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0:07.0

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0:23.6

at Shopify. co-deek slash special offer,

0:26.4

or lower case.

0:27.5

That's Shopify. co-deekk slash special offer.

0:31.4

The corporate world is like the ocean. It's alluring, but it's also full of deadly

0:35.6

creatures that can shred you to pieces. It becomes kind of like a game of

0:39.2

throne's political arena where everyone's trying to murder you to get your job.

0:44.0

My family doesn't come from corporate background, so I didn't have any sort of guidance in that.

0:48.2

This is not your typical work podcast.

0:50.4

Sometimes you need to be empathetic.

0:52.0

And then there are times that you ask for input input but you don't really give a shit.

0:55.0

Listen to the and the award-nominated podcast, surfing corporate.

0:58.0

Stretch opportunity. What is it?

1:00.0

Yovik class? Get out of here. I'm not a professional psychic but I can do what's called a cold reading.

1:16.0

Anyone with an act for gauging psychological and emotional states can do it.

1:20.0

But what's the harm at a cold reading or even seeing a self-described psychic?

1:25.0

Well, for one, are you ready to part with a hard-earned stash of cash?

...

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