28th March 2011 - Experts & Spotting Quackery

 Today, I listened to a TEDtalk by Noreena Hertz called How to Use Experts and When Not to which was about keeping our intelligence switched on when listening to experts. MRI scans have shown that the decision making parts of the brain switch off when we listen to experts. Surely we should always weigh what people tell us and ask questions. It might be uncomfortable to hear that there is uncertainty, but isn't that better than blindly swaying in the wind as one expert tells us one thing, and then another something else?

We're bombarded with information about the newest bestest thing we're ever going to come across, but what are some of the signs that it is too good to be true? These are taken from the In the Pipeline blog.

• Boost  your immune system - Do we really want an overactive immune system?
• Detoxifying - Remove the toxins and we'll all be healthy?
• Energy -  This could be anywhere from 'gives you more energy' to mystical forces.
• Ancient  Wisdom - We used to do it so it must be good!  Err, we used to do all sorts of silly stuff so how does that make it right?  
• Location - As with Ancient Wisdom, why would it being from somewhere else inspire confidence?
• Conspiracy - X doesn't want you to know about this but I'm going to tell you if you pay me lots of money
• Simplicity  - Just a spoonful of vinegar and you'll lose loads of weight. Why? How?
• Lack of Humility  - Absolutely 100% works, no side-effects listed, never need anything else. 

 I think we can also consider what supporting scientific evidence there is, in terms of peer reviewed papers although those are maybe not always so easy to find, even when they do exist.  Why peer reviewed? So that other people who know more about the area can lessen the chance of there being errors in the more technical things which are beyond the knowledge of the layman.