But why would anyone think she knew dick about any subject besides Pratfalls and Acting Like A Diva and Trashing My Reputation?

There's a cynical part of me that thinks that people who take Somers' health advice are Darwinian selection in action... but objectively I know that their early, preventable deaths will grieve their loved ones immensely.

It's easier to have schadenfreude when you don't know the schadenee personally.

But why would anyone think she knew dick about any subject besides Pratfalls and Acting Like A Diva and Trashing My Reputation?

Why does anyone think Jenny McCarthy knows jack shit about vaccines? And yet, she's the reason there is currently a freaking MUMPS OUTBREAK in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Brooklyn. People are sheep.

Science Based Medicine has another excellent takedown of Somers' book and celebrity medical woo in general: [link]

I read/skimmed that article. Very depressing.

That article linked to this blog post: The Arrogance of Ignorance, which is very good.

So, who’s the more arrogant; the person with a deep background in biology who states that the current data doesn’t support a connection between autism and mercury or the person with no background in science (apart from Google-based “research”) who insists that there is?

How about somebody with no background in science who presumes to lecture experienced medical researchers about the “limitations” and “flaws” of their study?

Is it just me, or is our society/culture becoming less scientifically literate?

Is it just me, or is our society/culture becoming less scientifically literate?

These people were always there, it's just that they were blinvisible before there were internets.

I'm hip. I came(this close) to saying they deserve what they get, but then I do understand the urge to look for something relatable to read on a heavy subject like that, and I'm not conventional medicine's biggest booster, either. However... And, yeah, Jessica, not just SS, but Ms. Somers sounds like a complete numbskull talking about *her own life* which you'd think she'd have some knowledge of, so it's easy to pick her.

Is it just me, or is our society/culture becoming less scientifically literate?

I don't think so. I just think the internet makes it easier for the scientifically illiterate to compete for bandwidth.

These people were always there, it's just that they were blinvisible before there were internets.

I think that's part of it. However, I imagine if Summers' book had come out in, say, 1980, I'd think that the media would be all over the scientific inaccuracies of the book, and she'd be unable to do any mainstream interviews that were not highly critical of her.

So what's changed? The whole "balanced", "he said/she said" tendencies of modern media. You know, there are "two sides" to every story.... In this case, there's the science side of the story, and there's the "Western medicine/science sucks" side, and the media reports as if both are equally valid.

Is it just me, or is our society/culture becoming less scientifically literate?

I don't know, I'd have to see some data.

Gud FTW.