texas-swede's Full Review: Michael Specter - Denialism: How Irrational Thinki...
This book discusses what the author calls denialism; the irrational rejection of scientific findings and the excessive distrust of scientists and science itself. Denialism is based on ignorance, fear, distrust and a romantic misconception of how society was before modern times. People who want to return to nature and live like in the olden days do not realize that you would have to kill off the vast majority of humanity to make that possible for everybody and that a life without modern science would be short, brutal, painful, and filled with sickness and death. Denialism is a sort of union between the irrational extreme left and the irrational extreme right. Denialism manifests itself in global warming denial, creationism, and irrational opposition to vaccination, modern medicine, and genetically engineered food. It also manifests itself in alternative medicine and the mistaken belief that organic food is healthier and more socially responsible.
Content of the book
Chapter 1: In chapter one Michael Specter discusses the roots of the distrust of science and scientists. He sites the complexity of modern society and the helplessness people feel as a result, as well as the effect of misdeeds by, for example, the pharmaceutical industry. He discusses the Vioxx Scandal in particular.
Chapter 2: In chapter two he discusses the irrational fear of vaccination. Michael Specter shows us why vaccination is so important and why it is socially responsible to vaccinate your children. Without vaccination deadly diseases would still rule our world and most of us would probably not be here. Autism cannot be linked to vaccination or Thimerosal. Despite this fact Thimerosal has been removed from vaccines to appease the public. One thing that caught my attention in this chapter is the ugly personality of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Mr. Kennedy has engaged in dishonest character assassination of honest scientists who were brave enough to speak the facts/truth with the result that the lives of their families has been threatened.
Chapter 3: In this chapter he discusses the mistaken belief that organic food is healthier and more socially responsible. On the contrary organic food uses more land and resources and causes more erosion. According to the author the "organic fetish" causes the deaths of millions of people in the developing world.
Chapter 4: Focuses on alternative medicine and health supplements. According to the author this is quackery and health supplements are not only mostly useless but dangerous. A few intresting facts are that other than vitamin D and calcium there is no reason for most people to consume vitamins in addition to what you get from food. It will actually harm you and can cause birth defects and your premature death. If you want to live a healthy life and be socially responsible you should eat healthy, exercise, vaccinate your children, avoid health supplements, and educate yourself and listen to both sides before you take up causes. Popular causes are often misdirected and Dr. Weil is a snake oil salesman.
Chapter 5: In this chapter he focuses on the opposition to race based and individualized medicine. It is a fact that races/groups of humanity are unequally receptive to different drugs and are afflicted differently by different diseases even contagious disease as a result of their different genes. Not allowing doctors to prescribe different medicines and tests based on people's ethnic background will kill people.
Chapter 6: In this chapter he discusses genetically engineered foods and why this is not Frankenfood (or dangerous). In fact almost every thing we eat have been genetically modified and the modern techniques can save (and saves) millions of lives. He also discusses the future of genetic engineering.
My thoughts on the book
In my opinion this is a very important book and the author is 100% correct. The book reminded me a lot about another book by Carl Sagan "The Demon Haunted World; Science as a Candle in the Dark". However, while Carl Sagan is a more interesting author the content of Specter's book is more urgent to the world as of today. I believe that if most people understood what Specter's is trying to say we would not only be healthier and live longer but we would leave a better world to our children.
However, I have two objections to the book. The first is the inconsistent tone and tangents. In Chapter one Specter starts out by explaining how Denialism can arise but instead of trying to convince "Denialists" of their error in the remaining chapters he takes on a condescending tone. Between chapters one and chapter two "Denialists" are transformed from being a betrayed public with insufficient understanding of science to plain morons. In a sense the message in the first chapter is lost on himself. I admit that this review is probably a little condescending too. However, the review is just reflecting the attitude of the book and mirrored by someone who is in agreement with the book.
My second objection is that he is preaching to the quire. There is no doubt in my mind that Michael Specter is 100% correct. Unfortunately I don't think he is convincing those who need to be. The people who need to read the book the most might be put off by the way he is presenting his case.
So in conclusion, this is a very important book and I believe the author is 100% correct. However, I am disappointed with the way he is presenting his case. Despite the fact that the book is not well presented and not well balanced I am still giving it four stars. The reason is that this book could be viewed as an attempt to get an important discussion going; a discussion that we need. If the content of this book becomes widely disseminated and understood I think millions of lives could be saved. The ending of AIDS denialism would result in the treatment of AIDS patients instead of the further spread of the disease. Vaccination for serious disease would continue and the threat to the health of people around the world be averted. New genetically engineered crops could save the lives of millions in the developing world, etc.
Note about the author
Michael Specter is a Journalist focusing on science and technology. He is a staff writer for "The New Yorker" and has written for the Washington Post and New York Times. It is important to point out that other then "Journalistic Research" he did not do any original research. He is relying on the results of major studies, scientific consensus, and research done by scientists, just like the information in an encyclopedia (this makes it fairly reliable). References to his sources are listed at the end of the book. I should add that some of the claims that may seem hard to believe to some people are widely known and accepted among scientists and doctors, and can be verified by reading an encyclopedia.
Final recommendation
I think this book is a good start. It serves as an overview and as a good source of information for those who would not be offended by the books content. However, I think that if you are in the "Denialist" camp you probably should read a different book.
I am hoping the author will consider writing a second book that goes more into depth and presents the evidence more clearly, and also does away with the condescending tone. I also believe that there are grey areas where the Denialists have some sort of a point and a good book should give some credit in those instances.
Note: I received this book through the Amazon Vine program. This review is quite different from the one on Amazon.
In this provocative and headline-making book, New Yorker staff writer Specter reveals that Americans have come to mistrust institutions, especially th...More at Buy.com
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