A Lively Attack on Pseudoscience and Pseudohistory

SI May June 2010 pgs_SI MJ 2010 3/26/10 9:29 AM Page 56 B O O K R E V I E W S counterknowledge, Thomp son consid- A Lively Attack on ers, in successive chapters, creationism in its familiar Christian forms and its Pseudoscience and burgeoning Islamic variant; pseudohistory as represented by such popular Pseudohistory works as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci GLENN BRANCH Code, Graham Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods, Gavin Menzies’s 1421: The Counterknowledge. By Damian Thompson. W.W. Norton, Year China Discovered the World, and New York, 2008. ISBN: 978-0393067699. 176 pp. Molefi Kete Asante’s The History of Hardcover, $21.95. Africa; and quack medicine. In his criti- cisms of the forms of counterknowledge hat is counterknowledge? ever, undercuts Thomp son’s attempt not under consideration, Thomp son relies for Damian Thompson never to stigmatize all religious belief as coun- the most part on sources that will be gen- W quite offers a clear defini- terknowledge: when he writes, “If you erally familiar to readers of skeptical liter- tion. When the word counterknowledge believe that the Holy Spirit exists, no ature; he synthesizes the information first ap pears, it is defined as “misinfor- one can prove you wrong. That is not competently in a brisk journalistic style. mation packaged to look like fact” counterknowledge” (22), he fails to In the fifth chapter, “The Counter - (p. 1), but the definition is subsequently employ the second part. Thompson’s knowledge Industry,” Thompson con- refined. Although “packaged” suggests the practice here is better than his preaching siders the relatively neglected question of intention to mislead, purveyors of coun- since the second part isn’t defensible how counterknowledge is contrived and terknowledge may know, not know, or be anyway: a claim for which there is no marketed, looking at three examples: indifferent as to whether they are purvey- evidence is not ipso facto untrue. The Secret, the nutrition empire of ing falsehoods, according to Thompson. Counterknowledge, like Robert L. Patrick Holford, and Menzies’s 1421. He also adds, “Its claims can be shown Park’s voodoo science and Michael Sher - Here, in addition to criticizing the counterknowledge claims, Thompson specu- lates on the causes of their success. The Secret is a savvy repackaging of the power “We must hold to ac count the greedy, lazy, and politi- of positive thinking in Gnostic garb, limited only by the basic implausibility of cally correct guardians of intellectual orthodoxy who the idea. Holford networks effectively have turned their backs on the methodology that with both the “complementary and alter- native medicine” crowd and legitimate enables us to distinguish fact from fantasy.” universities (although Thompson seems to overlook the fact that Holford is no — Damian Thompson longer involved with the Institute of Optimum Nutrition). The success of 1421, however, was apparently due only to a good public relations agency, which to be untrue, either be cause there are mer’s weird things, is thus not so much a managed to arouse enough interest in facts that contradict them or because principle for classifying and ex plain ing the manuscript that a publisher offered there is no evidence to support them” pseudoscience as it is a catchy phrase that £500,000 for the rights. Although the (2). The first part is useful, since it looks nice on the title page. Counter - stories themselves are fascinating, it is allows that alchemy, for example, wasn’t knowledge, like Voodoo Science and Why hard to detect any general lesson. There properly counterknowledge until the People Believe Weird Things, is none the is a minor irony in Thompson’s begin- rise of chemistry. The second part, how- worse for not really making serious use of ning the chapter by invoking The its titular concept. The slender book’s sub- Tipping Point, whose author, Malcolm Glenn Branch is deputy director of the title—“How we surrendered to conspir- Gladwell, is accurately described by National Center for Science Education. acy theories, quack medicine, bogus sci- Salon.com’s Louis Bayard as “building With Eugenie C. Scott, he coauthored “The ence, and fake history”—is a better indi- castles of pseudoscience in the quicksand Latest Face of Creationism” for the January cation of its contents. After the intro- of anecdote.” 2009 issue of Scientific American. ductory chapter outlines the concept of In the final chapter of Counter - 56 Volume 34, Issue 3 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER SI May June 2010 pgs_SI MJ 2010 3/26/10 9:31 AM Page 57 B O O K R E V I E W S knowledge, Thompson turns his atten- offered his diagnosis, Thompson quainted with creationism in its familiar tion to the question of why counter- declaims (with a reference to Goya’s Christian forms and its deleterious knowledge flourishes. Skeptical of Sher - famous etching), “We must hold to ac - effects on the integrity of science educa- mer’s appeal to psychological reasons, he count the greedy, lazy, and politically tion in the United States, they may be takes a sociological approach in stead— correct guardians of intellectual ortho- shocked to learn from Counter knowledge not surprisingly, since he earned a PhD doxy who have turned their backs on the that “Islamic Creationism is turning in the sociology of religion from the methodology that enables us to distin- into a serious problem for British sixth- London School of Economics, and two guish fact from fantasy. It will be their form colleges and universities” (40). of his previous books, The End of Time fault if the sleep of reason brings forth Although the general level of accu- and Waiting for Antichrist, are in that monsters” (138–139). However, he pre- racy is reasonably high, in synthesizing field. Modernity and the marketplace are sents no plan of action. such a mass of information in such a the culprits, he suggests: the dismantling So what is the verdict on Counter - small compass Thompson occasionally of traditional sources of authority re - knowledge? It is, as it aspires to be, a vig- commits errors of fact or emphasis, and moves the obstacles to ac cepting coun- orous, impassioned, and lively attack on it would be wise not to rely on the book’s terknowledge, and the commodification pseudoscience and pseudohistory, and it detailed claims uncritically. (The notes of information means that journalistic would make a nice introduction to or and a list of further reading are valuable and scholarly standards are ignored in refresher on these topics. Even those supplements.) It is also disappointing, if the pursuit of profit. Adding to the with a more than casual interest in pseu- understandable, that the discussion of problem is technology: the Inter net is a doscience and pseudohistory will find the sociology of counterknowledge is so fertile and febrile source of nonsense, something of interest, especially because cursory and limited; we might hope that although as he acknowledges, it is also a of the British perspective. For example, Thomp son will return to the subject and valuable venue for debunkers. Having although American readers will be ac - attempt to do it justice. ! than patients in the past. Bentall concludes that the evidence does not sup- Psychiatry and Clinical port the notion that advances in psychiatric care have resulted in improved Psychology: Problems mental health in developed countries. and Prospects Is there evidence that psychotic pa - tients living in developed countries with PETER LAMAL well-supported psychiatric services fare better than those with psychotic symp- Doctoring the Mind: Is Our Current Treatment of Mental Illness toms who live in countries without com- Really Any Good? By Richard P. Bentall, New York University prehensive and widely available psychiatric Press, New York, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-8147-9148-6. 364 pp. services? The evidence is that people in Hardcover, $29.95. developing countries who have severe mental illness are much more likely to recover than are patients in countries that sychiatry and clinical psychology the causes and treatment of severe men- support psychiatric services. are significantly different enter- tal illness and is the author of the award- The third source of evidence about Pprises characterized by different winning book Madness Explained: the effect of medical psychiatry is what focuses and methods. Richard Bentall, Psychosis and Human Nature. happens to patients when conventional who describes and critiques these enter- The first section of his new book (i.e., drug-dispensing) psychiatric services prises, is a professor of clinical psychol- Doctoring the Mind: Is Our Current Treat - are suspended. Bentall describes such an ogy at the University of Bangor in ment of Mental Illness Really Any Good? experiment that demonstrated that many Wales. He is known for his research into addresses the question of whether the people with severe mental illness do at impact of psychiatry on society has been least as well with significantly reduced Peter Lamal is an emeritus professor of positive. Bentall explores three sets of conventional psychiatric treatment. psychology at the University of North evidence regarding the question. One set Bentall concludes that at least with Carolina–Charlotte and a fellow of the concerns whether any advances in psy- respect to the treatment of psychotic American Psychological Association’s Divi - chiatry’s treatment of mental illness have disorders, and contrary to the assump- sion of Behavior Analysis. been more effective for today’s patients tion made by many supposedly well- SKEPTICAL INQUIRER May / Ju n e 2010 57.

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