May the Life Force be with you
ByThames Valley University [ TVU ], one of our local universities, offers courses in alternative (that is, unscientific) therapies, including, via the Slough campus, a bachelor of science (BSc) in homeopathy.
The TVU course is run by the Purton House clinic [http://www.purtonhouse.com] in Slough. To us as humanists (and generally sensible people) this is a scandal: homeopathy has no scientific basis, and yet it is being taught at British universities as a bachelor of science degree. Moreover, it is sold to the public, as a medical therapy, if only as a Supplementary, Complementary, or Alternative Medicine (SCAM, if you like).
Well, anti-pseudo-science blogger, Professor David Colquhoun, has published details of a lecture handout that he has received from another Thames Valley University BSc degree course in Nutritional Medicine. Nutritional medicine sounds very respectable, but as you’ll see, it is shamefully ridiculous.
Visit David Colquhoun’s blog [ http://dcscience.net/?p=260 ] to read for yourself. Here’s a small taster of what students were being taught (poor things):
“At the root of most hoIistic therapies lies the belief that all life is animated by a subtle force. We call this the Life Force. You either believe it or you do not. It cannot exactly be proved at the moment and the belief is not in accord with the yardsticks that we call ‘scientific’. The belief is a little akin to the belief in God or in spirits or ghosts, and yet at the same time it is not, because the Life Force is by no means so remote from us.”
If our readers know of any other publicly funded pseudo-science courses or activities, please let us know.We wish to know the number of dilutions of pure science that people can safely take.
Thanks for the write-up. The reluctance of universities to part with this sort of stuff means they must be embarrassed by it. But their reaction to the embarrassment is limited largely to refusing requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
I’m not saying how I got these lecture notes, but if anyone has stuff like that I’m always happy to give it a bit of publicity
I think it’s important to highlight these things though. There is a significant industry based on people making claims about products which simply aren’t supportable.
Hi,
I run Gnostic Fellowship and we are open minded but believe in God. We discuss how the Churches are corrupt and like the blind guides they are leading the Youths and public at large astray from God. The present Churches are like the blind men describing the elephant. The present dog-collared church priests being the hirelings of Mammon, they work for Mammon and not for God. For example, how could Queen head of Mammon in Great Britain defend the faith of people in Christ Jesus? That is why these blind hirelings of Mammon guides tell people that the soldiers who died in secular Wars glorified their Mammon God and not the God that is Spirit and sets you FREE?
There is too much brain washing bringing a bad name to Gospel.
Hi Rajinder,
I think your points are quite important, and I personally find there to a distinct difference between organised religion, and personal faith. To me the organised religions are a political and financial machine not a spirtual one.
I am married to a Wiccan and we live harmoniously because we agree on our core values, in spite of our philosophical differences on the nature of existence and the universe.
Your point about brainwashing kids is something I feel strongly about too. We have allowed our children to think for themselves and decide on their own beliefs.
Ulimately a person’s private belief or faith should be reached through a journey of self discovery, and not imposed by doctrine.
Lets have some balance here
Are you all interested in science or in dogma?.
Man is an electromagnetic being. As such it is plausible that there are forces at work of which we know little.
In many fields scientists today are still ridiculed as they were in Galileo’s time.
Why are new ideas so threatening?
There is plenty of research on homeopathy if anyone cares to read it rather than endlessly claiming that it doesn’t work.
For one the work of Jacques Benveniste
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jacques-benveniste-543268.html
Jacques Benveniste
Acclaimed immunologist whose career was marred by the ‘memory of water’ controversy
Monday, 11 October 2004
Jacques Benveniste was arguably the most controversial scientist of the last 50 years. His “crime” was the discovery of a mechanism for homeopathy, the popular but currently inexplicable alternative medical therapy. At its height, “l’affaire Benveniste” involved the cream of the scientific establishment on both sides of the Channel, but their treatment of Benveniste himself sometimes smacked more of a Papal inquisition than of sober scientific appraisal.
Sue, I agree that there is a lot of research on homeopathy, but my understanding is that it shows that homeopathy has no better effect than placebo.
The Cochrane Review group looks at studies undertaken and assesses their results based on the quality of the study. Searching for homeopathy on its website produces a list of such reviews. In the first 3 that came up when I searched (for which summaries were available) they stated:
“No evidence that homeopathy is effective in treating dementia.”
“Until stronger evidence exists for the use of homeopathy in the treatment of asthma, we are unable to make recommendations about homeopathic treatment.”
“Overall the results of this review found no evidence of effectiveness for homeopathy for the global symptoms, core symptoms or related outcomes of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.”
Would it be called ‘alternative’ if it really worked?
While I don’t disagree with your assertion that there is a lot about humans and the world we do not know, that doesn’t make unproven theories right.
Sue said, “Man is an electromagnetic being.”
A similar comment comes up in this BBC documentary:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fj265/Inside_Out_South_West_12112008/
The programme is: Inside Out South West 12/11/2008
Sam Smith exposes dodgy dietary advice being peddled by one South West college.
Available until: 7:59pm Wednesday 19th November