S K E P T I C I S M. S C I E N C E. S O C I E T Y Vol. 36, No 4. December 2016 Uncritical Thinking Dangers and Solutions + Problems with Prophets Ghost Gear & EuroScary Australian Skeptics. www.skeptics.com.au
Contents Volume 36 No 4 December 16 REPORTS 2016 Convention 10 10 Jessica Singer and Martin Hadley FEATURES That s a Good Reason 20 Tim Harding Uni Daze 24 Diana Lucia Tertiary Thinking 28 Martin Davies Tools of Thought 30 Sharon Hill 24 20 32 39 28 ARTICLES It Ain t Necessarily So 32 Daniel Come to Judgement 39 The Reasons Behind It All 44 Broken Tech Ghost Hunting 46 Colin Dickey Apps for Apparitions 49 Appolicius Old Stories of Old Europe 51 Listverse.com REGULARS Editorial 4 Around the Traps 5 Them! 9 Puzzles page 27 The logical place 53 What goes around 54 Book reviews 56 Forum 58 Letters 60 51 54 46 56 44
FEATURE Uncritical Thinking UNI Daze Universities are teaching it, funds are covering it, and the people are not trusting it. Diana Lucia is concerned about the play off between alt med and evidence-based health. 24 Rationality, logic, and critical thinking are the hallmark skills learned at universities across the country, to the extent that they are ingrained into their philosophy with the demarcation of knowledge under the umbrella of the sciences and the arts. However, an alarming trend has emerged in Australian universities where the pursuit of knowledge has been hijacked by courses and degrees lacking credibility and promoting pseudoscience under the banner of science. Federally-funded universities are fast becoming a fertile ground for alternative forms of medicine, science, and health sprouting courses ranging across homeopathy, iridology, reflexology, healing touch therapy, aromatherapy and energy medicine. This has coincided with the rise in popularity of alternative medicines and pseudoscientific therapies, with many eligible on private health insurance rebate. Research and academia have not been immune to this phenomenon, with the University of Wollongong An alarming trend where the pursuit of knowledge has been hijacked. recently accepting a PhD thesis arguing against Australia s pro-vaccination policy on the premise of freedom of opinion. The spread of pseudoscience in society and academic institutions has ignited a fiery debate, questioning not only the reputation of Australia s universities but also where the boundaries of academic freedom lie, and the implications of using taxpayer funding to teach students unproven therapies. With the international scientific credibility of Australian tertiary education institutions being undermined, we need to pose the question if scientific principles and evidence-based medicine is being diluted by pseudoscience in universities. Throughout my studies I have been trained that belief must be based on sufficient evidence where observation, explanation, experimental design, transparency, repeatability, and a thorough peer review process is the framework of the scientific method. When an hypothesis proves unsatisfactory, it is either modified and retested or discarded. Taking this into consideration, alternative medicine therapies and regimes that lack scientific evidence and credibility are usually met with eye rolls and scoffs by scientists and the scientific community. Studying branches of alternative medicine has usually been reserved for privatised institutions with a clever marketing strategy and hefty financial tag, with students spoon-fed repackaged scientific concepts under the guise of science. CROSSING THE LINE This has never been a significant matter of debate, as a clear line has always been drawn in the sand, with scientists and doctors armed with scientificallyproven and evidence-based medicine staying on one side of the playground, and alternative medicine practitioners armed with sugar pills and healing stones on the other. So when did the line in the sand become so blurred? One predominant and significant factor is Australian universities offering courses in some form of alternative therapy, including traditional Chinese herbal medicine, chiropractic, homeopathy, naturopathy, reflexology and aromatherapy. Following is just a snapshot of the type of pseudoscience courses that are now offered:
The Skeptic December 16 Australian Catholic University: Introduction to complementary nursing therapy; University of New England: Bachelor of Applied Health; Graduate Diploma of Health Science in Herbal Medicine and Master of Health Science in Herbal Medicine; University of Newcastle: Complementary therapies in healthcare, with courses ranging from aromatherapy to reiki; University of Western Sydney: Bachelor of Applied Science in Naturopathic Studies; promoting healthcare through herbal medicine and homeopathy; Southern Cross University: Bachelor of Clinical Sciences; with courses ranging from complementary medicine, naturopathy, osteopathy; Central Queensland University: Bachelor of Science majoring in Chiropractic Science and a Master of Chiropractic Science; RMIT University: Bachelor of Health Science majoring in Acupuncture and Chinese Manual Therapy and a Master of Applied Science majoring in Energy Medicine. The Australian universities that have been criticised have all defended their courses, saying they are evidence and science-based. In naturopathy, for example, on top of herbal medicine and nutrition, the universities claim that students also learn the same things that a physiotherapist, medical doctor or nurse learn, with chiropractors also studying biology, physiology, neuroscience, anatomy, and pathology. Yet this is one of the main reasons why alternative medicine worries me so much - how do these university subjects fit into the framework of meridian points, chakras and energy fields? Taking subjects based on scientific principles and reshaping them to fit alternative medical health practices that may not accept basic disease definitions, the effectiveness of vaccines or even the fundamental law of physics is antagonistic to the scientific standard. Take for example homeopathy, a holistic system of medicine based on the principle that substances producing symptoms in a healthy individual can be used to treat similar symptoms in a sick person. If this form of treatment is to be believed, every mainstream pharmacy course being taught to students is currently wrong, as are the foundational facts of biology and chemistry. The National Health & Medical Research Council released a report assessing 1800 papers which examined the efficacy of homeopathy and found it was not any more effective than a placebo or sugar pill in treating common medical conditions such as headaches, asthma, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, and ulcers. Adding to this, a review by the Commonwealth Department of Health found that overall there was no reliable, high quality evidence available to allow assessment of the clinical effectiveness of any natural therapies for any health conditions. COUNTING THE COST An argument could be made that the inclusion of these courses in Australian universities is a product of demand. However, shouldn t the focus be on the issue of Federal funding being wasted in supporting these courses that lack evidence? Is this not encouraging the number of alternative practitioners graduating from tertiary education institutions and thereby increasing the use of unproven therapies? Already, we see alarming statistics showing that 52 per cent of the Australian population are taking some form of alternative medicine, with an estimated $1.5 billion dollars spent each year on vitamins and supplements. What s most alarming is that the Department of Health and Ageing found that as many as 90 per cent of over-the-counter vitamins examined did not comply with regulations, with products lacking evidence to substantiate the claims made for them. However, with subsidies for rebates The focus should be on federal funding being wasted in supporting courses that lack evidence. now provided for alternative therapies by private health insurance companies, it s not surprising the Australian public view these as evidence-based credible health options. The government has previously stated that private health insurance rebates will only be paid for insurance products that cover natural therapy services where the Chief Medical Officer finds there is clear evidence they are clinically effective. However, despite the Department of Health review finding no evidence that the natural therapies covered by the review worked, the report shows that over the past 10 years, benefits paid for natural therapies have increased by 345 per cent with $135 million of total benefits paid in a year. [It was the policy of the Australian Labor Party at the last Federal election that The Private Health Insurance Rebate will no longer be available for natural therapies from 1 July 2017. Ed] ACADEMIC IMPRIMATUR Taking this into account it seems that the problem is also a symptom of a much larger ailment where the public is losing its trust in mainstream health professionals, with the baton now being passed onto alternative medicine. However, consumers have a right to make informed decisions based on evidence, and a mandate should be encouraged where those who provide 25
FEATURE Uncritical Thinking Uni Daze Continued... alternative health therapies are expected to fully inform customers about the lack of evidence applying to their services, especially taking into account that these services attract a private health subsidy. While it seems reasonable that universities want to expand and take a new approach to teaching science, we need to discourage the dangerous turn towards supporting pseudoscientific courses based around health and medicine. Public universities have a responsibility to use federal funds appropriately with the scope of contributing meaningfully to supporting population health. We need to push harder for a publicly funded tertiary education system that only teaches evidence based courses, and promotes a rigorous scientific standard that doesn t flounder based on public popularity. Furthermore, academics at these institutes need to stand up and protect the history of the scientific method, with educational institutes and the government working in synergy to showcase the problems with offering courses in pseudoscience in federally funded universities.shelf.. REFERENCES Armstrong, A. et al. (2011). Australian adults use complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of chronic illness: a national study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Volume 35, Issue 4, pages 384 390. Baggoley, C. (2015). Review of the Australian Government Rebate on Natural Therapies for Private Health Insurance. Australian Government Department of Health. Department of Health (2013). An overview of the regulation of complementary medicines in Australia. Department of Health and Ageing (2011). Submission addressing the Review of the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme. National Health and Medical Research Council (2015). Media release: Statement and Advice on Homeopathy. Wilyman, J. (2015). A critical analysis of the Australian government s rationale for its vaccination policy. University of Wollongong Thesis Collection. University Courses Australian Catholic University, http:// tinyurl.com/zu53xap University of New England, http://tinyurl. com/jdj37jb University of Newcastle, http://tinyurl. com/hrufepr Western Sydney University, http:// tinyurl.com/jsmsfxb Southern Cross University, http://tinyurl. com/hj9p2h2 Central Queensland University, http:// tinyurl.com/zgro6ck RMIT University, http://tinyurl.com/ zg23xso About the author: Diana Lucia is a Neuroscience Doctoral Candidate at the University of Queensland, School of Biomedical Sciences. 26