Saturday, March 04, 2006

BC on Autism Episode 8: How to Win With Excel and Influence People, an Example of How Not to Do Science (mov)






Watch the video (pops)


A brief look at how one can take a contiguous set of data and make trendlines to try and prove a point, even if the data doesn't support it.

Fair Use, ahoy!

Small file for easy downloading and phones, ect:
http://blip.tv/file/17232

15 Comments:

At 3/05/2006 4:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That was very interesting. Especially their choice of publication.

One the benefits of being around this kind of discussion for over a decade is that one can have a historical perspecitive.

I actually remember when AAPS changed their website journal (it used to be "Medical Sentinal"). Anyway, I posted this on Kevin Leitch's blog, but it bears repeating.

Okay, about that “journal” and its group. One of it members, Jane Orient (was an Executive Director) participated in the Healthfraud listserv for a while.

I spent more than a few minutes digging up some of her posts and responses to her in its archives:

Threads she participated in (click on the threads to read them), the healthfraud listserv archives are not user friendly.

A notice of her suspension.

And finally a notice of “ Jane Orient and her Antivaccination Gang ”, actually an announcement that AAPS is online.
...

This is the entire thread (she does respond, saying she is being “gagged”).

If you have time, it is sometimes fun to click through some of those older threads to see what has come and gone.

 
At 3/05/2006 7:16 PM, Blogger Bartholomew Cubbins said...

Hi hcn, The links are quite enlightening. I skimmed the first one (my attention span was poking my in the eye) but it seems rather apparent that the organization behind the journal sees itself as a David while the government is Goliath. Whatever. (Doesn't every fiction author have a god complex?)

So my take is that peer review in JandPS really means 'to peer', as in 'to peer right past the inconsistencies, pseudoscientific junk and sensationalism' present in many, if not most, of the journal's articles.

Thanks for the education about this organization, HCN. Indeed, it's a lesson I wish I would have learned earlier.

 
At 3/05/2006 11:39 PM, Blogger Do'C said...

Hi BC,

EXCELlent demonstration. Thank you.

RE: JAP&S, what a load of crap. It will never appear in PubMed. It's best described in my opinion, as an informercial-magazine of wannabe doctors and scientists. All the Bradstreet and Jim Adams and Geier Guise stuff is printed in it - the very justification that the SCNM IRB thought it okay for many children to go ahead and be chelated in Arizona, even though ASU said no to this crap.

 
At 3/06/2006 4:58 PM, Blogger John Best said...

Hey Cubbins;
Do you really think you can suck me into your stupid argument by calling me a bigot? Another gutless wonder knocking me on a blog where you know I am banned and can't respond. Get some balls!

 
At 3/06/2006 8:12 PM, Blogger notmercury said...

I think he means Golf Balls BC. Right John? Titleist if I'm not mistaken. John has a whole bucket of cut up balls in his garage.

 
At 3/06/2006 8:49 PM, Blogger Bartholomew Cubbins said...

I wasn't trying to draw you into anything.

I am honestly shocked that someone would tarnish their organization by publicly supporting your antics. I mean seriously, if you were to tell your scoutmaster, the pastor that baptised you, your junior high school principal, or your high school golf coach that you think that homosexuality is a perversion, that people who don't chelate their autistic children are committing child abuse, or that where you come from men who get bossed around by women are wussies, what would they say?

At the end of the day are you proud of what you've done and how you've done it?

That's the problem, man. In life, the path matters. You call yourself a Christian and invoke the name of God, but in the same breath you say these things. Yes, you are a bigot.

Why are you so focused on my testicles? You keep bringing it up. Dude, that's an issue you might want to deal with.

 
At 3/06/2006 9:21 PM, Blogger John Best said...

Calling a spade a spade doesn't make me a bigot, Cubbins. Acting politically correct and mouthing the right words does make one a horse's ass.
Are you displeased with my antics of spreading the truth about neurodiversity? Is that why you focus on certain statements and blow them way out of proportion as though I were running for office against you? You are a bunch of sick bastards fighting a losing battle and your stupid little tricks just further enhance your reputation as wackos.

 
At 3/06/2006 10:48 PM, Blogger Bartholomew Cubbins said...

I'm not on any Neurodiversity team, but it's quite apparent that Kathleen Seidel kicks the quackery/GR/Rescue Angel/Geier/Fair Media/autism-mercury theory butt around the internet. If you think that you're actually making a difference, then I think you need to ask for Orac's or Kathleen's hit count and then compare it to your's.

Man, you're not even in the same league. Hell, I'm not either, but I give my best shot to take an honest look at the science and personalities around autism research. You simply rant that it's not fair that you can't post on Kev's board.

Regarding my definition of bigotry: I'm just calling a spade a spade.

 
At 3/07/2006 12:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I got picked on a little bit by professors for not excluding an outlier that affected the outcome of the statistics part of my college senior thesis project in economics. Wonder what they would have done if I'd decided that my data could best be represented by two lines representing arbitrarily chosen segments of the data. I might have been looking at another senior year.

 
At 3/07/2006 12:58 AM, Blogger Do'C said...

I wonder what the ratio of Christians and Religious / Non-religious is in the whole mercury thing. I'm guessing that Christianity and religious is higher on the autism=mercury poisoning side. It can be a way of perceiving and living based solely on BELIEF vs. Reality. I'm not saying Christians are bad or not being non-religious is bad, I'm just suggesting that the potential pre-dominant way of perception (BELIEF vs. THINKING) might turn up some interesting numbers.

 
At 3/07/2006 8:29 AM, Blogger John Best said...

Bart;
If you just read Kathleen's blog which, like Kevin's, deletes opposing commentary, you might believe that. If you read the Concord Monitor, you can see how she has her head handed to her when she doesn't control the media.
You don't see her venturing out of the safety of neurodiverse blogland either to defend her deranged mantra.
You are part of the neurodiverse tribe, guilt by association. Too bad you don't have the brains to help cure your kid.

 
At 3/07/2006 9:29 AM, Blogger Bartholomew Cubbins said...

massmama - statistics as a subject is no joke, it's just too bad that it's not emphasized more in schools, even at the jr and high school levels.

DoC- I totally agree. It's weird to see self-described Catholics and Christians espouse hatred and profanity toward people who simply do not agree with them. Maybe they ought to read their book again.

Fore Sam - if you're not going to heed Pat Sullivan Jr's advice and a) chill out and b) stop blathering (yeah, I know he was being sarcastic and he agrees with your antics too, another man of god), and if you're not interesting in sharing anything other than insults, and if you're not interested in learning anything other than the names of those who agree with you and those who disagree with you, well then I can't help. So I guess we're done with this thread.

For the casual observer, Fore Sam's comments are being left up as a reminder to all those who take a stand and question the validity of the autism-mercury theory: you will be treated quite poorly by people online who cannot see your face and who would never have the courage to say these things to your face.

 
At 3/07/2006 11:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bart;
I'd be happy to say the same things to your face. BTW, were you able to run faster after you were gelded?

 
At 3/07/2006 9:05 PM, Blogger notmercury said...

Calling Dr. Geier, Expert for hire

 
At 3/07/2006 10:23 PM, Blogger Bartholomew Cubbins said...

Fore Sam, it scares me that you think about my testicles so much. I don't remember any exchange of late in which you've failed to bring up the topic.

John, if you are an average american, you'd quite likely have to get up on a box to speak your obscenities to my face. But from what I've seen you are far from average.

Once again, Fore Sam's comments close a thread down.

 

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