Bill Maher Is Now A Woo Merchant....

[dudalb]

On the edition of his show I saw this morning on HBO he went into a full scale attack on Doctors and Medicine in general. He made a huge deal about how doctors prescribe "poison" to his customers. He managed to show his total ignorance of both chemistry and medicine by laughing and ridiculing the idea that what might be poison in large doses can be a life saving medicine in small doses. And most of his guest agreed with him.
He has been showing tendacires toward this for a few weeks,but now he has gone full scale over the edge.
So much for his being a spokesman for rationalism. It seems as though while rejecting organized religon he seems to have fallen for an even more,IMHO,dangerous kind of woo.

[alfaniner]

I believe he's also one of those who says "milk is bad for you."

[kosai]

I saw this episode of his show as well. I must say, I lost a lot of respect for him. One of the guests did kind of call him on it but it wasn't enough stop him from going off full rant. I'll say I agree with a lot of his ideas when it comes to politics and social liberties, but his PETA and anti-medicine stuff has gotten pretty nutty.

[Hindmost]

I saw it too and was very disappointed...we should hit him with a few emails see if he would bring on a real medical person to set him straight. I think he has the ability to change.

glenn

[dudalb]

The only explanations I have is that Maher has let his desire to be seen as a maverick and "Anti Establishment" guru overcome his logic and commonsense,or his has simply gone bonkers.
Either way,his pretty much make him damaged good as far being a spokesman for Critical Thinking is concerned.

[Ichneumonwasp]

He's been doing the medicine thing for a few years. I just ignore him when he gets off on stupid stuff like that. Same with the degree to which he takes PETA.

But, in his defense, in 100 years we will look at medicine now and think it is barbaric. I want my tricorder now.

Once we know more about proteomics and gene-gene interactions, we will be able to look at someone's genetic profile and know exactly what to prescribe safely and effectively. Then it will be real applied science, instead of the half-breed schmaltz it is now. The touchy-feely part will still be important, but it will be more precise and probably less risky. There are still many, many iatrogenic deaths.

[dudalb]

I saw it too and was very disappointed...we should hit him with a few emails see if he would bring on a real medical person to set him straight. I think he has the ability to change.

glenn

Sadly, I think Maher's ego is so out of control that he will not back down.
He seems to be taking his whole "Maverick,Anti Establishment" shtick to the point of stupidity,and will say or do just about anythiing to be seen as "edgy" and "sticking it to the man".

[Ichneumonwasp]

You know, whenever anyone starts with the old "we're poisoning ourselves" schtick and starts in on the "we need to eat more naturally", I generally like to ask them why we have a liver in the first place.

Yes, because those natural plants are trying to kill us.

[liverleef]

Overall, I like Maher, I find him funny but yes stupid things come out of his mouth from time to time. I recall him ridiculing Bush for trying to encourage personal investments such as 401k as opposed to depending on Social Security. He compared it to placing bets at the track. I felt dumber for having heard him say it. He's going to have a tough time finding an investment adviser to agree with him. I'd also guess that Maher isn't just stuffing all his cash under his mattress either.

[Elizabeth I]

I'd also guess that Maher isn't just stuffing all his cash under his mattress either.

OR putting into Social Security where it can get raided periodically by that criminal gang that works out of the Capitol Building.

[Showmeproof]

I bet Tom Cruise would have an interesting opinion on the medical establishment! lol :rolleyes:

[GreyICE]

I have some issues with the current medical establishment. Their desire to proscribe mind-altering drugs like Anti-depressants and Adderall is way too apparent, they overall proscribe too frequently because of patient demands. I also think a lot of the things they are doing are just generally not that useful. I had a doctor try to proscribe me antibiotics when I had the flu. I asked him what they would do. He hemmed and hawed about secondary infections. I asked him if what the antibiotics would do to my system would be about equal to the secondary infection, and if it was more logical to just avoid germs and get plenty of rest. He said yes. Its crap like that that's breeding antibiotic resistant bacteria - throwing them at anyone who is sick like they're sugar pills.

The FDA approval process is also wonky. I knew someone who worked there, and basically at least half the studies she worked with had falsified data or at least incredibly rushed stuff that they hadn't really tested. She said it was par for the course for the industry.

Doesn't mean the entire establishment is bankrupt though. Just a lot of the pharmacudical companies are more interested in selling people pills than making people healthy.

[Alex C]

Never really liked the guys shows. Always goes on a holier than thou rant promoting some anti mainstream idea, when in reality he's just riding the crest of that certain idea's wave.

[dudalb]

I was never a Maher fan because I never found him that funny. He seemed to be putting more effort into being "edgy" and "anti Establishment" then in actually being funny.

[GreyICE]

I was never a Maher fan because I never found him that funny. He seemed to be putting more effort into being "edgy" and "anti Establishment" then in actually being funny.

He usually manages to be thought provoking. Honestly, if you want funny The Daily Show/The Colbert Report are a much better choice. I think it was smart to set himself up as more of a debate-oriented type of show. He does focus on the 'edgy' stuff, but its at least more interesting than focusing on the 'safe' stuff, which is mostly what TV seems to do (their idea of edgy is reporting on 'The War on Christmas').

[Beerina]

The only explanations I have is that Maher has let his desire to be seen as a maverick and "Anti Establishment" guru overcome his logic and commonsense,or his has simply gone bonkers.
Either way,his pretty much make him damaged good as far being a spokesman for Critical Thinking is concerned.

Did he ever have any actual abilities in that area? Before presuming doctors are poisoning patients because Dennis Quaid's twins almost died in an exceedingly rare event, shouldn't he ask for a statistical analysis?

It's like Hillary beating up on drug companies, even though their greed and "unconsionable profits" have lead to saving the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

[Mark A. Siefert]

So much for that, indeed:

-IcUumWzue4

You're either a rationalist, or you're not, Bill... that includes the topic of medicine as much as religion.

[PAC]

I like his show but find his ego is out of control. I like the show because of the mix of guests he brings in, including those who do not agree with the general audience his show attracts. It's unfortunate that many of his guests have a lot to offer but can not do so with him talking over them.

[imjohn]

I listen to Maher's show on podcast -- but the one I heard must have been different since the guests -- PJ O'Rourke, Bob Costas and a couple other guys reacted to Maher's rant like he was a loon.

[Moochie]

So much for that, indeed:

-IcUumWzue4

You're either a rationalist, or you're not, Bill... that includes the topic of medicine as much as religion.

So you found his "woo spot." You don't have a "woo spot"?


M.

[dudalb]

I presume you are a Maher fan,moochie.
I might have a few woo spots,but not one as dangerous as Maher;s attitude toward medicine.

[RichardR]

I saw it too and was very disappointed...we should hit him with a few emails see if he would bring on a real medical person to set him straight. I think he has the ability to change.

glennI doubt it. He has been pushing this line for at least three years now (http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/03/idiot_week.html). In November 2005 Sanjay Gupta tried to put him right (http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/11/maher_gets_smac.html). No change though.

[Darth Rotor]

So much for that, indeed:

-IcUumWzue4

You're either a rationalist, or you're not, Bill... that includes the topic of medicine as much as religion.
I note an excluded middle, and suggest you consider the inherent infallibility of human beings.

Who are you to demand perfection out of him?

DR

[Moochie]

I presume you are a Maher fan,moochie.
I might have a few woo spots,but not one as dangerous as Maher;s attitude toward medicine.

Yeah, I'm a fan, but I can take him or leave him. Easy to do since he's not on TV here in Australia. :)

M.

[Mark A. Siefert]

I note an excluded middle, and suggest you consider the inherent infallibility of human beings.

Who are you to demand perfection out of him?

DR

Take it up with Mahr. In the video, he's the one who claims that "you are either a rationalist or you are not." I'm just pointing out that dichotomy applies to more than just a belief in an invisible sky tyrant.

[Hindmost]

I doubt it. He has been pushing this line for at least three years now (http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/03/idiot_week.html). In November 2005 Sanjay Gupta tried to put him right (http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/11/maher_gets_smac.html). No change though.

Rats, I really didn't expect that. Well, woo--logic has few boundaries. He may kill himself if something really hits him. It is difficult to understand what type of odd logic he has running through his brain to arrive at his conclusions.

glenn

[imjohn]

New age logic. Whatever I wish let it be so. Aleister Crowley was a really crappy philosopher. Too bad his thinking is so wide spread.

[Kahalachan]

I found the alleged video I think

Is this it?

LH7acgGTEBs

[Frying Dutchmen]

I lost alot of respect for him when I found out he was a PETA member, I do still find him funny but yeah he's pretty much a woo foo member now.

[TheRedWorm]

I always like to remind anti-modern medicine people that even Lance Armstrong got cancer. Would have died too, if not for that "evil" medicine.