A letter to the TEDx community on TEDx and bad science
Lots of good stuff here, on some warning signs of dubious science, stemming from some suspect talks at TEDx. It’s directed toward medical/life sciences material, but there are many points that apply to science in general. This is related to an ongoing issue in journalism — whether your task is to just offer material, or whether you have a responsibility to vet the material. I’m of the latter opinion — I think that a “let the audience decide” or “I need to present both sides” approach is a cop-out.
There’s also a list of behavior that one might see if one declines to give a platform to someone peddling the dubious science, and to me, this is old hat. The claims of endangering freedom of speech/bias/suppression and the assertion that they hold a special insight (often despite no formal training) are pretty standard crackpot positions.
The TEDx community seeks to end religion, the social sciences, minority and diversity rights, economics, Wars on, organized charity, and much of central government and its enforcement. What kind of world would it be if cause and effect, price and cost, efficiency, and self-responsibility were allowed?