Stellafane
Village Idiot.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 8,368
I’m the sort of person who gets gleeful satisfaction when two people I can’t stand get into a fight. And it hardly gets any better than this: according to the latest issue of the Skeptic’s Dictionary Newsletter (http://skepdic.com/news/newsletter67.html), Dr. Gary Schwartz, that infamous academic whore, now finds himself in a little tiff with self-proclaimed psychic Allison DuBois! Seems that Ms. DuBois is miffed with Dr. Schwartz for writing a book with the snappy title of The Truth About Medium: Extraordinary Experiments with the real Allison DuBois of NBC's Medium and other Remarkable Psychics. According to DuBios, “I do not endorse Dr. Gary Schwartz. I was disappointed to find out that the four years that I spent in the lab for ‘science’ are, in my view, being misused by Dr. Schwartz -- even after I expressed my disapproval...” (On one point DuBois and I are in total agreement: anytime Dr. Schwartz’s work is referred to as “science,” the word definitely belongs in quotes.)
DuBios goes on to state that Dr. Schwartz’s claim that she asked him to write a book about her “is a figment of his imagination. I actually asked him to NOT write a book about me…He points to an e-mail from a year ago that he cut and pasted and only shows part of the e-mail trying to make the argument that I said I'd endorse his book…” She further complains that several of the sitters in the study are also writing their own books, with forewords written by Dr. Schwartz himself.
I get the feeling DuBois is feeling rather used because Dr. Schwartz is attempting to cash in on the sudden notoriety she is accruing thanks to the supposedly popular TV show Medium. Me, I think she’s being a little hard on the good doctor. After all, without Dr. Schwartz’s endorsement, DuBois might have never achieved the 15 minutes of fame she is now enjoying. And as for the bowdlerized email, surely DuBois must be aware that Dr. Schwartz’s standard MO is to cherry pick the bits of data that support his pre-conceived goal and throw away the rest. Indeed, DuBois has been a huge beneficiary of these methods, because if Dr. Schwartz worked like a real scientist does, and submitted all his data for review, DuBois would have been exposed as the fraud she actually is.
Personally, I think DuBois doth protest a little too much. I’m not so sure that her main issue isn’t so much her righteous outrage that a purely scientific venture has been besmirched by venal commercialism. Instead, I suspect she’s more interested in protecting the exclusive rights to her “story,” and thus resents Dr. Schwartz muscling in on her territory. In any case, I’m getting a good laugh out of this little spat among the good citizens of La-La Land. And it does raise an important point, one that may help answer the ongoing question: Why does Dr. Schwartz do what he does? Is he deluded, or a fake? What exactly motivates the guy? Somehow, up to now I’ve overlooked a very viable possibility, one that now seems so obvious and explains a lot of his actions, and even those of the university that tolerates his foolishness to a seemingly inexplicable extent: he’s in it for the money.
DuBios goes on to state that Dr. Schwartz’s claim that she asked him to write a book about her “is a figment of his imagination. I actually asked him to NOT write a book about me…He points to an e-mail from a year ago that he cut and pasted and only shows part of the e-mail trying to make the argument that I said I'd endorse his book…” She further complains that several of the sitters in the study are also writing their own books, with forewords written by Dr. Schwartz himself.
I get the feeling DuBois is feeling rather used because Dr. Schwartz is attempting to cash in on the sudden notoriety she is accruing thanks to the supposedly popular TV show Medium. Me, I think she’s being a little hard on the good doctor. After all, without Dr. Schwartz’s endorsement, DuBois might have never achieved the 15 minutes of fame she is now enjoying. And as for the bowdlerized email, surely DuBois must be aware that Dr. Schwartz’s standard MO is to cherry pick the bits of data that support his pre-conceived goal and throw away the rest. Indeed, DuBois has been a huge beneficiary of these methods, because if Dr. Schwartz worked like a real scientist does, and submitted all his data for review, DuBois would have been exposed as the fraud she actually is.
Personally, I think DuBois doth protest a little too much. I’m not so sure that her main issue isn’t so much her righteous outrage that a purely scientific venture has been besmirched by venal commercialism. Instead, I suspect she’s more interested in protecting the exclusive rights to her “story,” and thus resents Dr. Schwartz muscling in on her territory. In any case, I’m getting a good laugh out of this little spat among the good citizens of La-La Land. And it does raise an important point, one that may help answer the ongoing question: Why does Dr. Schwartz do what he does? Is he deluded, or a fake? What exactly motivates the guy? Somehow, up to now I’ve overlooked a very viable possibility, one that now seems so obvious and explains a lot of his actions, and even those of the university that tolerates his foolishness to a seemingly inexplicable extent: he’s in it for the money.
