30 Days - Skeptic and New Age

[supercorgi]

Well, this program is interesting, but I wouldn't call the skeptic a real skeptic (not true Scotsmen arguments please!). This guy was totally unskeptical. He thought that cupping and acupuncture made him feel better. He participated in New Age rituals that invoke the Goddess without criticism. I admit that some "New Age" practices like Yoga, Thai Chi, and meditation might be good for enhancing flexibility, balance, and reducing stress -- but come on! Any spiritual benefit from these things is simply happenstance. I like this show, I really do. I thought the Atheist vs. Fundamentalist episode was really interesting and pretty balanced -- but this one was false advertisement. This guy is not a skeptic -- he's way too accepting and doesn't question anything. The defining characteristic of a skeptic is to question and not accept anything at face value - he failed in this.

 

[Loss Leader]

Oh, please, we got totally boned. Michael Shermer got about thirty seconds and he spent twenty of it explaining what the new-agers believe. One doctor at Columbia Presbyterian got to present her views completely without counterpoint. And though this life coach seemed to be pretty intuitive, she's the exception as most life coaches don't even meet their clients in person.

The show managed to both bore and annoy me at the same time. And I bought DVD of Supersize Me. Heck, I show it at Christmas.

 

[supercorgi]

Yes Shermer wasn't given enough time -- not unusual in TV these days. The New Age life couch gave lovely generalities that any good physiologist could give. It was too bad that the subject and his wife were sucked into the New Age BS. I really despair that so many people by into this crap and think it really helps them. Insurance companies are funding this stuff just because they have to because the public demands this stuff and they have to be competitive. When insurance companies support this stuff it just adds legitimacy to these BS therapies. They're only doing it to be competitive -- but it adds too much legitimacy to these BS therapies. I despair.

 

[Marquis de Carabas]

I did not see the show, but from your description, the guy seems to match the normal TV definition of skeptic--one not completely convinced yet.