Time has been publishing all kinds of articles that stick in the skeptics craw in the last few years. The most recent is the story about Weil and his new book about aging well. What gets me is when you look at him and I have met him. He is obese. He claims to be fit in spite of his weight. He preaches complacency by claiming to be fit even though he is fat. When 60% of Americans are overweight he seems to be unscrupulously telling us that as long as you eat organic and take his supplements then you can hardly abandon the couch except for a few short walks. I bet he dies young of heart disease in spite of his philosophy. For a good overview of Weil go to http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/weil.html
ysabella
Muse
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2005
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Well, you know, being fatter puffs out the wrinkles a little, so you look younger.
Organic, whoopty-doo. Depending on the product, an organic label may not really mean anything. And actually, you can find people following woo-woo nutrition fads who argue that our soil is depleted anyway, so no produce is as vitamin-rich as it used to be. So there's even a counter-woo to Weil.
I think, besides the big placebo effect, that there is another factor that draws people to alternative medicine. They get more personal attention from these "practitioners" and it makes them feel fussed over and special. Custom remedies are drawn up just for them instead of being the same thing that everyone else gets, just with the dosage adjusted. Certain "healing arts" involve a lot of hands-on touch that some people may really crave. Also, they get interviewed about all kinds of detailed stuff, when most doctors just ask questions pertinent to the symptoms and some general health.
I do want to point out that people can be fat and be (a)fit and (b)not lazy; I have terrible difficulty losing weight (hypothyroidism, PCOS, and asthma) but I am a triathlete.
Organic, whoopty-doo. Depending on the product, an organic label may not really mean anything. And actually, you can find people following woo-woo nutrition fads who argue that our soil is depleted anyway, so no produce is as vitamin-rich as it used to be. So there's even a counter-woo to Weil.
I think, besides the big placebo effect, that there is another factor that draws people to alternative medicine. They get more personal attention from these "practitioners" and it makes them feel fussed over and special. Custom remedies are drawn up just for them instead of being the same thing that everyone else gets, just with the dosage adjusted. Certain "healing arts" involve a lot of hands-on touch that some people may really crave. Also, they get interviewed about all kinds of detailed stuff, when most doctors just ask questions pertinent to the symptoms and some general health.
I do want to point out that people can be fat and be (a)fit and (b)not lazy; I have terrible difficulty losing weight (hypothyroidism, PCOS, and asthma) but I am a triathlete.
Bikewer
Penultimate Amazing
I notice that the same week Time ran the Weil cover story, Newsweek had a big spread on the Mormons.
Morchella,
Thank you for the information about Weil.
I go to science lectures put on by an organization called Seattle Town Hall. They are not a science organization but they get some pretty good scientist/authors there e.g. Richard Dawkins and Jared Diamond. Weil is supposed to speak in November and the description seemed a little iffy to me but not necessarily ridiculous.
I will make sure I miss this one.
CBL
Thank you for the information about Weil.
I go to science lectures put on by an organization called Seattle Town Hall. They are not a science organization but they get some pretty good scientist/authors there e.g. Richard Dawkins and Jared Diamond. Weil is supposed to speak in November and the description seemed a little iffy to me but not necessarily ridiculous.
http://www.townhallseattle.com/sArticles.cfm?aId=58
I will make sure I miss this one.
CBL