There's one in a million who will almost get that analogy, so, really it's a spectrum.
SGU promotes misinformation about the Cass review
- Thread starter Elaedith
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There's one in a million who will almost get that analogy, so, really it's a spectrum.
No, some secondary characteristics associated with sex are bimodally distributed because of their association with a binary categorical variable.
That must mean that nobody can really tell who gets the analogy and who doesn't.
Believes what he says about sex being bimodal, or what he said in the #995 podcast specifically?
What he said in the podcast is so blatantly false and matches misinformation from activists like 'Erin in the morning' and Alejandra Carabello (who as far as I can tell started the misinformation campaign) that the most likely explanation is that he just parroted what they said without fact checking. Gorski did parrot the misinformation from these activists early on so he may have got this from him, although it is astonishing if he still believes this months later.
Novella also relied on the nonsensical so-called 'Yale critique', although even that does not state that studies were rejected for not being double-blinded. It does make some rather vague criticism that the review does not define 'evidence quality', which is nonsense because the peer-reviewed studies conducted for Cass provide full details of the methodology including how quality was assessed. Novella failed to mention the conflicts of interest of the authors he recommends in the podcast, including having had their own research rated as poor quality in the review.
Novella is usually quick to attack those who disagree with him, but is now silent on this issue. He either suspects he is wrong and won’t admit or (more likely) is convinced that the rubbish he broadcast is absolute truth and the last word on the matter.
jt512
Philosopher
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Steve Novella has thoroughly bought into gender ideology. On Science Based Medicine he published „The Science of Biological Sex,“ in which he claimed, „Biological sex is not binary.“ Before that, Novella and his SBM co-editor David Gorski threw their long-time co-editor Harriet Hall under the bus when she published a positive review of Abigail Shrier‘s Irreversible Damage. Novella‘s beliefs on matters of gender ideology are clear. So, when the Cass review was published, he did what any good
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I suspect that not wanting to lose paying subscribers is one reason for being reluctant to follow the evidence and go against what is currently promoted as consensus in the US, Canada and Australia (but increasingly not in the UK and in European/Scandinavian countries). A podcast by 'skeptics' who only follow the evidence when it doesn't cost them anything is not actually a skeptical podcast.
jt512
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I disagree with you. There is no evidence that Steve is spreading misinformation about the Cass report is fueled by a desired to maintain an audience for his podcast. And such a hypothesis doesn't explain his long history with radical gender ideology. He, like millions, has just become infected with wokeism, an ideology that is actually very common in academic medicine to the detriment of all.
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I'm not suggesting that revenue is a primary reason, but I have noticed that it's easier for people to adopt and maintain a position of self-righteous fundamentalism when it happens to coincide with advancing their own social and economic interests.
I've also seen it suggested somewhere and I think it's probably true, that followers on social media, podcasts etc are not just influenced by the people they are following or listening to, but also have an influence on them. This may not be entirely conscious, but since content creators obviously want to maintain a large fan base, they would have to be motivated to actively try to resist the effects of being positively reinforced by telling fans what they want to hear. If they convince themselves their cause is morally righteous, that is a good excuse for not resisting.
I'm sure that if Steve Novella is currently rationalizing not correcting his false statements, he is doing so by saying that a correction would 'harm vulnerable minorities'. But it happens that a retraction would also upset a lot of fans because many of them clearly think it is justifiable to spread this misinformation. Of course it is possible that Novella may also think that and have known all along he is making false statements.
angrysoba
Philosophile
Yes. “Woke mind virus” Is itself an ideological concept that doesn’t have explanatory value.
Far more likely, as you suggest, Elaedith, is that the influences are flesh and blood people in his life such as his own co-host at SGU, and colleagues at SBM. There may even be family members or friends who are trans and who have asked him his professional opinion on these topics. I think it becomes more and more difficult to change your stated beliefs on an emotionally charged issue the more you have committed either through genuine conviction or rationalization. It may be even more difficult if you have publicly disagreed with former friends or colleagues or implied that they are bigots for their view such as Shermer, Dawkins, Singal or Hall (which is something that Gorski has done). It’s hard to go back on those and admit that you may have been in error.
The irony is that Novella has himself pointed out these things, that the Sagan model of knowledge deficit is not sufficient to explain why some people believe things that are not true or at least do not have enough evidence to support them. Rather there are a whole range of sociological factors which reinforce views other than facts and logic. But it is probably not easy to turn up in the lunch room and be the only person who has changed his mind on something. Just as someone who goes to work with a group of people who listen to Fox News or Rush Limbaugh back in the 90s is unlikely to say, “You know what, I think that it is a matter of personal liberty for someone to be able to have a same-sex marriage…” so it is also unlikely for him to be able to say, “I’ve changed my mind on transgender medicine for minors in light of the Cass Review. I see that my initial position was no better supported than say the efficacy of acupuncture. In fact, that is going to be my next segment on SGU.”
Are you really taking issue with someone bringing up an example of blatant spreading of misinformation on a popular podcast that many forum members listen to?
Isn't this what this forum is meant to be for?
Gulliver Foyle
Philosopher
I don't watch Rebecca Watson very often because her skepticism is frequently colored by ideology, but I saw in my suggestions recently that she has a video characterizing the Cass Report as "anti-science" and "anti-trans."
Which pretty much every expert in the field has also concluded.
Remember, the Cass team was deliberately seeded with people who had (and have) no expertise in the recognition and treatment of trans kids to "not cloud their findings". And they also deliberately avoided talking to experts, children involved or their families.
Manger Douse
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I'm going to ask you for evidence of any of these claims and you're going to run away
Curious why the skeptics who proclaim to care a great deal about the spreading of misinformation* don't seem to care about this particular misinformation.
Also interested in why GF hasn't retracted his claim:
*I certainly think they are right to do so, if they actually do care about what is and isn't true.
Also interested in why GF hasn't retracted his claim:
After it was shown to be a blatant falsehood.
*I certainly think they are right to do so, if they actually do care about what is and isn't true.
The Cass review has thrown a spanner in the works.
New Zealand has a mental health minister who proclaimed he looked forward to his children discovering their gender identity.
He is refusing to release a report delayed continually for 12 months prepared by Patha, ruled by a man larping as woman.
New Zealand is sterilizing children at 10 times the rate the UK did at peak.
New Zealand has a mental health minister who proclaimed he looked forward to his children discovering their gender identity.
He is refusing to release a report delayed continually for 12 months prepared by Patha, ruled by a man larping as woman.
New Zealand is sterilizing children at 10 times the rate the UK did at peak.