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David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
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11 Nov, 5 tweets, 2 min read
I frequently warn science communicators about this. Cranks LOVE to interview you or get you on their podcasts or It takes a very special skillset that few possess to be able to go "into the lions' den," so to speak. @stevennovella, for example, has that skillset.
You, on the other hand, probably do not. When you think you do, that is likely hubris.
Exactly. If you don't know all the conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, tropes, misinformation, and disinformation, you will get tripped up by the Gish gallop.
I hasten (a bit late) to add that none of this is meant as criticism of @GYamey, who clearly did his best. We all are very tempted to accept these invitations every now and then.
Believe it or not, I was once invited to appear with Deepak Chopra. (I kid you not.) I might have even agreed, too, if he hadn't been so arrogant that he wouldn't even deign to communicate with me directly to ask. Instead, he left it to his assistant to do all the emails.

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More from @gorskon

David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
12 Nov
You know, @bmj_latest, when two of the biggest antivax propaganda sites in the world are loudly touting a badly sourced, conspiracy mongering bit of "investigational journalism" you commissioned from crank @thackerpd, you are doing it wrong and spreading antivax disinformation. ImageImageImage
When one of your @bmj_latest editors, Peter Doshi, has been at least antivax-adjacent for years and years and spreading antivax nonsense about #CovidVaccine, you're doing it wrong. respectfulinsolence.com/2021/01/15/why…
When antivaxxer RFK Jr. loves both @thackerpd and Peter Doshi, you're doing it wrong. respectfulinsolence.com/2021/05/21/why…
Read 9 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
10 Nov
I thought: That’s a hell of conspiracy theory that, if true, would involve a lot of people covering up a lot of very improbable events. Guess what? After a year and a half it’s STILL a hell of conspiracy theory that, if true, would involve a lot of people covering up a lot. 1/
As I was putting together a talk about antivax conspiracy theories, I perused my blogs. You know what? People were claiming the then-novel coronavirus was an escaped bioweapon as early as January 2020—probably earlier. 2/
That’s because, in every outbreak or pandemic of a new disease, there *always* arise conspiracy theories that the disease was human-made and either leaked from a lab or was intentionally introduced. Such conspiracy theories exist for H1N1, HIV, Ebola, etc. 3/
Read 4 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
26 Oct
@FLSurgeonGen What disingenuous nonsense. How did you manage to get through medical school? After all, your surgery, emergency medicine (trauma, wound suturing, , and OB/GYN rotations required a lot of mask wearing. Did you have a problem communicating on those rotations? How did you pass?
@FLSurgeonGen What about pediatrics? How did you do lumbar punctures? Did you do an oncology rotation during internal medicine? Surely you had to wear a mask and gown up to enter the rooms of several immunosuppressed patients at some point in your clinical rotations?
@FLSurgeonGen Did you do an infectious disease rotation and have to wear a mask and PPE to deal with a contagious patient? On second thought, strike that. You clearly know too little about infectious disease to have done even a medical school clinical elective in ID.
Read 6 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
26 Oct
It’s actually the culmination of a long process that dates back to at least 2015, although it arguably started several years before that. I’ve been writing about it since then at least, and regularly since 2015. It is no surprise to me.
Antivaxxers figured out that appealing to “freedom” and “parental rights” were very effective attracting libertarian-leaning small government conservatives. Once in, these conservatives, immersed in Trumpist conspiracy theories, also started to go for antivax conspiracy theories.
As this movement grew, @GOP politicians started pandering to the antivax fringe of the party, and here we are…
Read 7 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
26 Oct
Yup. These attacks based on grants funded by his Institute betray a risible ignorance of the NIH study section system for reviewing grant applications and how the NIH decides which applications are funded.
These cranks seem to assume that an institute director personally decides which grant applications to fund based on cronyism. Come to think of it, their assumption sounds like projection. 2/
Alternatively, they *do* know that NIH study sections and advisory councils, not institute directors, determine which grant applications are funded but lie about Fauci because they know their audience has no idea how NIH grants are evaluated for funding. 3/
Read 5 tweets
David Gorski, MD, PhD Profile picture
12 Oct
This victim shaming of #COVID19 patients is part and parcel with alternative medicine beliefs that I've been discussing for many years, the delusion that, if you only eat the right foods and live the right lifestyle, you can be more or less immune to infectious disease. 1/
Interestingly, Bob Costas, of all people, once nailed the nonsense of this belief when in 2009 @billmaher claimed that because he was so healthy he wouldn't catch the flu on a plane. Costas' retort? "Oh, come on, Superman!" 2/ sciencebasedmedicine.org/oh-come-on-sup…
While it is true that it is better to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and otherwise live a healthy lifestyle than not, it won't make you immune to disease. It might, for instance, decrease your risk of certain cancers, but you can still get cancer. 3/
Read 16 tweets

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