The "Hazards" of Microwave Cooking: A study in irrationality.
Recently I've been arguing with this crazy guy on YouTube who thinks that the Swiss government is covering up important scientific research that proves that microwave ovens are poisoning your food. Naturally I replied that any Swiss conspiracy would be full of holes, but he didn't appreciate the humour.
I don't for a moment believe that I'm going to convince him otherwise, but it is interesting as an example of disordered thought. Why this idea appeals to him and how he tries to support it is all too typical. He cited this page on geocities as evidence. It is a copy of an article in a publication called NEXUS Magazine which was originally published in another magazine called Acres, USA. NEXUS is a hack rag that publishes articles by cranks about free energy and conspiracies, while Acres is dedicated to sustainable, organic farming. Both are dedicated to pushing an anti-authoritarian, anti-mainstream technology agenda with a minimal of critical thought. This is an excellent example of how these types of fanatics isolate themselves from rational thought by publishing and reading only what they want to hear.
The article itself is a typical story of an underdog researcher who is being held down by the Man, ordered by the Swiss government not to publish his "research" into the dangers of cooking with a microwave oven. However, this "Doctor" is himself a proponent natural nuritionism, the notion that most if not all disease is the result of poisoning by "artificial" food additive and contaminants, and that balance can be restored by eating a purely natural diet, whatever that means. A major red flag is that in his farcical 8-person study, he was himself a participant. This by itself makes the study worthless, since it just throws any objectivity out the window. This is not scientific evidence, it's a useless exercise in self-confirmation.
So why would anyone take this seriously? Well, it gives the illusion of scientific evidence to someone who doesn't have a clue how proper science is done. If this guy actually wants to prove anything, he needs to do a blinded and controlled study--not participate in it himself! The reason this guy isn't taken seriously isn't because of a government conspiracy against the underdog, but because the guy has no idea what he's doing. However, a layperson with a fantasy-prone mind might interpret this as a cover-up, and once you go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, it's hard to get back out. The only real solution is prophylaxis by proper science education, something that we are failing spectacularly at.
I don't for a moment believe that I'm going to convince him otherwise, but it is interesting as an example of disordered thought. Why this idea appeals to him and how he tries to support it is all too typical. He cited this page on geocities as evidence. It is a copy of an article in a publication called NEXUS Magazine which was originally published in another magazine called Acres, USA. NEXUS is a hack rag that publishes articles by cranks about free energy and conspiracies, while Acres is dedicated to sustainable, organic farming. Both are dedicated to pushing an anti-authoritarian, anti-mainstream technology agenda with a minimal of critical thought. This is an excellent example of how these types of fanatics isolate themselves from rational thought by publishing and reading only what they want to hear.
The article itself is a typical story of an underdog researcher who is being held down by the Man, ordered by the Swiss government not to publish his "research" into the dangers of cooking with a microwave oven. However, this "Doctor" is himself a proponent natural nuritionism, the notion that most if not all disease is the result of poisoning by "artificial" food additive and contaminants, and that balance can be restored by eating a purely natural diet, whatever that means. A major red flag is that in his farcical 8-person study, he was himself a participant. This by itself makes the study worthless, since it just throws any objectivity out the window. This is not scientific evidence, it's a useless exercise in self-confirmation.
So why would anyone take this seriously? Well, it gives the illusion of scientific evidence to someone who doesn't have a clue how proper science is done. If this guy actually wants to prove anything, he needs to do a blinded and controlled study--not participate in it himself! The reason this guy isn't taken seriously isn't because of a government conspiracy against the underdog, but because the guy has no idea what he's doing. However, a layperson with a fantasy-prone mind might interpret this as a cover-up, and once you go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, it's hard to get back out. The only real solution is prophylaxis by proper science education, something that we are failing spectacularly at.