I realize everyone’s not a scientist. Math is difficult to some people, as is logic. Some people are more intuitive, others just not smart enough; but fortunately our world is blessed with people who fully understand science and all its amazing benefits. These people are our doctors, engineers and researchers and have brought to us all the modern benefits of our exceedingly technical world. I myself am trained as an engineer, and the responsibility upon me to improve life around me using my technical expertise is not one I take lightly. I think it is fine for people to possess different skills and knowledge in our society, as this specialization is in fact the foundation of all economies. What bothers me is deep seeded paranoia of science and scientists that seems to persist throughout much of the community which itself is ignorant of science.
It would be logical for those who do not understand to trust those that do, but rather they become paranoid and fearful of what they do not understand. This paranoia and fear then extends to those scientists, perhaps because they have difficulty comprehending their knowledge, in the same way I have difficulty understanding such ignorance. This is likely born out of human fear of the unknown and is an unfortunate problem in our world, but this is not the issue which drove me to write this blog. What bothers me so much are those who prey on the fears of those ignorant people and purposely mislead them in order to make money. Not only are they deceiving people out of their money, but they are also propagating their ignorance and even promoting their fear and paranoia of the unknown. This slows progress and causes social policy to be dominated by fear rather than reason.
There are countless examples of this sort of preying on ignorance, but perhaps one of the most poignant examples of this are the many Q-Ray products. I’m sure you’ve seen their infomercials advertising their bracelets which promote wellness, optimize your own bio-energy and of course do not provide any explanation of how they work. The most confusing product I found on their website is the EMF Protection Chip (http://www.qray.ca/QRayCart/Product.aspx?sku=1201). These clips claim to protect your body from harmful EMF waves using bio-metals and PiRay Technology. Of course there are no such things as bio-metals, and Pi, the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle, has nothing to do EMF waves. The EMF waves they speak of are the electromagnetic field waves which propagate from anything with electric current or magnetism. You are constantly bombarded by them, not only from electronic devices, but from the many radio waves travelling through the air, microwaves coming from space, the Earth’s own magnetic field and even light. There has been no documented harm caused by these waves which we are normally exposed too (with the exception of putting your head in a microwave oven) nor could a $12.95 (plus S&H) chip prevent their propagation through your body.
People can believe whatever they want, and I feel much more sympathy than disdain for their ignorance, but it appals me to see people preying on them and promoting their paranoia and ignorance of our modern world. It’s the 21st century.
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OR you can simply make a tin foil hat to protect your brain from harmful electromagnetic waves. Cheaper and, I think, more stylish.
ReplyDeleteIt's so painfully true though, and if you slap a celebrity in front of it it's just that much worse (like Q-Ray's amazing D-List celebrities). Because of course if a Kenyan marathon runner in his 40s wears one, I should wear one too! It's no different than snake oil though, people have always been ignorant and others have always capitalized on it, eh?
ReplyDelete