Sunday, March 18, 2007

I did the B-O-P Bop! P-I-L-L-S! Bop pills!

Okay, so we've covered Republicans, Commies, and academics Versus Science. Badscience talks this week about yet another group that seems to be fighting valiently against the scientific method: pharmaceutical drug reps. Do you ever wonder how they produce so many pills that erase all aspects of emotional life that are unpleasant and then get those pills approved by scientists and featured on news programs? What's strange is that the TV producers love the loopier stories so much they're often willing to pay for the research. This way the companies are happy, and the TV news can announce nonsense like "Researchers have found that Chocolate can make you smarter!" At any rate, this story deals with a pill that is supposed to make you smarter (ah, but can it give me a smarter erection?), and why the research into that pill was largely crap, and why the media did a special report on that crappy research.

The author, Ben Goldacre notes that this isn't just creepy in that truth shouldn't be manipulated in order to make money, but also: "There is a far greater issue at stake here, beyond even the misrepresentation of the scientific method by the media: the nation’s children are being systematically re-educated to believe that they need to take pills every day to lead a normal, happy, productive life."

I think the key word in all of these "Take your Soma, kids" stories is 'productive'. If you want to question the warping of reality and of human existence by well, everyone under the sun, start by questioning that word.

No comments: