Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

leafshaker t1_j9ex6hp wrote

Reply to comment by anachroneironaut in Are there any books that you actually would want to see figuratively or literally burned? by [deleted]

I totally agree. I'm an organic farmer and naturalist, so I'm pretty open about this stuff. That said, I have several friends who have really bought into this stuff. It's so hard to talk them out of it without pushing them further away.

The appeal to nature fallacy is a strong one. It's so sad to see people gamble with their health, and infuriating that publishers are profiting off this. I'm sure some of these authors are genuine, but some must be writing in bad faith, especially those with scientific training.

5

anachroneironaut t1_j9ezrdu wrote

There is a lot of interesting research and experience about how positive thinking and holistic views and also some treatments influence disease progress and prognosis. It can work well together with traditional/conventional medicine. Or by all means, solely in some cases. But it needs to be an informed decision not influenced by the profit hunger of someone else.

I think following the money can be very elucidating. Cui bono? Just like personal finance books written by people who only got rich writing personal finance books. Adding cancer to it just makes it even more heartbreaking.

2

leafshaker t1_j9f2jpc wrote

Absolutely! It's a shame that so many boosters for alternative medicine pair it with distrust of conventional medicine. They are often preying on people's bad experiences with the medical industry, and neglect to mention that some of these alternatives are also billion dollar industries!

In the theme of this thread, all those books written in bad faith would be my nomination, though it's impossible to screen for that.

4

anachroneironaut t1_j9f7yzc wrote

Despite some bad experiences, many people I encounter seem to reason like you and I. This is very good, I think.

“In bad faith” was a good and succinct collective descriptor for books I think deserve to be burnt (though as you conclude, impossible to screen for). I know the expression well, though I did not think of it (English as second language).

2