When “science” and orchestrated deception work hand in hand –
PT Barnum famously said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
When it comes to selling fear and doubt it’s an opportunistic process to exploit the unsophisticated lay public with junk science and take them for fools.
Junk science describes so-called scientific information that is not evidence-based, poorly designed and analyzed (despite being peer-reviewed) and only reinforces preconceived notions and biases. Regrettably, in addition to the endless financial conflicts-of-interest, many scientific and medical studies are not only glaring examples of junk science but are commonly politicized to support ideologies and polarizing agendas. A rot that has also tainted government agencies and the American regulatory and oversight apparatus.
Processing this mass infusion of junk science for human consumption are the few who control the narrative as well as its flow into circles of influence. A poisonous refining and delivery process that easily turns gullible viewers and readers into “experts” and ambassadors for the viral spread of this repurposed scientific propaganda. Adding fuel to the firestorm of viewpoints are the opportunists, the realignment brigade lurking in the courts of public opinion and the few masked provocateurs who have hijacked this waste to promote causes. Tools of our society that normally provide great benefits but are often now turned against us to replace fact with fiction, control the mind and hinder truth-seeking. Never mind that this tsunami of opinions based upon zero knowledge broadcasts only an embarrassing ignorance. Shamefully, those who can easily spot junk science and deceit have been corralled and silenced while those who know right from wrong have been spineless and failed to stand up to the torrent of blatant distortions and exaggerations.
Because junk science is unable to generate reproducible and irrefutable facts it can never bring about agreement on what has been factually established. Not only is there an absence of critical thinking but the stupefying use of junk science invariably leads to appalling patchworks of inconsistent “rules” as well as conflicting and unhelpful public health directives. A circus where falsehoods are massaged further by a few shameless power-hungry players, given a bogus stamp of authority and unfounded legal weight. Capitalizing on this corruption are the empowered penalty-chasers and snitches harassing the public as they still do in oppressive regimes nearby.
Junk science simply underscores intellectual dishonesty. Commonly, its production is more about a perverse culture of deception and or, division and control masquerading as knowledge and “protective measures”. The ripple-effect from this toxic mix of bad science, disinformation and the noxious promotion of fear-based “news” is panic and economic vandalism. A nasty boil up where the misinformed dominate the uninformed to torpedo the welfare, aspirations and opportunities of wide swaths of our communities as well as future generations. Surprisingly, an easy and obvious antidote to the chaos, “guided thinking” and robbery of humanity is the precision medicine of intellectual honesty.
Read more.
Barrett, S., and Jarvis, W., “The Health Robbers”.
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124
https://undark.org/2020/06/11/john-ioannidis-politicization/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/higher-ed-and-the-fragmentation-of-america-11595865575
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-captive-mind-and-americas-resegregation-11596222112