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Counterknowledge: How We Surrendered to Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science and Fake History by: Damian Thompson List Price: £7.99 City Travel Guides Price: £5.49 You Save: £2.50 (31%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback EAN: 9781843546764 ISBN: 1843546760 Label: Atlantic Books Manufacturer: Atlantic Books Number Of Pages: 176 Publication Date: July 01, 2008 Publisher: Atlantic Books Studio: Atlantic Books Sales Rank: 16599 Related Items:
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 Rating:  - Forceful yet lightweightA good read but quite slight. Although I did agree with most of the author's arguments it was mostly because I was familiar with them already. I can't imagine that this would likely convince anyone who believes in 'alternative' notions of reality as it doesn't really examine them with any real rigour. I'm still looking for the definitive book on all things 'woo' and though this is not it, it's still a decent primer into the world of 'Counter-Knowledge'. Where the subject of this book -counter-knowledge- begins and ends I don't know and from the author's definition I'm still not entirely clear. Given the author's occupation as a writer for a christian publication, what defines orthodox knowledge for him may not chime ... Read More: Rating:  - Terrific Stuff!If the last Diana inquest bored you to tears, or you are sick of listening to crap 9/11 conspiracies, get hold of this brilliant book now. Conspiracy theories, along with quack medicine, fake history and bogus science, all form "Counterknowledge" - that is, `misinformation masquerading as fact.' The problem is huge, and Thompson powerfully argues that the 21st century faces a `pandemic of credulous thinking' when, conversely, our ability to evaluate claims made about science or history is better than ever before. With the arrival of the scientific enlightenment, ideas that no longer held their ground were banished to the fringes of society. Now, with internet communication, they have a larger following ... Read More: Rating:  - An odd combination of sneering and alarmism, containing numerous misconceptions and errors.Young-earth creationists in the US have built a museum containing mechanised tableaux showing dinosaurs and humans in Flintstone-style coexistence. `Alternative' therapies of no more medical value than sugar pills are available on the British National Health Service, with homoeopathic hospitals well-established and degree courses available in one of the new universities. In US academia, some `Afro-centric' historians play fast and loose with facts in their attempt to construct a distinctively `black' history which, according to at least one proponent, is teachable only by black people. Meanwhile, postmodernist literary and cultural theorists take it upon themselves to develop ill-conceived philosophical doctrines about the nature of truth and reality ... Read More: Rating: - A searing indictment of woolly thinkingThis book must be read by the people who very earnestly insist that you "be more open-minded". Yes, Princess Diana may have been assassinated on the orders of the British Royal family, who may be lizards in human skin - however this is unlikely, in fact extremely unlikely. This book is a testament to the power of logic and common sense. All the usual suspects in the conspiracy theory game are picked apart, bit by bit, and revealed to be the total and inveterate nonsense that they are. We need more books like this for the people whose minds are so open, their brains have fallen out. Rating: - Shooting fish in a barrelGenerally I am with Mr R A Davies who gave the book two stars, but perhaps that is a little harsh. Thompson is quite selective in his choice of targets, and treats them largely the same (despite his repeated points about what is and is not "counterknowledge"). That is, he attempts not only to oppose their arguments and their evidence but also to undermine their motives, and to treat them as charlatans. In most cases that may be legitimate, but not always. The blurb says he has a PhD in the sociology of religion from LSE (presumably supervised by David Martin?). I would have expected that someone who had worked in that very nuanced area, which poses interesting questions about the validity of knowledge, to have been able to ... Read More: |
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