Wednesday, May 5, 2010

#1: Mike Adams


Up first in the Encyclopedia of American Loons we have Mike Adams, a.k.a. “The Health Ranger”.

Adams runs the website NaturalNews.com, one of the most disturbing cesspits of quackery on the net. He is a fierce opponent of science and evidence-based medicine, providing long screeds about the danger of conventional medicine and against skepticism based on confirmation bias, misleading vividness, paranoia and conspiracy theories. He has absolutely no understanding of either science or critical thinking (complete inability to recognize fallacies or bias). He is also a proponent of every imaginable alternative treatment.

He is also a 9/11 troofer.

For examples of his antics, you can read about his “takedown” of Obamacare here: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/03/mike_adams_takes_on_obama_care_with_hila.php

And also here:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/04/mike_adams_10_biggest_lies_about_health.php.

A truly stunning case of paranoia and stupidity here:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/05/mike_adams_brings_home_the_crazy_over_th.php

A scintillating display of ignorance, stupidity and self-unawareness here:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/10/mike_adams_evaporates_yet_another_of_my.php

and here:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/01/sometimes_i_think_we_break_the.php

Mike Adams, a pyromaniac in a field of strawmen:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/01/a_pyromaniac_in_a_field_of_straw_man_or.php

Diagnosis: Complete loon, flamingly stupid, extremely paranoid, a zealot and a fraud; his influence is probably limited but given just a small base of followers he could wreak some havoc.

(this one is probably a different Mike Adams, but one that deserves a footnote in our lexicon in any case: http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2006/08/mike_adams_and_the_shape_of_th.php - this latter guy might or might not be identical to this one: http://blogs.salon.com/0002874/2004/12/01.html#a1310; this means that there are most likely at least two, possibly three, wildly crazy Mike Adamses out there, at least two of which are 9/11 troofers).
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11 comments:

  1. He's branching out. Or whatever. He may just be the most insane, confirmation bias- and Dunning-Kruger inflicted idiot in the US (together with Andy Schlafly). We can't keep track of his antics; maybe rationalwiki will. It's relatively predictable where you'll end up when your starting axiom is "everyone who disagrees with the conclusions I reach by wishful thinking must be in a conspiracy against me".

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  2. Paying continuous attention to the lunacy of Mike Adams would be slightly to much, but I'll link this one to sort of provide a summary update of what he's up to.

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  3. As mentioned, keeping track of Adams is a full time job, so we'll only chime in now and again. There's nothing out of the ordinary with this story, but that fact is really what makes it so bad.

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  4. A good piece on Adams's anti-science here.

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  5. Mike Adams discusses the coming zombie apocalypse here, in one of the most astoundingly stupid pieces of woo-motivated denialism ever penned. It is also discussed here.

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  6. Oh wow, that is awesome. I think I just became a Mike Adams fan.

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  7. Mike Adams weighs in on the Colorado shootings. And yes, we are talking Nancy Luft-levels of crazy here.

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  9. I suppose we are obliged to report on Adams's Piers Morgan ramblings as well, though it is less tempting to try to unravel the crazy.

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  10. Ah ... here he actually manages to outdo himself. Which takes some effort.

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