#859: Amy Lansky

Amy Lansky is a homeopath and author of Impossible Cure: the Promise of Homeopathy, which she promptly fails to deliver. Originally, Lansky was a computer scientist, but she transitioned to homeopathy after using it to “cure her son of Autism.” She explained it thusly: “As a scientist, I recognize that homeopathy is implausible. But I've seen it cure my son,” which is evidence that Lansky never had a clue about scientific reasoning or how evidence actually works to begin with. Her book has subsequently become a textbook used by homeopathy diploma mills, presumably exactly because of Lansky’s problem with distinguishing evidence from anecdotes based on personal experience.

Lansky has been involved in numerous activities and organizations to promote homeopathy, among most notable being her broadcasting a monthly Internet radio show on Autism One called “There's Hope With Homeopathy” – this one is notable, since it illustrates Lansky’s close ties with the anti-vaccination movement; and indeed, Lansky is a regular at antivaxx quackfest seminars – and on the executive board of the National Center for Homeopathy. She is, however, probably most famous for being one of Joe Mercola’s go-to people regarding homeopathy. Indeed, Mercola published Lansky’s article “Could this ‘forbidden’ Medicine Eliminate the Need for Drugs?” in favor of her cherished alchemist elixirs, an article so full of idiocy, lack of knowledge and understanding, fallacies, and conspiracy mongering that it at least should completely undermine any measure Mercola makes to appear respectable (though it won’t do that in the eyes of his fans, of course, and from the point of view of reality it was an impossible task to begin with).

Diagnosis: One of the most influential pushers of one of the most idiotic strains of crackpottery there is. The fact that it never goes away is pretty illuminating with respect to how hard critical thinking really is.