Debunking Denialism Notepad

Debunking Denialism is a website that refutes pseudoscience and quackery with reason and evidence. This notepad features unfiltered extra material, links and updates. Follow on Facebook and Twitter.

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How can you tell if an image you find online is genuine or just a clever fake? Learn how to debunk viral images with the help of reverse image search and digital forensics. Read more at Fact-Checking Photos in 4 Easy Steps.

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A new initiative to fight fake news have been launched by the founder of Wikipedia. The idea is to combine professional journalists with the community efforts known from the Wikipedia. It will be freely available and not funded by ads to avoid low quality clickbait. It will be funded by membership subscriptions. How will this work and what will it mean for scientific skepticism and in the context of the misinformation wars? Wikitribune: New Initiative to Fight Fake News

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Standard Homeopathic Company waited three months to recall their homeopathic teething tablets that the FDA were found contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of belladonna and so large differences between batches that their manufacturing process was likely highly flawwed. Homeopathic Company Finally Recalls Teething Products Containing Belladonna

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Some spammers attempt to exploit vulnerable people with serious medical conditions or relationship problems by tryingt to fool them into buying various services from alleged spell casters. In reality, these are scammerrs who will take large sums of money for doing nothing at all. This article deconstructs a common bait used by these spammers and offers a few red flags to keep in mind when navigating the complexities of the Internet. Spell Casting Will Not Get Your Husband Back

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Best refutation of “hidden cancer cure” conspiracy theories ever

One of the most common tropes pushed by proponents of alternative medicine is that large, multinational pharmaceutical corporations have already found "the cure" for cancer, but are secretly hiding it just to make money from treatments. Of course, cancer is not one disease, but an umbrella term for a class of diseases and so there will probably never be a treatment that cures all forms of cancer. Yet this has not stopped conspiracy theorists from spewing their pseudoscientific narrative. The article 10 Reasons Why Hidden Cancer Cure Conspiracy Theories Fail does a fantastic job grinding the "hidden cancer cure" nonsense into the ground. It looks at everything from economics to psychology with several empirical examples. Read it and spread it wildly.

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Anti-vaccine activists base their views on vaccines on pseudoscientific propaganda spread through social media like YouTube videos, conspiracy blogs and Facebook groups. Here is a detailed scientific refutation to 16 common anti-vaccine claims that keeps getting mindlessly repeated over and over again despite the fact that they have been refuted by scientific evidence. Topics include research funding, vaccine adjuvants and lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. Debunking "The Pro-Vax Argument Lost Me When"

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Reviewing yet another episode of the television series "Born in the Wild" that feature extreme homebirths. This time the episode is about a mother who thinks that giving birth outside in the coldness of winter would be "cool". Unfortunately, she develops a postpartum hemorrhage. A Scientific Skeptic Watches “Born in the Wild” (North Dakota Episode)

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PureCare Herbal Cream is another quack product that has been found by health regulators to be contaminated by prescription medication. In particular, the cream is marketed for use on children who has certain skin conditions, and the prescription medication is a steroid.

It is essentially a tacit admission that their products are so bad that to get any beneficial effect, you have to stuff real medicine in it while no one is looking.

PureCare Herbal Cream Found Contaminated by Prescription Steroids

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When the evidence fails them, quacks often fall back on claiming that their fake treatments might just be placebo, but that placebo somehow has mysteriously powerful mind-body effect that can cure diseases.

In reality, placebo effects are weak, goes away pretty rapidly and has very little impact on objective measures. "Placebo medicine" is ineffective, unethical, deceptive and harmful pseudoscience.

Five Reasons Why “Placebo Medicine” is Bullshit

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Laboratory and epidemiological studies conclusively demonstrate that condoms, when used consistenctly and correctly, are highly effective against getting HIV. Use a condom and do not fall for the dangerous pseudoscience pushed by HIV/AIDS denialists.

Condoms protect against HIV transmission

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Someone sent in a message suggesting that all agricultural pesticides should be banned as a method to fight government corruption in India.

However, this would have severe consequences for farmers and not be an effective way to fight corruption. Instead, corruption should be fought directly, and GMOs should be used by farmers to reduce reliance on pesticides.

Mailbag: Ban All Agricultural Pesticides?

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Skeptics are often given the rhetorical retort "What's the harm?" when it comes to pseudoscientific quackery.

Quacks blind three women with a fake "stem cell" injections into the eyeballs. This is just one of thousands and thousands of cases of harm.

Fake "Stem Cell" Injections Blind Three Women

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The FTC shuts down another weight-loss scam. What about the other thousands and thousands of other scams? Sure, this is just one case, but in the endless struggle against pseudoscientific quackery, we must cherish all victories even if they seem small.

FTC Shuts Down Fake Weight-Loss Scam and Impose 1.3 Million USD Fine

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"How did it feel to go from a few articles per month to writing one per weekday?"

At first, it was a bit daunting. Would I have enough material to be able to retain the same amount of material and quality per article?

After doing it for a few weeks, I came to realize that there is so much pseudoscientific nonsense out there that there will never come a time when you are stuck without something new and original to write about.

Just monitoring the news and recent developments provides more than enough material. Together with the possibility of writing standalone posts about some particular pseudoscience or claim not tied to news, this is not an issue.

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Homeopathy is bullshit.

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Because pseudosciences are not based on reason or evidence, they are effectively a cesspool for nonsense and inconsistencies.

Here are some of the most hilarious contradictions, including promoting hidden cancer cure conspiracy theories, while at the same time opposing vaccines that can prevent some forms of cancer.

Six Hilarious Pseudoscience Contradictions