It Sounds Scientific, So Why Isn’t That Good Enough?
October 5, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
“Stem cells. Gene therapy. Immune protection.”
This is the first line of an article about…….what do you think? The latest treatments for autism?
The article’s about skin care products. Products that claim to provide “‘cellular level cleansing’” (shades of autism detox) and that have “medical-sounding” names starting with “bio-, micro- and pro-”: There’s:
“biomolecular” eye cream; “microtechnology bio active” foundation; “pro-collagen” serum; “microsmoothing” face serum; and a “bio-stimulating” night cream with “microlift.
The article appeared in the October 1st New York Times and certainly it’s nothing new that cosmetics company have used “multisyllabic pharmacological-sounding words” to describe the ingredients in their products, but “now market researchers are reporting a spate of face-cream labels that borrow terminology from popular science.”
Consider also these names for products: BioCore Lipid Enzyme, Pro DHA, Pro EFA, Super Pro-Bio 75B. These are all products available via Kirkman Labs, many of whose products are part of biomedical treatments regimens for autistic children. From oxalates” to “Herbathione Formula Tincture” and “AFP-Peptizyde, Zyme Prime, and No-Fenol“—-sometimes it seems that a treatment won’t be used unless it’s dressed up in some scientific-sounding name.
And guess what the next trend in skin care products might be, according to the New York Times?
Guess the skin care industry is a few steps behind discussions of autism causation and treatment.
A classic sign of pseudoscience is use of “sciency” sounding–but really meaningless, sometimes hilariously so–terminology.
“…the more scientific-type language employed, the more ‘plausible’ it appears to be. However, all this really accomplishes is confusion…”
What is pseudoscience?
UK Skeptics
Guess we can start talking about the “sciency-ness” of something.
The classic example of following the form but not having the content is what Feynman called “cargo cult science”.
http ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_science
(link disabled so comment would post)
As a side note, it is NO that triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, so my NO/NOx bacteria actually do stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis, and they can be used as a cosmetic.