Quantum Stupidity
Written by
Homeopathy with Dr. Werner
Dr Werner is a homeopath and here she claims that the latest discoveries in science prove homeopathy. Unfortunately, all her video proves is how staggeringly ignorant she is about science.
She confuses mass with density; she gets Einstein’s equation wrong; she thinks that Stephen Hawkings (sic) thought up String Theory (wrong); she says that String Theory means that the universe is full of “energetic particles shaped like U-ies” (eh…?); that electrons, neutrons etc are pure energy (wrong); that disease is the “transformation of our energy state into something different” (AARRRGHHH…..) and so on. Her view is that homeopathy is all about vibrations; we are vibrations, the universe is all vibrations; energy is vibrations; therefore homeopathy is true! (She uses the word “vibrations” in practically every sentence; I wanted to tell her “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”)
Why do these New Age types think they can talk about a science subject when they so obviously haven’t even bothered to read a few Wikipedia articles on the topic? Maybe they think that being such tremendously spiritual beings, in touch with angels and Higher Selves, qualify them to talk knowledgeably about anything? Or do they simply grab onto anything that sounds a bit like it might validate their beliefs and not bother to find out if it actually does or not?
About the only science topic she didn’t drag in to her swamp of ignorance was quantum physics – she didn’t mention the word “quantum” at all, as far as I could tell. Which is extremely unusual – quantum science is hailed by New Agers as proving that anything magical or paranormal really exists. Telepathy, time travel, clairvoyance, past lives – it’s all “proved” by quantum physics! When you ask them for specific explanations, they burble on about Heisenberg proving that people can affect things without touching them and Schrödinger proving that cats can exist in two places at once…. Thyese people are so dammed ignorant that they don’t even know they’re ignorant! Worse, the majority of them aren’t (in my experience) in the least interested in becoming less ignorant. That means having to think about things, when it’s so much easier to run after the pretty coloured balls of belief…..
Every New Age spewing of “quantum” this and “quantum” that makes me think of Star Trek scripts. Apparently, whenever the scriptwriters have a scene involving anything technical or scientific, they insert “tech” into the scripts, thusly:
La Forge: “Captain, the tech is overteching.”
Picard: “Well, route the auxiliary tech to the tech, Mr. La Forge.”
La Forge: “No, Captain, I’ve tried to tech the tech, and it won’t work.”
Picard: “Well, then we’re doomed.”
and then have some hapless science consultant insert meaningless but plausible-sounding science-y words in place of “tech”.
So what I think the NA idiots should do is to use some other word instead of “quantum” (or any other actual science term). Since they have no understanding of it and are simply misusing it as an allcompassing buzzword that means anything they want it to mean (just like their Victorian counterparts with “vitalism” and “magnetism”), why don’t they use some meaningless word? Like, for instance phlebotinum, which can be invoked to explain any damm thing they like. Then the rest of us can get on with our science.
ETA (28th October): I’ve just found this transcript of Dr Werner’s very fine b*ll*cks; it’s even better (or worse) in print.