Alan Dove misunderstands ME/CFS patients

[floydguy]

You are accepting a 'hat' that Dove isn't offering you to 'wear'. The article happens to include in its examples of on-line cultism, a belief about CFS causation, but Dove hasn't said anything generic about M.E/CFS affected people. What he has very succinctly identified is the pervasive dangers of succumbing to the group think of, in his suggested terminology, Forum Faiths, or E-tribes, or Chatroom Counterfactuals. Of course I'm bound to support Dove given a very strong incentive to confirmation bias.

IVI

The same can be said of those hanging out at bad science, pseudoscience, quackwatch, etc. If he was being intellectually honest he would provide that perspective as well. But I suppose it's okay to drink the kool aide if you go to those places?

You do realize that study in your link is about "chronic illness" and not CFS?

 

[justinreilly]

Alan Dove is someone who profits from the psych lobby BS about CFS. His wife is psychiatrist specializing in ""Psychosomatic Medicine."

He has an extremely over inflated view of his understanding of CFS. On TWIV several months ago, he stated that he was a medical journalist who was around during the CDC's $10 million "misappropriation" scandal. Dove stated that there were questions about whether or not the money was ever really "misdirected." He claimed that is was nothing more than an unproven allegation. Bill Reeves didn't even go that far.

Dove is one step this side of ERV and without Racaniello (or his wife's income) he'd most likely be living on the street.

On the surface it appears as though he spends his days blogging and tweeting about science but to me his posts seem to be a bit sad as the theme is often more about why people don't appreciate his efforts to save them from themselves (it's a recurring theme). A bit of a messiah complex. I'd suggest that he ask his wife for a good referral but I haven't read (or heard) anything from him to indicate that he has that kind of self awareness.

Not worth much more forum space than that.

I agree.

Can't believe he claims to be a 'journalist' and denies the misappropriation.

I like Racianello. I think he does a good thing promoting science on his site. He seems mostly to be a nice guy and unbiased. Racianello may not want to ban a guy from his show since he's a nice guy and he's happy when people come on his show to promote science, but he's got to realize that emotional retards with PhDs are a dime a dozen and not going to help anyone get interested in science and just flush that POS Dove.

 

[justinreilly]

The same can be said of those hanging out at bad science, pseudoscience, quackwatch, etc. If he was being intellectually honest he would provide that perspective as well. But I suppose it's okay to drink the kool aide if you go to those places?

Right.......

 

[currer]

I must be slow, but I thought "ERV" was some kind of joke - "endogenous retrovirus".
As in "Dove is one step this side of ERV" ie. primitive.

But she's some blogger, right?

 

[WillowJ]

yes, she's a blogger and her blog and online name is ERV for endogenous retrovirus (so you got that part right)

 

[*GG*]

what Alan does not express -- and Vincent Racaniello does -- is compassion for very sick people. instead of expressing that it's sad that in an incredibly wealthy country like the United States, there are few medical options, if any, for these very sick and desperate patients.
[/I]

Not sure what country you are in, but are there more medical options in other countries? And in case you missed it, this country is broke and going down the tubes, perhaps the new health care law will help, but some how I doubt that! Has the US govt really helped or hurt our cause?

Our debt is equal to our output in a year, doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize how hard of a hole that is to dig out of!

GG