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The manufacturer of a leading brand of painkiller has been accused of misleading customers in Australia. But how do people choose over-the-counter pain relief? There's a whole range of Nurofen products. There are Nurofen capsules, caplets and "meltlets".
When new drugs are put on the market, clinical trials determine whether they perform better than inactive pills known as "placebos". Research shows that over the last 25 years the difference in effectiveness between real drugs and these fake ones has narrowed - but more in the US than elsewhere.
Our obsession with celebrity culture is a result of our poorly adapted brains.
2013-06-26
quotation myth belief wishful thinking fame personality celebrity prestige attractiveness admiration social hierarchy status dominant advertising psychologyHe says "However, a conscious entity practicing science can only draw on its subjective experiences to form beliefs." This is only half true. Yes, you have to use your senses, but thereon you can draw on experiences of other people, you can also logically derive laws and suchlike. Moreover, he does not mention that science relies on repeatability of experiments. I can more or less agree with his conclusions (last paragraph) but there...
Get Religion For Your Brain Today! You'll Be Believing Stuff In No Time!
We're not driven only by emotions, of course—we also reason, deliberate. But reasoning comes later, works slower—and even then, it doesn't take place in an emotional vacuum. Rather, our quick-fire emotions can set us on a course of thinking that's highly biased, especially on topics we care a great deal about. ... Given the power of our prior beliefs to skew how we respond to new information, one thing is becoming clear: If...
2011-04-18
religion science belief unconscious brain thinking reason subconscious association memory rational bias free will manipulation truth psychology opinion junk science pseudoscience argument evidence philosophy Iraq politics persuasion irrational gossip misinformation misleading climate change creationism vaccine superstition advertisement marketing trustWhat aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a "religion for atheists" -- call it Atheism 2.0 -- that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence.
2011-07
Alain de Botton religion atheism video TED education belief ritual morality consolation psychology sermon repetition boredom time calendar philosophy story oratory church art cathedral museum love fear faith mosque temple propaganda manipulation collaboration community individual nature universe mystical virtue diversity prayer disagreementPhotographs of a mummified fairy supposedly found in Derbyshire have been revealed as an April Fool's prank.
2007-04-01
fairy mummy hoax belief superstition