The Enemies of Reason
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''The Enemies of Reason'' is a two-part
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist
Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...
, in which he seeks to expose "those areas of belief that exist without scientific proof, yet manage to hold the nation under their spell", including
mediumship Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or ghost, spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship o ...
,
acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientifi ...
and
psychokinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
. The documentary was first broadcast on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
in the UK, styled as a loose successor to Dawkins' documentary of the previous year, ''
The Root of All Evil? ''The Root of All Evil?'', later retitled ''The God Delusion'', is a television documentary written and presented by Richard Dawkins in which he argues that humanity would be better off without religion or belief in God. The documentary was ...
'', as seen through the incorporation of brief clips from said documentary during the introduction of the first part by Dawkins. The first part aired 13 August 2007 and the second on 20 August 2007. It includes interviews with Steve Fuller,
Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternati ...
,
Satish Kumar Satish Kumar (born 9 August 1936) is an Indian British activist and speaker. He has been a Jainism, Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist.'' ''Now living in England, Kumar is founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher ...
, and
Derren Brown Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English mentalist, illusionist, painter, and author. He began performing in 1992, making his television debut with ''Derren Brown: Mind Control'' in 2000, and has since produced several more shows fo ...
.


Episode 1: Slaves to Superstition

Dawkins points to some of science’s achievements and describes it as freeing most people from superstition and dogma. Picking up from his superstition-reason distinction in ''The Root of All Evil?'' (while recycling some footage from it), he then says reason is facing an "epidemic of superstition" that "impoverishes our culture" and introduces gurus that persuade us "to run away from reality". He calls the present day dangerous times. He returns to science’s achievements, including the fact that, by extending people's lifespan, it helps them to take more advantage of life. He turns his attention to astrology, which he criticizes for stereotyping without evidence. Having put astrology to the test and referred to larger-scale experiments, he then briefly describes the mechanics of astronomy, and then expresses frustration that 50% of the UK population – more than are members of one religion – believe in the paranormal. He then visits a
psychic medium Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...
, Simon Goodfellow, who makes statements Dawkins interprets as referring to retirement – which most people his age would soon be going in for but not Dawkins. Cornell then finds himself in contradiction over whether or not the "spirit G", who allegedly communicates with him, is Dawkins's family member. Cornell next tries suggesting this spirit was in the military – again, typical of deceased relatives of people Dawkins’s age, but not of Dawkins. Cornell finishes with several explanations of why his powers might not always work, but Dawkins insists extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and then talks to the sceptical
Derren Brown Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English mentalist, illusionist, painter, and author. He began performing in 1992, making his television debut with ''Derren Brown: Mind Control'' in 2000, and has since produced several more shows fo ...
about cold reading, including misleading tricks it uses. In another notable segment Dawkins visits a psychic for £50 who said she could hear or see his father "on the other side." Dawkins let the woman do the reading and at the end informed her that his father is alive, and he visits him frequently. Dawkins now visits a
spiritualist church A spiritualist church is a church affiliated with the informal spiritualist movement which began in the United States in the 1840s. Spiritualist churches are now found around the world, but are most common in English-speaking countries, while in L ...
, and makes several criticisms of the alleged evidence of communication with the dead by medium Craig Hamilton-Parker, and adds that many may become obsessed with such performances and find it difficult to get over the loss of loved ones, adding that most people present are regulars. Hamilton-Parker says his psychic powers have been "proven to me against my rationality". Dawkins ends his study of
séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...
s by noting the arguments are based on untestable, private, subjective anecdotes, and compares this to religion. Dawkins now describes the history of scientific knowledge of echolocation, and points to the cumulative build-up of corroborating evidence for scientific explanations of the phenomena. He visits psychologist
Chris French Christopher Charles French (born 1956) is a British psychologist specialising in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences, cognition and emotion. He is the head of the University of London's anomalistic Psychology Research Unit and ...
, who is performing a
double-blind In a blind or blinded experiment, information which may influence the participants of the experiment is withheld until after the experiment is complete. Good blinding can reduce or eliminate experimental biases that arise from a participants' expec ...
test of
dowsing Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations (radiesthesia),As translated from one preface of the Kassel experiments, "roughly 10,000 active dowsers in Ge ...
. None of the dowsers perform better, in a statistically significant sense, than is expectable by chance alone. While the dowsers are surprised, Dawkins and French note that their confidence is untouched, and they prefer explanations (French states some may call them excuses) that retain the hypothesis that they have paranormal dowsing powers. Dawkins next attempts his own explanation of belief in the paranormal in a combination of evolutionary and psychological terms, saying: "we don’t want to believe things just happen", and he suggests superstition is just the sort of animal error committed by Skinner’s pigeons. Dawkins now interviews
Satish Kumar Satish Kumar (born 9 August 1936) is an Indian British activist and speaker. He has been a Jainism, Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist.'' ''Now living in England, Kumar is founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher ...
about ideas such as 'treeness' and 'rockness'. Dawkins points out that it is all evidence-free assertion. He responds to the "science is bleak" argument by saying that the world is so wonderful that the word 'mundane' has a mismatched meaning and etymology. He then complains about the long-term fall in the number of students taking chemistry and physics at A-level. He suggests this is partly because of the UK education system encouraging students to value personal feeling over evidence and reason. He interviews the relativist Steve Fuller and criticises him for being "so close to being right but ... damn wrong". Fuller points out that different people can interpret the same evidence differently. Fuller also points out the benefits of the Internet, and Dawkins agrees, but then turns to the dangers it poses in causing the spread of fabricated statements. He also points to the fact that the MMR vaccine scandal involved an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory about the UK government. Dawkins concludes that reason "built the modern world. It is a precious but fragile thing".


Episode 2: The Irrational Health Service

Richard Dawkins examines the growing suspicion the public has for science-based medicine, despite its track record of successes like the
germ theory of disease The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade h ...
, vaccines, antibiotics and increased lifespan. He notes a fifth of British children are currently not immunised against
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
,
mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...
and
rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...
, attributing it to fears arising from a highly controversial report linking the vaccine with
autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
. Dawkins criticizes the growing field of
alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
which does not pass the same objective and statistical rigour as scientifically derived treatments using controlled double-blind studies. Without verifiable evidence, alternative therapies must rely on biased anecdotes and word of mouth to perpetuate. Dawkins observes these treatments have fanciful rationales and rituals behind them, with many alternative treatments employing
pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...
jargon such as "energy", "vibration" or "quantum theory" to give themselves greater credence to patients.
Homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
is singled out as an example of a mainstream alternative medicine that has public support and taxpayer funding through the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
. Dawkins explains that the rationale behind it is unfounded and demonstrates that the magnitude of dilution required is so great the patient is practically imbibing pure water. This is illustrated by the typical homeopathic dilution of 30C (1:10030, that is thirty steps of dilution by 1% each time), which requires a drop of active ingredient dissolved in a body of water greater than the whole ocean. Dawkins cites a 2005 meta-analysis by ''
The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' that concludes that homeopathy has no consistently demonstrable effect on health.Shang, Aijing; Karin Huwiler-Müntener, Linda Nartey,
Peter Jüni Peter Jüni is a Swiss physician, general internist, and epidemiologist based in England. He was previously both a member of, and the scientific director of, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, and also a director of a research centr ...
, Stephan Dörig, Jonathan A C Stern & Daniel Pewsner (2005-08-17), "Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy." ''The Lancet'' 366: 726-732
Dawkins hypothesises that practitioners of alternative medicine spend longer time than regular doctors on their patients when attending to them. An interview with Professor
Nicholas Humphrey Nicholas Keynes Humphrey (born 27 March 1943) is an English neuropsychologist based in Cambridge, known for his work on evolution of primate intelligence and consciousness. He studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey in Rwanda; he was the fi ...
suggests that this empathic attention may cause a placebo effect in patients, but this is not a substitute for conventional science-based medicine. The episode concludes with Dawkins making an appeal to skeptical, rational inquiry based on evidence, claiming "reason has liberated us from superstition and given us centuries of progress. We abandon it at our peril."


References


External links

* In the media: ''
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'':
Richard Dawkins and the New Age fakersThe gullible age
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'':
New age therapies cause 'retreat from reason'Unreasonably superstitious – Michael Deacon talks to Richard Dawkins
''
Guardian Unlimited TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...
'':
Screen Burn
by
Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enemies of Reason, The 2007 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings 2000s British documentary television series Channel 4 documentaries Works by Richard Dawkins English-language television shows Scientific skepticism mass media