Rate this book

Counterknowledge (2008)

by Damian Thompson(Favorite Author)

3.22 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1843546752 (ISBN13: 9781843546757)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Atlantic

review 1: I was going to give this book 1 star, but it did make me think and got my "dander up" so for that reason i gave it 2. I found myself a little angry over all the "ridiculous, batty, ludicrous, and horseshit": terms he used to describe Mormonism, creation theory, Scientology, and alien abductions. The author rants about all this and more, but never really quite puts forth "evidence" backing up his ways of thinking. His obvious disdain for the public being able to think/believe what we want, floored me as I believe free-thinking is why we now know the world isnt flat, or that Galileo turned out to be right. If no one was allowed to free-think, we may very well live under a monarchy. I do understand some of what he said as being dangerous; the idea that some people believe tha... moret there isnt a link betwee HIV and AIDS is scary or that we can beat or alter HIV with Vitamin C. In the end the author did nothing to sway my already existing opinions about anything he discussed, just as I am unlikely to convert to Mormonism after reading The Book of Mormon.
review 2: Having had time to digest this book, I think a lot of people's reviews on this book miss the point. Read the subtitle again: "How We Surrendered To Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science And Fake History."Notice the subtitle is not "How to Refute Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science And Fake History" or "How to Stop Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science And Fake History.""Counterknowledge" does not dive deep into refuting pseudoscience, pseudohistory, and what not. How could it, coming in at about 160 pages, including bibliography? Instead, "Counterknowledge" just gives you context to understand some of the 'why' people get taken in by these crazy ideas.Admittedly, this book's tone could be categorized as alarmist, but I think that may not be entirely uncalled for. I don't think he wrote this book to convert anyone; I think he wrote it to be a quick read to raise awareness to a growing problem: pseudoscience, complementary and alternative medicine, and pseudohistory making inroads, and thus corrupting, science, medicine, and history.If you look at this book as the author's way of sounding the warning bells, I think it is an excellent book. less

Download links for: Counterknowledge

Advertising