For the "But whats the harm" of psuedoscience crowd...

[TZ]

Bomb Detecting’ Dowsing Rod Demonstrates Danger of Pseudoscience
The New York Times recently reported on the arrest of Jim McCormick, head of a British company that supplied a device called ADE 651s, which he claimed detects hidden bombs. At least 800 of the detectors were purchased by the Iraqi government, for up to $60,000 each.
The story is here: New York Times.com

The problem? They don’t work. The device has only one moving part, an antenna-like piece of metal that swivels freely, supposedly detecting explosive material. Examinations have shown no technology inside that could detect explosives. It’s a $60,000 dowsing rod.

(Dowsing rods, for those who don’t know, have been used for centuries by people who think they can detect water, gold, oil, or another substance. Unfortunately, dowsing has been scientifically tested and always failed.)

http://news.discovery.com/tech/bomb-detecting-dowsing-rod-demonstrates-danger-of-pseudoscience.html
I get tired of people claiming that psuedoscience is harmless and because of that should not be criticized....

[SheilaT]

1. I find it both hilarious and depressing

that supposedly sensible people (meaning government entities) fall for this stuff.

Some years back I recall seeing something on TV about schools that were buying some junk that was supposed to be able to detect drugs in student lockers, and the devices were the same sort of junk mentioned above.

[Warpy]

2. Bloated military budgets have to be spent

in order to justify a more bloated military budget the next year. Controlling vast sums of money is power, so the powerful are always looking to increase those sums.

They didn't investigate what those things were because they didn't care. They just had a pile of money to use up so they could demand more the next year. The fact that these bogus pieces of crap could have endangered troops in the field was irrelevant to them.

This is why military budgets here and there need to be cut. We need to force these men to think about what they're spending money on instead of seeing spending as an end in itself.

[SheilaT]

3. And of course the very same people

who justify the bloated military budgets, when objecting to increased funding for schools, will say you can't solve a problem by throwing money at it. And all they do is throw money around with far, far less oversight and rationality than the worst-run school system.

[Orrex]

4. All too common, alas

http://www.skepdic.com/essays/dowsingfordollars.html

http://www.skepdic.com/quadro.html

I hope that McCormick receives an extended jail sentence.

[onager]

5. One of my favorite examples...

More than 10 years later, this asshat's psychic tomfoolery is still causing financial problems in Southern California.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Citron

But the Wiki article doesn't mention this part:

If only our high government officials could put aside their darned ol' Western linear rationalism and get in touch with the metaphysical, like the leaders of Orange County, California, did!

Officials there were stunned last month when Matthew Raabe, the top assistant to former Orange County Treasurer Robert L. Citron, informed them that Citron had been basing the county's financial investment strategy on advice he was getting from an astrologer and a mail-order psychic.

You might recall that under Citron's stewardship, one of the richest counties in America lost $1.64 billion on risky investments in derivatives and ended up in bankruptcy. Citron pleaded guilty to fraud and misappropriation charges, but has yet to be sentenced.

http://www.ntskeptics.org/1996/1996april/april1996.htm

Citron did predict the future, sort of. His investments were supervised by Merrill-Lynch. Some M-L employees saw the iceberg coming, and wanted to stop Citron. They were outvoted because he was making too much money (for a while). Just as skeptics would be shouted down ten years later, during the subprime housing bubble.

[Q3JR4]

6. .....

Pseudoscience harm...

http://cectic.com/137.html

Q3JR4

[lazarus]

7. bookmarked

for use in future debates. Thanks.