What's the harm? - The Skeptic's Dictionary

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="0;url=http://skepdic.com/refuge/harmarchive.html"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_style/style.css" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="../s1.ico">  <title>What's the harm? - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com</title> </head> <body> <div class="container"> <div class="header"> <div class="logo"> <a href="http://skepdic.com/"> <img src="../_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" /></a> <br> 漏 Copyright 1994-2008 <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert T. Carroll</a> </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="../_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/recent.html">What's New?</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticrypto.html">Cryptozoology</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialien.html">ETs & UFOs</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tifraud.html">Frauds, Hoaxes, Conspiracies</a></li> <li><a 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align="left"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><a href="http://www.masskids.org/dbre/dbre_2.html"> Death By Religious Exemption</a> - A Policy Report on the Need for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to Require Repeal of Religious Exemptions to Medical Care for Children</font></b></li> <li> <p align="left"> <b> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <a href="http://www.editoreric.com/skeptics/skepticism.html">Eric MacMillan</a> - click on "What's the Harm?"</font></b></li> </ul>  </li> </ul> </div> <div class="content"> <div class="it"> <h2>From Abracadabra to Zombies<span class="small"> </span></h2> <ul class="alphabet"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#A">a</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#B">b</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#C">c</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#D">d</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#E">e</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#F">f</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#G">g</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#H">h</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#I">i</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#J">j</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#K">k</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#L">l</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#M">m</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#N">n</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#O">o</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#P">p</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Q">q</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#R">r</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#S">s</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#T">t</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#U">u</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#V">v</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#W">w</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#X">x</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Y">y</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1>redirecting to the archive. . . .<br>  </h1> <webContent><h1> <strong> <font face="Arial">What's the harm?</font><font face="Arial" color="#000040"> </font> </strong> </h1> <p><font size="2" color="#006699">These links and comments illustrate the harm done by occult, paranormal, pseudoscientific, and supernatural beliefs. The harm may be tangible and easily documented: physical, financial, or interpersonal. </font></p> </div> <p align="center"> <i><b><font size="2" color="#006699">....you are being redirected to the latest posting....</font></b></i></p> <p> </p> <p><font size="2"></font></font></p> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <br> <p align="center"><br>  </p> <p align="center"> <font size="3">* </font><font size="2"> <a href="http://www.americares.org/">AmeriCares</a></font><font size="3"> *</font></p> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <img src="../_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <h2 align="center"> <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/skepticshop.html">The Skeptic's Shop</a></h2> <div class="center"> <a href="http://skepdic.com/orderinfo.html"> <img src="../_images/book_01.jpg" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" border="0" width="140" height="171" /></a> <br /> <a href="http://skepdic.com/orderinfo.html">Ordering information</a><br> <br> <br /> <a href="http://skepdic.com/ctinfo.html"> <img src="../_images/book_02.jpg" alt="Becoming a Critical Thinker" border="0" width="140" height="171" /></a> </div> <ul class="nav_3"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/biblio.html">The Skeptic's Bookstore</a></li> <li> <a href="http://www.StopSylviaBrowne.com"> <img style="border:0px none;width:84px;height:40px" src="http://www.StopSylviaBrowne.com/shared/images/ssb_link_84x40.jpg" alt="Stop Sylvia Browne!"></a></li> </ul> <h2>About harm</h2> <p>It is difficult to assess the harm done to society and the world at large by the spread and encouragement of anti-scientific, irrational, and magical thinking. It is also difficult to measure the extent of harm done to individuals and their families who give up thinking for themselves to follow some guru astrologer, psychic, or cult leader.<p>It is impossible to calculate the losses to those bilked because they are ignorant of basic logical and psychological principles. <p>For those cancer patients who are thinking of trying an untested alternative therapy, please read Dr. Stephen Barrett's <a href="http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/altseek.html"> A Special Message for Cancer Patients Seeking "Alternative" Treatments</a>.<p align="left"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0879755350/roberttoddcarrolA/"> <img border="0" src="../graphics/faithhealers.jpg" width="152" height="229"></a></p> <p align="left"><font size="2" color="#006699">Read this book and you will wonder no more about the harm done by false beliefs</font></p> <p> <p> </div> </div> <div class="sd"> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <span class="quote">Skepticism is a virtue.</span> --Steven Brill </div> </div> <div class="bottom"> This page was designed by <a href="http://www.cristianpopa.com/portfolio-2/">Cristian Popa</a>.</div> </body> </html>

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What's the harm? - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com