See if this gets you all riled up, too…
(Before you read the post below, you may first want to read a basic GMO definition here.)
TEDx sent a letter out the other day to the TEDx community warning them about “bad science and psuedoscience”. Granted, they should be careful about what they promote on their stage, but guess what they're lumping into that category?
- “The consequence of bad science and health hoaxes are not trivial. As an example, Andrew Wakefield’s attempt to link autism and vaccines was exposed as a hoax last year. But while his work was being investigated, millions of children went without vaccines, and many contracted deadly illnesses as a result.”
Yeah, right! Wouldn't you like to know exactly how many children “contracted deadly illnesses” as a result of not being vaccinated?
There's more…
- According to them, one “mark of bad science” is if it “Has failed to convince many mainstream scientists of its truth” and “Speaks dismissively of mainstream science“.
Seriously? This is a good reason to reject a TED talk? The majority of mainstream medical professionals still put their patients on lowfat diets and cholesterol meds!!!! Where's the common sense?! (Read more here about the myths surrounding healthy fats and the dangers of cholesterol meds.)
And get this:
- Here's what's on their “red flag list“: “GMO food and anti-GMO foodists” and “Food as medicine, especially to treat a specific condition: Autism and ADHD, especially causes of and cures for autism“. They go on to say, “Because of the sad history of hoaxes with deadly consequences in the field of autism research, really look into the background of any autism-related talk. If you hear anything that sounds remotely like, “Vaccines are related to autism,” — RUN AWAY.”
Wow. Apparently they've never met my hundreds of readers who have been healed by Real Food! And most of you probably know someone, too.
And GMOs – really?! The latest scary stats on those aren't enough to convince them?!
The worst part is that they're lumping all of the above with things like “crystals, pyramid power and time travel“!!!!!
You can read the whole article here:
A letter to the TEDx community on TEDx and bad science.
I couldn't figure out how to leave a comment there, but if you can, you might want to let them know what you think. Also, please share this post and help make some noise about this!
So another one bites the dust, they have been co opted ie bought, purchased etc by the powers that be. So sad! I have watched so many people, foundations, wonderful informative sites etc. sell out over the past few months in particular! Bye Bye Ted I was watching and recommending the site, now I will not be watching and I will be telling everyone I know to avoid the site like the plague. Ditto for the sell out Dr OZ! These sell outs are falling like dominoes, well if they are not strong enough to be true
to their own beliefs then I say good riddance to bad trash!
My seventeen-year-old son recently asserted that TEDx was “just a lot of rich people getting together and talking endlessly to push agendas.” This solidifies his statement for me.
Oh, and I am not anti-medicine (or anti-vac at this point). I just worry that a non-profit sponsored by big names that are all about pushing pills for their bottom line will inevitably lean towards those sponsors when it comes down to it.
As per Ted.com’s webpage (http://conferences.ted.com/TED2011/sponsors.php), they are sponsored by some big names in the pharmaceutical field: Pfizer and Genetech, a part of the Roche group that deals with “using human genetic information to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions.”
But I’m sure they don’t listen to their sponsors. Right?
Predictable since TED’s been drinking Monsanto’s koolaid via huge donations from Bill Gates. I quit them, they disgust me.
Aren’t the people that are aloud to present people that PAY to do so? So it would only make sense that Bill Gates being a good old stock owner in Monsanto would help his investment spread his agenda via TED? I could be wrong but??? I don’t care who says it, I’ll NEVER believe that GMO foods are safe and thus the reason I am carefully shopping to avoid them!
Sorry Kelly, but I don’t know who Tedx is. But they seem to lack a lot of credibility, if the number one thing their organizers need to watch out for are non-gmo foodists. Maybe they are funded by monsanto? Anyway, their “warning” letter is laughable. Got to watch out for those dangerous non-gmo foodists. Thanks Tedx, I’ll be on the lookout. Lol
Terry Wahls did a talk about reversing MS with real food and Jack Kruse did one on real food with a focus on cold therapy in lieu of pain meds and antibiotics. I don’t think they are completely anti-alternative medicine. They just want people with a strong science background and lots of citations to back their claims up.
Those were the only kind of Ted talks I was interested in in the first place.
This story is not true — not the headline, not the text. Your claim that we “reject” these topics is not based on evidence. I’m sorry to be blunt, but please read the letter for yourself.
And I hope once you’ve read it, you’ll support it, and help your friends who speak at TEDx events to give the best talk possible!
GMO and food are topics that attract a lot of passion. Our letter reminds TEDx organizers to ask speakers on these topics for factual evidence, data and studies, so they can give a solid talk.
This is a very good thing for you! You don’t want to see under-prepared speakers take the stage — it will hurt your cause. If all you have is passion, your argument is easy for people to dismiss. Bring facts, and you can make your case.
Thanks for correcting your story.
Everything in the post came right from the article.
Kelly
Emily, thousands of years of humans, all over the world, growing or gathering their own food and using it to heal (before they had medicines) isn’t enough “factual evidence” for you? The increased rates of disease in the last 20 years isn’t enough “data” to show you something has gone wrong? I find the fact that this letter (not Kelly’s post…the Tedx LETTER) implies that GMO food is the norm and the way humans have eaten since we first realized we needed food to survive is “pseudoscience” to be absurd and ridiculous. I’d be surprised if you find any “support” here for your letter!!!
Feel free to go leave comments on the TedX facebook page! And tell your friends!
Fact: Several reputable independent studies have recently been done confirming Andrew Wakefield’s study results.
Fact: Mainstream science has historically been very hostile to accepting science that is new and contradicts the status quo. (Like Semmelweiss’s hand washing recommendations.) i.e. Stanslaw Burzynski’s cancer cure, which the FDA itself has found to be safe and effective. Dr. Burzynski has been called a quack by “mainstream science” for years for saving people’s lives, and the FDA has persecuted him mercilessly. Facts won out though – his case was recently thrown out. He won.
Kelly’s blog post is factual and correct and there is not any need for her to “correct” her story as you seem to assume she will.
Fact: Autistic children who remove all GMO foods from their diets recover dramatically from many of their symptoms.
I read the letter.
Wow
@ Jami Boles – well said.
@ Naomi Williams – sure looks that way doesn’t it?
Wow TEDx, I thought you were for thinking outside the box. It seems you live very much inside the box with the curtains drawn. So sad.
I guess Monsanto just greased some TED palms.
Next thing you know someone on TED will be saying that organic is no different from conventional. Look at Dr. Oz’s flip flop on that. Someone with deep pockets is flexing muscle behind the scenes now that TED has a “reputation” that people trust.
Something fishy going on…letting the cat out of the bag and trying to stuff it back in seems to be trending…
I’ll have to say that I am not surprised. I thought at first look that TED talks were going to be great but after a closer look I decided that they weren’t consistent with many things I value and believe. The fact that these recent uninformed and unsubstantiated comments were made regarding nutrition and vaccines as well just confirms for me my suspicions. Sad that something with such potential turned out to just be a huge disappointment.
Wow, I thought that TEDx was about thinking and being on the cutting edge. I’m quite surprised at this! It just doesn’t seem to fit. Is it possible that someone with the organization has an ax to grind and that it’s not “them”? Isn’t Terry Wahl’s talk on how she cured her MS with food a Ted Talk? I’m scratching my head over this….
this makes me lose respect for TED.
Does this mean an end to talks by anyone without a PHD in mainstream science? What about artists and novelists. With unorthadox views? Can Elizbeth Gilbert “Back up by experiments that have generated enough data to convince other experts of the legitimacy” of the “Genius” she talked about playfully in her lecture on creativity? Ken Robinson will be out too since he was critical of ADHD medication.
No reason for me to watch TED anymore then. I went there for new ideas and theoretical thinking.
The new Blasphemy Laws no longer protect the Churches and Gurus. They make ” Mainstream Science.” Untouchable, sacred and infalliable.