Snopes = Scam?

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eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,015
3
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www.integratedssr.com
the first link questions the validity of the author:



So, basically, they are exposing a rather distrustful eye towards an argument made by a chiropractor--quoting his Dr. title, and simply announcing his field.

It's like the "scientists" that the fundies bring out to support ID are always astrologers or fringe physicists; scientists that have absolutely no expertise in Biology, Molecular genetics, or any other scientific field that works with evolution. In such cases, it's important to point out the source of so-called expert opinions, b/c an expert in one area is a complete layman in another.

yeah, exactly... it doesn't say anything for or against chiropractors, like i said.

as the article said, it's the validity of a political scientist vs a dentist or someone else in an unrelated field to politics.

doesn't matter anyways... that isn't the topic of this thread.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,915
31,441
146
yeah, exactly... it doesn't say anything for or against chiropractors, like i said.

as the article said, it's the validity of a political scientist vs a dentist or someone else in an unrelated field to politics.

doesn't matter anyways... that isn't the topic of this thread.

uh...what? why didn't you read my quote, and read their comment? They blatantly call into question the dude's expertise on the subject matter that he is bitching about b/c he is a chiropractor. They are skeptical based on his professional credentials.

No, it's not a piece outright blasting chiropractors, but that simple comment makes it rather clear that his being a chiropractor is reason enough to question his expertise, and to question the title Dr. They put it in quotes. ....you know what that means, right?


This is in the first link. not the one about bathtubs.
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
6
81
uh...what? why didn't you read my quote, and read their comment? They blatantly call into question the dude's expertise on the subject matter that he is bitching about b/c he is a chiropractor. They are skeptical based on his professional credentials.

No, it's not a piece outright blasting chiropractors, but that simple comment makes it rather clear that his being a chiropractor is reason enough to question his expertise, and to question the title Dr. They put it in quotes. ....you know what that means, right?


This is in the first link. not the one about bathtubs.

Wrong. You missed the point entirely and are misusing context. They don't call into question what he is saying specifically because he is a Chiropractor, but rather because he doesn't hold a doctorate in a field which relates to the subject at hand.

If the good Dr. Steven Tomaselli holds that title because he has earned a doctorate in a field such as political science, his opinions might be expected to offer informative insights; if he's a dentist or a mathematics professor, there's no real reason to expect his opinions to be more noteworthy than those of millions of other citizens. (For the record, "Dr." Tomaselli is a chiropractor.)
 

SphinxnihpS

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
8,368
25
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Wrong. You missed the point entirely and are misusing context. They don't call into question what he is saying specifically because he is a Chiropractor, but rather because he doesn't hold a doctorate in a field which relates to the subject at hand.

[/b]

They are doing both. They are pointing out that he is not only not an expert in the field of discussion, but also that he refers to himself as a doctor, when he is merely a chiropractor. I however agree with their sentiment. The AMA is NOT VERY KEEN on this title being used be such "professionals".

Now I'm doing it!:)
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,915
31,441
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Wrong. You missed the point entirely and are misusing context. They don't call into question what he is saying specifically because he is a Chiropractor, but rather because he doesn't hold a doctorate in a field which relates to the subject at hand.

[/b]

fair enough, but putting Dr in quotes, as in "Dr" Tomassi, is more than just challenging him as someone commenting from the improper field--it's challenging his credentials as an actual "Dr."

Meaning, his chosen field is up for debate in terms of deserving doctor status. This is obvious use of sarcasm to me; or a simple up-turned brow. ;)
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
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Snopes likes to portray itself as the ultimate and final arbiter of all that is factually correct and incorrect. It isnt.

It provides an opinion and some evidence to support those opinions (flimsy as it may be). But in the end, its just that - THEIR OPINION.

People like to give Snopes more credit than they are due and consider certain items "debunked" if said opinion is given. In reality, that is an erroneous position to take.

This. I seem to recall snopes saying that people dying at amusment parks was a myth, or something like that. Well, my local paper a few years back, had an article on just that, someone did die at a local amusement park. I wanted to cut out the article and send it to snopes just to prove them wrong, but I didn't feel like actually paying for a paper.
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
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This. I seem to recall snopes saying that people dying at amusment parks was a myth, or something like that. Well, my local paper a few years back, had an article on just that, someone did die at a local amusement park. I wanted to cut out the article and send it to snopes just to prove them wrong, but I didn't feel like actually paying for a paper.

they have been wrong a few times.
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
They often provide sources for their information which is more than your typical internet post.

This. Sources makes the whole thing more legit than "I heard from so and so..."
 

SphinxnihpS

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
8,368
25
91
This. I seem to recall snopes saying that people dying at amusment parks was a myth, or something like that. Well, my local paper a few years back, had an article on just that, someone did die at a local amusement park. I wanted to cut out the article and send it to snopes just to prove them wrong, but I didn't feel like actually paying for a paper.

I seriously doubt that Snopes came to the simple conclusion that no one ever dies at amusement parks. I think you, a. read a parody, b. missed the point, c. were baked. d. all of the above.
 

eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,015
3
81
www.integratedssr.com
They are doing both. They are pointing out that he is not only not an expert in the field of discussion, but also that he refers to himself as a doctor, when he is merely a chiropractor. I however agree with their sentiment. The AMA is NOT VERY KEEN on this title being used be such "professionals".

Now I'm doing it!:)

i disagree. i read the paragraph a few times over and i can see where you can possibly see the that kind of tone in there, but it just isn't there. they're simply saying that he's not an expert in political affairs, so his opinion is about as valid as a dentist's or a professor's.

if they said "the good 'doctor' tomaselli" and put "doctor" in quotes, then i would agree with you and zin. however, they were simply explaining what kind of doctor he was, since they referenced different professions that hold the title "doctor".
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
6
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i disagree. i read the paragraph a few times over and i can see where you can possibly see the that kind of tone in there, but it just isn't there. they're simply saying that he's not an expert in political affairs, so his opinion is about as valid as a dentist's or a professor's.

if they said "the good 'doctor' tomaselli" and put "doctor" in quotes, then i would agree with you and zin. however, they were simply explaining what kind of doctor he was, since they referenced different professions that hold the title "doctor".

^^ Precisely.
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
6
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What do you mean "the good old days"? Snopes is still the resource for debunking bullshit.

Pretty much; I've used it 3 times over the past 2 weeks from people sending me stupid bullsh!t e-mails. Last one that was sent to me was of the alligator and rattlesnakes found in pipes when construction crews were digging. I looked it up and saw it was a variation of some chain e-mails that started back in 2003.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
They often provide sources for their information which is more than your typical internet post.

"Often"? Are there pages on snopes where they come to a conclusion that does not cite at least one source?

Snopes is the place to go because they back up their conclusions with legit cites.


That reminds me, I REALLY need to change my father-in-law's home page to snopes. It would cut my useless e-mails in half.

MotionMan
 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
176
106
lol

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that conservatives have started a smear campaign against Snopes since 95% or better of all politically slanted chain emails are anti-liberal or anti-Democrat. It should surprise me even less that they've created their own version of Snopes but with a conservative bias.

Some people have a very difficult time accepting reality (conservatives AND liberals).
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
6
81
lol

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that conservatives have started a smear campaign against Snopes since 95% or better of all politically slanted chain emails are anti-liberal or anti-Democrat. It should surprise me even less that they've created their own version of Snopes but with a conservative bias.

Some people have a very difficult time accepting reality (conservatives AND liberals).

Yeah some of the right-wing "slanted" e-mails I have seen were pretty ridiculous. One actually tried to say that Obama wasn't a US citizen! LOL
 

eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,015
3
81
www.integratedssr.com
lol

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that conservatives have started a smear campaign against Snopes since 95% or better of all politically slanted chain emails are anti-liberal or anti-Democrat. It should surprise me even less that they've created their own version of Snopes but with a conservative bias.

Some people have a very difficult time accepting reality (conservatives AND liberals).

conservative version of snopes = truthorfiction.com?
 

Train

Lifer
Jun 22, 2000
13,591
87
91
www.bing.com
lol

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that conservatives have started a smear campaign against Snopes since 95% or better of all politically slanted chain emails are anti-liberal or anti-Democrat. It should surprise me even less that they've created their own version of Snopes but with a conservative bias.

Some people have a very difficult time accepting reality (conservatives AND liberals).

95% of statistics are made up