It's a fair criticism of scientific medicine to say that it's cold and uncareing. This can be improved. No offense to Wolfgang, but it's nothing but basic psychology. (Wolfgang is a psychologist, if you haven't noticed.) There are three main reasons why sceptics oppose the New Age movement:

    A. New Age "medical" therapies often seek validation by inclusion in tax supported plans and institutions. Since these "therapies" are usually unproven or disproven, we see this as a theft of public money and an erosion of what science itself means.

    B. The risk of death or permanent disability from New Age "therapies" is unreasonably high.

    C. New Age authors constantly seek validity by claiming to be "scientific" and using pseudo-scientific jargon. Opposing this is a simple matter of correcting facts.

Science makes no claim to perfection. What it does claim, is that it is the most efficient and effective method for learning about the physical world. Any group that wants to win converts from the community of sceptics will have to prove (in our terms) that their way of looking at the world is more effective.


"If you can't predict with it, it's not science." - JBS Haldane