Whatstheharm.net - looks like a great resource.

[Pale Blue Dot]

We are all confronted with new information daily. It comes to us via newspapers, radio, television, websites, conversation, advertising and so on. Sometimes it seems like a deluge.

Not all information is created equal. Some of it is correct. Some of it is incorrect. Some of it is carefully balanced. Some of it is heavily biased. Some of it is just plain crazy.

It is vital in the midst of this deluge that each of us be able to sort through all of this, keeping the useful information and discarding the rest. This requires the skill of critical thinking. Unfortunately, this is a skill that is often neglected in schools.

This site is designed to make a point about the danger of not thinking critically. That point is that you can easily be injured or killed by neglecting this important skill. We have collected the stories of over 20,000 people who have been injured or killed as a result of someone not thinking critically.

We do this not to make light of their plight. Quite the opposite. We want to honor their memory and learn from their stories.

Read on to encounter these stories about the power of critical thinking.

http://www.whatstheharm.net/

What follows is a compendium true stories illustrating of all of the harm that spiritual, religious, and pseudo-scientific beliefs can cause.

[varkam]

1. Seems to me that the best info on that site is in the medical section.

Those are the clearest cases of cause/effect, IMO. Other areas, such as belief in Ghosts, seem to stretch a bit (ie the case of the girl who was shot while "ghost hunting"). Nonetheless, I think that is a pretty decent resource for countering the claim of "What's the harm in altie-med?"

[mr blur]

2. Hey, they have Ear Candling!

Diane paid $25 for an ear candle treatment. Things did not go well, and it took a specialist four months to fully remove the dripped wax from her ear. She now has ringing in her ears which may be permanent

[moggie]

3. I try to have sympathy for victims of woo

I really do. And I often succeed. After all, not all snake-oil is obviously bogus, and you need a certain amount of education to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. But sticking a burning candle into a sensitive part of your anatomy? A child could tell you that that's pretty much the textbook example of asking for trouble. I'm sorry, but unless you have a learning disability I have no sympathy if you try that and suffer for it. Just try not to burn anyone else to death in the process, ok?

[TZ]

4. at least the candle was in the ear...

Not in the...other place....:rofl:

[moggie]

5. Don't. Go. There.

You know what will happen! Quick, we need a distraction!

[WoodrowFan]

6. OMG!

OMG, she almost mentioned BUTTCANDLES!








oops....

[TZ]

7. Who's afraid of the big bad Roo?

Not me. Nope. Those alligator riding funny talking nerds from Oz don't scare me a bit...:evilgrin: