just when you think something is undeniable…

Last year, when reviewing the problems with the idea of abiogenic origins for petroleum, I mentioned that we skeptics often manage to discover that even the most widespread and established fact about anything in medicine, science, and technology manages to have its detractors. Not only do we still have some abiogenic oil theorists still roaming around, but if we keep going down the spectrum of denial, we’ll even encounter an organization of modern day geocentrists. In fact, I think the only two topics still more or less safe from utter ignorance and denialism is the shape of the Earth and gravity, though we do have post-modernists doing the best they can in coming up with ridiculous questions about it, and considering the track record of most post-modernist sophistry, who knows what goes on in those circles of the pseudo-scholarly world. But now, having introduced you to several of the more obscure strains of denialism and a number of stunning feats of abject ignorance, asinine and furious quackery, and inane ramblings that would make baby Einstein cry in terror, allow me to forward you to one of the web’s great skeptical doctors Dr. Steve Novella who recently covered the amazing effort of statistical cherry-picking and numerology that is obesity denial. I guess we know how some people deal with the news that their country now leads the world in girth: pretend it’s not happening.