No politics discussed in this video. Dr.K uses neuroscience to explain why the association between Tylenol and ASD exists, and why it ultimately doesn’t matter.
While the connection may not ultimately matter scientifically, it matters ideologically. This modern day Lysenkoism emerging in America is a common feature of totalitarianism, and it will permeate throughout all sciences.
Incredible as some of these aberrations may appear, we must yet be on our guard not to dismiss them as mere accidental by-products which have nothing to do with the essential character of a planned or totalitarian system. They are not. They are a direct result of that same desire to see everything directed by a “unitary conception of the whole,” of the need to uphold at all costs the views in the service of which people are asked to make constant sacrifices, and of the general idea that the knowledge and beliefs of the people are an instrument to be used for a single purpose. Once science has to serve, not truth, but the interests of a class, a community, or a state, the sole task of argument and discussion is to vindicate and to spread still further the beliefs by which the whole life of the community is directed. As the Nazi minister of justice has explained, the question which every new scientific theory must ask itself is: “Do I serve National Socialism for the greatest benefit of all?”
The word “truth” itself ceases to have its old meaning. It describes no longer something to be found, with the individual conscience as the sole arbiter of whether in any particular instance the evidence (or the standing of those proclaiming it) warrants a belief; it becomes something to be laid down by authority, something which has to be believed in the interest of the unity of the organized effort and which may have to be altered as the exigencies of this organized effort require it.
The Road to Serfdom, F. A. Hayek
Who the fuck is Dr K?
Alok Kanojia, he’s a psychiatrist who is very active on Twitch. He often does interviews with other prominent streamers and discusses mental health.
And he is grifter who contributed to the suicide of Reckful.
Dr. K should fuck right off after killing Reckful.
He got off scotts free after the hearing and now insidously tries to insert himself into conversations like this.
I don’t know much about the fellow, I haven’t seen many videos of his, but I did see a clip of him interviewing PirateSoftware when the internet was slamming him and the way Dr. K talked to the “patient” was super inflammatory and extremely unhelpful. I found it really off putting and made me look at Dr. K as more of a showman than a legitimate therapist.
Finding out that he’s allegedly done much worse is just awful
I think we should promote and encourage therapy but not as performative art
People should definitely watch his interactions with his wife as well. They’re fucking creepy.
While I do share some of her concerns with the way he blends his religious beliefs into his therapy, he’s generally pretty good about distinguishing therapy (of which there are many different forms that may or may not involve religious practices) and neuroscience. Though that might be hard to glean through carefully-selected 10-second clips.
I’m really not a fan of the way she takes a lot of his clips out of context. For example, in the Miskif interview on ADHD where he offers prayer beads, he’s not actually suggesting that Mizkif start praying or adopt a new religion; he’s offering what’s effectively a fidget toy, which is something quite commonly suggested for ADHD sufferers as sensory input often helps ADHD patients focus. Longer clip of the segment in question.
I couldn’t finish her video, though, because the constant pausing to interject her own quips made it feel like a Reddit argument where somebody argues each of your sentences in isolation instead of arguing against the whole comment. So I’m not sure where Reckful comes into play here.
But he is not a neuroscientist.
Okay? Neither are most psychiatrists. That doesn’t mean they don’t study and understand the principals of neuroscience. He cites his sources, so you can verify or debunk his claims for yourself, if you so choose.
