Trudeau library watch

[jeffq]

I'm afraid I have to report that, like Frank Ward's library system, my otherwise excellent local library system, the Fairfax County Public Library (with nearly a million potential patrons), has forty copies of Kevin Trudeau's "Natural Cures"! That's about 2 copies per branch. I've emailed them a request to consider removing this dangerously miseducating "non-fiction" book on the basis of being contrary to public interest and safety. I'm not sure that's a sufficient argument for an organization that rightly lauds free speech, but we can hope.

 

[Mojo]

You could request that some copies of sceptical books should also be held.

 

[Piscivore]

Ask them to correctly file it under "Fiction."

 

[phildonnia]

I'm really surprised at y'all.

IMO, it's the library's job to stock whatever books people want to read. We should never allow official government entities should be in charge of deciding the truth, value, or availability of books. Consider as well the effect of letting the volume of popular complaint dictate these things. The forces of irrationality are way better at this stuff than we are; lets not go there.

Perhaps there should be some kind of warning on the library door that any book contained therein might be a load of crap. For that matter, the same warning should go on all infomercials, tv documentaries, wikipedia, and certainly anonymous public forums such as this.

In any case, if the impressionable mind is prevented from reading "Natural Cures" in the library, they'll get their misinformation from somewhere else. The credulous will be taken, one way or another.

By stocking the book, libraries ensure that the critical thinker has access to whatever strange ideas they wish to expose themselves to, which is something I'm quite glad about.

 

[tsg]

I'm really surprised at y'all.

As much as I hate Trudeau, I have to agree with this. Despite that every copy they buy is more money in the crook's pocket, libraries have to have the ability to stock whatever books they want. Asking them to categorize it as fiction is about as far as I would go. The real solution is, and don't ask me how, making it so it isn't in such demand. If people don't want to read it because they know it's crap, the libraries won't stock it.

Pharmacies and health suppliers are a different deal. They are profiting from bogus health advice.

 

[Ducky]

I'm really surprised at y'all.

IMO, it's the library's job to stock whatever books people want to read. We should never allow official government entities should be in charge of deciding the truth, value, or availability of books. Consider as well the effect of letting the volume of popular complaint dictate these things. The forces of irrationality are way better at this stuff than we are; lets not go there.

Perhaps there should be some kind of warning on the library door that any book contained therein might be a load of crap. For that matter, the same warning should go on all infomercials, tv documentaries, wikipedia, and certainly anonymous public forums such as this.

In any case, if the impressionable mind is prevented from reading "Natural Cures" in the library, they'll get their misinformation from somewhere else. The credulous will be taken, one way or another.

By stocking the book, libraries ensure that the critical thinker has access to whatever strange ideas they wish to expose themselves to, which is something I'm quite glad about.

Grr. I hate agreeing with this, but I do.

Despite how offensive it is to have someone tell me Trudeau can cure my cancer by teaching me how to make my body more alkalai, it certainly should not be censored for stupidity (or any other reason.)

Perhaps if they filed it under fiction I would be happier.

 

[logical muse]

Just get some stickers made up that say "The Surgeon General warns that none of these 'Natural Cures' work." and stick them on the cover.

Actually, I'm not familiar at all with this Trudeau, but if there is some actual published report on the information in this book being incorrect then a sticker with a reference to it would be better.

 

[Ducky]

Just get some stickers made up that say "The Surgeon General warns that none of these 'Natural Cures' work." and stick them on the cover.

Actually, I'm not familiar at all with this Trudeau, but if there is some actual published report on the information in this book being incorrect then a sticker with a reference to it would be better.

Not familiar??????!!!!!!!!

LM, you been under a rock for the past few years?

Eh. Ok, well there is a published report refuting this guy's book. It's called EVERYTHING PUBLISHED BY SCIENTIFIC STUDY IN THE PAST 100 YEARS! If you want a specific one, Quackwatch does a good job.

Her3, LM, read this:

http://skepdic.com/trudeau.html






(edited for stupdi speeling.)

 

[LibraryLady]

I'm sorry. Anything with the words "Library Watch" makes me very, very nervous.

 

[logical muse]

Not familiar??????!!!!!!!!

LM, you been under a rock for the past fwe years?

Eh. Ok, well there is a published report refuting this guy's book. It's called EVERYTHING PUBLISHED BY SCIENTIFIC STUDY IN THE PAST 100 YEARS! If you want a specific one, Quackwatch does a good job.

Her, LM, read this:

http://skepdic.com/trudeau.html

I've seen his name mentioned around here. Otherwise, no. Nor had I heard of Sylvia Browne, Van Pragh, or that other guy. Geller, of course, is famous even here. Perhaps some of these people might not have the same profile in Australia as they do in the USA.

Thanks for the link, I'll have a read.

 

[Ducky]

I've seen his name mentioned around here. Otherwise, no. Nor had I heard of Sylvia Browne, Van Pragh, or that other guy. Geller, of course, is famous even here. Perhaps some of these people might not have the same profile in Australia as they do in the USA.

Thanks for the link, I'll have a read.

Sorry for frothing at the mouth. Trudeau makes me want to beat something.


He's a class A jerkoff.

 

[logical muse]

Sorry for frothing at the mouth. Trudeau makes me want to beat something.


He's a class A jerkoff.

Holy crap! I just read that article you pointed me to. I do remember now having read something about him before, but I didn't know what a nasty piece of work he really is.

 

[Ducky]

Holy crap! I just read that article you pointed me to. I do remember now having read something about him before, but I didn't know what a nasty piece of work he really is.

Yeah I would love 20 minutes alone with him in a windowless room.

 

[Art Vandelay]

IMO, it's the library's job to stock whatever books people want to read

Libraries are supposed to be repositories of knowledge, not surveys of pop culture.

We should never allow official government entities should be in charge of deciding the truth, value, or availability of books.

Then we should abolish public libraries. It neither possible, nor desirable, for the government to be impartial. If the library has a choice between two encyclopaedias, and one is riddled with errors, should it ignore that fact when deciding between them? If you were attending a public university, would you expect the professor to say "Well, I'm not going to make any determinations about what's true, so just find a textbook that you agree with, and study that"? Or would a more likely, and more responsible, attitude be "Some textbooks are inaccurate, misleading, or downright dishonest, so I've picked out a textbook that I expect you to study"? We should never confuse discretion with censorship. As Borges pointed out, having every possible book is effectively the same as having none at all.

Consider as well the effect of letting the volume of popular complaint dictate these things. The forces of irrationality are way better at this stuff than we are; lets not go there.

It's not a question of letting the volume dictate it but accuracy.

In any case, if the impressionable mind is prevented from reading "Natural Cures" in the library, they'll get their misinformation from somewhere else.

But simply coming across a claim is not the same as reading it in the library. People don't go to the nonfiction section to see all the claims that crackpots have made. They go to the nonfiction section to find out what is accepted as true. You may say that people shouldn't believe everything they read, but our entire civilization is based on people having faith in other people's findings. If I cannot rely on a library book being more than someone's wild guesses, then what's the point of going? I can make wild guesses at home quite easily.

On the bright side, anyone who wants to see what Trudeau has to say can read his book without paying him anything.

 

[tsg]

It neither possible, nor desirable, for the government to be impartial.

I want you to think very carefully about this statement for a moment. Do you really want our government to have the final say on what books are available for public use?

 

[Art Vandelay]

Being partial to one view is not the same as banning all others. Your question has nothing to do with my position.

 

[tsg]

Being partial to one view is not the same as banning all others. Your question has nothing to do with my position.

Then maybe I misunderstood, but your position appears to be supporting the government deciding what libraries should and should not have on their shelves.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Is this one of those linguistic issues regarding the meaning of "government"? Libraries should decide what they have on their shelves, libraries are part of government, therefore the government should decide what is on the shelves of libraries.

 

[RandFan]

He's a class A jerkoff.

Thank you. I agreed not to wish a serious disease on him but I do hope he has a bad day.... every day, for the rest of his life.

 

[tsg]

Is this one of those linguistic issues regarding the meaning of "government"? Libraries should decide what they have on their shelves, libraries are part of government, therefore the government should decide what is on the shelves of libraries.

Technically this is true, but there is a big difference between libraries deciding what they will or won't carry and the government higher up making policy about what they can and can't carry. It is the latter that I believe the OP, and certainly I, are concerned with.