Lessons in critical thinking and William Saletan – Part 2

http://www.gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16396-lessons-in-critical-thinking-and-william-saletan-part-2

In the second of a two-part series, Claire Robinson points out scientific errors in the journalist William Saletan’s latest attack on her and other GMO critics

Lessons in critical thinking and William Saletan – Part 1

http://www.gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16355

In the first of a two-part series, Claire Robinson responds to journalist William Saletan’s recent attack on her and other GMO critics

In a recent incisive article on the GMO debate, Timothy Wise of Tufts University laments the "current vehemence" of the battle. He singles out Slate magazine’s William Saletan as one of the more extreme examples of those ready to tar "anyone who dares call for precaution with the stain of being another science-denying zealot". Wise accuses pundits like Saletan of "polarizing" the debate so much that they actually contribute to the suppression of scientific inquiry.

This couldn’t contrast more with how Saletan himself sees things. He responded to my three-part critique of his recent GMO promotional in Slate with a lecture on “how to think critically”. The implication is that this is something he is rather good at, whereas I and other GMO opponents are not.

So let’s take a look at the supposed gold standard of critical thinking, as exemplified by Saletan. And because we all have a life beyond the wit and wisdom of gullible journalists, I’ll restrict myself to a few major lessons in critical thinking in which Saletan gets a big “F” for “fail”.

Errors, fraud, lies, and William Saletan – Part 2: GMO food safety

http://www.gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16316-errors-fraud-lies-and-william-saletan-part-2-gmo-food-safety

Journalist William Saletan’s appeals to scientific authority do not stand up, says Claire Robinson in the second of a three-part series

EXCERPT:

In his article, Saletan claims to have researched GMOs for up to a year. All the more remarkable, then, that on the vexed issue of GMO safety, he falls for the discredited GMO lobby trick of a vague appeal to authority that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Saletan states that eminent scientific bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) “have all declared that there’s no good evidence GMOs are unsafe”. The implied question is: who are you to doubt them?

The trouble is that 124 health- or science-related organizations from around the world have declared doubts about the safety of GM foods and/or called for mandatory labelling – something that Saletan vehemently opposes.

Saletan doesn’t even appear to have read the WHO statement on GMO safety that he relies on. Certainly the WHO did say, “No effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of GM foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved” – though skeptics will note that it is hard to find effects on human health in the absence of any studies. 

We don't need "golden rice"

http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/blog/2015/07/17/we-dont-need-golden-rice/

by Robert Greer

Journalist Will Saletan set the Internet afire yesterday with his long-form piece against anti-GMO activists.  A key component of his argument is that Golden Rice, which has been genetically engineered to contain Vitamin A precursors, has not been welcomed by anti-GMO crowd with open arms.  But what Saletan fails to mention is that the science is still out on whether golden rice is actually the boon it’s claimed to be.

The best evidence we have is that the compounds in the rice are converted to Vitamin A in the human system, but this isn’t enough to say that it’s healthy — Saletan makes a lot of hay out of the fact that anti-GMO activists often can’t point to specific known harms, but instead must rely on fears of unknown future problems.  But unknown side effects are not necessarily inchoate, ad hoc rationales to oppose genetic modification, and are in fact especially salient in the realm of nutrition because of the field’s complexity. The body’s processes for gleaning nutrition from a particular food are highly complex, and depend on many different factors such as the ratios in which the nutrients are presented to the body, the form in which they greet your digestive system, and the composition of your gut biome. For example, iron is difficult for your body to assimilate properly if you’re not getting enough Vitamin C, sugars in juice may be dangerous while sugars in whole fruits are not, and large numbers of people are deficient in Vitamin B12 despite getting plenty of it in their diets, for reasons that are still not entirely clear.

Errors, fraud, lies, and William Saletan – Part 1: Golden rice

Errors, fraud, lies, and William Saletan – Part 1: Golden rice

The journalist William Saletan’s indictment of GMO critics is being promoted by the GMO lobby. In the first of a three-part series, Claire Robinson looks at his arguments on golden rice