Rap Your head around this!

I write about frauds, scammers and catfish but why is it that people fall for the woo these people sell and what can we do to stem the flow of sheer nonsense and pseudoscience? We can counter it using the very same tools that the charlatans employ to get their snake oil out to the masses - via social media. As I was tweeting about a previous post using the hashtag #pseudoscience, I came across a very special and enlightened person who is fighting fire with a big fat fire hose aimed where it will do the most good; our young people.

I would like to introduce you to Mr. Lund, a science teacher at St Johns public high school in St Johns, Michigan who is using charlatans as a teaching tool, and using it in a way that engages his students like nothing I've seen before. I don't usually wish I were a writer for the New York Times or Washington Post, but today, I do wish that, because people need to know about this man and his colleagues. Lots of people. Mr. Lund agreed to answer some questions for me so that I can bring you his story and I encourage you to share it with as many people as you can!

I introduce Scientific Method Man of the Tungsten Clan!

Rich Lund has a love of all things science and as his moniker implies, things provable and repeatable with the scientific method, which he teaches to his students in grades 9 through 12. Mr. Lund (I'll call him that in case his students are taking a peek here) pursued a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Michigan State University (go Spartans!) but wanted to embrace all of the disciplines of science that he had come to respect, so he went on to obtain a teachers certificate and is now working towards a masters in education. That said, this man is a master of education. Let's take a gander at why.

Lund starts out his science classes by, of course, teaching what the scientific method is but he goes one further by also teaching what pseudoscience is. This is the crux of the difference between the two, in my mind. Pseudoscience and hucksters never encourage you to question their claims and tend to completely discount opposing views without ever producing a valid shred of evidence. The scientific method, on the other hand, encourages you to explore all alternatives and either prove or disprove them before forming your theories or reaching conclusions. What Lund is doing, quite brilliantly, is instilling kids with the concept of critical thinking. A concept that will have implications well beyond the science classroom. Now it's all well and good to stand in front of a classroom of young adults, who would no doubt rather be texting their pals, and explain these concepts but Lund goes way beyond the chalkboard and textbooks to bring these concepts to life in a way that kids can relate.

Check out this video, conceived, written and produced by Mr. Lund, all on a shoestring budget he calls "the teacher budget" called "Pseudoscience (you can't get my money)". Go ahead, I'll wait.

It's brilliant, right? In it he hits the key points for kids (and many adults) about how to spot scams and cast a critical eye upon them. He also spent time in making these videos of a quality that kids have come to expect, and it pays off. His kids love the videos, they learn something and they share them. What also strikes me here as important that Lund quite modestly did not point out to me, is that by using this method, he becomes a real person to the students he teaches and not just a stuffy science guy with a lab coat and a pointer. By dispelling the notion that scientists are bespectacled nerds with no social skills closeted in some lab, he opens up the world of science to a new generation of possible scientists.

I asked Lund how he came up with the idea and why he chose rap. He told me that the rap/hip hop genre lends itself very well to conveying a lot of information via lyrics, since lyrics, word play and double entendres are endemic of the style. He also plants quite a few little Easter Eggs (my term, not his) that students "get" once they learn the science info behind the videos. For instance he uses the phrase "You can't touch me, I'm like Kelvin zero degrees - that's how I live."  which the kids will get if they understand the concept of absolute zero. (I have to say, this one really tickled my funny bone!). So not only does rap/hip hop lend itself to this type of educational content, it does it in a way that's fun, lively, engaging and something that likely fits right into the genre of what his students are already enjoying. I picture pulling up to a stoplight next to a car full of kids, hearing the bass rumble and then hearing all these kids rapping along explaining what a mole is! (check out this video to see what I mean)

Lund has done quite a few videos but the reason I chose these two is that the pseudoscience video (which is how I was introduced to Lund) is near and dear to my heart. The mole video on the other hand, shows the breadth of techniques that Lund employs to continue to surprise and reach kids. In "The Mole", Lund gets his fellow teachers, as well as students and the Assistant Principal involved in the video. If you remember back to those days in high school, the last person you expected to see having fun and being cool was your principal and according to Lund, the reaction was cheers, hoots and applause! Always keep them on their toes! I give Lund kudos for getting the other teachers involved as well as involving the students. 

Lund has taken quite a bit of time and energy to create these incredible teaching tools. He writes the lyrics, gets his colleagues involved, at times even teaching some of hip hop's colloquialisms to his fellow teachers. Imagine a bunch of science teachers hanging green plastic table cloths all over a classroom, practicing these routines and knocking them out. Lund then painstakingly edits these videos (having done a fair amount of video production myself, I can tell you this is no small amount of work) adds the music he's created, all the appropriate background imagery and voila; brilliance on youtube! By investing so much of himself and producing these on his "teacher budget" he also displays to his students that if you want something, if you believe in it enough, you can achieve anything.

He's got quite a few videos on scientific topics, so if you are looking to brush up yourself or share with your own kids, please do subscribe to his Youtube channel: Mr Lund Science and give him a follow on twitter too: Scientific Method Man and Mr Lund

There is so much more I could say about what Lund is doing, but I want to also add that he has had the support of the school officials and school board, which I would guess was not the case at the outset. Lund has proven that scientists can be, altruistic, creative and extremely talented in ways that one doesn't expect from the stereotpyical chemistry professor. I am a huge fan and am wishing him luck on a project in the works that involves a partnership with Backyard Brains which is trying to help the very important, yet under-represented area of neurology break its way into the classroom setting. 

Do me a favor, share this with as many people as you can. These folks are training the future of America. By his own account, Lund is a true patriot and told me this; "I would say that feeling the need for critical thinking in the populace in general just comes from loving this country.  A patriotic society will show you its patriotism hand in hand with its skepticism."  

Today's truth meter reading is the far other end of the blazing pants spectrum. We award Tungsten Clan and Scientific Man with the ultimate award of Elemental Truth! Keep up the good work guys and thank you for restoring my faith in truth.

That's all for today folks!

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Pirate of the Caribbean

I've posted before about the self proclaimed "Food Babe" aka Vani Hari, aka Vain Hair. Whelp, truth is always stranger than fiction, or so the old saw goes, and this food barbie makes a good case for the truth of that.

Whilst her vast "army" was out marching against Monsanto and GMOs, Vani was happily posting pics of her West Indies vacation on Instagram, never once considering that she should be leading this fight against the enemy that she claims is the root of all ills (literally). It seems like basking in the sun (sans effective sunscreen of course) was a much better use of her time and the money she earned from her "army" purchasing the overpriced products she promotes on her pages. A pirate is a thief and this one loves the Caribbean.

From Vani's Instagram

Many of her followers excused her obvious absenteeism, claiming that she works so very hard that she deserves to be on vacation spending her shillbucks on expensive private bungalos and sailboats in the Caribbean. But, many of those of us who aren't necessarily enthralled by the brand of woo she peddles wondered if she had kept to her strict dietary regimes, while enjoying the fruits of her pseudoscience.

Turns out she's a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to that. She'll happily grill the staff about their food products and preparation even going so far as demanding to tour the kitchens and have special meals prepared based on her daily whims. However, according to Vani herself, she can't seem to resist "croissants and the most delicious breads". Now hold on there a moment! I thought that gluten, GMOs and non-organic foods were poison? At least that's what Vani tells her followers every chance she gets. So, tell me why would a poisonous concoction of these foul ingredients be even remotely tempting? Seriously, I hear that antifreeze tastes sweet but I am never, ever, tempted to swig the stuff just to please a temporary sugar craving.

From Vani's Instagram - Echire butter is the most expensive in the world.

So why does Vani claim that it's human to crave desserts and breads? She has also stated that when you go through her juice cleanses and start eating strictly from her $17.99 per month food guides, that your body will crave only good foods. Are you seeing the hypocrisy here? Oh wait, if you look at Vani's real goals, there is no hypocrisy. Vani is in this game to build herself an empire of fame and fortune. The more her army harasses companies like Monsanto, Kraft and Subway, the more she can claim personal victory for any changes those companies do in fact make. Of course, even when they make changes, Vani still won't relent, it only fuels her hunger (pardon the pun) for more fame based on fear 

Take for instance Kraft foods. In particular Kraft Mac & Cheese. She claims a personal victory for Kraft announcing that they would change their formulation for their popular Mac & Cheese to remove the artificial color - that orange color that kids around the world have come to equate with their after school Mac & Cheese treat. But was that enough to appease Vani and her army? Nope. She's like a food terrorist, once she sees that she has a little power, she is unwilling to let it go. In fact, she is demanding that people who purchase from her line of over-priced guides and partner products, NOT purchase Mac & Cheese from Kraft. Honest. This is a screen shot of the Vani's checkout page on her website:

Theoretically these statements are legally binding agreements. Now, I'm not an attorney but that statement sure doesn't seem legal to me. Seems to me that it violates competition/anti-trust laws that prohibit agreements that prevent fair trade between competing businesses. And this, after Kraft bowed to her ridiculous demands?

But back to Vani's perceived hypocrisy. Vani eats whatever the hell Vani wants. Her goal is to make the rest of us follow her rigid guidelines because it brings her more fame and wealth. That's the bottom line. So if Vani gets caught with butter running down her chin and croissant crumbs on her billabong top, she twists it into a way to make more bucks from her army.  She sent an email to her army (full disclosure: she has banned me from her facebook army, her page and even receiving her email newsletters) telling them of her "slip" and proclaiming that as a result, she was doing a webinar; but only for those who would order her juicing guide within 24 hours, to get back on track. Of course, they weren't the ones eating croissants in St Barths, but they should have to pay the price anyway, apparently.  It was when I went to see how much her juicing guide cost, that I found her not-so-legal insistence that you could have her or you could have Kraft but not both. Never both.

From Vani's Instagram; she captioned it: "My ride for the next 2 weeks"

So for Vani's indiscretion, it will only cost you an extra $24.99 and with it you'll get even more pitches to purchase partner products, but hey, your money will help get Vani back on track. Won't you be so proud? I'm guessing that some fan - or not fan - must have snapped a pic of her stuffing her face with foods on the Vani unapproved list, so she took the opportunity to turn a fault into some more big fat dollars for Mr & Mrs Food Babe. After all, 2 week vacations to the Caribbean aren't free you know! But according to Vani. she's personally cheering you on...between dives, sails and croissants. For real, she cares and I guess all  that expensive French butter she's using makes her hair shiny in the Caribbean sun. Don't you wish you could afford some?

So for these reasons, I once again award Vani Hari with our highest honors. The 5 brigade, Too hot to get near, Pants-on-Fire award. (she doesn't buy her own garbage any more than I do)

That's All Folks!

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