Upper Class Twit of the Week

Congratulations are due to British MP David Tredinnick whose discovered astrology as a cure that will one day improve British health care. 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/25/astrology-help-nhs-claim-conservative-mp-david-tredinnick

“And, yes, I have helped fellow MPs. I do foresee that one day astrology will have a role to play in healthcare.”

He dives deeper into nonsense,

“The BBC is quite dismissive of astrology and seeks to promote the science perspective and seems always keen to broadcast criticisms of astrology.”
Opposition to astrology is driven by “superstition, ignorance and prejudice”, he said. “It tends to be based on superstition, with scientists reacting emotionally, which is always a great irony."

Science is based on evidence. The fact you consulted astrology and got better most likely means you got lucky. A coincidence occurred.  If you can't produce the data that shows causation or even correlation then your beliefs are not founded in proof.

http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1998.82.2.527?journalCode=pr0

There is no scientific evidence to back up claims that astrology cures disease. Opinion is not science, beliefs are not evidence, coincidences don't count, and if you can't distinguish what any grade 8 science student understands then you really aren't adding to the debate you are wasting people's time distracting attention from what actually works.

Perhaps the emotion he detects from scientists are aimed at him personally regarding his ridiculous beliefs and wasting their time to defend against nonsense influencing the public to try half-baked home remedies instead of chemotherapy etc.?  Why not look for cancer with divining rods?  Or recite incantations to remove your flu virus?

I looked it up before I made this claim; here's what a quick Google Scholar search found.

And for good measure, he resorts to calling his critics "racist" for mocking his  beliefs.

Here's a hint Mr. Tredinnick, if you don't hold such stupid beliefs then they won't be racist against you, I promise.

And for the British healthcare system, here's a way to improve health delivery, bar MP David Tredinnick from all healthcare-related activities.