Some part of me wonders if the WIRED piece was intended to provoke a reaction from the patient community; more fodder for the upcoming book. "Read the book that They tried to censor!" would not be a novel publicity stunt.
That’s my current assumption.
The title of the Wired article is a screaming provocation – in your face to the max!
Then his weird tactical skirmishes on joining us, wildly jumping around probing different terrains, as
@Sparkly Unicorn put it so well:
Also think it is a little odd that Levinovitz first came on here to try and gotcha @Jonathan Edwards with a totally unrelated argument. It just points to taking a cheap shot at someone here who has authority.
Also his decision to pick this so wonderfully hilarious nickname
Learningandlistening, while stating he‘s not available to discuss his piece and jumping wildly between arguments.
This nickname gets me everytime, rofl!
Then his fascinating ability to praise himself over his allegedly vast knowledge about the topic while immediately demonstrating his lack of understanding of the very basics.
The intellectually bankrupt and so unbelievably cringe: „hey guys, better sit down!, I got an idea!, what – listen now! –, what if we would try really careful GET for ME/CFS, wouldn’t that be genius?!“
Then the fact that he’s about to release a whole book on some fringe cringe demon bullcrap theory that doesn’t stand up against scientific rigor even one inch.
Then his older quote from social media in which he considers a majority of LC cases to be of psychogenic origin.
I really don’t know how the Wired article came to be.
Is the gossip true that there was also an overly motivated editor in the background that attributes his recovery from LC to mind-body therapies?
How is it possible that this article failed so badly when it comes to the journalistic basics, as
@dave30th said it so well in his latest piece:
Journalists have an obligation to include information that appears to raise questions about their assertions and conclusions.
They can then rebut that information if they choose.
Levinovitz could have argued, for example, that the disastrous Lightning Process study was actually not so bad because of x, y and z.
Regarding the Finnish study on “amygdala retraining,” he could have argued that it was necessary to wait for the final results in order to make a fair and full assessment.
But Levinovitz did none of those things.
Instead, the Wired article disappeared these two key research projects.
When it comes to reporting on mind-body clinical trials, Levinovitz and Wired failed this particular test of journalistic responsibility and integrity.
I think Levinovitz is a smart guy who can write really captivating stories, but I feel like he’s got carried away by his own story-telling.
I don’t assume that he meant to harm people.
I could imagine, however, that this aspect, this reality, came crashing in over him in the last couple of days, thanks to all the outstanding replies from the community.
I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes right now.
How would you continue in his situation with a book release on the horizon?
Is there a realistic way to calm down and come to ones senses under these circumstances?
Or is he going fully deaf and doubling down?
I hope he is still able to realize how terrible wrong he was, even under all the pressure.
I hope he will find a way to somehow rehabilitate himself.
It won’t be easy and it will take a long time.
But he showed his skill with his earlier article and I‘m giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe he was misguided and fooled by a charismatic scuba diving professor Woof with lots of shiny credentials in the medical scientific field in his backpack who, who knows, took him on a
folie à deux trip?
But then again, he somewhat distanced himself in this thread from the whole mind-body approach, strongly suggesting that we wouldn’t pick up on his real argument about what turns out to be…. demons and stuff…?
After all, I really don’t think he or the Wired article matter that much.
I‘m extremely proud of the wider ME/CFS community and our forum in particular.
There were some really tremendous replies to this desaster of an article.
The replies were measured, very competent and showed a tenfold better discourse quality than what was published in the Wired.
I feel we are at a turning point in ME/CFS history. I don’t think the crazy tales of old stand a chance against the momentum we have.
Thanks to the amazing work of
@Chris Ponting and other scientists, who gather here in this public science forum to listen, and learn,
and research our condition.
I understand that many of the older generation aren’t so sure about my optimism.
I wouldn’t be either, had I to witness the rise of Phil Parker, the creator of the Lightning Process, a crazy guy that
“developed this ability to step into other people’s bodies over the years to assist them in their healing with amazing results.”
It blows my mind that the Lightning Process and other quack approaches managed to find a following in the UK and in Scandinavian governments and I‘m deeply sorry for all the helpless and sick people who got hurt by it.
If Hollywood still exists in 20 years, I‘m expecting some amazing thrillers about this absolute madness that the ME/CFS history has turned out to be.
I think these dark medieval times will be a far away fantasy by then for most viewers and, more importantly, us pwME.
I‘m positive that we are at a point where we are already driving away from these insanities of the past at a blazing speed.
Even if it might not feel like it, cause we‘re emotionally still under shock by the shadows of the past and the neglect and the completely avoidable deaths of the present.
A completely failed Wired article can’t stop our momentum.
We’re going to find medications in the near(ish) future and we will finally be able to return back to life.
I‘m under the impression that the whole Wired provocations made our community stronger and enlarged the following of healthy supporters.
But then again, who am I and what do I know?
Well… I know one thing, the nickname Learningandlistening will never not make me laugh – rofl!
