Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites

Skeptoid ^ | November 08, 2011 | Skeptoid #283

[Little Ray]

The Internet is a dangerous place. It's full of resources, both good and bad; full of citations linking one to another, sometimes helpfully, sometimes not. Today we're going to point the skeptical eye at ten of the worst web sites in terms of quality of science information that they promote. To make this list, they not only need to have bad information, they also need to be popular enough to warrant our attention.

Many of these sites promote some particular ideology, but I want to be clear that that's not why they're here. Sites that make this list are only here because of the quality of the science information that they advocate.

As a measure of each site's popularity, I'm giving its ranking on Alexa.com as of this writing. Of course this changes over time, so I'm rounding them off to give a general idea of each site's traffic. Also, I'm giving its US traffic ranking, as these are English language sites and the worldwide rankings are skewed by sites in China, Russia, and the rest of the non-English world. For a starting point of reference, Skeptoid.com's ranking is currently about 40,000, meaning that 40,000 web sites in the United States get more traffic than I do. And, compared to the number of web sites there are, that number is actually not half bad — but note how it compares to some of these sites promoting misinformation.

[Little Ray]

Have at it!

[Eddie01]

www.democrats.org

[MrEdd]

Since it desperately avoids any mention of global warmists, I am forced to reject any claims of credibility for either author or site.

[exDemMom]

Is there some reason you couldn’t post the whole article here?

I’m all for tearing apart unscientific websites; I’ve seen far too many FReepers (mostly anti-vaccine zealots) quote from these websites as if they provide actual information.

[MD Expat in PA]

Like any website that quotes Jenny McCarthy as a medical expert :),

[Dr. Thorne]

From the website creator's bio: "My only academic credential that bears any scrutiny is in Writing for Film and Television from University of California, Los Angeles."

'Nuff said. Waste of time.

[mountainlion]

No islamic site saying that Christians are monkeys? No “environmental Science”? Aren't the flat earth people around anymore? Political “Science”? Global Warming, Evolution?

[Little Ray]

Yeah, I know. Disappointing, eh? The guy is probably limited to English speaking sites so he wouldn’t be able to pick up the whacked-out sites that are published in Arabic, no matter how high their traffic might be...

[Fresh Wind]

10. Huffington-Puffington Post
9. Conservapedia
8. Cryptomundo
7. 9/11 Truth.org
6. Mercola.com
5. Answers in Genesis
4. Australian Vaccination Network
3. Prison Planet/Info Wars
2. Age of Autism
1. Natural News

[Bigh4u2]

Actually, he did an article on Global warming, but his conclusions,or lack there of, are all over the place.

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4039

[dog breath]

Crytomundo is actually fun to visit once in awhile, lots of Bigfoot and other creatures. Somebody has to talk about these things. Except for some of it;s disturbing advertisements it seems harmless, so I am not sure why it was included. You could be the only one at work with a Bigfoot coffee mug.

[KarlInOhio]

10. Huffington Post huffingtonpost.com
9. Conservapedia conservapedia.com
8. Cryptomundo cryptomundo.com
7. 9/11 Truth.org 911truth.org
6. Mercola.com mercola.com
5. Answers in Genesis answersingenesis.org
4. Australian Vaccination Network avn.org.au
3. Prison Planet / InfoWars prisonplanet.com
2. Age of Autism ageofautism.com
1. Natural News naturalnews.com

[Little Ray]

I’ll bet it is fun. I LIKE weird stuff. “Conspiracy Theory” is a hobby of mine, and includes some cryptozoology.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Little Ray. As someone pointed out, none of these argue against the global warming scam; HuffPo’s on the list though, but for so-called medical quackery (that seems to be the main focus of the list), which suggests that the writer is really just Michael Shermer’s parrot.

A Happy New Year ping to the science lists, no logos, just a ping. :’)

[Condor51]

Now why is this guy picking on Cryptozoologists?

Cryptozoology is cool and you can make yourself some pretty neat business cards that have a whole bunch of impressive initials after your name.

Which btw, is a great way to meet, impress, and pick up chicks desperate divorced women in a bar/lounge before the 1:00 am 'I'll Hit Anything' time arrives. And it sure beats the heck out of the old, 'I'm In The CIA' line of the 1980's - which oddly - would work at times :-)

Not that I would personally know anything about any of that stuff mind you.

[skinkinthegrass]

LOL!
been there, done that. :-P

[Paradox]

I like Bryan Dunning, I used to listen to his podcast, back when I had the time. Its a good list I think.

[KevinDavis]

I’m surprised not to see any creationist websites in the list..