Celebs Who Believe In Bogus Scientific Theories
Just because you're famous, doesn't mean you're smart. Celebs who find success through their acting, or some other "talent," also find a platform from which to broadcast their opinions. Unfortunately those opinions are sometimes founded on little more than anecdotes and misunderstanding. Here are a few celebs who believe in really nutty scientific theories.
B.o.B thinks the earth is flat
Rapper B.o.B took to Twitter to tell the world that despite infinite evidence to the contrary, the world is, in fact, flat. He even provided "evidence" in the form of a few holiday snaps. He was quickly challenged by people with a better grasp of physics, including none other than astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. But flat-earth-B.o.B wasn't convinced and instead took the debate to the next level, with a rap battle.
Jenny McCarthy thinks vaccinations cause autism
When her son was diagnosed with autism, it didn't take McCarthy long to lay the blame squarely at the feet of vaccinations. Since then she has devoted significant effort to promoting her anti-vaccination position in the news and in interviews such as with Larry King on CNN. The vaccine/autism connection was first proposed in a 1997 British medical study, but the study was later completely debunked and the doctor who led it was subsequently stripped of his medical license. Nevertheless, McCarthy continues to campaign despite the mountain of peer reviewed articles now showing vaccines to be safe. Unfortunately this isn't a harmless preoccupation, because any child that is not vaccinated is at risk of contracting a potentially fatal, and entirely preventable disease.
January Jones eats her own placenta
In a bid to beat those baby blues, January Jones has elected for a rather "unique" treatment. According to People, after the birth of her son Xander, Jones saved her placenta and had it dehydrated and turned into pills, which she took daily. According to online theories, the ingestion of the placenta provides the new mother with a host of vitamins and hormones that can aid in her recovery. Unfortunately, since the placenta also contains all the nasty stuff it prevented from getting to the developing fetus, the mother is ingesting that too. That said, since Jones seems no worse off for all her self medicating, then perhaps it's just a particularly gross eccentricity. Although since there have been no major studies into the effects of placentophagia (which is what it's called, by the way), there is really no way to tell.
Chuck Norris believes the world is 6,000 years old
Some say Chuck Norris doesn't read books; he just stares them down until he gets the information he wants. Unfortunately, it seems Mr. Norris stared down the wrong book. Norris is a contributor to the conservative website WorldNetDaily, in which he regularly expounds on his belief that evolution is a myth, among other things. Creationists prefer to take a literal interpretation of the bible, which leaves little room for debate—or rational thought, apparently.
Tom Cruise thinks psychiatry is baloney
As the poster boy for Scientology, Tom Cruise has publicly attacked the entire field of psychiatry, despite the fact that psychiatry has helped more people than copies of L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth. He once called the practice a "pseudoscience" (ironic much?). He also attacked Brooke Shields for using an antidepressant to treat postpartum depression, for which he was roundly criticized and eventually apologized, but not before he had a massive argument with Matt Lauer on live TV.
Cindy Crawford believes in homeopathy
Cindy Crawford went on Oprah in 2007 and revealing she uses homeopathic medicine to treat her children's bumps and bruises, and never goes anywhere without her kit. Homeopathy is a widely debunked medical practice that has been conclusively shown to have no more effect than a placebo—which is fine if you're treating a grazed knee, but not if you are trying to cure something life-threatening. Homeopathy is widely condemned by the general medical community and the World Health Organisation, and it's regarded as unethical for discouraging the use of actual effective medical treatments.
Simon Cowell huffs pure oxygen
It is hard to say if Simon Cowell has been in Hollywood too long, or if he was that vain to begin with. But either way, he's fitting right in with his desperate efforts to avoid the signs of aging (which is the ironic sign of aging). According to reports in Us Weekly, Cowell fights the good fight against wrinkles and saggy skin by carrying around a bottle of oxygen and taking puffs at regular intervals. How this is meant to help is not quite clear: breathing pure oxygen can give you a buzz, but if your body actually needs more surely it can get it by breathing faster. There is also the risk of oxygen toxicity causing inflammation of the airways and lungs, but no one ever said youthful skin was easy.
Demi Moore likes a leech
Ancient people achieved some impressive things, like pyramids, inventing math, and sweet pottery. But one thing they're not known for is medicine. But that doesn't stop a bunch of quacks from resurrecting long dead procedures and repackaging them as new age therapies. This seems to be what has happened to Demi Moore, who revealed during an interview with David Letterman that she has undergone a leech detox. Now in truth, there is a modern medical application for leeches, but detoxifying the blood isn't it. Doctors use leeches to suck blood out of wounds that would otherwise not drain properly, such as during surgery to reattach severed fingers or toes. But while leeches will suck the blood out of whatever they are attached to, there is no discrimination over which parts of the blood they take. The only toxins a leech would remove would be those that just happen to be in the blood it drinks—so it seems the leeches are not the only bloodsuckers getting their fill out of gullible celebrities.