People will do anything to move up the prestige ladder. Skeptic Benjamin Radford catches Tik Tok influencers in the act:
Bogus health fads come fast and furious, and one of the latest is something called “oil pulling,” an ancient Indian practice in which people cleanse their mouths (and bodies) of toxins by swishing a vegetable oil (such as olive, coconut, or sunflower) in the mouth for twenty minutes and then spitting it out. Wildly popular TikTok videos extol the virtues of this allegedly ancient practice.
It’s ridiculously simple, and, it is claimed, amazingly effective. According to a blog for the Skeptoid podcast, “Oil pulling is said to treat chronic pain, insomnia, cavities, allergies, thrombosis, diabetes, asthma, bad breath, gingivitis, digestive issues, meningitis, low energy, heart disease, kidney disease, ‘toxic bodily waste,’ PMS, leukemia and even AIDS. Oil pulling, it would seem, is truly a life-changing medical miracle.”
If you catch yourself saying, Well, I saw this video on Tik Tok … with no attempts at confirmation from more respectable sources, perhaps you need to reconsider how you’re running your life. Maybe try independent thinking:
The fact that oil pulling has been used for thousand of years (if indeed it has) is asserted as proof of its efficacy but in fact means nothing. This is an example of a logical fallacy called the “appeal to tradition.” Just because a practice has endured for hundreds or thousands of years does not mean it is valid.
Given the widespread scourge of disease we endured until the science of medicine came along, an independent thinker might conclude that oil pulling is invalid. Of course, this, too, would be an invalid conclusion, since we lack any idea of the prevalence of general disease in a population lacking an oil pulling tradition.
Independent thinking is a lot harder than it looks.
But relying on Tik Tok for your knowledge is simply another way to give people all your money.
Meanwhile, keep in mind that influencers get prestige and money from being influencers. What have they really done to earn such a position?
