I recently came across two excellent examples of rational thought fighting back against pseudoscience. The first is this hilarious comic that documents the encounter between the Astrology Battleship and Carl Sagan’s fully-armed Spaceship of the Imagination. Turns out science missiles beat homeopathy rays every time.

Click for the full comic strip.

But that comic pales in comparison to this spectacular beat poem by Tim Minchin called “Storm”, in which he struggles not to get into an argument with a hippie. He finally breaks down and unleashes one of the funniest and most eloquent rants on alternative medicine, homeopathy, and pseudoscience that I have ever heard. It has some NSFW language, but please, please watch and share this video:

If you don’t have time to watch the video, here’s an excerpt:

Does the idea that
there might be knowledge frighten you?
Does the idea that
one afternoon on Wiki-f***ing-pedia
Might enlighten you,
Frighten you?
Does the notion that there might not be a Supernatural,
so blow your hippy noodle,
that you’d rather just stand in the fog of your
Inability to google?

Isn’t this enough?
Just,
this world?

Just this,
Beautiful,
Complex,
Wonderfully Unfathomable,
Natural World?

How does it so fail to hold our attention
That we have to diminish it
with the invention
of cheap man-made
myths and monsters?
If you’re so into your Shakespeare,
Lend me your ear
To gild refined gold,
To paint the lily,
To throw perfume on the violet,
Is just f***ing silly

Or something like that.