Misinformation

I'm using my blog to talk about an issue that I've almost got myself involved in a Twitter argument for because it takes more than a couple of lines of characters to explain.

On the surface, the 'argument' was on the safety of a particular site. However, my reaction is nothing to do with that. To those involved: hold fire until you've read this whole blog.

We live in a world where we're bombarded with information and it's very difficult to tell what's true fact, what's low quality and what's misinformation.

I've been passionate about this for years. Many people don't know that I used to be a science teacher. As much as I loved teaching about the fundamental particles and cosmology, I was much more interested that the students I taught ended up scientifically literate. To me, this means being able to use the basic skills of the scientist to sift through data and make informed decisions.

At the time I was teaching (and, depressingly, still), the three big 'debates' in the world were whether vaccines cause autism (spoiler: they don't), mobile phones cause cancer (nope) and whether humans are the cause for current changes in climate (they are).

How can I be sure? Because there are literally thousands of articles written in high quality peer-reviewed journals, based on double-blind trials, high quality statistical models or established science that show that these things are true.

Now, science does work by every now and then someone coming along and finding an exception to the rule, or developing a new paradigm that changes everything. However, these are few and far between, especially when a particular area of science is well understood. To change what mainstream scientists believe requires three things: evidence of the new claim that can be verified independently; an explanation for the new claim using established scientific principles; ways of further testing the claim.

In the case of vaccines and autism, only one study was found to link the vaccines with autism. Other studies showed no link. The study also made no attempt to explain how the chemicals in vaccines could cause autism and no further predictions for relationships that could be found outside the study. Worse, the study was found to have been conducted by a doctor who was being paid to write a study with a particular bent, and was conducted under incredibly unethical conditions.

So what's this all to do with sites on the internet?

Let's roll back a couple of weeks when I found myself emboiled in a Facebook debate about PrEP.

For those who don't know, PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a way of preventing HIV from being passed on by taking an anti-retroviral drug even if you're HIV negative.

There have been many studies done on the efficacy of PrEP and it's been found to be a) highly effective and b) safe for most people. There is, however, a small risk that it may affect your liver or kidney function. As such, people who have been prescribed PrEP are given regular tests to check that their vital organs are not being affected by the drug.

Of course, the Facebook warriors decided this wasn't the case. They were shouting about the 'dangers' of PrEP. If people believe that, it's fine, that's their choice. But not if it puts other people who could be at risk off using the drug.

When I challenged those making claims to provide evidence for the assertions, all I got back were anecdotes along the lines of "My doctor won't prescribe it because they're scared" or worse "you're such a sheeple". Of course, in America, there's an added complication that healthcare is a profit making business. This means that there's a suspicion about every drug that's out there. Luckily, in the UK, the NHS is not profit making and can be usually be relied on to make much more informed decisions. In the case of PrEP, they tried very hard to find reasons not to prescribe it, but have recently come to the conclusion that it's much more cost effective to give people the drug than the potential consequences of at risk groups not taking it. They also looked at the effectiveness compared to the side effects.

The point here is that "A guy off Facebook who knows a doctor" is nowhere near as reliable a source as the UK health regulator, but the guy off Facebook could stop someone making an informed decision by spreading half truths and doubt.

So what triggered this blog? Someone I follow on Twitter tweeted a "warning" about a particular site. This warning linked to an article written in a really obscure online "newspaper" in barely understandable English. The article made half a claim in the headline, then completely failed to explain the basis for the claim in the main body of the text. They claimed to be using a source "who worked for the company" but there was no evidence of this. There was a picture attached the article that doesn't have anything to do with the site mentioned.

On questioning this, I was given the usual "There's loads of people complaining on the web about this site". So I went looking. Trustpilot is a site where people can rate sites. A really good indication that something fishy going on is reading the number of 5 star or 1 star reviews. If there's a clutch in a particular time frame, this can suggest that someone is trying to manipulate the reviews. In this case, the site being criticised had a number of poor reviews written fairly recently. There wasn't a common thread to the reviews, either. Some of them were clearly sour grapes, whist some were nothing to do with the site functionality, but the content on the site (which is like complaining that YouTube is rubbish because PewDePee said something bad - it's creator led).

I'm open to the fact that some sites are dodgy, that science can get things wrong and that 'Big Pharma' makes up conditions in order to persuade us to buy medicines that we didn't know we needed. However, I do not agree with spreading misinformation. At best, it can spread confusion. At worst, it can cause people to behave in ways that are detrimental to their health, to the environment, or cause problems for legitimate businesses. So please only share high quality sources.

If you're in doubt about whether to believe something written on line, use the following guide to work out whether you should be taking notice of the information.

Reputation Is the author or organisation who wrote the source of information knowin to be honest, competent and neutral? Do they have integrity?

Ability to see Does the author have first hand knowledge of the subject, or are they rehashing second hand data?

Vested interest Does the author gain financially from writing this? Who is paying them? What are they trying to gain?

Expertise Is the author an expert in their field? What qualifications do they have?

Neutrality? Is the source biased? Are they ignoring one side of an argument? Has the 'opposite side' been given an opportunity do respond?

In the case of the information shared regarding the site, I felt that the reputation of the source was low, there was an anonymous informant who was the source, and there was no right to reply in the article for the site. Finally, given the number of articles attacking the same site in the 'newspaper', the neutrality of the source has to be questioned.

The internet is a great place, and there's loadsd of information out there... but please don't spread misinformation. Please be especially careful when you share stories that could damage people, businesses or go against the grain on health or the environment. Think carefully about the reliability of the source before hitting share, like or acting on the information.

Isolation sex

I'm a wanker. So should you be.

While so many of us are isolated, I've no doubt that many people will be practicing self loving. Sometimes several times per day. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, go for it. Nature gave you the gift of a set of pleasure spots and you don't need anyone or anything else to enjoy them.

Our culture has made masturbation seem like a bad thing. So we knock one out and sometimes feel bad about it. So now is the right time to celebrate jerking and use it to learn more about ourselves.

When I've worked from home in the past, I've been used a quick wank in the same way people use walks, cigarette breaks and cups of coffee; as a way of breaking up the monotony of the day. I finish a piece of work, then pull out my dick, shoot a load and then get back on with work. As I generally take a while to cum, this wastes time, but it also means that the amount of pleasure I get from masturbation tends to decrease.

On the other hand, at times, if I'm in a situation that cranking one out isn't possible (for example when I'm staying with family), then I notice that I don't feel the need to jerk off quite as often. When I eventually do, I find that I experience much more pleasure.

So, tip one, mix it up. By all means enjoy trying to break your record for the number of orgasms per day, but also try to break the absenence record. You'll enjoy both, in different ways.

Pornography is so easily accessible that it's easy to forget that it's possible to beat off without watching any. Our wildest fantasies are there on the screen. I've enjoyed many long edging sessions where I started on one particular fantasy and ended somewhere completely different. I'll be watching muscle guys fucking in the desert, then get excited by the boots, move to kink, then to straight stuff, gangbang porn... and so on and end up cumming to a skinny twink boy being force fed dick by daddies. Or whatever. It's fun to just follow our mood. Add poppers and it's even more fun - hours of edging, riding the peak and repeating. Bliss.

However, like all good things, we get desensitised to porn. You'll notice this happening as you start to search for harder and harder scenes. What started as being excited by a hot guy with a nice cock turns into needing multiple load bareback gangbang sex to even raise a twich in your nether regions.

Tip two therefore is to give yourself breaks from porn. Take a few days off per week when you don't watch anything and instead let your imagination run riot. You may even learn a few things about what you're into.

How can you take a quick solo hand job to another level? If you keep treating a session as just another thing you do each day (or several times a day), it soon loses its allure.

Try using toys to spice up your quicky. Even if you haven't got anything from a sex shop hiding under the bed, anyhing from clothes pegs/pins to watermelons can be used to have a good time. Just don't put anything that doesn't have a firm handhold inside you and please use lube with insertables. Our hospitals have enough to deal with without you adding to the emergency surgery lists with a baseball bat stuck up your nether regions or your dick in a vacuum cleaner. And NEVER try anything involving bags over your head or strangulation on your own. No breath control is totally safe at the best of times - on your own it's just stupid.

Try dressing up in different outfits to make yourself feel sexy. Just because no one will see you doesn't mean you can't feel good. Business clothes, sports clothes, underwear, dressing gowns, jeans, fetish gear... the list is endless. Play in a different place from your normal routine. If you normally beat off in bed or shower, try doing it in the kitchen or on the living room floor.

Try spreading the session out to take a whole evening to yourself. Phone off. Nice bath. Champagne. Strawberries. Romantic meal and enjoying your body, with or without toys, poppers and porn for a few hours. Work slowly - start with the secondary sexual areas. Your lips. Your nipples. Your feet. Don't aim to orgasm for a while. Take your time and really enjoy who you are and what your body can do for you.

Alternatively, find someone online to enjoy your body with. Camming with someone is safe and fun - as long as you know you're not being recorded. Pulling your meat out on chaturbate or cam4 is fine if you're out to friends and family as a sexual being, but has potential consequences if you're a teacher or aspiring politician. Paying someone is an option if you want your exact buttons pushed (for example, I know people who want specific words used when they're being dominanted or given instructions), but the cost can build up.

For those people who are a little scared of meeting people at the best of times, this is a great time to get to know people without committing. Use the hook up apps to find someone nearby, and enjoy each others' company via video. Learn about each other, then have some hot isolation video chats. You'll be ready to go further when we all get released.

Enjoy your body. Enjoy some solo loving. Stay safe, keep calm and wank on.

Just wash your hands afterwards.