Simon says but loses his right to criticise

IF YOU have ever been tempted to call alternative medicine "bogus", chose your words with care. You could be sued for defamation. That's the message from a ruling in the High Court in London that censured science writer Simon Singh for claiming that the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) promoted "bogus" treatments.

I am a big fan of Simon Singh's books and have just finished his excellent book Fermat's Last Theorem. I have also had some good and some bad experiences with chiropractors in the past but I would defend anyone's right to criticise, not only alternative but also established clinical medicine. In this way refinement, development and progress can be achieved.

Chiropractice is a system of alternative and complementary medicine that treats illnesses by manipulating the spine. Singh made the comment in an article in London newspaper The Guardian in April 2008. The BCA asked him to retract the statement, which it said was wrong and damaging to its reputation. Singh refused, so the BCA sued him for libel.

In a pre-trial hearing last week, the judge ruled that Singh was saying the BCA had knowingly made false claims. He rejected Singh's defence that it was fair comment. "The judge has given us a meaning [of bogus] that is very extreme and that I never intended."

The judge has given us a meaning of bogus that is very extreme and that I never intended

Some lawyers and bloggers see the ruling as a landmark as it could restrict freedom of speech to criticise alternative medicine, and not just in England. People from all over the world are using English libel law to silence their critics (see "Don't criticise, or we'll sue").

BCA president Tony Metcalf said he was delighted that the judge had protected the BCA's integrity.

Innovation: The dilemma

Innovative ideas are not always popular. It takes hard times to open our minds to innovative ideas. When things are going well enough there is no need to be innovative because innovation means moving outside our comfort zone.

If you believe you are an innovator, then now is the best of times. Remember, you need to be tough because you will cause discomfort and you will not be popular. If it is popularity you seek, then this is the wrong path.

With all the talk about innovation we forget that not everybody can be an innovator. Your most successful innovations in the long run will make you very unpopular in the short run. You’ll upset the established order and cause discomfort to those who depend on that established order. Don’t look for approval, its not there. You must be an innovator only because you have to be and you need to be tough enough to handle the slings, arrows and disapproval of those you threaten.

Remember that Innovation is an art, not a science. Jean Cocteau an innovator in the arts, was an innovator in many fields; in poetry, writing, design, theatre, and film-making. He made himself unpopular in the short run and kept on doing what he did anyway because he was different and he had to. Eventually, he became famous and accepted as part of the 'establishment'. The curse and dilemma of all innovators.

Cocteau said, "Anything of importance cannot help but be unrecognisable, since it bears no resemblance to anything already known." So don't confuse innovation with merely making incremental improvements to existing ways of doing things.

He also said: "Listen carefully to the first criticisms of your work. Note carefully what it is about your work that the critics don't like, then cultivate it. That's the part of your work that's individual and worth keeping." Do you believe in what you are doing, enough to persevere in the face of veiled threats, withering criticism or deafening silence?

Beware of so called innovators who become very popular very quickly, their easy popularity is a signal that whatever it is they are doing, it is not innovative.