R. L. Wysong

R. L. Wysong (Randy Wysong) (1940–) is an American veterinarian, anti-vaxxer, cholesterol denialist and young earth creationist writer. He is also the founder of the Wysong pet food company[2] and the Wysong Institute.[3]

R. L. Wysong
Style over substance
Pseudoscience
Popular pseudosciences
Random examples
v - t - e
The divine comedy
Creationism
Running gags
Jokes aside
Blooper reel
v - t - e
“”Humans, in particular, defy evolutionary explanation.
—R. L. Wysong[1]

Wysong describes himself as an "iconoclastic scientist, veterinary surgeon, health educator, pioneering leader in the natural food and prevention fields, inventor, and philosopher."[4] He operates the website AsIfThinkingMatters.com. His book Solving the Big Questions, argues that "everyone has it wrong". The book claims that abiogenesis, evolution and materialism are false, whilst intelligent design and paranormal powers are true.[1]

Wysong thinks free will "proves" creationism and the laws of thermodynamics disprove evolution[1][5] He has supported pseudoscientific intelligent design arguments.[6] Never mind the omnipotence paradox.

The Creation-Evolution Controversy

He is best known for his 1976 young-earth creationist book, The Creation-evolution Controversy.[7] It was not taken seriously by the scientific community. Paleontologist Niles Eldredge noted that:

He explains the importance of the controversy: one's position on "origins" frames one's world view, and one's world view, in turn, leads to one's "approach to life." A "correct" position on origins leads to a "correct" world view which, in turn, leads to solutions to life's problems… Wysong goes on to argue that the evolutionary position influenced the thinking of such historical figures as Mussolini, Hitler, and Freud. But "if on the other hand, life owes its existence to a creator, a supernatural force, then life is the result of his will and purposes. Understanding these purposes would be the only way to understand life's varied questions and problems."[8]

In the book, Wysong made many mistakes. Regarding the starlight problem, he incorrectly asserted that "the time required [for light] to reach us from the most distant stars is only 15 years."[9] Unsurprisingly, Conservapedia is a fan of the book.[10]

Twitter nuttiness

Wysong has written a lot of bullshit on Twitter:

“”Evolution is a religion based upon faith.[11]
“”The fact of the matter is there is no equality anywhere in nature or society. There never was and never will be.[12]
“”History proves medical interventions do far more harm than good. None of the plagues or epidemics were solved by vaccines.[13]

Racial views

Wysong has argued against the ideas of racial equality.

The fact of the matter is there is no equality anywhere in nature or society. There never was and never will be. Results will always be different because creatures and people are different. Any attempt to force equal results on society will doom that society because such effort denies reality.[14]

He is also a fan of races sticking to their "own kind", so he is probably a fan of white separatism.[14][15] He supports racial segregation in prisons:

The prison system clearly demonstrates that preferences simply cannot be eliminated. Here there is absolute control over inmates, much like some politicians would like to impose on the populace. Prisoners, as a rule, couldn’t give a hoot about political correctness. What do they do? They segregate by race. There is so much violence and turmoil if the races are forced to commingle that some prisons now mandate racial colonies within the prison in order to keep peace.[15]

Cholesterol and vaccine denialism

Wysong is a cholesterol and statin denialist. He has authored The Cholesterol Myth, 2010. He denies the scientific evidence that blood LDL cholesterol levels increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.[16]

He is also a vaccine denialist and argues that vaccines are not safe.[17][18][19] He wrote on his website "nobody knows for certain that a vaccine has prevented them from getting a disease."[17]

Pet food

The Wysong company also controversially introduced commercial vegan chow for cats and dogs.[20][21] This was contrary to R. L. Wysong's own advice of feeding pets a diet that is "as close to the form they would find in the wild as possible."[22]

gollark: Plus, sandboxing.
gollark: It's okay. I can at least use multiple tabs for intense Discording.
gollark: Shouldn't you use your AUR helper of choice™ for it then?
gollark: Is mesa-git an AUR package?
gollark: Lua isn't very fast (except LuaJIT), although Python is *particularly* slow so who knows.

References
  1. Solving The Big Questions as if Thinking Matters - Second Edition. R. L. Wysong.
  2. FAQ Wysong (archived from December 26, 2007).
  3. Randy Wysong's Biography Red Room (archived from March 6, 2013).
  4. As If Thinking Matters (archived from March 17, 2019).
  5. Choosing to Believe in Evolution Disproves It - Dr. Wysong (Jan 9, 2017) R. L. Wysong, YouTube.
  6. Nuts and Bolts Prove Intelligent Design and Defeat Evolution (Oct 12, 2018) R. L. Wysong, YouTube.
  7. The Creation-Evolution Controversy by R. L. Wysong (1976) Inquiry Press. ISBN 0918112028.
  8. Eldredge, Niles. (1982). The monkey business: a scientist looks at creationism. Washington Square Press. p. 144.
  9. Mills, David. Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism. Ulysses Press. p. 138.
  10. See the Conservapedia article on R.L. Wysong.
  11. Evolution is a religion based upon faith. by R. L. Wysong (12:45 PM - 26 Jan 2010) Twitter (archived from March 18, 2019).
  12. The fact of the matter is there is no equality anywhere in nature or society. There never was and never will be. by R. L. Wysong (09:36 - 24. Nov. 2009) Twitter (archived from March 18, 2019).
  13. History proves medical interventions do far more harm than good. None of the plagues or epidemics were solved by vaccines. by R. L. Wysong (10:36 AM - 16 Oct 2009) Twitter (archived from March 18, 2019).
  14. Racism and Other Isms on the Beach. R. L. Wysong (archived from March 18, 2019).
  15. Racism a bogus issue. R. L. Wysong.
  16. The Cholesterol Myth – Believe it to Your Peril by R. L. Wysong (archived from March 18, 2019).
  17. The Vaccine Dilemma by R. L. Wysong (archived from March 18, 2019).
  18. Vaccine Dangers. R. L. Wysong.
  19. Vaccinations-Reasons for Pause by R. L. Wysong (archived from March 18, 2019).
  20. Wysong Vegan Dry Dog & Cat Food, 5-lb bag (archived from 18 Mar 2019 20:03:21 UTC).
  21. Should Your Pet Go on a Vegetarian Diet? The risks of feeding vegan or vegetarian diets to your pet. by Roxanne Hawn, WebMD
  22. The Pet Food Ingredient Game by R. Wysong (archived from July 27, 2018).
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