Susan Greenfield

[[File:Susan greenfield.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Greenfield, 2006.]]{{pseudoscience}}
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{{cquote|The cold dead heart inside me grew heavier and heavier until I was entirely just that, a cold heavy lump. Plodding towards what end?|||Greenfield channels [[Dan Brown]] in her novel}}

Baroness '''Susan Greenfield''' is a professor of pharmacology at Oxford. Her primary competence and field of expertise is the promotion of Baroness Susan Greenfield in the mainstream [[media]] as "Britain's [[Celebrity|best-known]] [[scientist]]."<ref name=bbc>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6979949.stm</ref>

She has been called out by [[Ben Goldacre]] on a few occasions<ref name="BadScience1">[http://www.badscience.net/2011/11/why-wont-professor-greenfield-publish-this-theory-in-a-scientific-journal/ Bad Science: Why won’t Professor Greenfield publish this theory in a scientific journal?]</ref><ref>[http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/prof-susan-greenfield-dodges-scientific-scrut Ben Goldacre &mdash; Prof Susan Greenfield dodges scientific scrutiny of her scary scientific theory. Again.]</ref> for such completely bat-shit [[insane]] ideas as "[[video games]] are causing dementia in children", and "[[internet]] use is linked with [[autism]]".<ref name="NewScientist">[http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128236.400-susan-greenfield-living-online-is-changing-our-brains.html New Scientist: Susan Greenfield: Living online is changing our brains]</ref><ref group="note">She's got it backwards: Autistics [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/30/business/autistics-freed-from-face-to-face-encounters-are-communicating-in-cyberspace.html do love the internet], but they were autistic before they discovered the wonders of wifi.</ref> All of these claims ''might'' be reasonable, if she were even submitting her ideas for [[peer review]] and public scrutiny, but instead, she does science by press conference and her defenders seem only interested in accusing her [[sceptic]]s of [[sexism]].<ref name="ThisIsLondon">[http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23793960-the-male-rage-that-is-a-bad-rap-for-science.do London Evening Standard: The male rage that is a bad rap for science]</ref>
She claims she publishes material in peer reviewed journals though:
{{quotebox|"It's unfair. I publish three or four papers a year in peer-reviewed journals."<ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/susan-greenfield-the-girl-with-all-the-brains-825916.html</ref>}}

Baroness Greenfield has also endorsed the Mindfit "brain training" computer games system,<ref name=bbc/> a snip at £88 and supported by no studies published in reputable journals.<ref>http://www.which.co.uk/technology/archive/guides/brain-training/mindfit/</ref> It is not clear if she profits directly from the product in question.

She used to be head of the Royal Institution, the oldest independent research body in the world. After she was fired for blowing so much cash that its annual report had to be printed entirely in red ink,<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2010/jan/11/susan-greenfield-sacking-royal-institution</ref> she claimed sexual discrimination (rather than competence discrimination<ref>When fired for incompetence, complaining about persecution is common to failed academics of all genders, ''c.f.'' [[Intelligent design and academic freedom]] and ''[[Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]]''.</ref>) and tried to mount a corporate coup<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/apr/07/susan-greenfield-legal-royal-institution</ref> (which failed).

She has also written an incredibly awful science fiction novel, ''2121: A Tale from the Next Century'' which prompted the [[Grauniad]]'s reviewer to write:
{{Cquote|How is it bad? Let me count the ways. It is badly conceived, badly realised, badly characterised, badly paced and above all badly written. On the plus side, the typeface is nice and I quite liked the front cover art.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/11/2121-tale-century-greenfield-review</ref>}}
In addition, ''2121'' also scored an entire section in ''Ansible'' for terrible quotes.<ref>http://news.ansible.co.uk/a313.html#39</ref>

==See also==
*[[Neuroplasticity]], a concept which she is prone to abuse

==External links==
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/brain-flapping/2013/apr/09/susan-greenfield-article-how-to-guide How to construct your own Susan Greenfield technological panic article]

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category: Living people]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenfield, Susan}}

Categories: Scientists,  Living people