Goldenes Brett
The award Das Goldene Brett vorm Kopf (English translation: "The Golden Blockhead", literal translation "The Golden Board in Front of the Head") is a negative prize awarded by the Society for the Scientific Investigation of Pseudosciences (GWUP – Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften). The prize is organised by the Viennese regional group, the Society for Critical Thinking (GkD – Gesellschaft für kritisches Denken). The jury considers the "most astonishing pseudo-scientific nuisance" of the year in German-speaking countries. The award was presented for the first time in 2011 during the Sceptics Conference in Vienna.[1][2] In 2016, the prize was presented simultaneously for the first time in Vienna and Hamburg (by the Hamburg sceptics of the GWUP).[3]
Process
[edit | edit source]Candidates are nominated via a form. A jury of experts selects the three top candidates among the nominees. The assessment is based on the following: degree of deviance, resistance to criticism, commercial interest, radius of action, pseudoscience, and hazard potential.[4] In the course of a public award ceremony, three candidates are presented by a eulogist in an ironic speech. The three candidates can comment on their nomination. Thereafter the winner is announced, and they are given a golden statue with a board in front of the head and have the option of making an acceptance speech. In 2012, the jury of experts included Heinz Oberhummer (physicist), Werner Gruber (physicist), Johannes Grenzfurthner (artist) and the eulogists Mario Sixtus (journalist), El Awadalla (writer) and Niko Alm (entrepreneur and activist).
In 2012, an additional "lifetime achievement prize" was awarded for the first time. This prize recognizes a person who, according to the jury, "made a name with particularly impressive resistance to scientific facts over decades".[5] The award was granted in 2012 by the Austrian Consumer Information Consortium (Verein für Konsumenteninformation) and since 2013 by the German Consumers' Union (Deutscher Konsumentenbund). The Austrian branch of the Cochrane Collaboration was a cooperation partner in 2015.[6]
Winners and nominees
[edit | edit source]| Year | Lifetime award | Winners | Nominees/reason for nomination | Sideact |
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| 2011 | not awarded | Peter-Arthur Straubinger (In the Beginning There Was Light) |
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| 2012 | Erich von Däniken | Harald Walach of the Viadrina European University (spreading of esotericism and alternative medicine in academia) |
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| 2013 | Ruediger Dahlke[7] | Homeopaths Without Borders (distribution of homeopathy in areas of medical crisis) |
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| 2014 | Jochen Kopp/ Kopp Verlag | Singer Xavier Naidoo[8][9] (public spreading of conspiracy theories) |
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| 2015[11][12] | Matthias Rath[13] | Stefan Lanka[13] (denial of the measles virus) |
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| 2016 | Ryke Geerd Hamer (Germanic new medicine)[14] | Zentrum der Gesundheit[14] |
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Sideact in Vienna:
Sideact in Hamburg:
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| 2017 | Cornelia Bajic and the Deutschen Zentralverein homöopathischer Ärzte[15] | Johannes Huber (physician),[15] author of Es existiert: Die Wissenschaft entdeckt das Unsichtbare (2016) and Der holistische Mensch: Wir sind mehr als die Summe unserer Organe (2017) |
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| 2018[16] | Demeter International | The Hospital Nord in Vienna, together with the energetician Christoph Fasching, who drew an "energetic protective wall" around the hospital[17] |
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Sideact in Vienna:
Sideact in Hamburg:
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| 2019 | Granderwasser[18] | Hevert medicines (homeopathic manufacturers)[19] |
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| 2020[20] | Ken Jebsen's Web-Projekt KenFM | Sucharit Bhakdi (spreading of COVID-19 misinformation) |
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| 2023 | Daniele Ganser[21] | Ulrike Guérot (spreading of COVID-19 misinformation and false claims concerning the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine)[21] |
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Media recognition
[edit | edit source]Media recognition ranges from numerous mentions in the blogosphere, such as ScienceBlogs (Astrodicticum Simplex,[23] Kritisch gedacht[24] or Fischblog[25] and Mathlog)[26] to Austrian media such as Der Standard[27][28] Die Presse,[29] ORF,[30] News,[31] Heute[32] and Vice.[33]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ derStandard.at: Skeptiker küren Esoterik-Unfug des Jahres Archived 2012-10-28 at the Wayback Machine, 24. September 2012
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Website goldenesbrett.at – Kriterien und Jury, 16. Oktober 2012
- ^ derStandard.at: Drei Finalisten für "Goldenes Brett vorm Kopf" ... inklusive Ärztekammer Archived 2012-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, 16. Oktober 2012
- ^ goldenesbrett.guru: Das Goldene Brett 2015 Archived 2017-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, 14. Oktober 2015
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- ^ Homöopathie-Unternehmen erhält das Goldene Brett vorm Kopf (tr. "Homeopathy company holds the golden board...") 13 December 2019 www.derstandard.de, accessed 23 February 2021
- ^ TheESP – Ep. #201 – HPV vaccines are safe! "Das Goldene Brett (the Golden Board) has been awarded to homeopathy manufacturer Hevert by the GWUP in Austria... 19 December 2019 theesp.eu, accessed 23 February 2021
- ^ Das Goldene Brett vorm Kopf"Fehlalarm"-Arzt Sucharit Bhakdi mit Satirepreis ausgezeichnet tr. The golden board in front of the head "False alarm" doctor Sucharit Bhakdi awarded with a satire prize 15 December 2020 www.kleinezeitung.at, accessed 18 December 2020
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