Follow the Science ... Delusion

One of the things we keep hearing is "follow the science" or "believe the science". As we are being told this I think of this talk from around 7 years ago. Sheldrake gave a TED talk called "The Science Delusion", and it was almost instantly banned. Eventually, Sheldrake (and Graham Hancock) got his talk back online, but it's interesting to watch and try to figure out why it was banned.

Sheldrake's biography, from his website:

"He studied natural sciences at Cambridge University, where he was a Scholar of Clare College, took a double first class honours degree and was awarded the University Botany Prize (1962). He then studied philosophy and history of science at Harvard University, where he was a Frank Knox Fellow (1963-64), before returning to Cambridge, where he took a Ph.D. in biochemistry (1967). He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge (1967-73), where he was Director of Studies in biochemistry and cell biology. As the Rosenheim Research Fellow of the Royal Society (1970-73), he carried out research on the development of plants and the ageing of cells in the Department of Biochemistry at Cambridge University. While at Cambridge, together with Philip Rubery, he discovered the mechanism of polar auxin transport, the process by which the plant hormone auxin is carried from the shoots towards the roots."

Please watch the video carefully, then answer the following. Question 4 is the key question:

1. What was his talk about?
2. What questions did it raise?
3. What did he do that was effective? Ineffective?
4. In your opinion, why was it banned by TED Talks?

"Re-uploaded as TED have decided to censor Rupert and remove this video from the TEDx youtube channel. "