# Is Wade Davis a Fake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782 "2012-05-13T17:08:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/1 "2012-05-13T17:08:01Z")
Reading his books, one might get the impression that he is 99% fake, maybe 1% true. Take his book on the Haitian “zombies”-he claimed that a mix of toxins can render a normal person a zombie-yet, when analyzed, the “zombie powder” contained insignificant doses of the toxins. Most of his stuff reads like fantasy-is this guy another Carlos Castenada (“The teachings of Don Juan”)-who made most of his adventures up? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/2 "2012-05-13T21:31:26Z")
I studied under some world-class specialists in Afro-Caribbean religion who didn’t think much of him. I don’t think “fake” is fair, but I do think he has made some procedural errors. There are people who Hatians identify as zombies (e.g. [this woman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Felix-Mentor)). Davis talked to Haitians about zombies and, in my view, tended to be a bit too credulous. Folk beliefs and folk narratives reflect culturally important ideas, but not always physical reality. Davis assumed physical reality for too much, and then set about seeking a scientific explanation for the supernatural. Naturally, this appeals to his readers, who love shit like this (Atlantis was Santorini, mermaids are really manatees, etc.). I’d say 25% real, 50% pseudoanthropology, 25% sensationalism. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/3 "2012-05-13T23:50:52Z")
I’ve read Davis, and stuff about Davis. He doesn’t strike me at all like Castandea\*, and I don’t think he was ridiculously credulous. As one critic noted, there’s more to the whole zombie thing than “it’s tetrodotoxin!” – there’s a whole cultural mythos and mindset asociated with this. (For the record, I love “scientific shit” like this, too, but it’s _always_ more than “Atlantis was Santorini”. I’m on record abut this for the case of Medusa. sometimes naturalistic explanations really do exist. Buit, as i say, even in the case of Davis, it’s not just “Tetrodotoxin is Zombie Powder!”) \*In the case of Castaneda, there are plenty of critics, but recommend deMille’s _Castaneda’s Journey_ – if you can find it – which dissects the inconsistencies in castaneda’s dating and experiences. Also the deMille-edited _the Don Juan Papers_, which brings in pieces by other pieces as well, and is written with a wonderful sense of punning. How can you resist a chapter title like “The Lion, The Witch, and The Horned Toad”? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/4 "2012-05-14T20:47:31Z")
Thanks…its like his writings about all the cool medicines that the wise old rainforest shamans have…except most of them don’t work. I recall when he was in Haiti, and he contacted the houngan (voodoun priest) to make the “zombie powder”-it included pieces of the corpse of a dead baby…I mean…come on…he actually expects us to believe this crap? For all we know, he could have made the whole thing up by reading some 1930’s pulp novel about Haiti. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/5 "2012-05-14T22:55:08Z")
I had dinner with Davis once, and have attended some of his lectures. It’s been awhile since I read _The Serpent and the Rainbow_. While Davis’s work has been questioned by some scientists, it’s been defended by others. He’s always been more of a popularizer than a scientist. However, he’s well regarded enough to have received awards and honorary degrees from many respected organizations and universities, per his [bio at National Geographic](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/wade-davis/), where he is Explorer in Residence. > [@](#): > > Davis is the recipient of numerous awards including: The Explorers Medal, the highest award of the Explorers Club (2011), the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (2009), the 2002 Lowell Thomas Medal (The Explorer’s Club) and the 2002 Lannan Foundation $125,000 prize for literary non-fiction. He has been granted Honorary Degrees (Doctorate of Sciences) from University of Victoria (2003), University of Guelph (2008), and Colorado College (2010), and (Doctorate of Laws) from the University of Northern British Columbia (2010) and the National College of Natural Medicine (2011). In 2004 he was made an Honorary Member of the Explorer’s Club, one of twenty. In 2012 he will receive the David Fairchild Medal, the most prestigious award for botanical exploration. > [@ralph124c](#): > > Thanks..its like his writings about all the cool medicines that the wise old rainforest shamans have..except most of them don’t work. Cite? > [@](#): > > I recall when he was in Haiti, and he contacted the houngan (voodoun priest) to make the “zombie powder”-it included pieces of the corpse of a dead baby..I mean..come on..he actually expects us to believe this crap? Why do you think it’s unlikely a houngan might have included human remains in a potion? > [@](#): > > For all we know, he could have made the whole thing up by reading some 1930’s pulp novel about Haiti. Which pulp novel mentions pufferfish and Datura as being ingredients in zombie powder? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/6 "2012-05-15T05:35:52Z")
Quote: Originally Posted by ralph124c View Post Thanks…its like his writings about all the cool medicines that the wise old rainforest shamans have…except most of them don’t work. Cite? Yes, _Shaman Pharmaceuticals_ was a California firm, founded to commercialize folk remedies from Amazon-area plants went bankrupt-without a single successful drug developed. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/7 "2012-05-16T05:10:35Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Yes, _Shaman Pharmaceuticals_ was a California firm, founded to commercialize folk remedies from Amazon-area plants went bankrupt-without a single successful drug developed. Nonsense. Just because the products were difficult to commercialize doesn’t mean the remedies themselves don’t work. Some may not be as effective as drugs that have previously been developed. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wade-davis-a-fake/621782/8 "2012-05-16T05:21:47Z")
I also remember reading of his Haitian adventure…when he calls on the houngan (who is making up the “zombie” powder). The guy is grilling some poisonous toads and lizards (apparently unaware that heat destroys neurotoxins). Eventually, the zombie powder is produced (containing material from the puffer fish, lizards, toads, dead bay…eye of newt, etc.)-which he takes back to the USA. When analyzed, the stuff doesn’t work. Yep, real scientific.😉