The Arena > Coast to Coast AM Topics
The Debunking Thread
Avi:
1. Anti-vaccination kooks. Vaccines work by obtaining immunity in a preponderance of the population. Yes, it may very well be that you've never been vaccinated and never gotten sick (the claim of all the un-vaccinated), but that's because everyone else around you has been vaccinated. That said, supervision and care must be exercised over vaccine preparation, but still, tetanus, mumps, polio, measles, small pox, etc., suck in a big way.
2. End-Times Madness. How many millennial predictions have failed? Why, thousands (Ha!)! Jesus, the Mahdi, Elvis, sundry messiahs - they're all just another Once and Future King. I know that your millennial movement is different. This time, it's the real deal. Yah, sure.
3. Abiotic Oil. A few molecules of abiotic oil may have been generated somewhere, in all of the chemical reactions in the universe, but abiotic oil is in even shorter supply than that generated from biotic material, with or without dinosaurs.
4. Psychics. Who needs them? When it comes to the future, you're going to find out, anyway. Who needs remote viewing when everybody's got a webcam and a video on YouTube? Satellite surveillance can peek inside your bathroom window and read the brand of toilet paper you use. Beat that, Ed or Louis or the Twins or Carnac the Magnificent.
Flaxen Hegemony:
--- Quote from: Avi on October 01, 2011, 03:49:51 PM ---1. Anti-vaccination kooks. Vaccines work by obtaining immunity in a preponderance of the population. Yes, it may very well be that you've never been vaccinated and never gotten sick (the claim of all the un-vaccinated), but that's because everyone else around you has been vaccinated. That said, supervision and care must be exercised over vaccine preparation, but still, tetanus, mumps, polio, measles, small pox, etc., suck in a big way.
--- End quote ---
I was PI on a medical contract that involved analyzing the rates and changes of immunizations across years, race, SES, etc., and it was unfortunate to see that the skepticism was actually higher amongst populations less likely to have access to quality health care.
--- Quote ---2. End-Times Madness. How many millennial predictions have failed? Why, thousands (Ha!)! Jesus, the Mahdi, Elvis, sundry messiahs - they're all just another Once and Future King. I know that your millennial movement is different. This time, it's the real deal. Yah, sure.
--- End quote ---
A great read is Charles Mackay's "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and Madness of Crowds". Some chapters deal with end times nonsense, others with charlatans and mass hysteria. The clear take-home message is that people haven't changed that much over many years in the way they con others, or their willingness to believe such cons.
--- Quote ---4. Psychics. Who needs them? When it comes to the future, you're going to find out, anyway. Who needs remote viewing when everybody's got a webcam and a video on YouTube? Satellite surveillance can peek inside your bathroom window and read the brand of toilet paper you use. Beat that, Ed or Louis or the Twins or Carnac the Magnificent.
--- End quote ---
I tell my classes that psychic phenomena are real, just present only a small percentage of the time, and varying from day to day. It takes them a few seconds, but eventually they get the joke.
It is interesting, though, how careful observation relates to people's perceptions of what they think is a psychic phenomenon.
Apologies in advance for a long story, but one example I can think of is when I was at an evening social gathering at a professional conference. After observing something that happened between two people in front of me, I leaned over to my friend and asked her "Those two hooked up, didn't they?". Being a close friend to the woman involved, she was stunned that I "knew", because it had just happened two nights ago. [1] Did the guy brag to me or something? No, and I told her the reasoning for my guess. The male was walking through a crowd, doing that turning sideways thing that we all do, and gave a slight look in the direction of the person he was passing, as if he wanted to politely convey to them that he was aware of his invading their personal space. However, to one of the women, he made no such gesture. He sidled by her body without any acknowledgment or issue. It was subtle, but still barely noticable. I concluded that he didn't do this because he didn't feel self-aware. Why didn't he feel self-aware? Because he wasn't uncomfortable being close to a body that he had already been very close to in the past. :)
[1] Dirty little secret for you non-scientists out there. "Academic" conferences are basically wild fuck-fests paid for by university funds.
Treading Water:
--- Quote from: Flaxen Hegemony on October 01, 2011, 05:05:13 PM ---
[1] Dirty little secret for you non-scientists out there. "Academic" conferences are basically wild fuck-fests paid for by university funds.
--- End quote ---
Glad to know my son's tuition isn't being spent on something silly... :P
Bwahahahahahahahahaha! ;D
stevesh:
--- Quote from: Flaxen Hegemony on October 01, 2011, 05:05:13 PM ---
[1] Dirty little secret for you non-scientists out there. "Academic" conferences are basically wild fuck-fests paid for by university funds.
--- End quote ---
That's it. I'm going back for my PHD. Do you suppose the same is true for paranormal and UFO conferences ?
Flaxen Hegemony:
--- Quote from: stevesh on October 02, 2011, 07:48:57 AM ---That's it. I'm going back for my PHD. Do you suppose the same is true for paranormal and UFO conferences ?
--- End quote ---
Possibly! I don't want to derail Avi's interesting thread idea any further, so will start a "conference sex" post in open lines.
Segueing back on topic. One of the more interesting chapters in the Mackay book that I mention above is the adventures of the charlatan Cagliostro. He "played" financial patrons as much as he did women, but according to some, had a heart of gold and actually did some good.
There are more modern treatments of debunking historical charlatans, but Mackay's book was originally published in the mid 1800's, giving a little different twist to the discussion. He's much more direct, and less cynical than I think we would be today.
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