"Unscientific"

[Newt]

The 'Misleading' thread lead me here: titled "Unscientific"

- From the web comic xkcd by Randall Munroe

[lester1/2jr]

I watched one of those shows theother day.  all the scientists were absolutely convinced that famous bigfoot footage was real, which it most assuredly isn't.  they did all this stuff, like hired a runner to run and see if thebigfoot was super fast or something.  it made me more convinced that global warming is junk science

[frank]

I watched one of those shows theother day.  all the scientists were absolutely convinced that famous bigfoot footage was real, which it most assuredly isn't.  they did all this stuff, like hired a runner to run and see if thebigfoot was super fast or something.  it made me more convinced that global warming is junk science

Not everyone wearing a lab coat on TV is a "real" scientist....

Global warming is happening (assuming the usual 5 % error likelihood), the proportion of human activities altering climate change in relation to natural phenomenons is subject to scientific dispute.

[clockworkcanary]

I watched one of those shows theother day.  all the scientists were absolutely convinced that famous bigfoot footage was real, which it most assuredly isn't.  they did all this stuff, like hired a runner to run and see if thebigfoot was super fast or something.  it made me more convinced that global warming is junk science

Yes, it's a global hoax by those crazy scientists who are somehow faking the accelerated Antarctic Ice breakup:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080326/ap_on_sc/antarctica_collapse;_ylt=AiMOgunEo9YFyy_gnGWsYtys0NUE

And also, that scientific machine you just used to type that message works on magic!

[clockworkcanary]

Not everyone wearing a lab coat on TV is a "real" scientist....

Global warming is happening (assuming the usual 5 % error likelihood), the proportion of human activities altering climate change in relation to natural phenomenons is subject to scientific dispute.

Agreed - there seems to be a world-wide consensus on this (that it is happening).  I mean, the Sun will grow to the size of Earth's orbit so it will happen eventually.  But then if it was on the TV it's gotta be real! <sarcasm>.  I'm sure those Bigfoot believing scientists were real and their studies were peer reviewed!

[flackbait]

Never believe everything you hear and read. Shows like Monster Hunters are stupid in the extreme. But how many people really seriously watch it for more than a few seconds before they realize what trash their watching?

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[clockworkcanary]

Oh and, Lester the sun isn't due to expand to the earths orbit for a billion years or so.

I'm the one who actually said it but I was being facetious.  I'm interested in learning more about this junk science.  Maybe Lester will enlighten us.

[nshumate]

all the scientists were absolutely convinced that famous bigfoot footage was real, which it most assuredly isn't.

Why "assuredly"?  Is there some evidence in the footage itself which leads you, by rigorous study, to this assurance, or is it the a priori conviction that Bigfoot isn't real, and therefore the footage is fake?

(Not arguing from the stance of a Bigfoot believer.  I just have trouble with declarations that propositions are "self-evidently" false without that evidence being enumerated.)

[lester1/2jr]

I don't know ANYTHING about science.  it just seems like if one were predisposed to believe something it is really easy to use thescientific method to prove it. You should have seen these guys looking in wonderment at "Bigfoot".  same with the area 51 stuff.  

obviously the global warming debate is of a higher grade of scientific argument than the bigfoot provers. i'm just saying, healthy skeptiscism needs to bea part ofany equation

nshumate- I'm prettysure the family of the guy who cashed in on the bigfoot stuff admitted it was a hoax after he died.  I'm not saying I have the proof on hand, but I believe in general it is not given a whole lot of credence, the tape

[Hammock Rider]

Einstein ,Mr. Wizard , Beakman and Zombie Feynman are the only "true" scientists ( in modern times) in the sense that they're in it to expand the frontiers of human learning and knowledge.(And eat brains. Didn't Professor Frink's father have a similar affliction?) Everyone else is a grant hungry statistician.

[clockworkcanary]

"healthy skeptiscism needs to be a part of any equation"

Absolutely Lester - any scientist worth her salt would totally agree with you there!  I might just have to give you some karma for that statement.

Some good debate on Global Warming if you're interested:
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-atheism&tid=38755

[clockworkcanary]

Speaking of Bigfoot, does anyone remember the skit on "In Living Color" when they kinda mixed the Bigfoot legend with the Elvis sightings?  Elvis was acting like Bigfoot, lurching around upstate Michigan forests making growling noises and attacked the newscaster (played by Jim Carrey).

Found it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iA-HC-tAKU

[frank]

Einstein ,Mr. Wizard , Beakman and Zombie Feynman are the only "true" scientists ( in modern times) in the sense that they're in it to expand the frontiers of human learning and knowledge.(And eat brains. Didn't Professor Frink's father have a similar affliction?) Everyone else is a grant hungry statistician.

One might add Gyro Gearloose and Professor Cuthbert Calculus....

(I take a bow for mentioning Frink`s father - also for provoking the comicesque image of hordes of scientists roaming the streets groaning "Graants! Graaaaaants!" in my mind right now)

[nshumate]

nshumate- I'm prettysure the family of the guy who cashed in on the bigfoot stuff admitted it was a hoax after he died.  I'm not saying I have the proof on hand, but I believe in general it is not given a whole lot of credence, the tape

Wikipedia has a pretty good survey of the issues around the Patterson-Gimlin footage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson-Gimlin_film

No mention of any admission of haoxing by Patterson (the dead one).  Gimlin (the live one) denies any complicity in a hoax, but allows the possibility that it could have been a hoax on Patterson's part.

As you can see from the rest of the lengthy entry, there are very divided opinions on the authenticity of what's seen in the footage.

As I said, I don't have an axe to grind on the issue of Bigfoot's reality.  It was simply the "assuredly" which caught my eye, which is often a sign that the speaker is dismissing something out of hand for a priori reasons.  (Not saying that's what you were doing, either; it looks like you've simply gotten bad information as to who admitted what.)

Edit:  Going down through the wikipedia entry, I see there are other people who have claimed to be complicit with Patterson in a hoax.  However, their stories don't jibe; the claims about the gorilla costume, for example, is mutually exclusive of the claims regarding a homemade costume crafted from a horse's skin.  As it stands, the two original witnesses are still Patterson and Gimlin, and neither ever admitted to being part of a hoax.

[Scott]

Did someone say Bigfoot? Here's my very own scientific search for Bigfoot last Summer.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cDAWnvkpYsU