1. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    Messages:
    18,385
    Likes Received:
    7,080
    Location:
    Ralph's side of the island.

    Fake science on science channels - first Mermaids now Megalodon

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by GingerCoffee, Aug 7, 2013.

    The Animal Channel had that mermaid program on a while back. I was mildly annoyed they made fake evidence appear as if it were real. The reaction I got discussing it was, of course it was fake, making me feel a bit foolish.

    Now the Discovery Channel has put on a program pretending they had evidence of a Megalodon sinking a boat. Apparently the disclaimer was a tiny bit more prominent than the mermaid program's was, but a lot of chatter is echoing on the Net that people are disappointed in the Discovery Channel.

    Oddly, people rarely complain about all the other programs presenting fake evidence or failing to point out any rebuttal to the claims of ghosts, aliens, psychic detectives, Bermuda Triangle, etc. I also find fictional movies on the History Channel disconcerting but I've long ago given up thinking that channel is actually about history.

    Considering how little truth one finds in the mass media these days, I find it all amusing and worrisome at the same time. We don't do enough to teach people how to think critically as it is. I only see things getting worse since marketing fake science is so profitable and very few programs are on that make real science interesting to the general public.
     
  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 1, 2008
    Messages:
    23,826
    Likes Received:
    20,815
    Location:
    El Tembloroso Caribe
    Those channels have really taken a dive. The fake monsters shows don't bug me really, but Tickle from Moonshiners gets a show now on Discovery Channel? What am I 'discovering' with that show? And that Honey Boo Boo is on The Learning Channel? What am I 'learning' there? The only thing either of those shows is 'teaching' anyone is that it seems a full representation of nucleobases is not exactly as necessary as we once thought.
     
  3. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2008
    Messages:
    7,851
    Likes Received:
    3,339
    Location:
    Boston
    I guess networks are just looking to make money and draw attention. So I'm actually not that surprised that they have shows on mermaids and chupacabras and Bigfoot. Thankfully, there are a few other good channels out there. The Science Channel is one such example. I used to watch "Through the Wormhole" with Morgan Freeman whenever I got the chance. I also remember they had a few good shows that were hosted by Michio Kaku.
     
  4. rhduke

    rhduke Member Reviewer

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2013
    Messages:
    755
    Likes Received:
    192
    Location:
    Canada
    I miss Discovery and History when they actually showed documentaries and educational programs. Now they're turning into OLN. Not that it matters for me anyway, my SP took away those channels cause their a bunch of greedy bastards. Does Discovery channel at least still show "How It's Made?"
     
  5. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    10,742
    Likes Received:
    9,991
    Location:
    Near Sedro Woolley, Washington
    TLC hasn't been "The Learning Channel" for about a dozen years now. This has been a source of great disappointment to me. I can't stand it when channels that are supposed to teach just churn out sludge to clog brains. I was watching the History Channel (I think that's what it was) earlier today, and it was showing a "documentary" about Benjamin Franklin. I changed channels when they brought on some "professional paranormal investigators" to check Franklin's old house to find his ghost (or whatever they were looking for).

    It's sad when the most educational, informative, and trustworthy content on American television is on ESPN.

    Sigh.
     
  6. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2010
    Messages:
    13,984
    Likes Received:
    8,557
    Location:
    California, US
    I haven't watched TV, other than to catch the odd sporting event, in about three years. I am thankful.
     
  7. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2012
    Messages:
    8,102
    Likes Received:
    4,605
    Went through this post with a fine toothed comb and still can't find anything here to argue about. It's pretty sad, really. But I'm not surprised the decline of learning channels coincide exactly with the decline of good music.
     
  8. Garball

    Garball Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2013
    Messages:
    2,827
    Likes Received:
    1,337
    Location:
    S'port, LA
    Maybe they can make a reality tv show of Nickelback helping people grocery shop for their annual Shark Week party and play it on the History Channel with Adam Savage as an "Uncle Jesse" type narrator
     
  9. Southpaw2380

    Southpaw2380 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2013
    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Massachusetts
    Megalodon had always fascinated me in so many ways. Unfortunately when I tune into the programs about falsified evidence, it only aggravates me to see such crap on a channel that's supposed to be (at least, I would like it to be) honest in it's approach to discovering things and displaying new findings in science/history/etc.

    the worst part is watching them to hope someone really does find a Megalodon. I can't put into only a few words how excited I would be. Something so visceral about a 50+ foot shark, no?

    ~~SP
     
  10. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2008
    Messages:
    7,851
    Likes Received:
    3,339
    Location:
    Boston
    If they ever find a Megalodon, I'm never going to the beach again.

    One show I can't stand is Ancient Aliens (I think it's on the History Channel). The aliens helped build the pyramids? Seriously?
     
  11. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 1, 2008
    Messages:
    23,826
    Likes Received:
    20,815
    Location:
    El Tembloroso Caribe
    But you do get to watch Giorgio Tsoukalos evolve from your garden variety nutcase into an extra from Babylon 5. :D

    [​IMG]
     
    1 person likes this.
  12. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2008
    Messages:
    7,851
    Likes Received:
    3,339
    Location:
    Boston
    Hahaha. I remember that guy. Is that first picture from Ancient Aliens? I've never seen him with his hair like that.
     
  13. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 1, 2008
    Messages:
    23,826
    Likes Received:
    20,815
    Location:
    El Tembloroso Caribe
    Yup. All of those pics are from different seasons of the show. :)
     
  14. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2010
    Messages:
    13,984
    Likes Received:
    8,557
    Location:
    California, US
    Helped?

    They built them by themselves!
     
  15. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2008
    Messages:
    7,851
    Likes Received:
    3,339
    Location:
    Boston
    You know, Giorgio Tsoukalos seems like a cool guy to talk to. He should have been my high school history teacher. It would have made class a lot more entertaining.
     
  16. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    10,742
    Likes Received:
    9,991
    Location:
    Near Sedro Woolley, Washington
    Re: Megalodon. I'd still go to the beach. I'm more scared of great white sharks than Megalodons. I'm a meal for a great white, so he'd come after me. I'm no more than a cupcake sprinkle for a Megalodon, so he wouldn't bother. :)

    I remember watching a show twenty years ago or so (jeez, sounds like a song lyric) in which they discussed how people were so amazed at the mathematical skill of the Egyptians. They knew about pi and everything! Wow! How could they have proportioned their pyramids without that amazingly-advanced knowledge, and how did they get it? Well, some modern researcher saw how they were measuring out a course for an Olympic marathon run, and they were using a wheel with a counter to count the revolutions. That was a big forehead-smacking moment. The modern researcher realized that if the Egyptians used a wheel to measure out the bases of the pyramids, and made the wheel, say, one unit in diameter, then the length of the base would automatically come out to a multiple of pi without the Egyptians having any idea of what pi was. They didn't need "advanced" math. It just happened to them and they didn't even notice. And modern researchers into Egyptian science missed that for decades.

    I think of that whenever I see people saying aliens helped. It seems likely the Egyptians just used techniques we're not thinking of, because we use different techniques in our own constructions. Aliens aren't necessary.

    We should always remember that the simple fact that I, personally, don't know how it was done, and you, personally don't know how it was done, does not mean that NOBODY IN HISTORY EVER FIGURED IT OUT, and it certainly doesn't mean that aliens were involved. If I used that logic, then I'd have to say that any magician who can pull a card trick on me is an alien, because I don't know how he did it.
     
  17. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    Messages:
    18,385
    Likes Received:
    7,080
    Location:
    Ralph's side of the island.
    Daily Show is doing a funny piece tonight on the fake Megalodon documentary. It's hilarious!
     
  18. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2013
    Messages:
    6,764
    Likes Received:
    5,393
    Location:
    Funland
    Well, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone to believe in mermaids, megalodons, aliens and Honey Boo Boo...
    The mermaid thing sounds weird though. How could anyone ever be able to convince the audience they could be real? I have to check out that episode...

    Tbh, I don't even watch TV anymore. If it used to be an idiot box, what is it nowadays? Mega-idiot box? I just watch the series and documentaries I like online, so I can avoid getting stuck in front of TV to watch MTV or something due to my lack of self-discipline.

    Schools and parents should teach the kids critical thinking so that they'd grow up to be non-gullible adults. Even if we didn't have channels with Bermuda Triangle Mysteries Are True -shows, myths and "facts" would pour in from somewhere. Some people just aren't afraid to twist the truth for money and/or control.
     
  19. IronPalm

    IronPalm Banned

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2013
    Messages:
    301
    Likes Received:
    21
    It's a consumer-driven market.

    Know why TLC has gone from more interesting and thought-provoking television to lowest common denominator pandering? Because their ratings are massively better that way. You can blame the channel, but they would simply have gone out of business, firing dozens of people, if they had stuck to their highfalutin guns. This way, they survive, and even turn a profit.

    Don't blame them. Blame the idiots that are fascinated with this shit. Namely, the average member of our society.
     
    1 person likes this.
  20. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    Messages:
    18,385
    Likes Received:
    7,080
    Location:
    Ralph's side of the island.
    Well, I just watched (edited to ad, sheesh it has an hour more to go, I thought it was over) the Megalodon rerun looking specifically for whatever means the Discovery Channel used to reveal it was fake. That has to be one of the most dishonest fake shows I've ever seen.

    For some reason, maybe arbitrary I don't know, when I watch those reality TV shows like the Bigfoot and ghost programs where it's highly likely they are just outright faking the evidence, I think, how stupid anyone believes these guys. But Discovery Channel took the fakery a level higher with this and the mermaid programs (apparently the Animal and Discovery Channels are owned by the same parent company).
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice