What happens when robots overtake an MIT lab, via Wired.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ig3p3NsrJI]Given the latest acceptance of aliens from the Vatican, I thought this video about how to spot a fake UFO photograph from Michael Shermer was topical. Also, I saw a plane flying in very foggy conditions the other night that looked exactly like some of the classic UFO photos.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Tu-28hyow]
The end of the Shermer video gets to the heart of the problem skeptics face, not just with UFOs but with all woo. No matter how many times you refute the crummy evidence the believers present, no matter how many times you show mundane explanations for supposedly paranormal phenomena, no matter how many times you demonstrate how easily we humans are fooled, the believers will keep on believing anyway. The adjective “Sisyphean” comes to mind…
Sheesh, Josh. I know these people are thick, but labling them all as having a sexually-acquired brain rot is a bit harsh.
Oh wait…never mind.
Can we just call this the “Randi effect”? When people are shown how they continue to be duped and still drink the woo? Let’s face it, we’re all vulnerable to this. I’m sure that when confronted with my sacred cows I’ll go kicking and screaming.
They’re all skeptical of the skeptics.
Be careful, Shifty. Kicking and screaming tends to agitate cows, sacred or otherwise. They look peaceful, but they’ll stomp you into the prairie if you frighten them.
It’s sad how so many people can get so stuck in a rut that they’re not willing to come out and consider any alternatives.
“I believe in UFO’s and that’s that!” Sad.
I wonder how many people who believe in UFOs actually do so as a result of taking a photo as evidence?
If someone’s belief in aliens, deities or whatever is based on other reasons than evidence (wishful thinking, argument from authority, etc), a lack of evidence or an undermining of some possible evidence isn’t a logical reason to abandon the belief.
Possibly the clear refutation of some longstanding ‘evidence’ which someone had woven into their belief system over years might make someone at least question what they believe, but a transient hoax isn’t likely to do much, if anything.
If people were being logical in the first place, they’d realise that all the claimed/supposed photographic ‘evidence’ is of much lower quality than clearly ‘pretend’ sources seen in any number of films.