“I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true.” – Carl Sagan

I witnessed a thread on a forum where someone had watched an old History Channel show on crop circles. Probably, it was being presented as an old re run, or in the context of the pop culture mayhem that this trendy hoax caused in the 80s and 90′s when people started doing them. This isn’t the message they took from the show.

Unfortunately, it seems despite all rational evidence and confessions and analysis that prove these are hoaxes, people still believe it’s aliens, geomancy, fairies, or the Mother Earth, sending us a message.

I don’t recall that class from lectures in plate tectonics and geological activity by the earth. Nor was it ever a topic in all the lectures on Coriolis forces. (So no, it’s not wind or the earth telling us things.)

Nor is it a big dog with an itchy butt, however points have to be assigned for that creative answer.

Just because you see a program on tv and you like what it says, it may not be the truth. When there’s a mountain of evidence to the contrary, believing that something is still “mystical” is likely the very definition of insanity. It makes for a pretty explanation, but it’s not real.

I was accused of being small minded and judgmental when I said it’s irrational to think it’s aliens despite the evidence otherwise, and that it discredits human ingenuity and creativity to mark it up to fairies or gnomes. We humans have done some wildly offbeat feats of imagination for a number of reasons, and attaching a mystical theory because you think science is too boring or dull, just insults all of us.

The polynesians learned to navigate the south seas by stars, alone. That alone’s pretty amazing. We learned to navigate our planet by sight, and careful observation and measurement. We learned biology, chemistry, and now it’s nicer to say it’s herbal folk remedie and fairies. When did we become Anti-Science?

I admit I got pissed off when one respondent claimed to be an earth scientist, but her profile listed none of the sort of thing one would associate with earth sciences education. An herbalist with faery wood wands is NOT an earth scientist any more than Hugh Laurie is a doctor.

And isn’t there enough wonder in science? I think so.

I don’t ordinarily rely on wiki, but these were coherently assembled, and quickly proved a point:

• Crop circles were a hoax perpetuated from at least a century ago. A couple guys get to drinking in the 90′s and for a laugh, decide to resurrect said hoaxes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circles

• Crystal skulls were deemed to be a relatively modern creation using subpar quartz and modern carving tools, falsified or absent reports, and hoaxes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skulls

• Orbs: are a trick of the light common to modern cameras and flash and debris in the air. Wikipedia:Orb photography

Keeping an open mind is good. Questioning things is good. But somewhere along the line we’ve tossed logical reasoning and critical thinking out the window in favor of fake science, table rapping and conspiracies.

No one stops to ask WHY an alien life would travel for so far just to stomp in our cornfields. ( No one asks why aliens are fond of rectal probes and mutilating cattle either. It defies logic that an advanced race would be interested in our anuses and our cattle.) If they practiced anything like field biology, they’d tag us, measure us from snout to vent and release us.

Why is pseudoscience so much easier to accept? Why are people falling for this stuff?

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I had my camera last night on the way back from the office, which is good, because it would seem that my alien visitors were gone by the time I could get a witness to go outside and verify my story. Isn’t it always the way? You see something spectacular that PROVES the existence of aliens and angels and God and that Global Warming is bogus, and you can’t get a witnes.

Of course, taking a picture of a tiny little light in the sky with a digital camera is a bit of a pain. They’re not the best at dealing with low light situations, so images can be open to a fair amount of interpretation. Is that photo with the little blurry blobs evidence of ghosts? Does the one with the blurry line show a ghostly species of rods? Does my green light photo show an alien ray lifting people up for anal probing?

Initially I was surprised to see a green glow in the clouds; it was dim and diffuse, like the last time I saw the Aurora Borealis, but that was in Alberta; I haven’t seen the Northern Lights in over a decade. The clouds shifted a little bit, and a non-organic shape emerged; a beam! Rat bastard aliens.

I switched off the auto focus on the camera, set the speed to 3200, and after editing, the above two images are the best you get. The beam appeared to originate somewhere on the Dalhousie campus; or terminate there if you’re into the alien theory. In reality it would appear to be a green laser… it wasn’t moving visibly, so I’m assuming that it was mounted in some way; telescope aiming, navigation, broken Pink Floyd laser show?

Update: Okay, it’s just LIDAR.

I listen to the Kevin Smith “Smodcast” every so often, but paitence wears thin on some of the topics of discussion. The premise is that Kevin Smith and Scott Moser get together and bullshit about whatever the hell they want; blowjobs, politics, kids, etc. They give their unprofessional, uninformed opinions on whatever the hell they can think up; giving a bit of credence to something Bruce Willis expressed not so long ago.

“I don’t think my opinion means jack s**t, because I’m an actor. “Why do actors think their opinions mean more because you act? You just caught a break as an actor. There are hundreds – thousands – of actors who are just as good as I am, and probably better. “Have you heard anything useful come out of an actor’s mouth lately?”

I think that Kevin and Scott might agree that they’re just sitting around bullshitting, and that they really shouldn’t be believed or trusted. They don’t appear to be THAT full of themselves to believe their opinions really matter. Kevin is joined by pals Walter Flannagan and Malcolm Ingram on episode 14 when Scott is out of town. Episode 14 covers how it’s easy to believe that aliens are responsible for recent technological advances like the Stealth Bomber and MP3s.

Keep in mind that Malcolm, a Canadian, states that the leader of Canada is Paul Martin (absolutely 1000% positive – I will cut off my little finger right now if that’s not it) who left office in 24 January 2006. He doesn’t cut off his finger when the Americans correct him thanks to their superior use of Google.

These guys have obviously spent much too much time getting high, as they move on to ‘Loose Change’ and UFO documentary and rods. They say that rods are claimed to be sticks with wings that move too fast for anyone to see, and they tell stories about the UFOs and rods they have seen, including one that allegedly appeared on a TV broadcast of a hockey (Devils Stanley Cup game 3 in Dallas) game, and nobody has any problem believing it.

There’s a period where they argue about the origins of rods; one expresses belief that they are an earth-based insect of some sort, and the other is incredulous; he can’t believe that he’s sitting there with someone who honestly doesn’t believe that rods come from OUTER SPACE!

Marijuana doesn’t hurt you, but you will believe nearly anything you’re told, you’ll hallucinate, and maybe you won’t even remember who is running the country you live in. Just as I start to think that these xenophiles would believe anything, they express skepticism over the existence of the monster in Loch Ness.

Episode 14 was a near complete suspension of disbeliefe in crazy, but Episode 15 became an example of strange historical skepticism. Kevin put forward a thought that maybe, just maybe, Helen Keller wasn’t really deaf and blind. I can see how there might be a possibility if Anne Sullivan was the only person who translated between Helen and the world. Like with facilitated communication and the severely autistic, it is conceivable that Anne Sullivan might have been the brains behind the speech and writings or Helen if she was the sole conduit. I’m not so sure that was the case, without further research, and it’s not something that Wikipedia really touched on.

I don’t really understand partial skepticism; it’s okay to believe in ghosts, but UFOs are insanity, or it’s okay to believe in an all-knowing god who performs miracles, but it would be insanity to believe in werewolves.

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Smodcast at Quick Stop Entertainment

Episode 15

In which things go back to normal and our heroes [...] incur the wrath of all right-thinking and decent people by spending nearly an hour trying to figure out whether Helen Keller was truly impaired or just party to an elaborate ruse.

Episode 14

In which our heroes cross the border with a guest from the True North, analyze the “Loose Change” of UFOs, posit that even unidentified species worship the Devils, lament the loss of Bigfoot, question Nessie’s diet, theorize how the Republicans can take the White House for the next one hundred terms, and reveal Canada’s greatest shame.

(From foo.ca)