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Some Thoughts on This Week in Fake History and Skeptical Advocacy

12/23/2015

34 Comments

 
In the darkest days of the year (in the northern hemisphere, at least), when sunlight is at a premium, it can be easy to despair at the sad state of the world. Consider, for example, the fact that Paul Seaburn at Mysterious Universe got duped by a very obvious hoax and reported that a Sumerian cuneiform tablet shaped exactly like a decade-old cellphone had been found in Austria. This hoax has been circulating since at least 2012 (originating, apparently, on a now-defunct Facebook page), but Seaburn breathlessly reports on it as though it were (a) legitimate and (b) something that just happened, giving only lip service to the possibility of a hoax at the very end of his Weekly World News-style report. That’s par for the course with fringe folk, who don’t care about facts or details as long as a claim supports their fantasy.
It was worse in Israel where actual archaeologists at the Antiquities Authority wasted six months of time and resources looking for the origins of a mysterious golden object allegedly pulled out of an ancient grave near Jerusalem, an object they dubbed “alien” for its resemblance to supposed ancient astronaut technology. Despite the fact that the object appeared even to my rather untrained eye to be too perfect to be anything but a machine-made piece of modern manufacture, experts puzzled over the object month after month, subjecting it to a battery of tests, before a Facebook user identified it as an faux-Egyptian New Age “Isis Orgone Beamer” manufactured by a company named Weber in Germany just hours after the Antiquities Authority posted a photo of it to Facebook on Tuesday. (I’d link to the company’s page, but the excitement over the story crashed their servers, and the site was down as of this writing.) Authorities are now investigating whether the object was intentionally buried to “energize” a grave or whether someone was trying to pull off a hoax.
 
“Orgone,” in case you care, is an imaginary universal life force proposed by quack Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich in the 1930s and named after an orgasm. The Isis Beamer allegedly emits this undetectable orgasmic energy to help users meditate more effectively.
 
The important takeaway is that fringe history once again wasted real time and resources thanks to some bizarre combination of Egyptomania and New Age “energy” festishism that produced a useless fake artifact.
 
Such depressing news is part of the reason that skeptic Sharon Hill announced the suspension of her Doubtful News website for a long hiatus, just days after the Washington Post ended its own internet debunking column. Hill expressed her frustration and exhaustion with keeping up with the tide of false claims and pseudoscience circulating on the internet in a blog post yesterday. “Honestly, it’s because I don’t have the motivation to keep up with the onslaught of questionable claims that are in the media,” she wrote.
 
Hill explained that Doubtful News did not make a profit because of Hill’s choice not to run “crappy ads” all over the site, an issue I’ve struggled with as well, made worse by the fact that in many cases the website owner doesn’t get to control the ads, which are programmed by third party algorithms, leading to the perception that site is endorsing products and services at odds with its mission, or, worse, which actively harm the public.
 
I sympathize with Hill’s burn out, and I would venture that the broad remit she gave Doubtful News—covering so many topics across the whole spectrum of science, history, and the occult—made her project that much more overwhelming. No one can be an expert in all things, and there is simply too much material for even a dedicated researcher to cover alone.
 
But I’d like to call your attention to Hill’s call for action because it is both correct and incomplete and worth discussing:
Many of us are jaded by the tsunami of terrible news sources and ridiculous stories passed off as news (or worse, journalism). It is my opinion that a continued effort should not be from a few part-timers like me but that it should be a primary job of the skeptical/critical thinking organizations to focus on good information, counteracting misinformation and doing this IN REAL TIME with news feeds, original pieces, expert commentary and online resources.
​

There is a gaping hole in society that needs to be filled by orgs like Center for Inquiry and The Skeptics Society to stand up for science and evidence-based media critique. Modeling skeptical critique and critical thinking processes should be a priority. My gosh, we need this so desperately! The skeptical voice is required for a thinking society. It’s nearly impossible now not to be drowned out totally.
This is a point that I’ve made more than once, and one that has fallen on deaf ears. Skeptical organizations are, for the most part, stodgy and overly focused on debunking the greatest hits of the 1970s—roughly speaking, the stuff that was popular when its leadership (and core membership) were young adults. Aside from coverage of the latest medical quackery—a subject of clear interest to aging Baby Boomers and their elders—so much of the material in Skeptical Inquirer and Skeptic is often decades past its relevance. In the current issue of Skeptical Inquirer, for example, the cover story is about why lie detectors aren’t accurate, a fact the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in 1998 (U.S. v. Scheffer). Another story on the cover is a hard-hitting examination of Deepak Chopra’s book on Quantum Healing, released in 1989. And I previously discussed how the magazine’s big-think research piece on the “X-Files Effect” was recycled from a 2013 book chapter, itself reporting on decades-old studies, most from 1985 to 2001.
 
The Center for Inquiry, parent of Skeptical Inquirer, has tried to do better with online articles about more recent material, but one of the things I’ve learned from writing this blog is that readers want information about what is happening right now, not what happened 10, 20, or 40 years ago. When new readers come to this blog, it’s almost always because they are trying to learn more about what they saw on cable TV last night or the latest viral news story. To be effective, skeptics need to be covering what is current. Historical subjects are important—don’t get me wrong: I cover plenty myself!—but they are the deep dive that contextualizes what’s happening now. How useful would Consumer Reports be if it took 10 years and just now reviewed the 2005 Honda Civic? Why should readers expect less of Skeptical Inquirer or Skeptic?
 
But here I differ from Hill in that I don’t think that this job should be limited to skeptics; indeed, I think that interested and relevant parties should be doing this kind of work in every subject area. For example, Archaeology magazine would benefit from devoting space on their website to reviewing and debunking bad archaeology in the news. It’s a logical place for readers to look for that kind of expert opinion, certainly more logical than expecting readers to go to a dedicated skeptics’ website and hope they trained their eye on that subject that week. Similarly, the American Historical Association can and should speak on behalf of real history in the face of pseudohistorical claims.
 
But they don’t. And the question is: Why?
 
Do you remember when the History Channel put out the Young Investigator’s Guide to Ancient Aliens, a book teaching young kids how to stop thinking critically and aspire to be like Giorgio Tsoukalos? Well, when that book came out, I asked the James Grossman, the executive director of the American Historical Society, if historians had an opinion on what I would describe as a misuse of history. Grossman told me that he doesn’t comment on controversial issues, even though he did previously comment, in his official capacity, to endorse the History Channel’s efforts to launch a for-credit college course under their brand name. “History Channel and other purveyors of popular histories play a vital role in stimulating and nourishing American's interest in the past,” he said at the time. (The History Channel donates money to the AHA.) Nor, mind you, is the AHA high-mindedly refusing to wade into matters of public controversy to avoid taking sides on matters of public import. The organization filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court last year arguing for a specific historical interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and the role of marriage. That seems to me like taking sides. Pray tell, how much more controversial, really, are extraterrestrials that the leader of the AHA would blanch at the thought of commenting on Ancient Aliens?
 
I do not mean to suggest any wrongdoing on the part of Grossman or the AHA. Rather, I mean to suggest that organizations that should be advocating for public education and would be ideal focus points for setting the record straight on false claims don’t do it because they are beholden to powerful interest groups. The History Channel employs historians, gives money to historical causes, and serves as a major outlet for popularizing historians’ work. It’s part of a conglomerate whose tentacles stretch through the Hearst and Disney empires. Whenever an organization takes a stand for or against a claim, they risk upsetting not just the claimant but all of the corporate connections that claimant has, with unforeseen consequences. No one wants to risk saying the wrong thing or upsetting the wrong executive. And that’s probably why it falls to skeptics to say what’s wrong with crazy claims, and to have to beg for donations to do so.  
 
I thought that one good thing might have come of this, though, when I saw that History had quietly removed the Ancient Aliens kids’ book from their online store. Sadly, that was only because they moved it to the new (and horrifying) Ancient Aliens Official Store webpage, which manages to exploit ancient and indigenous cultures’ heritages in new and offensive ways. “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
34 Comments
Ph
12/23/2015 12:12:30 pm

Orgasmic energy, if you can totally ignoring biology, would be fun to test i imagine.
I'm already getting images in my head of some nerds at CERN trying to incorporate the new energy for into the GUT.

I wish you strength, i come here to get a daily dose of realism in this world of perception manipulators. Your blogs helps to keep a balance in me. I thank you for that.
I've already given up, trying to explain Deepaks abuse of quantum mechanics and theory to non scholars, it has jaded me in most moods.

Reply
Time Machine
12/23/2015 12:41:29 pm

And Western Civilization is based upon a dodgy religion that was jettisoned by Judaism following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.

Reply
Gary
12/23/2015 12:49:45 pm

I became aware of the New York Skeptical Society when it was first forming a few years ago. They are only interesting in meetups in bars and bringing in an occasional lecturer. When I suggested very early on that they be active, such as starting an educational campaign against homeopathy which is every drug store, I was sternly told that they were not interested. I never joined.

Reply
Bob Jase
12/23/2015 01:29:30 pm

Wet blanket time - in my experience (anecdotal evidence though it is) most people don't want to be skeptical, they want magical thinking if they want any thinking at all.

Reply
V
12/23/2015 01:58:22 pm

That's because most people don't understand how magical the real world actually is. I can't tell you how many times I've had someone say to me, "____ is boring" (usually history, but sometimes physics or chemistry), and I've whipped out some fact or story--real history, real science--and had them round-eyed with wonder in nothing flat. In short, it's not a problem with skepticism, it's a problem with delivery of the truth. That's part of why I come to Jason's blog and don't go to some of the other skeptic sites out there--I enjoy Jason's delivery, and don't enjoy theirs.

Human beings are storytellers. That's the basic function of language--to tell each other stories. (This is hard linguistic science by the way; I can't quote studies because I didn't save them at the time I read them but there are several that support this.) For most people, the best story wins, regardless of whether it's true or not. When science is not appealing to people, the problem isn't that the science is bad, it's that the scientists don't know how to tell their stories in a way that appeals to most people.

Reply
David Bradbury
12/23/2015 02:57:15 pm

Is it that "the scientists don't know how to tell their stories in a way that appeals to most people" or that the scientists are not willing to sound confident when they are uncertain?

Time Machine
12/23/2015 09:58:51 pm

Only a few days ago on a podcast interview Lyn Buchanan emphasised that aliens from Outer Space not only existed, but that there were different categories of them - ranging from friendly aliens to malevolent aliens that seek to destroy the human race - and he disappointingly reflected on the fact that this information was not released to the general public by the US Government.

Why worry about anything when nothing can be done about people at the top who are raving lunatics taking the likes of Jim Marrs seriously....

Time Machine
12/23/2015 10:06:51 pm

Of course, these aliens from Outer Space are not only humanoid in appearance but also breathe our oxygen, and so on. Like Arthur C. Clarke stated in 1981, we have the technology to pick up anything entering the Earth's atmosphere the size of a pencil and if a spacecraft from another world visited our planet we would all know about it within minutes.


Kevin
12/24/2015 11:34:47 am

Old Irish saying; "The story is only as good as the telling".

V
12/24/2015 03:43:05 pm

David, it's the former, and it's not just scientists. Actually, the problem begins in elementary schools, where many teachers either don't know how or are constrained against making facts interesting. ...I found, when I was student teaching, that "constrained" tends to be more common than "unable/unwilling." The ridiculous compulsion toward boxed curriculae put together by massive soulless publishing companies ruins a WHOLE lot of things. But in my state, the average number of kids who make it to adulthood still interested in science and facts about science is higher than the national average, perhaps because our school science curriculum is created by and for science teachers and is very hands-on and experimental, and kids love it.

But yes, this is why I have begun to advocate that every science experimental group should have as an integral member s technical writer, whose sole job it is, is to write about the experiment in a way that is both understandable to and engaging for a lay audience. And also that beginning in elementary school, kids be taught how to read academic papers, because to be honest, there's very little "reading for information" being taught. Around 80-85% of literacy is taught with narrative format--even nonfiction reading focuses heavily on biographies, which are usually organized in a narrative format. There's very little emphasis on non-narrative formats, which are very, very different to read.

I have found that the vast majority of people, when they have something explained to them in a way they find engaging, often change their entire attitudes on a subject. So it's NOT that people don't want to have anything to do with facts, it's that they don't find the facts accessible.

Which is probably also part of why Jason's blog gets more hits for Scott Wolter's crazy claims than Scott Wolter does.

Only Me
12/23/2015 02:27:59 pm

The points made by Jason, Sharon Hill and V are especially poignant when one considers this excerpt from a comment under Seaburn's article:

"I have read all of Zecharia Sitchin's books many many times over and the answers he provides to many of these questions are hard to ignore or argue against."

Oh, the arguments (and supporting facts and evidence) are out there. You have to be willing to hear them.

Reply
Shane Sullivan
12/23/2015 02:41:31 pm

The reason it's difficult to argue with the answers Sitchin provides is that many of them were predicated on his super secret special knowledge of the Sumerian language. Someone with that kind of (made up) pedigree always has the (manufactured) authority to respond to any criticism with an emphatic, "nuh-uh!"

Reply
Only Me
12/23/2015 02:58:29 pm

Hey, I'm just waiting for someone to announce the translation of the Sumerian cellphone text message:

"Call me. 867-5309. Jenny."

justanotherskeptic
12/24/2015 04:36:41 pm

for Only Me,

I should inform you there is a 867-5309 in area code 518 (Albany NY) belonging to a computer company. No it's not Jason's.

Clete
12/23/2015 03:26:42 pm

I can understand the frustration of dealing with the tidal wave of misinformation that seems to be the basis of popular media today. I don't know how many people I meet who believe in the most outlandish things about history, science, politics and current events and take them as fact because "I saw it on television and it wouldn't be on television if it wasn't true or had some basis in fact." It always reminds of the line from the movie "Inherit The Wind". "I don't think about the things I don't think about." "I sometimes wonder if you think about the things you do think about."

Reply
Terry J. Deveau link
12/23/2015 03:30:53 pm

Great points Jason and great comments from those who replied. This is a problem we have always had with us. It is just more startlingly obvious in this age where utter nonsense can worm its way onto eager eyeballs staring at hundreds of millions of computer screens in mere minutes (days at most) and at not cost at all to the broadcaster. Very few people really want truth, or have the patience for it, the work of finding it, or the consequence of knowing it. People in general, boys and girls, just want to have fun. The rare few of us who want truth more than we want fun don't stand a chance of a happy result by pissing into the wind. We take the stand for truth and skepticism in camaraderie for each other, knowing that we have saved another true seeker the work of researching the same controversy. Road to destruction has always been wide, this is not new in the information age, and the path to truth has always been narrow, and comparatively very few even notice anything but the broad road.

Reply
Charles Frith link
12/23/2015 07:09:48 pm

Wasn't expecting to find a blog for anti Semites here, but claims that Zionism is Judaism are no longer tolerated in wider society and particularly by educated people who understand history and the meaning of words.

Reply
Clint Knapp
12/23/2015 07:40:24 pm

Well, since you're the poor sap who's site is still pushing that stupid Annunaki cell phone, I suppose we shouldn't expect too much... but one comment from "Time Machine" does not constitute a "blog for anti Semites". "Time Machine" is a troll with a mad-on for Christianity, and one who has been thoroughly rebuked time and again. Its views do not reflect the general readership of Jason's site, or Jason himself.

Nor is he refering to Zionism, anyway. You're the only one who brought that up.

Reply
Time Machine
12/24/2015 07:35:10 am

Clint Knapp,

That Western Civilization was founded upon the Christian superstition is as bad as Fingerprints of the Gods and Chariots of the Gods.

You say that you are not a religious person but you sure know how to defend Christian superstition.

Come on, be consistent - if you're gonna scoff at Conspiracy theorists on this blog then do the same to religious superstition.

Only Me
12/23/2015 07:47:27 pm

Am I the only one completely confused here?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who fails to see anything within the blog post or the comments that is remotely anti-Semitic or equates Zionism with Judaism.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/23/2015 07:52:49 pm

He's mad that I used the name "Israel" because he doesn't recognize its authority over Jerusalem or the surrounding area. See my Twitter feed for his accusations of various kinds against me.

Clint Knapp
12/23/2015 08:14:01 pm

Oh, see I thought he was just confused by Time Machine's comment (the only other reference to Judaism on the page). Guess that was giving him too much credit...

Time Machine
12/24/2015 07:30:47 am

Clint Knapp,

It's been done, it's history - the Holy Anointing Oil that lies at the heart of Christianity was produced and sold by someone a few years ago - the recipe for which is found in the Old Testament.

It's an open secret about the Holy Anointing Oil.

Time Machine
12/24/2015 07:37:02 am

Zionism emerged in the late 19th century in central and eastern Europe as a national revival movement, called Hovevei Tziyon

Ioannes Angelos
12/23/2015 07:22:13 pm

I have been following certain borderline fringe websites since ca. 2007 because of my lifelong fascination of all things paranormal. Our most generous host here, Mr. Colavito, pointed out the tendency of recycling old material in the skeptical medias. The same could be said about fringe nut jobs, because in about 8 years there has been hardly any really new content. The same main themes get recycled ad nauseam, sometimes under different guise, but still as recognisable patterns and forms. This might be self-evident to everyone else, but it just dawned on me, that in the fringe communities don't want proof, actual new discoveries or hard-core scientific research, because there might be a very strong potential of killing the fantasy. They are clinging on to these fantasies and odd metaphysical structures with tooth and nail. In my view, the entire fringe mechanics borderline religious dogma and that fight cannot be won with facts.

Case in point: I recently got involved in a discussion where I was accused of being "narrow minded" and "not understanding history", because there is a supposed "esoteric history" (in essence an unbelievable Velikovsky wank-fest of fantasy and claims based on false etymology of given names etc.) underneath "actual history". Not a single sound or solid counterargument went through to the opposing side. It is pretty frustrating to spend hours in various university databases trying double and triple check my arguments when the opposing force just makes up more fantasy drivel ad lib.

Keep up the good fight.

Reply
Ken
12/23/2015 07:45:50 pm

Jason's point on big-time skeptics is very true. They have become extremely predictable thus boring. They rarely read or watch what they debunk. They rarely do any background research. They simply parrot the accepted line of professional societies, etc. with a blanket statement, and they use ridicule rather than analysis.

My favorite is Joe Nickell. The few times I've seen him "prove" a point on tv, he fails to show anything. In fact he sometimes makes a case for the nonsense. I guess it could be sabotage by the show's producer, but I don't think so.

On the other hand, Prometheus shows (on History Ch and elsewhere), are well produced, written and entertaining despite the BS they purvey. I'm sure if there was any money in it, Ken Burns would be producing equally as compelling straight science, history and archeology shows. In fact maybe he does.

I watch Ancient Aliens mainly because I get to see a number of interesting places in the world that I would like to someday visit and see for myself. One doesn't have to buy into the message to enjoy the show.

Likewise, skeptics could try to become a little more interesting by starting from the supposition, " .. let's assume such and such is true..." Then proceed to debunk the fake history point by point. Sort of like Jason does now.

Reply
Joe Scales
12/24/2015 12:24:31 am

Ken Burns might have reinvigorated the documentary format, but you won't have to look too hard to find hardcore historians that pick him apart for playing fast and loose with Civil War lore. With Jazz, I felt he missed the point completely. Still, he's entertaining; but that's because first and foremost he's a filmmaker, rather than a historian.

Reply
Sharon Hill link
12/23/2015 08:15:26 pm

Jason, I don't disagree with you about more organizations and scientists actively addressing nonsense. It just didn't strike me to put it in this piece.

Actually, I've been on a slide for months now. I wrote a post about being on hiatus back in November, a while before Caitlyn's post. I still put up pieces occasionally. She's only been doing this summary column for a year and a half. I've been trawling news feeds for 4 and a half years! So, I'd say I have more experience than her on this topic.

There is considerable background to my relationship with the skeptical community that I won't go into. But your points are valid. They are rudderless now and suffer from mission drift towards atheism advocacy and a sad fall off the cliff into social justice issues. I have made suggestions to them. So far, I've not seen any response or it's been rejected.

I'll keep writing for sure and doing other things. But maybe the doubtfulnews project has reached it's lifespan and it's time to look for other outlets. However, they won't get rid of me so easily. :-)

Reply
lurkster
12/24/2015 11:54:56 am

Good to hear you're not completely done! Your voice has been a much needed sanity check and DoubtfulNews will be missed.

Reply
M King
12/24/2015 10:13:09 pm

I am already missing Doubtful News. I remain thankful for Skeptoid and this blog.

Reply
Walt
12/24/2015 01:37:28 am

You should look into incorporating ads into your site. Crappy ads from ad networks won't make you much money since people like me block them anyway. But, I'd love to see some ads from those you have a relationship with. It's a lot more work to sell and serve your own ads, but it can be more profitable. We show up everyday so you know what we're interested in without using cookies to track our interests.

The extra work usually works out well for everyone. My browser settings disallow cookies, javascript, and flash, so I never see the crappy ads. But, I still see good ads from specific sites and I'd like to see what products or services you enjoy or recommend.

Reply
Ph
12/24/2015 11:19:27 am

I fully agree here.
I use uBlock with NoScript, this will remove all but the most persistent of ads. Any adseller won't get through since they rely on third party domains or scripts.
Static ads from your own domain (which denote IMHO more of endorsement ad type then just a revolving dollar cent click server) will get through most filters if you don't call em ads. I would even whitelist this domain (site) to ensure continued mutual benefits.

Reply
justanotherskeptic
12/24/2015 04:49:35 pm

I'm boggled that an orgasm, a somewhat violent but pleasurable feeling, can be compared to a state of meditation, a calming and peaceful experience.

Also the "the alien spaceship pendant" for sale at the History Channel store webpage is remarkably telling of the large fringe viewership. Sadly I have to confess I have this pendant that I purchased from the Legendary Times magazine website three or four years ago. This was back when I was a bit less skeptical and cynical. I look at this pendant now as a representation of a Central and/or South American insect.

Reply
bkd69
12/25/2015 09:44:18 am

Okay, I just took a look at that "cellphone" page, and the thing that struck me? The "cuneiform alphabet" image. SRSLY? Daphuque? That's "not even wrong." That's performance art masquerading as history.

Reply

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