Skeptoid - Skeptoid #400: It's Just Science
Aired: 2014-02-04
Duration: 05:46


=== Blame Science, Not Communicators (05:43) ===

[00:00:03]  It's another 50th episode of Skeptoid, and longtime listeners know what that means.
[00:00:08]  It's a musical episode.
[00:00:10]  Today we're looking at the theme of blaming scientists or even lowly science communicators like me for inconvenient facts.
[00:00:18]  But hey, don't blame us.
[00:00:20]  Blame science.
[00:00:22]  And you can do so right now on Skeptoid.
[00:00:31]  A quick reminder for everyone, you're listening to Skeptoid, revealing the true science and true history behind urban legends every week since 2006.
[00:00:42]  With over a thousand episodes, we're celebrating 20 years of keeping it focused and keeping it brief.
[00:00:48]  And we couldn't have done it without your curiosity leading the way.
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[00:01:30]  You're listening to Skeptoid.
[00:01:32]  I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.
[00:01:35]  It's just science.
[00:01:37]  As a science writer, I'm often confronted by proponents of a particular belief or claim.
[00:01:42]  Sometimes they want to have a rational debate centering on the quality of evidence.
[00:01:46]  Other times, they just want to fight.
[00:01:49]  In the worst cases, they won't address the issue at all, but rather just attack me or the science community in general.
[00:01:55]  So I really have to say, it's not us, it's just science.
[00:02:00]  You're at a seance.
[00:02:02]  Say you're looking for your Uncle Bob.
[00:02:03]  But your spirit guy didn't lock the doorknob.
[00:02:06]  We bust in and flip the switch.
[00:02:07]  That's just a parlor trick.
[00:02:09]  Tell your psychic to hit the bricks.
[00:02:12]  Or you're in merry old England in the countryside.
[00:02:15]  See a crop circle.
[00:02:16]  Must be 50 meters wide.
[00:02:17]  Snap a picture quick, because we're coming with a thick, dusty coating of Monsanto up in your plant rose.
[00:02:24]  We got chemicals in here.
[00:02:26]  We got radar.
[00:02:26]  We got calibrated meters.
[00:02:28]  Every time the cheater's gonna start a new attack, we got your back.
[00:02:31]  Break up their alliance.
[00:02:33]  It's not us, it's just science.
[00:02:39]  Now your film shots and footage of an alien.
[00:02:41]  He says it's real, we say you better look again.
[00:02:44]  Check the zipper on the back and the sticker on the crack.
[00:02:46]  The ET's made out of PVC.
[00:02:51]  It's like Bigfoot.
[00:02:52]  When your buddy says, watch, he shows you 27 pixels and he says that's Sasquatch.
[00:02:56]  Or a Yeti or an ape from Mongolia.
[00:02:59]  But it's just Pareidolia.
[00:03:03]  We got analysts in here.
[00:03:04]  We got Photoshop doing our inspection.
[00:03:06]  Checking the reflections and the tricks.
[00:03:08]  Send them back where they came from.
[00:03:10]  With intellectual napalm.
[00:03:17]  Now your kid's in school and he's got a cough.
[00:03:20]  And the principal thinks he's looking kind of soft.
[00:03:22]  It's time for vaccination, but the HADA nations say they're anti-vax.
[00:03:26]  Well, we say that's whack.
[00:03:29]  They say it just feels right.
[00:03:31]  That is just common sense.
[00:03:32]  But extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence.
[00:03:34]  Anecdotes fail because of confirmation bias.
[00:03:37]  It's not us, it's just science.
[00:03:43]  So what's your star sign?
[00:03:45]  Never mind, because they'll tell you what you want to know.
[00:03:47]  Stroke your ego, put you on a talk show.
[00:03:50]  Make their psychic predictions.
[00:03:52]  But it's all fiction.
[00:03:56]  When push meets shove, they shun the fight.
[00:03:58]  Creeping back online to conspiracy websites.
[00:04:01]  Make you pay to click the link.
[00:04:03]  Banking small-time cash because they got you nothing fake.
[00:04:08]  We got logic up in here in full supply.
[00:04:10]  Bring your A game if you want to pool the skeptical eye.
[00:04:13]  If you can prove what you say, we'll make you filthy rich.
[00:04:16]  But you best not glitch.
[00:04:17]  We got a million-dollar prize if you got what it takes.
[00:04:20]  But nothing makes our day like busting fakes.
[00:04:22]  So don't frown if we mark you down for non-compliance.
[00:04:25]  It's not us, it's just science.
[00:04:28]  You're listening to Skeptoid, a listener-supported program.
[00:04:31]  I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.
[00:04:39]  Hello, everyone.
[00:04:40]  This is Adrian Hill from Skookum Studios in Calgary, Canada, the land of maple syrup and mousse.
[00:04:49]  And I'm here to ask you to consider becoming a premium member of Skeptoid for as little as five US dollars per month.
[00:04:57]  And that's only the cost of a couple of Tim Horton's double doubles.
[00:05:01]  And that's Canadian for coffee with double cream and sugar.
[00:05:06]  Why support Skeptoid?
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[00:05:14]  If you want to support a worthwhile nonprofit that combats pseudoscience, promotes critical thinking, and provides free access to teachers to use the podcast in the classroom via the teacher's toolkit, then sign up today.
[00:05:28]  Remember that skepticism is the best medicine.
[00:05:32]  Next to giggling, of course.
[00:05:34]  Until next time, this is Adrian Hill.
[00:05:45]  From PRX.