Current Events > Why is junk science so enticing?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I recognize it when I see it but I still find it fascinating. I watched that Graham Hancock show and now I'm reading a book called Uncharted about the accident Greeks traveling to America and mining it for copper. The preface of this book basically says "mainstream academia won't talk about this but the evidence is all there please have an open mind" which is also how Graham Hancock started his show. A pretty good sign it's gonna be junk.

But it's still fun. Unless you can't discard the junk aspect and actually believe it. Then it's harmful and we get guys like Robert Kennedy in charge of a country's health policy. Yikes.

It's not fun at all actually.

lilORANG posted...

I recognize it when I see it

Are you sure?

Because we want to believe

Because it offers easy answers you dont have to think about.

Because it's often exciting or would be if true

It's not science at all.

Just junk.

Junk is a pretty cool word (short but sweet)

Partly wish it meant something else so I could use it more

HANGtheDJ_86 posted...

Junk is a pretty cool word (short but sweet)

Partly wish it meant something else so I could use it more

It has a couple of other definitions.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I remember when I realized that and good boss fights were the entire appeal of MGS.

Ivynn posted...

It's not fun at all actually.

This.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Are you sure?

Usually it doesn't pass the smell test so yeah.

Pseudoscience doesn't really interest me, but I can see why people like it.

It being used to push blatantly false shit really sours me on it.

Wouldn't that be trireme science? It would be junk science if it featured the Chinese.

I mean seriously this dude is claiming accident Greeks went as far inland as Michigan to mine copper. How tf is that feasible?

Because you know it's a bunch of crap but since you weren't actually there, you can't help but think "but what if" regarding some of these fantasy scenarios.

Nazca aliens

I personally think it can be kinda interesting to see something start with a few well-agreed facts, add a few semi-disputed things, and tie it together with the most bizarre and impossible interpretation ever to see where you end up. though that kind of thing reads to me as like, alternate history fiction than actual science

ZeldaMutant posted...

Wouldn't that be trireme science? It would be junk science if it featured the Chinese.

10/10

its not fun its dangerous

its why we legit have people convinced the earth is flat

its why we have a growing number of people who are against vaccines

unless your making debunk videos/articles you should never engage with this stuff on any level

I used to enjoy stuff like that until the people who actually believe it wrecked our political systems.

It's basically like a religion. Anti-intellectualism is both simpler and more exciting than reality. It gives vulnerable people a sense of validation, perfect for con artists to exploit. It's also inherently rooted in awful thinking, like Ancient Aliens is mostly "How could ancient civilizations have figured out basic math and physics that I, a white man, don't fully comprehend? Must be beings from the sky!"

Not enough are talking about the mud floods of the Tartarian Empire

It's enticing because it's dramatic. Real science has to stick to the facts, and sometimes the facts are boring. Junk science can juice itself up to engage your emotions more powerfully. And it has the benefit of feeling like "secret knowledge," like it's opening the door to a private clubhouse, teaching you about deep and hidden principles of the universe.

alphagamble posted...

Not enough are talking about the mud floods of the Tartarian Empire

Or the rectification of the Vuldronaii. I mean, did you the large, moving Torb?

"Gozer the Traveller. He will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldronaii, the Traveller came as a large moving Torb! Then during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, they chose a new form for him, that of a giant Sloar! Many Shubs and Zulls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of a Sloar that day, I can tell you."

that's not fun, it's not cute, and it's not smart.

i have u tagged as a climate denier; i see this is just a pattern with you.

this topic is a cry for help? you'll get no sympathy from me.

Board_hunter567 posted...

It's basically like a religion. Anti-intellectualism is both simpler and more exciting than reality. It gives vulnerable people a sense of validation, perfect for con artists to exploit. It's also inherently rooted in awful thinking, like Ancient Aliens is mostly "How could ancient civilizations have figured out basic math and physics that I, a white man, don't fully comprehend? Must be beings from the sky!"

The most famous ancient alien weirdo isn't even a white guy tho lol

HANGtheDJ_86 posted...

Junk is a pretty cool word (short but sweet)

Partly wish it meant something else so I could use it more

Junk is also used to refer to make sexual organs.

Board_hunter567 posted...

It's also inherently rooted in awful thinking, like Ancient Aliens is mostly "How could ancient civilizations have figured out basic math and physics that I, a white man, don't fully comprehend? Must be beings from the sky!"

This actually infuriates me.

lilORANG posted...

The most famous ancient alien weirdo isn't even a white guy tho lol

Who are you talking about?

There's the Greek guy from the memes, Hancock, and von Daniken. All are white.

ai123 posted...

Who are you talking about?

There's the Greek guy from the memes, Hancock, and von Daniken. All are white.

Yeah, meme guy. With the hair.

lilORANG posted...

Yeah, meme guy. With the hair.

He's Greek/Austrian heritage. Born in Switzerland.

A white guy

Part of the appeal is that it's a way for people to "know" something that makes them feel more clever than others without having to put in any effort.

I.e., laziness is a big part of the motivation here.

lilORANG posted...

Yeah, meme guy. With the hair.

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos is greek which is white unless I'm missing something.

Anyways this shit is so entertaining because they are telling stories that are intended to be engaging where as actual history has a whole lot of guess work and "we don't know"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZzqQvx_2Aw

EPR-radar posted...

Part of the appeal is that it's a way for people to "know" something that makes them feel more clever than others without having to put in any effort.

I.e., laziness is a big part of the motivation here.

Is it less effort to watch a pseudoscience documentary than a factual documentary?

lilORANG posted...

Is it less effort to watch a pseudoscience documentary than a factual documentary?

Yes, it is typically easier/more enjoyable to watch a work of fiction made for entertainment than it is something educational with minimal filler.

lilORANG posted...

Is it less effort to watch a pseudoscience documentary than a factual documentary?

Yes, because of:

BlackScythe0 posted...

Anyways this shit is so entertaining because they are telling stories that are intended to be engaging where as actual history has a whole lot of guess work and "we don't know"

lilORANG posted...

Is it less effort to watch a pseudoscience documentary than a factual documentary?

Pseudoscience is much less effort -- it is just a story, one act of suspension of disbelief is all it asks of any audience.

Any real science is much more demanding -- what's the evidence, what are the competing explanations, what are the points where existing theories seem to have trouble etc. And that's before even getting into fields like physics where there are formidable technical hurdles to overcome to even understand the language.

My favorite moment from Ancient Apocalypse is when they're looking at Serpent Mound (which is absolutely the least impressive prehistoric "marvel" you've ever seen) and are like "look it aligns with true North." And then he just draws a fucking line from a random point on the tail to a random point on the head straight north

lilORANG posted...

Is it less effort to watch a pseudoscience documentary than a factual documentary?

It's takes less effort, and is more comforting, to have everything explained neatly to you then it is to accept that there gaps in our knowledge and the picture is often incomplete.

ai123 posted...

It's takes less effort, and is more comforting, to have everything explained neatly to you then it is to accept that there gaps in our knowledge and the picture is often incomplete.

Not sure there are really gaps tho. Either aliens did it or people did it. Not really complicated. Just more fun to imagine flying saucers levitating bricks or some shit.

lilORANG posted...

Either aliens did it or people did it.

Have we considered that maybe the Pyramids were regular hills and they just sort of did that to themselves?

Mysterious

DrizztLink posted...

Have we considered that maybe the Pyramids were regular hills and they just sort of did that to themselves?

I've considered that maybe they are a skin condition on the giant armadillo that we call earth.

lilORANG posted...

Not sure there are really gaps tho. Either aliens did it or people did it. Not really complicated. Just more fun to imagine flying saucers levitating bricks or some shit.

There's also "god did it" /s.

In fact, "god of the gaps" is a common criticism of religious pseudoscience (like creationism), where the believer just asserts "God did it" to fill any gaps (often imaginary) the creationist sees in scientific views of evolution.

i got some scientific junk for ya right here

lilORANG posted...

Not sure there are really gaps tho. Either aliens did it or people did it. Not really complicated. Just more fun to imagine flying saucers levitating bricks or some shit.

and its racist to say aliens did it

lilORANG posted...

Not sure there are really gaps tho. Either aliens did it or people did it. Not really complicated. Just more fun to imagine flying saucers levitating bricks or some shit.

There's only one option here: people did it. We just don't know every detail of how they did it. Though there are theories and experiments which may give a good indication. I find it more interesting to think of how people accomplished such feats.

Offering aliens as an alternative is absurd.

AceMos posted...

and its racist to say aliens did it

Actually it'd be speciest

lilORANG posted...

Actually it'd be speciest

No, they're right, it's racist.

The whole thing is founded on "white people didn't do it and they don't think other groups are smart enough to pull it off."