Balderdash & Hoaxes – Page 6

Another popular myth debunked: moon doesn’t make crazies

2012-11-24 2012-11-24 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Faith / Memes; Internet & Social / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

“Myth Debunked: Full Moon Does Not Increase Incidence of Psychological Problems,” says the headline on a story on Science Daily. I was amused by the notion that, in 2012, anyone would seriously believe that the moon affected human psychology – especially supposed educated people. In this case, it was very serious and resulted in a paper with the lengthy and ponderous title, “Impact of seasonal and lunar cycles on psychological symptoms in the ED: an empirical investigation of widely spread beliefs.” The abstract says: This study evaluates the impacts of seasonal and lunar cycles on anxiety and mood disorders, panic … click below for more ↓

Evolution, Creationism, and Elections

2012-10-31 2012-10-31 Atheism & Spirituality / Balderdash & Hoaxes / Faith / Religion / Science & Technology2 Comments

Earlier this summer, Gallup released the results of its latest poll on American belief in evolution, creationism and “intelligent” design. The results are among the most depressing numbers ever posted about the decay of American thought and education. Yet although this should set off the warning bells to both US presidential candidates that something needs to be done to stem this problem, none of this has been raised in the debates or on the campaign trail. How can this have happened in one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world? How is it that the only nation to put a … click below for more ↓

Do “psychics” make you laugh or cry?

2012-09-10 2012-09-10 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Faith / Religion / Social Order & DisorderLeave a comment

A small handout for a local “psychic studio” that arrived in my mailbox offers “Superior PSYCHIC and Spiritual Cleanser.” I never know whether to laugh at the silliness of these people or cry over how they continue to bilk gullible, superstitious fools. We are still so Medieval in our thinking, in so many ways. Here’s an entire “studio” – apparently a one-stop shopping centre for balderdash where you can go and get all your superstitions cleansed, or whatever it is they do (aside, that is, from cleansing your wallet…). Apparently having a “studio” is all the rage among “psychics.” You … click below for more ↓

Yet More Quotes with False Attributions

2012-07-13 2012-07-13 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Books & Reviews / Language & Grammar / Memes; Internet & Social6 Comments

It seems a good week for mis-attributed Francis of Assisi quotes. Someone on Facebook posted an image with the following quote: “He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. St. Francis of Assisi” That’s simply “Francis of “Assisi” for the non-Catholics among us, of course. But even without the questionable transformation of mortal flesh into an immortal, supernatural being, Francis didn’t write those words. This quote was written by Louis Nizer, an … click below for more ↓

And again, more mis-attributed quotes online

2012-07-04 2017-01-17 Arts / Balderdash & Hoaxes / Books & Reviews / Memes; Internet & Social5 Comments

“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.” Allegedly by Mark Twain, but unlikely, and not found in any published source I have of Twain’s quotations. Online sources, of course, don’t count as authorities because they lack all credibility. As one person commented on Yahoo, The fact that “Quora attributes it to him” is worthless. Quora is yet another one of those idiotic “quote websites” that misquote and misattribute things all the time. Note that Quora doesn’t bother to give an actual citation — what book was it from, what page, etc. Without a full … click below for more ↓

The Decline of Information Quality

2012-06-19 2012-06-19 Arts / Balderdash & Hoaxes / Media Issues / Memes; Internet & Social / Social Order & Disorder / Uncategorized2 Comments

I’ve been troubled the last year or so by the increasing amount of trivial crap that is being presented on media sites as news, rather than what it really is: shallow gossip, pseudoscience, trivia, anecdote, voyeurism and personal experience. As titillating as some glitterati’s wardrobe malfunction might be, it is not front page news. In fact, it isn’t worthy of the description news even when relegated to a more appropriate location, buried deep inside the site. Gossip belongs with the horoscope, cartoons and word-search puzzles. Nor is a cute animal in some anthropomorphic posture news. Kitten and bunny wrestling? Why … click below for more ↓

More Facebook Mis-quotes

2012-06-12 2012-06-12 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Language & Grammar / Memes; Internet & Social / Social Order & Disorder2 Comments

Saw three images (“posters”) on Facebook today with “quotes” I’m pretty sure are mis-attributions. As usual, I feel compelled to check out their validity. First is one allegedly by “St. Francis of Assisi.” This would be simply “Francis of Assisi” if you’re not Catholic or don’t believe in saints or canonization. One day I’ll post a blog piece about canonization and its politics, but not now. The quote is: “What we are looking for… is what is looking.” That seems one of those gooey, touchy-feely New Age thoughts, and Francis never said anything even remotely close to that. The late … click below for more ↓

The Tin-Foil Hat Brigade in the Lab

2012-06-02 2012-06-02 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Faith / Memes; Internet & Social / Social Order & Disorder2 Comments

You have to admire science. Nothing is beneath its inquiring eye. When I read that students at Berkley U had seriously investigated the nature of the ubiquitous-in-the-wingnut-community tin foil hats, I had to smile. Once again, science saves the day. Bad news for the wingnuts. While research didn’t prove tin foil hats will stop the aliens from eating your brain, it did suggest that the hats may amplify certain frequencies that may be in the control of either governments or corporate interests. According to the researchers at berkeley.intel-research.net/arahimi/helmet/, The helmets amplify frequency bands that coincide with those allocated to the … click below for more ↓

A Pyramid Hoax Reappears on Facebook

2012-05-29 2012-05-29 Atheism & Spirituality / Balderdash & Hoaxes / Memes; Internet & Social / Science & Technology6 Comments

This Facebook headline caught my skeptic’s eye right away: “Energy beam coming from the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun.” After I finished guffawing at the gullibility of some folks, I decided to spend a little time researching how widespread this silliness had become. As expected, and sad to relate, it was all over the Net. Seems every psychic-New-Age-crystal-therapy-astrology-aura-UFO-conspiracy-theory-Atlantis-Elvis-is-alive obsessed wingnut site has repeated the claims, usually copying and pasting them directly from the original source without even bothering to investigate the claims: A team of physicists detected an energy beam coming through the top of the Bosnian Pyramid of the … click below for more ↓