Topic: Episode #279

[GodSlayer]

there we go, rant against Psychic Kids sent.
now that my blood has cooled it's time to resume the episode.

(click to show/hide)

I was really quite appalled when I heard about your show Psychic Kids.

When parents choose to raise their children with weird and poorly based ideas, that's tragic; but to see children put on television to be exploited by strangers for profit, that is really just sick--it's really not all that different to having a 'youth jihad training camp' reality show in Afghanistan, pushing on a group of children a world-view-altering interpretation of events based on completely unsound thinking, for the entertainment of others.

Shows like Ghosthunters and Psychic Detectives are at least laughable, because it's foolish adults wasting their own time, and they are fairly harmless, since even if the viewer wrongly thinks magical powers helped somebody (thanks to the editing of the show) at least the police still know better, and so the world isn't much the worse off for it. But this one really crosses the line: it isn't just fun and games, it's mind-games with minors. It's quite simply irresponsible--imagine a version of Supernanny with some fundamentalist preacher with an agenda to force on children rather than a 'nanny' with actual experience and knowledge and sound basis for offering help. These people really have no business being put in a position of authority to guide these youth in how to deal with whatever irrational fantasies or  delusions are budding.

Alternatively, how about a new show: Kama Sutra Camp. Gather a group of teenagers who feel the spirit of the Earth is guiding them toward rejuvenating the 'free love' movement of the past for the good of mankind, and bring in some hippie "experts" willing to help those kids sink deeper into the idea and stop "conforming" like all these monogamous scientists who reject freedom and attack Mother Earth.

The possibilities of manipulative and exploitative social experiments are endless once we involve the mentally vulnerable. Remember what the behaviorist John B. Watson said?--"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select–doctor, lawyer, artist–regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors."

I hope the people responsible for approving of this show at least take a minute to appraise their priorities and values.--perhaps abandoning "A&E in the Classroom" would be a good future move to reflect A&E's changing values.

I've copied what I sent A&E in spoiler tags, since it might be good debate fodder on the board (I know how people love to sink their teeth into a bad analogy).

[Entropydave]

there we go, rant against Psychic Kids sent.
now that my blood has cooled it's time to resume the episode.

(click to show/hide)

I was really quite appalled when I heard about your show Psychic Kids.

When parents choose to raise their children with weird and poorly based ideas, that's tragic; but to see children put on television to be exploited by strangers for profit, that is really just sick--it's really not all that different to having a 'youth jihad training camp' reality show in Afghanistan, pushing on a group of children a world-view-altering interpretation of events based on completely unsound thinking, for the entertainment of others.

Shows like Ghosthunters and Psychic Detectives are at least laughable, because it's foolish adults wasting their own time, and they are fairly harmless, since even if the viewer wrongly thinks magical powers helped somebody (thanks to the editing of the show) at least the police still know better, and so the world isn't much the worse off for it. But this one really crosses the line: it isn't just fun and games, it's mind-games with minors. It's quite simply irresponsible--imagine a version of Supernanny with some fundamentalist preacher with an agenda to force on children rather than a 'nanny' with actual experience and knowledge and sound basis for offering help. These people really have no business being put in a position of authority to guide these youth in how to deal with whatever irrational fantasies or  delusions are budding.

Alternatively, how about a new show: Kama Sutra Camp. Gather a group of teenagers who feel the spirit of the Earth is guiding them toward rejuvenating the 'free love' movement of the past for the good of mankind, and bring in some hippie "experts" willing to help those kids sink deeper into the idea and stop "conforming" like all these monogamous scientists who reject freedom and attack Mother Earth.

The possibilities of manipulative and exploitative social experiments are endless once we involve the mentally vulnerable. Remember what the behaviorist John B. Watson said?--"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select–doctor, lawyer, artist–regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors."

I hope the people responsible for approving of this show at least take a minute to appraise their priorities and values.--perhaps abandoning "A&E in the Classroom" would be a good future move to reflect A&E's changing values.

I've copied what I sent A&E in spoiler tags, since it might be good debate fodder on the board (I know how people love to sink their teeth into a bad analogy).

A finely honed rant methinks.... kick their dumb ass.

Grrr.....

[lonely moa]

Hmm .. sneaky early release .. and you managed to get Thomas Crapper into the show!

I was about to correct you that Crapper didn't invent the first flush -- I think even the Romans had something like that -- but you mentioned the siphon so I'll accept that. Hang on, though .. it looks like that wasn't his invention either, though he did invent the ball-cock valve.

It's unfortunately a myth that "crap" was named after him (yes, I know you didn't say it was), so it's a case of Nominative Determinism.

CRAP is also the acronym for Contrived Ridiculous Acronym Phenomenon, which makes it a contrived ridiculous acronym.

(OK, enough crap from me for now.)

Thanks for "busting" that myth.  Saved me from not doing it...

I'm afraid the rogues will have to sharpen up their coarse language to compete with "Science Weekly".

[John Santos]

I could be wrong, but I thought the beaver in last weeks WTN was mourning the lose of his family and home, and not just moaning due to his injuries.  (I was assuming he wasn't in the lodge when it was blown up, which is why he survived.)

[ieatgravel]

Psychic kids... aye yi yi.  They're going to get a letter from me, as well.

[mwilley]

wrt porn stars populating New Zealand, my last name is Willey and I live in this glorious, but not especially sexy, country.
I plan to meet with Rebecca in Wellington on her NZ tour, and will let her be the judge of our national porn star viability.  Perhaps she will feed back, positively or negatively, her own impressions of the sexual vigour of this nation.
Meeting me might even swing the balance, I'm just saying.

[werecow]

I could be wrong, but I thought the beaver in last weeks WTN was mourning the lose of his family and home, and not just moaning due to his injuries.  (I was assuming he wasn't in the lodge when it was blown up, which is why he survived.)

How would we distinguish between the two? It could be true, but it sounds like you're in danger of anthropomorphizing.

Still a sad noisy though, either way.

[lonely moa]

Unfortunately, Ken Ring is not so easily dismissed.  He isn't any worse at seasonal prediction than NIWA and he does have a mechanism for his forecasts, atmospheric tides.  Whether (oops, sorry) this has any traction, I don't have any idea.

His forecasts are not vague, btw, but very specific with temperature, wind and precipitation.  His almanac includes isobaric maps relating to the forecasts.

I do know that a friend of mine blew thousands using his almanac to structure his farm programme one growing season.  Epic fail.

There was a tidal theory of avalanche forecasting put forward in the early 80's that didn't sweep the industry, although some programmes find that high tides do assist with slab propogation with explosives.

If I find his 2011 almanac on sale or in the library, I might track it over the year.  Being an outside kind of kiwi, I love weather and Jim Hickey is my hero.

[GodSlayer]

Jim Hickey is my hero.

this [TV1 reference] means you're either 40+, or a National devotee. (or both).

[werecow]

Being an outside kind of kiwi, I love weather and Jim Hickey is my hero.

A kiwi with an interest in weather eh? Do you watch/listen to Radio Wammo's the climate show?

[GodSlayer]

Jay missed the perfect pun! instead of calling it 'total crap' it could have said that meteorology pseudoscience is sheer lunacy

[lonely moa]

Being an outside kind of kiwi, I love weather and Jim Hickey is my hero.

A kiwi with an interest in weather eh? Do you watch/listen to Radio Wammo's the climate show?

never heard of it.  Radio Wammo?

[werecow]

Being an outside kind of kiwi, I love weather and Jim Hickey is my hero.

A kiwi with an interest in weather eh? Do you watch/listen to Radio Wammo's the climate show?

never heard of it.  Radio Wammo?

It's an NZ pod/vodcast channel, and they recently started a new show specifically on climate change, though it's more about the politics than the science so far. Still, they had a nice interview with Naomi Oreskes this week, who is a science historian who recently wrote a book on the history of some of the main players involved in climate change obfuscation. I don't know if it's your cup of tea, but as someone who's been digging into the climate debate I found her work pretty interesting.

The Climate Show 02: Oreskes and the Merchants of Doubt

Interview starts at about 17 mins in. It also features John Cook from skepticalscience.com - this week they discuss a bot that automatically debates climate change deniers. I think we should add a few for creationism and altmed, or psy. }|:op

[GodSlayer]

clarification wanted re. "cola"

is this is the only flavored non-alcoholic cold beverage people drink regularly enough to inquire about? or was grape soda and orange soda and lemonade and the like also looked at and had no such effect?

[GodSlayer]

to be done with DJ's cliche' vagueries, I'm just going to go ahead and coin a solution:

dragon outreach: when you're merely trying to drag-in further those people already in your grasp.

fishin' outreach: where you're actually putting out bait you think will appeal to hungry young fishes who aren't yet on-board with the skeptical crew.