As reported here. Why? Simple enough: fear shuts off the brain. It’s easier to control people who are afraid, something that dictators, politicians, and televangelists know very well.
Archive of posts filed under the Idiots and/or Pseudoscience category.
“Moon *Not* Made of Cheese, Physicist Explains”
Just in case you were wondering. I don’t know the context of that quote, but I’m very concerned about the science deniers in the US. It seems that, despite mandatory science classes in high school, most people still don’t understand science. Conservatives seem to think that science is like religion: convince enough people of something [...]
“Halloween Sadism: The Evidence”
It seems that our parents were — again — worried about absolutely nothing. Which makes sense… anyone contemplating such a move would quickly realize that if they did it on a mass scale they’d be tracked down in a day or two at most, and even targeting it at the one brat that has been [...]
“Nigerians panic over killer calls”
You know, I can understand this. If you don’t know how technology works, you’re as likely to believe impossible things as possible ones. What I can’t believe is how many people here fall for things just as ludicrous.
“Why Is It So Hard to Find a Suicide Bomber These Days?”
A very long article, but the basic gist of it can be summed up by this paragraph from the middle: [...] To put this in context: Out of more than 150,000 murders in the United States since 9/11 — currently more than 14,000 each year — Islamist terrorists accounted for fewer than three dozen deaths [...]
“Are Some Evangelicals Beginning to Question the Existence of Adam and Eve?”
This week, on the Colbert Report, I heard something that shocked me: some evangelical Christian scientists were beginning to publicly doubt that humanity could be descended from one man and one woman, as described in the book of Genesis. The reason it shocked me is that I couldn’t believe that someone who identified himself as [...]
“8 Scenes That Prove Hollywood Doesn’t Get Technology”
It’s a good thing that I’ve had a lot of practice at suspending my disbelief, or today’s shows would often be ruined for me. These (link NSFW due to language) are just some of the many, many reasons. At least with real science fiction shows, the writers generally goes out of their way to make [...]
Political Conservatism and Personality
A few days ago, I was catching up on my reading when I discovered a paper on political conservatism and personality traits. I haven’t been able to wade through the paper myself yet, but according to the article where I discovered it, it reports “that overall, political conservatism was associated with things like death anxiety, [...]
Scammers, Part III
This is getting ridiculous… in the last three days I’ve gotten two more of those computer scam calls. One woman, one man. Both with strong India accents, but both far more understandable than the first two. Far more annoying too. The novelty has worn off, people, go screw with someone else. For the first one [...]
Greece and National Debts
The countries of the world are in dire financial straits. They have been for years, but it’s finally coming to a head because they’re reaching the end of their credit. Everyone who watches the least bit of news knows about Greece, but that’s just the first; Portugal and Spain have also had their credit ratings [...]