From: James Randi --- Wizard
I must thank Jere H. Lipps of UC Berkeley for an excellent e-mail notice
on the upcoming repeat of that ridiculous NBC program, "Mysterious
Origins," starring noted scientist, biologist, philosopher,
anthropologist, right-winger, Bible-thumper, intellectual giant, and
dumb-is-better advocate, Charlton Heston.
Jere calls for objections to the program, and rightly so. He even asks
NBC to get ethical and make an insert to this re-broadcast.
But bear two things in mind: first, NBC cannot now insert anything into the
program as planned for Saturday; the tapes are already distributed weeks
ago to the hundreds of stations, and the uplink is "cast in stone"
for many reasons. Second, NBC does not want to take the edge off a program
that sold -- and will sell -- lots of merchandise.
Don't think that NBC is unaware of the errors made in the show. They just
don't care, because the sponsors love it. That's their bottom line.
Ethics, integrity, truth, and responsibility are far from the reality they
deal with. Educating the producers is unnecessary. They're already aware.
All they need is ethics.
Only major scientists and science organizations publishing official
denunciations of the program and the producers will make any difference
at all. The "Objections to Astrology" statement that came
out years ago was an attempt at this, but it missed because it pompously
declared that astrology could not work, not that it did not work.
The public doesn't give a damn about scientific theories because it doesn't
understand science. But when it is shown, definitively, (a) that a thing
doesn't work, and (b) why it appears to work, anyway, the public can be
influenced. No number of scientists mumbling "Bah! Humbug! That's
not real science!" will be effective.
One scientist telling us and showing us why and how it doesn't work,
can be effective.
A dissection of the "mysterious Origins" farce should be prepared
and published. Or broadcasted.
More when I return from Amsterdam...
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Subject: NBC's "Mysterious Origins"
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