But what I found out today is that the Discovery Company has a website that's similarly named: How Stuff Works.
Oh cool! That can't be bad.
Can it?
Let's check out the science section. What's their "featured science"?
How Ghostbusters Work. Looking through the article, it does a fair job of giving examples of how many events that are claimed ghost sightings have been bogus and even drops in a line about how ghosts have never been shown to exist. But at the same time, the entire article runs under the bent that they do exist.... we just haven't found them.
Other featured articles? How the Grim Reaper Works. Again, this is more of an analysis of the history of various cultures belief in the dead. There's absolutely no science here. So why is it in the "Science section"?
Furthermore, both of these were in an oxymoronic sub-section: Supernatural Science. My mind is boggled.
I better look at some good science to calm my nerves.
Evolution.
Evolution is fascinating because it attempts to answer one of the most basic human questions: Where did life, and human beings, come from?*Blink*
We will also examine several important areas that show holes in the current theory....The holes are considered by many to be proof that the theory of evolution should be overthrown.*Twitch*
Most people agree that bacteria evolve in small ways (microevolution), but there is some controversy around the idea of speciation (macroevolution)....
The theory of evolution is just that -- a theory....Many theories are works in progress, and evolution is one of them.*headdesk*
And what source do they cite? True.Origin.org. Fail. Massive fail.
The Discovery Company should be ashamed to host this site. Perhaps Phil Plait could call up his good personal friend Adam Savage and see if he can get in contact with anyone that can fix this mess.
5 comments:
Are you kidding me?! I loved that website (before it was under the Discovery banner) way back in high school. I learned how mp3s work, how CDs work, how all kinds of everyday things really worked...
Wow, I'll have to poke around at it a bit more. So sad...
Well, its not just DSC; History channel, too, has bogus programs on.
I just don't understand the anti-science in the 21st Century.
How Stuff Works tends to be spotty on a lot of topics. When they're doing tech or odd facts stuff they're pretty good. However real science they apparently have some random uneducated folks pulled off the street.
On the plus side I just saw that they have their Tinnovations thing up finally that is featuring my work. An email telling me would have been nice.
Discovery seriosuly used that link as a citation for their claim? Discovery?! That hurts me on the inside. Anyways, I have never really watch the show nor seen the website, but if its basis will follow these examples, I may not be so inclined to watch it. I do hope these are only some examples of poor information and not the general content of the show.
Discovery seriosuly used that link as a citation for their claim? Discovery?! That hurts me on the inside. Anyways, I have never really watch the show nor seen the website, but if its basis will follow these examples, I may not be so inclined to watch it. I do hope these are only some examples of poor information and not the general content of the show.
Post a Comment