This just in! Mermaids are NOT real!

[wheresthefbomb]

I almost just posted this in off-topic, but it is (tragically) an actual current event. The U.S.' scientific community and knowledge in general are under constant assault right now from bastions of pseudoscience such as new-earth creationists and climate change deniers, so while this isn't quite as dangerous, it does seem to bear discussing.

Mermaids aren’t real: Animal Planet’s fake documentaries misrepresent ocean life. - Slate Magazine

"This week, Animal Planet aired two fake documentaries claiming to show scientific evidence of mermaids. I say “fake documentaries” because that’s exactly what The Body Found and The New Evidence are. The “scientists” interviewed in the show are actors, and there’s a brief disclaimer during the end credits. However, the Twitter conversation surrounding the show (#Mermaids) reveals that many viewers are unaware that the show isn’t real."

I'm not sure this is any worse for a person's brain than a dose of Jersey Horror Picture Show or any other insipid "reality" show, but that's also not saying much. I think that Aldous Huxley would be impressed.

What do you all think?

 

[tedtan]

I'm sorry to say it, but I'm not surprised that a lot of people took those shows as being real. I don't know HOW they could believe it, but I'm not surprised that they did.

 

[misingonestring]

This is news?

 

[AxeHappy]

Apparently it is, in North America.

Urgh.

 

[Captain Butterscotch]

No, fvck you, mermaids are real! I saw at gaggle of them when I was hanging with Nessie the other day.

 

[Daf57]

I'm sorry to say it, but I'm not surprised that a lot of people took those shows as being real.

Same, but I'm such a skeptic about things like this. Wouldn't it be fun to be able to buy into something like that??

 

[ncfiala]

I watched these shows a long time ago and I kind of liked them, but I knew that it was fake the whole time. There can't be people who thought this was real. If there are, then these people are beyond help.

 

[SpaceDock]

My girlfriend watched this and thought it was real, lol.

When she told me about it I started googling all of the people from the show and showed her it was fake. I guess her and a bunch of people from Facebook bought into it, in her defense the show does portray itself as a documentary.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I'm more disappointed that a supposedly scientific channel ran it, and made its authenticity intentionally vague. I know the bar is already low, and History and Discovery are in the same sad shape. I remember buying those black and white tabloids with Bat Boy and such from wal mart when I was a kid, I wonder if they infiltrated cable...

 

[AngstRiddenDreams]

I had a bunch of friends try telling me it was real. Perfect timing to see this thread, I'll be earning myself some bet money.

 

[matt397]

Doesn't surprise me people believe this at all. With the whole ya know, christian thing, I've come to accept that people will believe pretty much anything.

 

[tedtan]

Same, but I'm such a skeptic about things like this. Wouldn't it be fun to be able to buy into something like that??

Yeah, I bet it would be, but I lost that naiveté a long time ago. Truth be told, I'm a pretty cynical bastard.

 

[vampiregenocide]

I actually kinda like these pseudo-science programs. They blend fantasy and science in an interesting way, but if you're going to make a program like that and broadcast it on a science channel, you have to be careful about how it's presented.

What I don't like however, are programs that take sensational ideas that have no real scientific basis. Shark week happened recently, and there was a program about the giant prehistoric shark Megalodon and how it could still be out there. Most scientific evidence points to this being unlikely if not impossible. However, Discovery Channel runs shows like this time and time again. Fair enough if you want to make a program about a far out theory, but it has to have some scientific basis.

Also I hate programs that make animals out to be aggressive or pests. Top 10 worst animal attacks etc. These just perpetuate fear and misunderstanding about animals.

 

[xzyryabx]

There are some really stupid people in this world.....

 

[AxeHappy]

Also I hate programs that make animals out to be aggressive or pests. Top 10 worst animal attacks etc. These just perpetuate fear and misunderstanding about animals.

When I was much younger (Like back when TLC and Discovery played educational programs and History didn't yet exist, in Canada anyways) Discovery had this show on the 10 most poisonous animals in the world.

It was hosted by the Crocodile Hunter (Which I didn't know at the time having no idea who the Crocodile Hunter was) and whilst it pointed out that these where indeed dangerous animals, it didn't at all attempt to make them out to be aggressive or evil or whatever.

Even went to lengths to show the proper way to handle a snake and not do the grab behind the head thing.

I wish we could get more shit like that, instead of the crap we get nowadays.

 

[tedtan]

Yeah, unfortunately everything today seems made for the reality TV generation where reality only exists in the genre's name.

 

[estabon37]

I don't know what cable TV channels are like, having never paid for TV, but are people more likely to mistake these things as real because the Animal Planet station would normally be playing documentaries? I mean, I don't remember people claiming aliens had actually landed in South Africa after District 9 was released, or people claiming demons attacked a young couple after Paranormal Activity was released. If either of those was played on the History Channel would people be more likely to believe the content?

 

[tedtan]

I don't know what cable TV channels are like, having never paid for TV, but are people more likely to mistake these things as real because the Animal Planet station would normally be playing documentaries?

That might be part of it, but the shows they run are becoming more and more reality TV bordering on mocumentaries rather than proper documentaries now, so people should be used to it at this point.

I mean, I don't remember people claiming aliens had actually landed in South Africa after District 9 was released, or people claiming demons attacked a young couple after Paranormal Activity was released. If either of those was played on the History Channel would people be more likely to believe the content?

Unfortunately, History Channel has a series called Ancient Aliens dedicated to enlightening us as to the alien visitations of the past and how they helped create the ancient civilizations (Egypt, Native American culture including the Maya and Aztec, etc.). I don't watch it so I can't get into any specifics about the show, but I've seen the commercials and can tell what a croc it is from the commercials alone. But you're right, some people probably do buy into it more so because it's on the History Channel than they would on a channel dedicated to sci-fi or other drama.

 

[fwd0120]

I wish I was a Merman....................

 

[vampiregenocide]

When I was much younger (Like back when TLC and Discovery played educational programs and History didn't yet exist, in Canada anyways) Discovery had this show on the 10 most poisonous animals in the world.

It was hosted by the Crocodile Hunter (Which I didn't know at the time having no idea who the Crocodile Hunter was) and whilst it pointed out that these where indeed dangerous animals, it didn't at all attempt to make them out to be aggressive or evil or whatever.

Even went to lengths to show the proper way to handle a snake and not do the grab behind the head thing.

I wish we could get more shit like that, instead of the crap we get nowadays.

Oh I have no issues with programs of that sort if they're completely factual and don't make the animals out to be evil. Steve Irwin was always good at that. But some just show reconstructions of animal attacks and hype up how traumatic and scary they are.