This just in! Mermaids are NOT real!

[Randy]

Dunno if it's been said already but this whole "OOOH, IS IT REAL?" stuff that Discovery/History/Animal Planet/etc have been pushing the past couple years is insultingly stupid, considering the scientific clout they had in years gone by. Even "factual programs" (such as Call of the Wildman) clearly state that a lot of the segments are recreations.

That shit has rubbed me the wrong way for some time now, but running KNOWN FAKE programs and advertising them mostly as real or "maybe real" is downright criminal.

 

[Mexi]

the only real problem here is how these shows are marketed. they're playing up highly speculative theories on completely hypothetical scenarios *very* loosely based in science. They present this speculative information in documentary-style shows that lend them more credibility than any other format, which is why shit like this gets made.

bottom line, the steady decline of quality programming in channels like Discovery and History is the byproduct of the current economics of television that emphasize derivative, low-cost reality television over original programming. This all fits the pattern of anti-intellectualism we've seen in recent years, sad really. "documentaries" like these seem to try to find a medium between watching a documentary and not learning anything useful, making the experience that much more agonizing.

 

[vansinn]

Of course mermaids are real - I used to do scuba- and free diving (still the latter) and had many close encounters.
They don't wear 8-denier stockings and high heels, though..

 

[Murdstone]

Makes me think of this.

 

[Jakke]

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

But is really gaggle the correct term for a group of them? I seem to recall "murder" being the correct name for a group of them, at least I think I heard it...

 

[Rotatous]

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.

Actually the show Ancient Aliens is based on a theory first widely presented by Erich Von Daniken's book, Chariots Of The Gods, written in 1968, which I have actually read. The show is complete garbage and done purely for money/ratings (just like every History Channel "documentary") and pretty much makes the theory look foolish to the mass population (very likely on purpose), stretching the theory to extremes to spice it up and make it entertaining for your regular joe who's used to watching Pawn Stars and Ice Road Truckers. If you actually research these kinds of things though you'll find the basis for the theory really isn't crazy at all, with a lot of interesting supporting subject material and evidence which should be taken seriously by historians, researchers, and scientists and actually is by very many these days, not childishly presented to a childish TV-watching audience who knows nothing about it other than whats presented in the show and just want to talk about how crazy one of the presenter's hair is.

As for the Mermaid "documentary", I caught a little bit of it at my bud's place. I wasn't surprised to see something like that on the Discovery Channel, it did anger me however seeing something like that lumped in with science (or whatever passes for that, being on TV), when it was basically fear-mongering crap with the whole 'we should be afraid of this or that, it could still be out there' attitude and a 3d animation of how 'scary' they would have looked and some bones which were obviously human or monkey. The real shame though in my opinion is that when enough people see things like this which are obviously fake about all sorts of cryptids and Ghost Adventures crap, they'll begin to think that any new theory presented that's out of the ordinary is fake too.

Bottom line, don't watch TV if you want to learn, this should be a surprise to nobody

 

[CrushingAnvil]

The only sort of person who should believe this is a laughably gullible 14 year-old girl i.e. my cousin.

 

[caskettheclown]

Radio show I listen to did a segment on this documentary and at the end had people call in who believed in mermaids.


Needless to say laughter ensued.

 

[narad]

But is really gaggle the correct term for a group of them? I seem to recall "murder" being the correct name for a group of them, at least I think I heard it...

I believe the mass noun should be "a fictitiousness of mermaids."

 

[Herrick]

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.

I flucking love Ancient Aliens. It's like "real" science fiction

I think the History Channel opened the doors for this kind of stuff with some of the religious documentaries they had. Nothing wrong with having a show that goes into the history of a particular conspiracy theory but some of these shows were presented as if they were actually plausible. You know the ones where the narrarator would say something like, "Were the ancient Bible writers trying to tell us..." & stuff like that

 

[BryGuy]

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.

I agree, it's pretty idiotic for them to do that, considering we're animals too. The only difference is instead of sharp claws, speed or scales to protect ourselves we have our advanced mind. With that we created a society and buildings to protect us from the outside world.


Now, we use our minds to protect us from ourselves.