Skeptics Guide

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe Skepticast #984 May 15th 2024 Segment #1. 5-10 Years - Steorn Free Energy Company Implodes m.independent.ie/business/iri... Segment #2. News Items News Item #1 - Chat GPT 4o ai-pro.org/start-chat-gpt News Item #2 - 2023 hottest summer in 2 thousand years www.livescience.com/planet-ea... News Item #3 - Spotting Misinformation theness.com/neurologicablog/s... News Item #4 - AI Training Robots interestingengineering.com/in... News Item #5 - Reincarnated Son of Buddha www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/... Segment #3. Who’s That Noisy Segment #4. Your Questions and E-mails Question #1: Saving Sasquatch Hi! Long time listen/patron. I just finished reading this article: Olympic Peninsula fifth graders get lesson in lobbying with ‘Saving Sasquatch’ replica.seattletimes.com/popo... And I am appalled on so many fronts. We have let these students down. The teacher (supposedly teaching critical thinking), the law makers (accepting the kids proposal of nonsense) and the Seattle Times for publishing it. Would love to hear your thoughts. Kristin Simpson Kirkland Washington Segment #5. Science or Fiction Each week our host will come up with three science news items or facts, two genuine, one fictitious. He will challenge our panel of skeptics to sniff out the fake - and you can play along. Theme: Battery Material Item 1: By weight the most prevalent element in current production Lithium ion batteries is nickel, followed by cobalt and then lithium. Item 2: A recent analysis concludes that the world will not be able to mine enough copper to make the green transition between now and 2050. Item 3: A new study finds that extracting lithium from shale wastewater in Pennsylvania could produce 40% of current annual US demand. Segment #6. Skeptical Quote of the Week Science is the only self-correcting human institution, but it also is a process that progresses only by showing itself to be wrong." Allan Sandage S - Stop. Think about the claims before spreading them. Don’t retweet, post, or make a Tik Tok video pointing at the person making the claim and nodding. K - Keep an open mind. Consider all possibilities for plausibility and evidence, even that the claim is not true, or what you want to believe is wrong. E - Evaluate the source. Examine the source for authoritativeness, potential bias, and expertise. What other claims do they make. What do other sources say? P - Put the claim in context. Is there a controversy? Is this a politically hot topic? Is the person making a claim selling something, such as a political perspective. T - Track. Track back all sources to their original source. Rely on primary sources whenever possible. I - Investigate. Do background research on the science involved, what the experts say and why, who disagrees with the claim and why. C - Consider before concluding. Consider all information when making a determination if the claim is likely to be true or not. It's OK to conclude that you don’t know or to wait for more information. Remember to be humble and charitable.

[@michaelsheffield6852]

Good work

[@mathewfugate8075]

Where I'm at (Western Illinois, 3.5 hours from eclipse totality) everyone was so excited for the Aurora, but nobody really cared about going to see the eclipse. The Aurora was cool. I saw waves going through the sky at one point, which was amazing, but yeah, the colors were pretty much not there. That total eclips though. We drove to the path of totality. That was a sight to behold. If I was going to recommend one, I would recommend the eclipse. This could be an entirely different answer if I was further north though.

[@nicholaicheck]

[0:26] Auroras [3:41] 5-10 Years - Steorn Free Energy Company Implodes [15:40] News Item #1 - Chat GPT 4o [31:04] News Item #2 - 2023 hottest summer in 2 thousand years [40:32] News Item #3 - Spotting Misinformation [48:37] News Item #4 - AI Training Robots [59:57] News Item #5 - Reincarnated Son of Buddha [1:07:54] Who’s That Noisy [1:13:06] Chicago extravaganza [1:15:17] Question #1: Saving Sasquatch [1:20:39] Science or Fiction [1:37:54] Quote of the Week

[@Xen0Phanes]

Thanks for the show. 👍'd

[@gregczarlinski2811]

Another question: is there a secular community online or support group for people like myself? Im an atheist and i find it very difficult living among religious family members who also believe in most conspiracy theories, naturopathy etc. i really need some advice on how to deal with it. I really dont know how to even talk to them anymore. It feels like im alone against the whole world. Thanks

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

Check with American Atheists or the Freedom From Religion Foundation to see if there is a local chapter of one of the various freethought organizations. I was a member (and eventually the leader) of one of those clubs in my city for a few years. It was mostly meeting at a bar to chat, but we also collected dues to pay for special events, host guest speakers, etc. Good luck!

[@gregczarlinski2811]

Great episode as always. I have a question that is bothering me since like 4ever. Why isn’t everyone talking about the fact that almost all the misinformation and conspiracy theories we are dealing with Today is because of scientifically illiterate religious people ? Why isn’t anyone talking about it. Why is this so taboo. We should be talking about it more.There are a lot of orthodox christians in my family and they all believe in most conspiracy theories, pseudoscience etc. its so hard living among delusional people.

[@peterjv8748]

It's a complex subject but imo it's not so much religious people as right wing people. And while a-lot are true believers there's just as many that just use religion (esp Christianity) as a prop for their wild and dangerous ideals and conspiracy theories.

[@gregczarlinski2811]

@@peterjv8748 yes but the majority of them are in fact religious. The biggest spreaders of misinformation online are in fact fundamentalist christians and their puppets like the whole daily wire crew, peterson, kirk, walsh, ownens, tucker carlson, ken ham, kent hovind and many many others….im sure if we look at statistics it would be clear as day that there is a correlation between misinformation and religion. People who deny evolution etc. how can they possibly understand diseases, climate change, vaccines etc. if they believe god made us and is going to take care of us anyway. Religion to me is the most dangerous idea ever. Religious people just lack critical thinking abilities.

[@slianyong7550]

Consider Lysenkoism, which was pushed in the atheistic Communist USSR. Not science whatsoever. Although the atheism was enforced so that the leader and the state would be worshipped as gods

[@PlayingMantis]

❤

[@gregczarlinski2811]

Just wait till christian chat gpt comes out 😂

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

Trained on Conservapedia and Answers in Genesis no doubt.

[@AbqHalsey]

Jay doesn't know the difference between exponential and logarithmic growth

[@ii3325]

Lol, me neither

[@peterjv8748]

He'd be the first to admit he's the least brightest rogue.

[@ii3325]

@@peterjv8748 I'm sure he could wreck you kiddo. 😂

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

It's a pretty big difference (inverse even). I'm sure if he looked at the graphs, it would be more apparent which is which.

[@peterjv8748]

@@ii3325 reer!