Ancient aliens on the history channel. Arrrrghhh!

[Umbran]

No. My primary concern is that the "History" Channel is airing a show about Ancient Aliens and presenting the theories in a vacuum.

Well, of course they are. Aliens come from the vacuum of space, don't they? Evidence for them will also come from the vacuum

The map was an illustration of how badly their evidence was presented.

Okay, sorry, you went on at length on details of that, which made it seem like those details were the important bit. Clarification received.

Let's be blunt - it is a show about aliens. What else could you possibly expect?

I don't begrudge the channel the occasional bit of tripe, honestly. At least here, it is on a subject that the audience really needs to be taking with a grain of salt. If you want to get upset, get upset about less obvious, and less easily checked, inaccuracies in things that look more like scholarly work than "Ancient Aliens".

 

[freyar]

I don't begrudge the channel the occasional bit of tripe, honestly. At least here, it is on a subject that the audience really needs to be taking with a grain of salt. If you want to get upset, get upset about less obvious, and less easily checked, inaccuracies in things that look more like scholarly work than "Ancient Aliens".

I can see your point. But the problem for me is that a surprising number of people can't really tell that even this needs a grain of salt (or honking big rock of salt, really). And now there's an "authority" endorsing the idea of aliens in our history.

 

[ProfessorPain]

Let's be blunt - it is a show about aliens. What else could you possibly expect?

I don't begrudge the channel the occasional bit of tripe, honestly. At least here, it is on a subject that the audience really needs to be taking with a grain of salt. If you want to get upset, get upset about less obvious, and less easily checked, inaccuracies in things that look more like scholarly work than "Ancient Aliens".

Maybe my expectations were unrealistic. I don't mind them having a program on aliens if they want. I just wish they would present the mainstream arguments against their evidence, and make it clear how far fetched their so-called experts' line of reasoning is. Essentially they gave the Alien Proponents last say on every argument, and this makes it look like there is no rebuttal. Again, I haven't watched the history channel in some time; I had just figured they took their name a little more seriously.

I haven't seen many other documentaries on the History channel, but your last point is important. Moving images are potent, and we tend to absorb them more passively than the written word. When Woodrow Wilson saw Birth of a Nation (the movie that made the KKK look like knights in shining armor) he famously said it was like "...Writing history with lightning..." or something to that effect. The closer you get to a presentation that looks restrained and academic, the greater the danger becomes. And I have seen plenty of documentaries present a rogue theory as if it were accepted by all in the field. Or worse, films like Ben Steins "Expelled" (Which was actually well made considering the subject matter), build the other sides' position into a straw man.

 

[RangerWickett]

Let's be blunt - it is a show about aliens. What else could you possibly expect?

Well, the least they could've done is interview a few.

 

[ProfessorPain]

Well, the least they could've done is interview a few.

Interview with an Alien:

interview with an alien - Google Video#

 

[Umbran]

I can see your point. But the problem for me is that a surprising number of people can't really tell that even this needs a grain of salt (or honking big rock of salt, really). And now there's an "authority" endorsing the idea of aliens in our history.

"It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money."
-W.C. Fields

I think that about sums up my position. The people who produce or air the show are not responsible for the audience's lack of critical thinking ability.

Plus, for all I know, the History Channel was right

 

[ProfessorPain]

"It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money."
-W.C. Fields

I think that about sums up my position. The people who produce or air the show are not responsible for the audience's lack of critical thinking ability.

Plus, for all I know, the History Channel was right

I can't agree with this. It sounds nice, and lets people who think they are smart absolve themselves of personal responsibility to those they consider suckers...but if you are going to present something as a report of the facts, you should be truthful. Especially when the venue calls itself the History Channel. Its harmful to feed people information that isn't true, but make it appear like real scholarship. Just as it is harmful to feed people candy thats filled with poison, but looks like a sugar coated treat. Saying its okay because suckers deverve what's coming to them is cruel. I am not saying the history channel should be censored. But at the very least, they should be taken to task by the news media and professional historians.

 

[Umbran]

but if you are going to present something as a report of the facts, you should be truthful.

Maybe they were truthful, and everything you know is wrong...

If this had been a show about, say, Napoleon, and they said something plausible, but incorrect, then I'd agree with you. But it was a show about aliens dude.

There is a point where the producers are no longer responsible for the viewer's gullibility.

 

[ProfessorPain]

Maybe they were truthful, and everything you know is wrong...

If this had been a show about, say, Napoleon, and they said something plausible, but incorrect, then I'd agree with you. But it was a show about aliens dude.

There is a point where the producers are no longer responsible for the viewer's gullibility.

I see your point, and maybe I am over reacting. I just think conspiracy culture is dangerous. And a station like the history channel promoting it, irresponsible.

 

[freyar]

I see your point, and maybe I am over reacting. I just think conspiracy culture is dangerous. And a station like the history channel promoting it, irresponsible.

This sums up my thoughts nicely, too.