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Penn and Teller takes on anti vaxxers

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Meh.

I find all the gratuitous profanity off-putting.

There are a lot of times Penn engaged (engages) in bald assertion -- *I* knew what he was saying to be true, but if someone didn't they would only have his say-so.

And while the bunny bit was cute, and in keeping with the show's track record of nudity, I'd kind of liked them to have brought in Amanda Peet to talk about her experience and then when she refused to flash them, bring in four young ladies with each with a word from "Every Child By Two" written on their tummies.
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TSR said:
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Woulda been funnier if he had been trying to look...
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It was funny enough for me. I was stationed in Sicily in the '70s and went to the Riviera every chance I got, for the, ahem, scenery. One time this Merkin family was ahead of me on and the father was trying to shield his son's eyes from all the cuties on the beach. The kid finally ran out on the beach and did the :eye-poppi thing until dear old dad dragged him back. I guess nobody told them the rules before they got there.
 
That Carl guy was spouting Pharmo-conspiracy BS so familiar I wondered if we might have ever dealt with him on here in the JREF Forums. I'll bet you anything that he is into either Prisonplanet or the Icke forums......possibly both.
 
I'm not offended by the profanity (I can give it with the best of them) but sometimes think you can do without it, as it can detract from the strength of your position.

I am very happy that Penn and Teller have, like many others, taken on the anti-vaxers and exposed their lies and fallacies.
 
Obviousman said:
I'm not offended by the profanity (I can give it with the best of them) but sometimes think you can do without it, as it can detract from the strength of your position.
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I've always chalked that up to a faux outrage they use to mock the arm-wavers. "You want to shout, scream, and chew the carpet, let us show you how it's REALLY done." ;)
I am very happy that Penn and Teller have, like many others, taken on the anti-vaxers and exposed their lies and fallacies.
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Another string in the bow for the rationalists.
 
Northern_warrior said:
Anyone see the new penn and teller BS ep?
They rip antivaxxers a new one,I loved every second of it;)

http://www.megavideo.com/?d=M95PAXTZ
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Thanks for bringing it up, I thought it was a good episode.

I once got into a very heated argument with someone who was trying to convince me that vaccines cause autism. I didn't know a lot about the subject at the time but I could see from the quality (or lack of) of the "evidence" that this was likely to be BS!

It followed a by-now predictable pattern of him moving from absolute certainty that there's some massive cover-up presumably on a global scale to saying he's just asking questions and taking the moral highground about being concerned about autism and that he's only putting the information out there.

Isn't this a case of question-begging when you say "I don't know if it's true, but this information is necessary for you to make a good decision"?

I ask that because doesn't it assume the "information" isn't harmful if acted on?

As for P&T I find the show to be a bit hit-and-miss. Sometimes the loud shouty one just puts me off.
 
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I'm looking forward to watching the episode. I like Penn & Teller.

angrysoba said:
Thanks for bringing it up, I thought it was a good episode.

I once got into a very heated argument with someone who was trying to convince me that vaccines cause autism. I didn't know a lot about the subject at the time but I could see from the quality (or lack of) of the "evidence" that this was likely to be BS!

It followed a by-now predictable pattern of him moving from absolute certainty that there's some massive cover-up presumably on a global scale to saying he's just asking questions and taking the moral highground about being concerned about autism and that he's only putting the information out there.

Isn't this a case of question-begging when you say "I don't know if it's true, but this information is necessary for you to make a good decision"?

I ask that because doesn't it assume the "information" isn't harmful if acted on?

As for P&T I find the show to be a bit hit-and-miss. Sometimes the loud shouty one just puts me off.
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I see that type of behaviour quite a bit with woo-woos and truthers. I find your question interesting. I wish I had a definitive answer. I find that behaviour dishonest, to say the least, when they go from certainty and full-on CTism to JAQing off to a sophistic "how do we really know anything?" :oldroll:
 
PS13 said:
It was a good episode. This season has been pretty good so far. If you guys & gals don't already know, Penn has a web show that he puts on Youtube and updates it a lot.

Check it out... http://www.youtube.com/user/pennpoint

ETA: Here's his main site for 'Penn Point'... http://revision3.com/pennpoint
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Thanks for that one,subscribed:P
Even if I dont by far agree with everything Mr.Jilette has to say..he has an ability to make sense in his own way..
 
Bud Ad

Gawdzilla said:
It was funny enough for me. I was stationed in Sicily in the '70s and went to the Riviera every chance I got, for the, ahem, scenery. One time this Merkin family was ahead of me on and the father was trying to shield his son's eyes from all the cuties on the beach. The kid finally ran out on the beach and did the :eye-poppi thing until dear old dad dragged him back. I guess nobody told them the rules before they got there.
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Speaking of which, ever see this old Bud ad??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loB-3Tzll14
 
Orphia Nay said:
I'm looking forward to watching the episode. I like Penn & Teller.



I see that type of behaviour quite a bit with woo-woos and truthers. I find your question interesting. I wish I had a definitive answer. I find that behaviour dishonest, to say the least, when they go from certainty and full-on CTism to JAQing off to a sophistic "how do we really know anything?" :oldroll:
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Yes, they end up going towards a kind of radical Humeian skepticism. It's a tactic.

I think of it as a "We had to burn the village to save the village"-type argument.

Instead of discussing one particular issue they plunge into the whole "maybe we're just brains in a jar!", "Maybe the Earth was created fully-formed 5 minutes ago!", "Maybe EVERYONE is lying and they are lizards underneath" levels of doubt.

Once you level the playing field like that then really almost any contingency is as likely as any other.
 
exactly. Similar to the angry young rebels who would ask you to consider the plot of the matrix movies as a distinct possibility of true reality. How do you argue such obvious extreme??? Just admit Santa and Leprachauns and Unicorns are also real, and hit the ignore button.

As for the P&T episode, I loved it. yes, it is years worth of debunking fit into 30 minutes, but these days, if you are even going to attempt to save the "now" generation from the Woo, you have to do it quickly...P&T do that very well...plus they keep them hooked with the profanity and naked cleavage.

TAM:)
 
I can't wait to see this episode. Hopefull in the next couple of days.

angrysoba said:
Yes, they end up going towards a kind of radical Humeian skepticism. It's a tactic.

I think of it as a "We had to burn the village to save the village"-type argument.

Instead of discussing one particular issue they plunge into the whole "maybe we're just brains in a jar!", "Maybe the Earth was created fully-formed 5 minutes ago!", "Maybe EVERYONE is lying and they are lizards underneath" levels of doubt.

Once you level the playing field like that then really almost any contingency is as likely as any other.
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T.A.M. said:
exactly. Similar to the angry young rebels who would ask you to consider the plot of the matrix movies as a distinct possibility of true reality. How do you argue such obvious extreme??? Just admit Santa and Leprachauns and Unicorns are also real, and hit the ignore button.
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Yes, and yes.

They'll adopt all those stances and interchange between them, but all the while vehemently reject the rational skeptical viewpoint. They make a mockery of their own alleged "open minds".
 
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