Skepticism and Cracked.com

[Maia]

I realize that's obvious, but beyond that I've noticed bits of news becoming less true as they hop from one source to the other. Each one trying to make it a little more inflammatory to try to get it to travel:

A scientific journal publishes a story about some new artificial hormone that limits obesity in rats, and notes they have several more years of study before they can even attempt to test it on humans.

AP Headline: "Anti-Obesity Breakthrough - Hormone Helps Rats Keep Pounds Off"

Fox News Headline: "Obesity Cure Found?"

Digg.com headline: "Obesity Cure Found."

Yup. It sounds like you're talking about leptin. Unfortunately, what was later found in that case was that obese people actually have more of this hormone naturally than thinner ones, not less, so it was no adjunct to weight loss for human beings as far as anyone could tell (either then or now). Basically, your point is so, so right.

(snippy snip)
But I'm scared to death that the internet has made that harder, not easier. There's just so much noise.

I see what you mean, but on the other hand, I'm not so sure that this is really true. The "leptin incident" was in the early 1990's, before there was anywhere near the rapid spread of net info that we have today (I'd look up the exact year but I'm moving, and my reference material is packed in a box.) I think it's more likely something that people have always tended to do, however exaggerations and simplifications are actually being spread.

That being said, I love cracked.com! What a great site.

 

[The Charnel Expanse]

I read it daily.

Skepticism and humor are natural bedfellows. If you can't use logic and facts to make an idea or event look absurd, what right do you have to make fun of it?

 

[The Almond]

Hear, hear.

Sometimes, it seems, humor is the best way to present facts. I completely agree with you about the sensationalism with information nowadays, and I think you're right in that it is especially easy to find misinformation now. It is my opinion also that a lot of misinformation is backed with emotional appeal, mostly fear and anger, in order to add to the sensationalism. All three news channels are great examples of that.

If I may, I'd like share a personal story of how your site actually provided information that help cut the bull from the reality.

My girlfriend lives in Germany and has been trying to immigrate here now for a couple of years. A lot of people, including my parents, keep telling me to tell her to stop dragging her heels and just get here. A lot of my co-workers and friends have been telling me "just marry her - that'll solve the problem". People have even suggested to me that I break up with her because it's obvious to them that she's not really serious about getting here.

Then your site recently posted this article: http://www.cracked.com/article_18552_so-you-want-to-be-american-5-circles-immigration-hell.html which I now link to everyone who mentions that she's being slow or that she's not doing enough or that we should get married. The article even made my parents realize what needs to be done rather clearly and quickly, even though I have explained the immigration process to them over and over.

It's good to see that there is a site who tries to not only make you laugh, but tries to get the facts right.

That article was basically an exact report of my experience trying to get my German fiancee over to the US. Spot on, word for word. I seriously had to check the author to see if it was my wife.

By the way, I love Cracked.com, I read it every day, and I have a print out of the 5 Most Badass Presidents article on my desk.

 

[Epok]

On another note, I use my phone to access the internet now and some articles come up blank. I can't even access the full archives. It would be awesome if they came out with a mobile version of Cracked.com that would allow people to access all of the articles. I've missed out on a lot because of that.

 

[HansMustermann]

My only... "objection" (ok, not really) would be that at times it's like books in The Call of Cthulhu: learning some stuff there makes me roll for loss of sanity. I mean, as a totally random list off the top of my head:

- Hello Kitty pads. Really? A franchise which basically is just about a cute kitty, told someone "I bet some people would find her so cute, they'll want to stick her between their legs and bleed all over her face"? Was it at least in Japan or something?

It's hard to even find an excuse there. I mean with stuff like The Smurfs toilet paper, you can at least think it must be used as a gag. For example, replacing the roll with one of those at a party. But Hello Kitty pads? It's not like one can run around showing off "look what I'm wearing!" Right? I mean, right?

- Lawn darts? I mean, really? A replica of a deadly WW1 weapon thrown by the thousands from airplanes to kill soldiers in trenches by piercing their skull... is sold as a children's toy and someone is actually surprised when it ends up piercing a few skulls? It's not even "just" an oversized dart, it's a replica of an actual (if about 90 years obsolete) weapon of war. Well, ok, the actual weapon had a solid steel shaft instead of just the tip, but close enough.

I mean, Jesus Haploid Christ, what next? Bouncing Betty mines sold as toys? Seppuku kits?

- School actually enacts shooting the teacher they loved in front of the kids? In spite of my impressive repertoire of assorted insults, if I may say so myself, words simply fail me. I mean, Jesus Haploid Christ, me and my brother did the 120dB "WAAAAAAHHH!" if we as much as caught wind that grandma is chopping the head off a chicken to make soup when we visited, and these kids get shown the sudden horrible death of a human being their cared for?

- Punisher with a huge boner that shoots missiles? You mean the one on Fail Blog wasn't photoshopped? Oh, wait, it's supposed to fold around so he gets a huge tube stuck in his ass instead. Well, that's ok then

Etc.

SRSLY. It's times like those I wish I could reach for the comforting blanket of religion, curl up under it, and cry myself to sleep.

 

[Ambiguity]

Skepticism and humor are natural bedfellows. If you can't use logic and facts to make an idea or event look absurd, what right do you have to make fun of it?

I concur. It's this very quality that makes Cracked the only website that can make me literally cry with laughter on a regular basis.

 

[David Wong]

For people who don't read the site and now think it's about science or whatever, keep in mind a lot of our "skepticism" is in the form of things like this:

http://www.cracked.com/video_18203_why-back-to-future-secretly-horrifying.html

That's a video, and one of my favorite things we've ever had on the site (which I can say because I had nothing to do with making it) where basically it's four people deconstructing the plot of Back to the Future, bit by bit, and pointing out why the plot doesn't even make sense according to it's own logic.

It's completely silly and pointless and inconsequential, but it captures the central message of the site very well. It's fun to overthink things. And once you start it's kind of hard to stop.

 

[AdMan]

For people who don't read the site and now think it's about science or whatever, keep in mind a lot of our "skepticism" is in the form of things like this:

http://www.cracked.com/video_18203_why-back-to-future-secretly-horrifying.html

That's a video, and one of my favorite things we've ever had on the site (which I can say because I had nothing to do with making it) where basically it's four people deconstructing the plot of Back to the Future, bit by bit, and pointing out why the plot doesn't even make sense according to it's own logic.

It's completely silly and pointless and inconsequential, but it captures the central message of the site very well. It's fun to overthink things. And once you start it's kind of hard to stop.

I wish I had your job.

 

[luchog]

You kids will not remember when Cracked was still on the newsstand shelves. You probably don't recall news stands, that sold the latest pulp crap to yo. At the time, Cracked was what you bought when Mad was sold out: similar, but second-rate, "humor" for retards who missed the boat.

Oh, I definitely remember those days. Was discussing the enormous difference between the magazine and the website with a co-worker just yesterday in fact.

 

[Senex]

Funniest sentence fragment... "We at Cracked.com would never dare question Ms. O'Donnell's expertise in the field of metallurgy..."

 

[MattusMaximus]

I'm only 31 and I still have my collection of Mad and Cracked magazines. The Cracked website still has that "make fun of everybody even/especially if you like them" attitude. I definitely like their internet articles more than I liked their magazine.

Same here, I remember seeing Cracked on the news-stands and thinking "what a silly magazine" - now I go read their website and much lulz results

 

[Burning Beard]

I stumbled upon the "Law of Attraction" page to find this message: "This topic is not complete yet. Bookmark it, and check back in a few days." I've been checking in for quite some time but still no update, I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Dragoonster]

Cracked is awesome, for any myriad history/science/other bizarreness. I think it's better than Fortean Times (if that's still around) for introducing oddities in a (relatively) sober way. The article authors may not go into enormous detail about things, or have a great interest in debunking, but the incidents and oddities themselves can take you on a web-spanning journey to find the truth. Very nice site for the skeptic imo.