Hoax and Myth Exam 1

Question 1

What is science?

Answer 1

Observations of the known world that can be tested and falsified (ex. Gravity).

Question 2

Structure of science

Answer 2

1. Observation
2. Data
3. Prediction
4. Hypothesis
5. Theory
6. Law (Principle)
   Has to be testable and repeatable

Question 3

How do we know things?

Answer 3

We can know them from personal experiences or from trusted sources

Question 4

Standards of Evidence

Answer 4

1. Evidence must meet prediction
2. Evidence is verifiable in time and space by an expert
3. Evidence does not change
4. The goal posts do not move

Question 5

Skeptic verses Doubter

Answer 5

Skeptic: Having constructive standards that can be reasonably met
Doubters: Being skeptic of everything you hear and see, no matter how much evidence there is.

Question 6

TRUE or FALSE: Theory and hypothesis often get mixed up or confused completely

Answer 6

TRUE: Both words are often used in the wrong ways

Question 7

Michael Shermer: Why we believe weird things?

Answer 7

It’s that all of our brains are wired to just believe everything because in our ancestral environment that was right, often enough, for survival purposes.

Question 8

The Rules of Science

Answer 8

1. Real and knowable universe
2. Universe operates according to understandable rules or laws
3. The laws are immutable
4. Laws can be discerned, studied, and understood by people through careful observation, experimentation, research

Question 9

What are the possible motivations of people who make crazy claims

Answer 9

1. Money
2. Fame
3. Nationalism/Racism
4. Religion
5. Romanticism
6. Spookiness
7. Or they are actually crazy

Question 10

Are any of the motivations mutually exclusive?

Answer 10

No. They often cross each other

Question 11

What is the nature of a “true believer?”

Answer 11

They will frequently move the goal post, disqualifing other people’s idea, and impugning the person’s character. Basically, anything to make sure they are right.

Question 12

Best evidence for proof of cryptid existence

Answer 12

1. Body + Bones, fossils
2. Hair, nails, poop, clear imprints
3. Clear photography
4. DNA

Question 13

Bigfoot verses Giant Squid

Answer 13

Bigfoot: No solid evidence has been found. Only fake hair, assumptions, eye witness accounts, and very blurry photos are all we have
Giant Squid: Solid evidence has been found. Intact beaks, skin with massive sucker marks, and clear video evidence.

Question 14

Bigfoot verses Gigantopithecus

Answer 14

Bigfoot: No skull or any bones have been found. Only small pieces of “hair”. Nothing to compare bigfoot to.
Giga: Piece of mandible. From this, and with some predictions, we can make a solid guess on what it looked like. So far, only a mandible has been found. However, we have things to compare it to. Similar teeth to orangutans

Question 15

The Cardiff Giant

Answer 15

1. A petrified “giant” found in Cardiff, New York in 1869
2. People flocked to it to see proof that God existed
3. People tried to falsify it but failed

Question 16

Stub Newl and his reason for creating the Cardiff Giant

Answer 16

1. Newl ordered the sculpting of the giant to prove how easy people get fleeced by religion.
2. George Hull was who sculpted the giant.
3. Newl got sued and lost all the money made on the attraction

Question 17

Who made a copy of the Cardiff giant when he tried to buy it and failed?

Answer 17

P.T Barrnem

Question 18

Viera Brothers

Answer 18

Two Stone Masons that are going to great lengths to proving that giants are real.
A. Going as far as claiming that nobles in Native American culture existed and they are giants.
B. They also believe that structures built by colonizers were somehow built by giants.

Question 19

Giants and photoshopping

Answer 19

Many “claims” of giants are actually just photoshopped pictures

Question 20

Piltdown

Answer 20

1. Fossils found in the Piltdown gravel pit in 1911.
2. Found by Charles Dawson
3. Was claimed to be the oldest human fossils of the Pleistocene.
4. Supposed man/ape mix

Question 21

What were the ideas about evolution at the time?

Answer 21

1. Europe was where humans truly evolved and humans in other continents were dead ends
2. Britain wanted to prove they were the best (of course they did)
3. No old, human fossils were found in Africa and other places yet. This is what led to this way of thinking.
4. The brain came first, and then everything else followed afterward.

Question 22

How was Piltdown disproven

Answer 22

Radiocarbon dated in 1953 and fossils came from past couple of centuries.
Cranium and jaw different ages
Jaw turned out to be orangutan jaw

Question 23

What fossils greatly challenged Piltdown?

Answer 23

1. Taung Child: Proved that bipedalism came first. Found in Africa.
2. Sinanthropus Pekingeusis (Now known as Homo Erectus). Closer to homo than people thought and found in China. Proved evolution didn’t just happened in Europe.