Thursday, October 22, 2015

Combatting Lunacy

I have a friend who is an artist, he doesn't have such a great background in the sciences, but he's willing to learn. We had a conversation today in which he told me that I 'have to' watch a TV show called Aliens on the Moon with which he has become obsessed (his girlfriend hilariously complained, "He's obsessed, it's all he talks about these days!"). I gently tried to debunk this lunacy, having taken an oath to spread scientific literacy throughout the known universe.

I told him to watch the show with a skeptical eye, paying attention to the fact that the show's thesis relies on old, low-resolution images, and I told him to check out Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's images. When he objected that NASA is engaged in a massive coverup, I countered with the observation that scientists love to talk about their projects, so that something would have been leaked if there were alien bases on the moon. One of these days, I'll have to bring up the problems with FTL travel, but I'm taking baby steps here. For the record, I believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life, I just don't think that it has visited our neck of the woods.

I referred him to the RationalWiki page on lunar anomalies, and told him that the only intelligent presence on the moon was Whitey's.

2 comments:

OBS said...

He also needs to watch this very important lunar documentary.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

He also needs to watch this very important lunar documentary.

I think Bibi Netanyahu needs to watch it too.