Happy New
Year, y'all! It's 2015 and EVERYTHING
SUCKS already! *sniffles* Sorry, just went through a hard time, and
still doing so; I'll explain why when the time is right. However, I have a few things to express. First of all, I have a few goals for this
year: EDUCATE people about how vaccines do NOT cause Autistic Spectrum
Disorders AT ALL(!); explore how humanity is getting worse and worse
(especially American society and government); how ghosts MAY exist or how your
brain can trick you; celebrating science and positive changes being made in the
world, etc! I'll also continue to review
books, movies, television shows, and continue to nerd my pants over certain
shows and celebrities. I plan to lose
mass (at least better than I have been last year—it fell apart from lack of
momentum!) and become more confident, and I have an even better reason to do so
now (the hard time stuff).
Anyways, I
should also add that what happened with the satirical magazine in France is
TRAGIC! ISIS is a group full of assholes
and they should be EXTERMINATED! They
retaliated in the wrong manner in response to a cartoon that was published by a
SATIRICAL newspaper! The following
tweets express my feelings:
I am
Charlie, and I'm not afraid! (More will
be expressed on my DeviantArt page….)
Two Shows I Nerd My Pants Over, One Time Slot (Porno, Anyone?)
So, yeah,
that subheading title is a reference towards that Two Girls, One Cup porno
(which should NEVER be watched or googled), but it's in regards to a dilemma I
decided to tweet about, tagging Adam Savage of MythBusters on Discovery
Channel, and Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel:
I did not
expect to get a response….but I totally DID!!!!
From Adam Savage—SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
His response was almost typical because I expected something along the
lines of "MythBusters because we're real." I did NOT expect the fans' reactions! My cell phone (Obamaphone, free unlimited
text messaging, I get mentions, direct messages, favorites and retweets
directly on my phone through text message…) started blowing up with
responses! A ton are funny, but a lot
were REALLY uncalled for! I can't just
embed them ALL into my blog post at once because that's a LOT of tweets to
embed and it makes the blog post here TOO DAMN LONG!!!! So, I've decided to Storify it…..
Those last
few tweets bashing on Adam is just really dickish! Since when is it okay to tweet to an
influential someone to say, "FUCK YOU!
I'm never watching your show again!
Your an asshole! Suck a dick and
go die from a demon attack at Bobby Mackey's!" (For your information, I would NEVER endorse
the last one! Bobby Mackey's, if you're
unfamiliar with their reputation beyond being a country club already, is really
infested with demons! These dickhead
demonic entities are really nasty to the point where if you ever mention Zak
Bagans' name inside that place, you get attacked! It's really insanely bad energy inside there,
and to suggest to a skeptic to go in there, mouth running off with insults and saying
Zak's name over and over is irresponsible, mean, dickheaded, immoral, and all
out WRONG! Especially if they did not
have any experience with a demonic entity scratching you, insulting you, trying
to possess you, oppression and attachment, etc.
It's a real danger—which is why I vehemently CONDEMN such a response!)
Has anyone
ever heard of Wheaton's Law? Anyone?
If you're that good of a nerd, you'll already know it by heart, but I'll
share it here as a refresher:
It was first stated by Wil Wheaton (friendly co-performer at
W00tstock to Adam Savage) to his team at PAX one year, and before long, it was
being quoted in forums and on websites and it earned the name "Wheaton's
Law," and it's a REALLY GOOD LAW TO HAVE!
In fact, when I was in Nerf Club at college, when we first drafted up
the rules, Wheaton's Law was Rule #1; Rule #2 was "Always follow Rule
#1!"
So, when
one is a fan of Ghost Adventures and MythBusters and reads Adam's tweet,
they're obviously going to take it a bit too personally, assuming that it's
negating their beliefs in an afterlife.
Granted, Adam is a definite skeptic, and he doesn't believe in ghosts
and demons and what-not, but to raise a stink over a single tweet?! That's immature and ridiculous! I'm sure that Adam did NOT mean it like that
at all (then again, he could have—I don't know for sure; I also am not
affiliated with him in any way beyond being a fan of his and MythBusters), but
don't call him a cunt and a dick and an asshole just because he shared his
opinion and input in response to my dilemma to ME.
Let's Break It Down!
*Beatboxes*
MythBusters
is an excellent show, promoting critical thinking and applying common sense to
life so that you don't have to spend time and energy worrying about something
that isn't true or factual (i.e., water heater explosions, earthquake survival,
the JATO rocket Darwin Award myth), and learn what it takes for things to be
real, as well as being surprised by things that are real. So, even though Adam isn't, as Phil Plait
would put it, a "classically trained scientist," he still has
experience with the Hollywood special effects tricks of the trade, being able
to bust myths that stem from movies, television shows, etc. And who (besides terrorists) can go wrong
with explosions?! That cement truck just
disappeared like Alderaan! So, even
though the show's name is "
MythBusters," it's not proof
that they're "fake"! It's a
short, easy title that describes EXACTLY what they do: they bust myths! Also, they're based in San Francisco;
Hollywood is a "little" TOO FAR SOUTH to be where they're at! (However, if they want to take a field trip
there, they certainly can!)
As for
Ghost Adventures, it's not a show that "looks for ghosts," the way
Finding Bigfoot tries to find a Sasquatch; it's actually a show that is all
about
gathering evidence in support of proving the existence of ghosts, as well as
researching what a ghost could be, and even possibly helping homeowners or
property owners and their families and friends realize that
they
aren't crazy!!! Or that what
they're afraid of really isn't dangerous at all. So that weird feeling that trolls get in
their pants when tweeting their rage at Adam with misspellings and all isn't a
ghost; it's just them cranking one out from being a dick (thereby violating
Wheaton's Law). It's obvious that a lot
of fans love this show, especially since the members of the investigation crew
are the producers, the camera crew, the host, etc.; they created the show, they
film the show themselves, there's no glamour or Hollywood involved—it's raw,
it's real, it's almost indie and very, very organic. Stemming from a self-shot documentary from
the early-mid naughties (2000-2009), this is also a way to help boost tourism
to certain locations, which helps generate revenue for the locations and tax
dollars for the cities and states these are all located in.
Also, I
should point out that the science labs aren't the places that are haunted, it's
these places such as the Washoe Club, the Winchester Mystery House, the Sun Inn
located in Bethlehem, PA, etc. And any
good scientist should know that if you can't create this situation in the lab
to study, you should conduct a field study.
So, discounting ghosts completely without fully investigating the culture
and approaches and the evidence is just…..I don't have a word to describe it,
but it's equivalent to mixing up, "close-minded, presumptive," and
either "fearful of the results" or "lazy". And don't assume that one show was running
longer than the other: Ghost Adventures started airing in 2008, and MythBusters
definitely started earlier than that, with 10 YEARS under their belt! So, they both have a ton of positive
points. So, tweeting, "FUCK
U!" to someone really isn't the way to go…..
Ethical Criticism: Why the Internet Has a Larger Underbelly
Than It Should
Most
hate-tweets are very unproductive and have a total lack of class and
character. Criticism is helpful because
it allows people to improve in the areas that are addressed. However, haters and trolls just do it to be a
dick. Trolls gonna troll, haters are
gonna hate, and even them Sontaran taters are gonna tate, no matter what. BUT, you can ditch these labels and provide
tweets that are better constructed. Adam
won't listen to "EAT A DICK!" (I received this tweet directly; my
response was, "As long as it's not yours!") but it's very likely that
instead of allowing your emotions to be in charge of your twitter feed, you
provide a calmer response that goes along the lines of "I disagree with your
statement, because…"
Bad:
"Ghost Adventures is REAL! So, fuck
you, loser!"
Good: "I disagree: it's
real because….."
Bad:
"You're an asshole! I'm never
watching your show again!"
Good: "I now feel like my
beliefs have been devalued.
Thanks!"
I hope
everyone gets this, because I don't ever want to cover this topic ever
again! We have the ability to use a wide
range of words that will make us sound educated; why not use it? (Flame wars are pointless; don't engage in
them!)
Diffusing the Rage
As many of
the tweets have suggested, several Ghost Adventures fans believe that Mr. Adam
Savage should go on Ghost Adventures to prove his point. "Why?
It'll just be a waste of time!"
How would you know that if you've never conducted an experiment to prove
or disprove this hypothesis? The only
way to prove that it's a waste of time is to 1.) Be patient and 2.) just join
Zak and crew on a lockdown. Just make
sure that it's the Ghost Adventures Crew, and not some other paranormal
investigation crew, because if it's someone else, the camera crew might be
allowed in, and their job would be to film the talent, not the evidence or
activity. So, if it's just Zak, Nick,
Aaron, Billy, and Jay, with the camera crew hanging out at nerve center,
there's less contamination, and a better likelihood of capturing evidence that
isn't easily debunked.
So, I
agree: Adam Savage should go on a full 12-hour lockdown with the GAC on their
show, and try to debunk the evidence if he would wish to. At least he'll know (without assuming
anything) that ghosts do exist, and that Ghost Adventures
isn't fiction.
But I'm
very sure that I've said all I needed to say, and that it seems like I should
start taking cover before the bullets start flying between the fans of
Mythbusters who are hardcore skeptics of ghosts, and the fans of Ghost
Adventures who are hardcore skeptics of skeptics! (HA!
See what I did there?!) In the
meantime, keep it cool, keep yourself warm, enjoy your tacquitos, and above
all, DON'T BE A DICK!!!!!
*dons dragonskin
vest and other armor, then takes cover in a warm bunker!*
