this post was submitted on
769 points (60% like it)
2,277 up votes 1,508 down votes

atheism

subscribe1,184,014 readers

1,876 users here now


Welcome to r/atheism, the web's largest atheist forum. All topics related to atheism, agnosticism and secular living are welcome here. Please read our FAQ.

Please link directly to any images or use imgur to avoid being flagged as blogspam

Recommended reading and viewing

Thank you notes


Related Subreddits <--the big list

GodlessWomen YoungAtheists AtheistParents
BlackAtheism AtheistGems DebateAnAtheist
skeptic agnostic freethought
antitheism humanism Hitchens
a6theism10 tfbd AdviceAtheists

Events
10/5-6 NAPCON2012 - Boston
3/28-31 AA Convention - Austin
Giving
DWB/MSF fundraiser
Kiva lending team
FBB's Appeal to Freethinkers to Fight Cancer
Camp Quest
Ex* Groups
ex-Muslim ex-Catholic ex-Mormon
ex-JW ex-Jew ex-SistersinZion
ex-Bahai ex-Christian ex-Adventist
Assistance
Coming Out
Atheist Havens
Start an Atheist Club at Your School

Chat: #reddit-atheism on irc.freenode.net

Watch: #/r/atheism on reddit.tv

Read The FAQ


Submit Rage Comic

Submit Facebook Chat

Submit Meme

Submit Something Else

Read The FAQ

a community for

reddit is a source for what's new and popular online. vote on links that you like or dislike and help decide what's popular, or submit your own! learn more ›

all 153 comments

[–]Nik323 10 points11 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

"My goal this year is to prove natural selection on the show. It's gonna take a while, it's gonna be very hard to make it fascinating on film in the context of our narrative structure, but I figure screw it. The sky's the limit. Let's do natural selection. I'm sick of fifty percent of this country thinking creationism is reasonable. It's appalling. And I have the unique ability, maybe, to sell this idea to Discovery, and they'll, they might allow me to do it, and I'm gonna try as hard as I can."- Adam Savage

[–]mdjubasak 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I ctrl+f'ed natural selection to see if anyone had said this. This needs to be higher up.

[–]YvesSch 33 points34 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Bad idea; the season would quickly become boring without any plausible or confirmed myths.

[–]CaptnAwesomeGuy -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

If they didn't want an backlash that is.

[–]lains-experiment 30 points31 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Yes. I can see high explosive being used.

[–]caizer68 13 points14 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

and a canon!

[–]vadergeek 11 points12 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I'm going to assume that's a pun!

[–]lains-experiment 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]Managor 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They'll propably be trying out the resurrection myth...

oh wait...

[–]RedB78 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

As long as they prove natural selection and blow up some random shit at the end of the show I'd watch that shit.

[–]NazzerDawk 59 points60 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I hate it when people suggest this.

Look, guys, the Mythbusters aren't snopes. They don't go around fact-checking myths, they test the physical validity of those myths.

The myths they test are ones that they can replicate in a controlled environment, ones that deal with physics and chemistry.

They don't debunk historical claims and the like.

An episode where they did would have zero explosions, zero guns, and zero physical tests, and instead they would be reading books and talking to experts the whole time.

The best they could do is test some physical claims that don't have any claim of divine influence, like the young-earth creationist claim that the Grand Canyon was formed by the great flood.

[–]alexanderpas 12 points13 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

basically:

The MythBusters can't do the bible because it's not falsifiable.

the bible because it's not falsifiable and therefor not Science.

The MythBuster do Science.

[–]Xandari11 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Eve being made form the rib of Adam. The Great Flood. Talking Snakes. People standing in burning furnaces. Not falsifiable at all. You are a genius.

[–]inkedexistence 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

The explanation is "magic." If you accept the existence of magic, nothing is ever falsifiable.

Its like arguing with a five year old.

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They could still look at they myths and evaluate them from the point of view of known science and then address the deficits. Sure, the hard-core believer will go MAGIC! and run away, but someone on the edge might be given something to think about. In any event, It would be a very interesting show to watch.

[–]inkedexistence 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I think you're missing the point.

Any believer thinks its magic, not just the hardcore. That's what miracles are.

Proving that its scientifically impossible wouldn't really prove anything.

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

And yet, sometimes people are de-converted due to logic and science.

[–]CoAmon 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Overwhelmingly, it is usually from a violation of their personally held ethical systems rather than from science and logic.

[–]CoAmon 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I usually liken it more to trying to argue with a star trek fan about the absurdity of warp engines. Sufficient assumptions always results in a self-consistent system of beliefs.

[–]Powerfrog 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Technically not falsifiable when you're trying to prove it to someone that doesn't listen to reason.

Eve wasn't made from the rib of Adam because that isn't how babby is formed. WERE YOU THERE? OH YOU WEREN'T THERE? THEN YOU'RE WRONG.

It would be impossible for a relatively microscopic boat to hold every single species of creature on the planet, or for them to all reach one point and survive for 40 days without eating each other. WERE YOU THERE? OH YOU WEREN'T THERE? THEN YOU'RE WRONG.

Snakes don't have vocal cords that are capable of sounding anything like human speech. It's also highly doubtful that they would understand the english language enough to be sneaky even if they could. WERE YOU THERE? OH YOU WEREN'T THERE? THEN YOU'RE WRONG.

People standing in burning furnaces (Never heard of this one.) GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS LOL YOU'RE WRONG I WIN.

It is ridiculous though, and it actually applies for a lot more than the god things. For example, how do we know that humans aren't supposed to evolve into a random creature everytime we give birth but dude to some almost infinite improbability, every single human born has been a freak accident and looked exactly like a human. You can't prove this is wrong.

[–]Disgod 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

The MythBusters can't do the bible because it's not falsifiable.

Well... parts are, but it really doesn't make for interesting television. Rarely does one use explosives on archaeological excavations...

the bible because it's not falsifiable and therefor not Science.

Again... Kinda... Historical claims are testable with archaeological evdience, but really boring television.

This summer we'll testing the myth of King David's kingdom. We've divided up this football sized area into a grid, we'll be starting in square 1. Here's a trowel and brush, enjoy!

The MythBuster do Science.

Entertaining science... There are plenty of scientific myths that are boring as hell that they won't do cuz it just isn't compelling television.

[–]BangsNaughtyBits 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

"Well... parts are, but it really doesn't make for interesting television. Rarely does one use explosives on archaeological excavations... "

Tell that to the Taliban.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan#Dynamiting_and_destruction.2C_March_2001

!

[–]Disgod 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I don't think that's so much archaeology as it is senseless vandalism of priceless relics...

[–]boss1000 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

How about they don't tackle the supernatural because Discovery won't let them?

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

That's it right there. Discovery has a bottom line to worry about.

[–]Sdingel 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They are all atheists, though.

[–]tuba21 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Catholic transubstantiation is falsifiable. Analysis of a cracker and grape juice before and after the magic box shows no change what-so-ever.

The hosts of the show have already said that the corporate overlords would NEVER permit such a controversial topic to be addressed. Theists may be delusional, but they are numerous enough to inflict economic harm if corporations don't go along with their little delusions.

[–]trolleyfan 5 points6 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

"Catholic transubstantiation is falsifiable. Analysis of a cracker and grape juice before and after the magic box shows no change what-so-ever."

Except that they say it's a magic change that changes the nature of the cracker and grape without changing its actual material state...

Or, IOW, they make shit up.

Therefore it's once again, unfalsifiable...

[–]inkedexistence 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Its like when they talk about macro and micro evolution.

See, there are many different kinds of animals, and evolution can alter the traits of any given kind but it can't change one kind into a different kind. So dogs can change traits, but a dog can't ever become anything but a dog.

They basically just invent a term (strange I've never heard of "kind" as a taxonomic rank) and then use this as a false divide blocking out scientific explanation.

This is also one of the explanations they use to explain Noah's ark: he only needed two of each "kind" of animal. And evidently there is only like a thousand of those.

So like the cracker which changes its "nature," evolution is unable to touch an animals "kind."

The stupid hurts my brain.

[–]BlazeOrangeDeer 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

FYI Catholics accept evolution but ignore its implications on their theology.

[–]inkedexistence 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I should have been more specific.

This is just an explanation I've heard used quite a bit, its not necessarily one that all sects employ.

[–]ignorantwhitetrash -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

wait...so let me get this straight...they support the theory which basically undermines Christianity in more respects than any other theory, and but do not allow contraception? WTF?

[–]BlazeOrangeDeer -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Well, the two aren't really mutually exclusive, so it's not quite doublethink. A Christian accepting evolution definitely qualifies though.

[–]Vylus 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I heard about stuff like this about 3 years ago. You reminded me of it, so I was wondering what some thoughts on it are? Yes, the citations are woefully lacking. o.o

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Except that they say it's a magic change that changes the nature of the cracker and grape without changing its actual material state...

There are those who claim that the transubstantiation is a physical change. THAT claim can be falsified.

[–]CountGrasshopper 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Catholic dogma is pretty explicit that the body and blood retain the accidents of bread and wine, so they wouldn't be falsifying shit there. Maybe they could do something on some of the alleged Eucharistic miracles in which the elements have taken on the appearance of flesh and blood, but I doubt they'd get the necessary permission from Viacom or the Vatican. Also, that'd be fucking boring.

[–]mmb2ba 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

But the big question: would the crackers explode?

No? Then I don't want to see it on myth busters.

[–]voodoochild87 -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

If the bible isn't falsifiable, then nothing is falsifiable

[–]BangsNaughtyBits 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Post Modernist!

!

[–]NazzerDawk -2 points-1 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

This. Exactly.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

With all due respect, the Christian's "God" is a falsifiable hypothesis. The reason they cannot air it is because Christians want to make it one. For instance, Jesus was not born in Bethlehem, he was born in Nazareth. In the New Testimate, they try to cover it up by saying that the king had every male minor killed. There are absolutely no references to that happening, other than in the scriptures; that meas Jesus' birth is a falsifiable hypothesis. Theists will not have to try and cover that up. The thing about Jesus' resurrection back to heaven being falsifiable was, not their lack of proof, but that some of the things he had claimed to preach weren't into the old testimate. A bunch of guys sitting in the desert came up with the concept of hellfire and all that good stuff. They came up with the concept of the murder of all boys. It's not about proof, it's about how logical and blatantly obvious something truly is. Atheism in science, and so is the Mythbusters.

[–]Nadernade 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

god isnt a falsifiable hypothesis, how do you suppose we test that god is real? you dont, its called "faith", thus it isnt science. and i think you'll find that some people here dont even think jesus was a real person.

[–]SerJory 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

As soon as you start defining your god to have certain traits and attributes then it becomes easier to falsify. Let's say one definition makes it clear that god makes a certain volcano erupt once a year. If this does not happen, then this god must not exist. Similarly, if you, for example, define your god to be both omnipotent and all-good, a logical contradiction, then the existence claim can be falsified using logical reasoning.

Having said that, no arguments like this have any place on Mythbusters.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

No, I don't think we should test it. It would be a terrible episode. I'm just disagreeing with the argument the bible is falsifiable. I also do not believe Jesus was a real person. One testimate says he's from Nazareth, one says he's from Bethlehem.

[–]pornmonger 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

The concept of god is not falsifiable because you've not described any parameters of such an entity. Once you say god created the universe and life or that god is omniscient and omnipotent, then you can falsify those things with counter arguments, evidence and paradoxes.

[–]vadergeek 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

History is rarely, if ever, falsifiable. I mean, unless they somehow figure out a way to use explosions to make a time machine.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I'd go see that

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Much of the bibles claims are falsifiable. Even the idea the bible is was inspired by the christian version of god is falsifiable. The problem is that christians don't generally respect or value evidence! It's not necessary to prove with absolute certainty that the moon is not made of cheese if one respect the scientific evidence that shows it is extremely unlikely. Absolutes are really only concepts in our minds about truth!

[–][deleted] ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[deleted]

[–]rockidol 4 points5 points ago*

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Ok, they try to do science. Budget concerns won't let them test busted myths 30 times to make sure they won't work.

[–]crustalmighty -2 points-1 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Mythbusters do special effects intended to look like science.

[–]rockidol 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Which means what, that they fake their results?

[–]crustalmighty 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I'll give you an example:

There was an episode with a myth about soldiers marching across a bridge causing the bridge to collapse.

They made a miniature bridge and a centipede looking robot to try to recreate the bridge collapse. This did not work. They claimed the myth was busted.

What about figuring out what causes structures to collapse. In this case, if the myth were true, it was likely that the soldiers were marching at the natural frequency of the bridge causing resonance.

Now I'm not saying that I expect them to do anything more than what they do, but I think it's quite silly to call it science.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Which means what, that they fake their results?

Exactly. Their motto is : Cum omnia defici, addat explosivae

If all else fails, add more Dynamite/C4/whatever will explode most spectacularly

[–]rockidol 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

That is their motto but they at least try to do science before getting to the gratuitous C4.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

With about as much success as porn actresses trying to act a scene before getting to the gratuitous sex.

[–]rockidol 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Besides not being able to do large sample sizes for some of their tests, what do they fail on?

[–]Lazy_I 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Mythbusters approximate science, but they do it with science, so it's okay.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Do they no longer employ the scientific method? Last I checked, they do. Perhaps not with the rigor exhibited by national research labs, but come on- they are a T.V. show, not Los Alamos.

The scientific method is all Science is, really. Are you using the scientific method? Ok, it's Science. No? Ok, not Science.

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I think it's fair to say that their primary concern is entertainment... and given that, they don't create results that could be used, for instance, to further scientific research.

They do, however, contribute greatly to science education. I think that is quite valuable.

[–]infernoruby 5 points6 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]Xandari11 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

sure they do. Archimedes death ray is not a historical claim? Is that somehow more falsifiable than the great flood?

[–]BangsNaughtyBits 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

It's a gadget. Like the rocket chair and the Civil War steam powered machine gun. It isn't the history so much as the gadget. The closest they have come were the pyramid power, though control, talking to plants, anti-gravity woo fest shows. They didn't like those according to Adam at a Q&A (Amazing Meeting 7?) any full fledged woo just doesn't make engaging TV. Anti-Vax would be interesting to see treated well but can they do it with decent rating?

!

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

This, precisely. On the Death Ray episode, they didn't just look at historical evidence and talk to experts, they tested whether the thing would actually work. They actually didn't care much whether Archimedes actually did it, they cared more about if it was physically possible.

[–]aaronin 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

but they do tackle stuff in movies that everyone knows is absolute shenanigans. Its not that I disagree with you, its just that I think Mythbusters has kind of lost its direction and covering something like "could an ark hold 2 of every species on earth for 100 days" wouldn't be out of the question if it had been a scene in a shitty summer movie flick and not some 3,000 year old Jewish fable.

[–]PETAVER 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I think hes just making fun... take it easy

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I would have assumed this, but people make this suggestion in a serious light all the time.

[–]Damadawf 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I'm not refuting the main point you were trying to make in your comment, but I will point out that a large portion of the myths tested did in fact come from historical claims. They've even devoted episodes specifically towards testing historical myths, and some go pretty far back, (I think the most 'ancient' myth they've tested would have to be whether making arrow heads from flint is justified over just sharpening the end of the arrow).

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I wasn't saying that they don't test historical myths, I said that they don't FACT-CHECK those myths, they merely test whether they are physically feasible.

For example, in testing whether a rocket was made in the civil war, they might be able to cobble together a working rocket according to the confines of the myth, but that doesn't actually confirm whether the event actually occurred, just that it is physically possible to have occurred.

Testing the bible would mean trying to find out if there is any historical evidence of it's claims, not physically testing those claims. Only a few parts of the bible are open to physical testing.

[–]Damadawf 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

... Do you like watch the mythbusters?

Of course they attempt to fact check the myths. They have an entire team of researchers for this very purpose. Usually they can't find much more than a starting point (possible method that was used during the myths origin) but there has been numerous episodes where they have confirmed whether something has historically happened or not.

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

No, that's right, my mistake.

[–]Damadawf 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

It's cool. If you're a fan of the show, you should really try to get your hands on a dvd for some of the extras, the amount of shit they actually go through for each myth is insane. Each 20 minute myth can take anywhere between weeks and months for them to film.

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

No, I've seen it, but my point was more that they don't exclusively fact check, rather they pick myths that are viable to test.

[–]dustyskulls 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

You could test the credibility of the walls of Jericho. How many decibels would it take to bring down a stone wall, and how many humans would it take to make such a noise?

[–]NazzerDawk 3 points4 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Well, no, because there's a clear assumption of divine influence in the story

. "God made the sound lock to the walls' resonance frequency, duh!"

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They could still test various physical aspects of biblical myths.

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Well, like what?

What things in the bible are physical claims that don't have an element of divine influence? I mean, if the bible had a part that said "And yeh the Jews did build a rocket forty cubits in height and eight in width, and filled it with a mixture made by Moses containing salt peter and sulfur, and they used this rocket to scale mount Arafat and punch god in the nose", then sure, they could test whether a rocket of the variety described would function in this way.

But instead, we have the parting of the Red Sea, the plague of locusts, the talking donkey, god's army failing to fight off an army because they had iron chariots, etc. Nothing you can really test, since they all imply a hand of god or are just plain mundane.

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They could test, for instance, Noah's Ark myth. Build a scale model based on the biblical description and compare it against a scale model of how much space 10,000 "kinds" would require for space, food, and waste. And, of course, add tons of C4 for effect.

Or even do things like "What would it take to re-create this event using science?"

I'm not saying they would be able to debunk every aspect, but they would certainly be able to look at the plausibility of the physical claims or see what it would take to fake the miracles.

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Except, "kinds" is an extremely loose term that people have tried desperately to apply to some form of taxonomy, but in the end they are drawing entirely arbitrary distinctions.

For example, they usually would agree that a "lion" and a "bobcat" would fall under the same "kind", but not a "gorilla" and a "chimpanzee". Or maybe they would be fine with both of those, but separate gazelles and antelopes.

They'd never be able to arrive at a definition that could be testable, because the original story is TOO absurd.

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

"Kinds" is kind of silly, but you could just pick one for the show and run with it. It's not like they are trying to do peer-reviewed level science here anyway.

[–]NazzerDawk 0 points1 point ago*

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Well that's just the problem: no matter what they agree to as a definition of "kinds", there will always be huge discrepancies because it's an awful and baseless classification system. Even proper scientific taxonomy is difficult because the lines between species aren't actually clear-cut: they are as blurry as the lines between the colors in the visual spectrum.

The fact is that once you start trying to come up with a system for defining kinds that narrows down the selection to a reasonable number (Like maybe 20 kinds), you lose the nature of the myth.

And here's one more thing. the Mythbusters only test the really absurd myths on a few occasions, and even then they try to do justice to the myths first. But these myths are always withint he realm of "first-glance" scrutiny. They don't test things like "Can you fit a person inside an eggshell without breaking it", because no matter how often you might find some morons repeating it, it's just too damned absurd to test without failing to do justice to the myth, or just holding up an egg next to the smallest person you can find and saying "myth busted".

Something like this is just too large. Of course you can't fit 10,000 kinds of animal on a bot of this size, and all a scale test would consist of is getting little blocks representing the amount of space those kinds would require and then putting that huge block next to a little tiny scale boat, and saying "MYTH BUSTED."

It's not what the Mythbusters do.

[–]sambabriza 20 points21 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Penn and Teller covered that years ago on Bullshit

[–]YvesSch 9 points10 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I will get around to watching that.

[–]dagem 0 points1 point ago*

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Do it, it was very good, or bad depending on your views. :)

They also use the bible for target practice in several others.

Edit : Don't miss S3E12 "Signs from Heaven" either just watched it, the cheese sandwich kills me.

[–]aaronin 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

This post actually made me miss them quite a lot. and reflect on how far Mythbusters has fallen.

[–]Penleg 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

they have about 3 episodes about religion and all of them are extremely interesting

[–]butterflypoon 3 points4 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They did walking on water a couple times iirc. They did one with ninjas (failed) and one where they were just running. I loved the part where Adam tried to turn a gymnast in a basilisk lizard. Then they replicated the video by running across something just under the surface of the water.

[–]mammadoodle 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I actually remember seeing a quote from Adam saying he wanted to do a special or something disproving religion/promoting evolution and logic.

[–]silent_tone 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

He's working with James Randi on his movie.

[–]witherance 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]warriorman300 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Someone actually did a parody video of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9izVu_TtAE

[–]TheDudeaBides96 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

DOH HO HO!

[–]ffadn87 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

This could be its own TV show. Or at least an entire season.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Like this hasn't been posted before. ↓

[–]vadergeek 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

How would they test these things? You can't say "this man died after being eaten by a whale, therefore the myth of Jonah is busted" any more than you can say "this Jew has not been killed, therefore the myth of the Holocaust has been busted". I mean, if the bible had some testable thing then I'm sure that Adam and Jamie would be up for it, but it's mythology and inaccurate history.

[–]forevercurmudgeon 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Bullshit with Penn and Teller was great, especially that episode.

[–]SheLikesToLearn 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They've actually done an episode on the whole David and Goliath sling shot scenario.

[–]mredditer -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

U regret that I have but 1 down vote to give u

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I suspect that he doesn't regret that at all!

[–]JarateIsAPissJar 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I would like to know how to turn water into wine though.

[–]GhostofVengeance 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

It's already been done. You can do it with colored powder. It's basically like a drink mix that sits at the bottom of a glass, and you have to pour the water into the glass.

[–]firejuggler25 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Low point of my acting career: I'm a young actor and have been doing mostly stage, but some film/commercial. Recently I had an audition for a "Christian Mythbusters" called "Truth busters". I was given a little scene where they wanted to test if Building your house on rock was better than building it on sand, because apparently it says so in the Bible and it's a metaphor for putting your faith in god. To make a long story short my last line that I had to read was, "So you see putting your faith in god is just like putting your house on rock, and if you don't ..You'll sink!" Walked the fuck right out of there

[–]mathmexican4234 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

That's what "Bullshit!" was for. These guys stick to cool things and explosions.

[–]supergalactic 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

That show fizzled out years ago. I'm suprised they're still going. They jumped the shark when they did the 'can you beat a breathalyzer test' segment. Seriously???? If you COULD beat it, do you really think they'd put it on the air???

[–]Xelath 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I think you're missing the point. If it were possible to beat the breathalyzer, of course they wouldn't put it on air. But the show is somewhat educational, and "beat the breathalyzer" myths are still quite common. They aren't out to say, "You can beat the breathalyzer and this is how!" They're out to say, "You can't beat it, so quit saying that you can."

[–]Extra_Creddt 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Myth Busters deals with science. There is no science in that book.

[–]lhamels1 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Busted

[–]Mwilk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I interviewed with the mythbusters and had the opportunity to ask a few questions of my own. One of which was where they got all their ideas from. Turns out youtube is really awesome. Aside from that they said anything from commercials to reddit. Yes they are quite aware of reddit! I was stoked.

[–]Chameo 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

in an interview with adam, he said he wanted to do a natural selection episode next season

[–]Cybrknight 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I for one would love to see how far they could launch a bible from a cannon.

[–]smallklein 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

This is the best idea ever!

[–]Compumerk 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

If ever there was time for a slow clap.

[–]kaoset616 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Adam has said on the show that he hates doing myths like that and avoids them at all costs on the episode on pyramid power. Mythbusters is about proving/disproving urban legends and myths about everyday objects. Physical stuff that you can physically test in the space of a week and get a positive or negative result. Testing biblical things is delving into "magical" variables and you couldn't get a positive or negative result because a lot of it is based around being gifted by something out with the realms of our universe. That can't be quantified and factored in because it doesn't exist so the experiments results would be moot!

[–]malimbar04 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Oh please no...

[–]roccanet 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

this would mae a great show - they could get two old grumpy professors and systematically show how most of this silly book is historically BS

[–]JustThink4Once 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

-Does the bible make good toilet paper? -If the bible is placed inside a Koran dust jacket and torched, would Christians cheer? - Does holding a bible reduce your chances of a TSA pat-down?

[–]yabaininja 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

This is about how it would go- "Well, I guess Moses couldn't have parted the red sea....better blow up a lake!"

[–]brolax 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Adam have already pitched this idea to Discovery

[–]Newgeta 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

GOGO!

[–]ImCh1efPeasant 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

this would be the shortest episode ever

[–]whiteknight521 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

That would be boring as hell. "Ok, today on myth busters we are going to have faith that this mountain will move. Check back next week to see what happens!"

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

There are a lot of myths that are just untestable... some because they involve too much "magic" - and others because they would be too boring. But I do think there are plenty that could be tested in a mythbuster's style format. for instance, Noah's Arc story could be an interesting segment, I think.

[–]whiteknight521 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Yeah, but even that is some simple math - the visual style could help it out. There are definitely some things that could work. It would be too controversial, though, and it would lose advertising revenue.

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

It would be awesome to have the whole thing recreated using scale models. 10,000 scale model animals and the millions of pounds of food they would need. And just have that massive pile sitting next to the ark. :)

Yup... and that's unfortunate. maybe someday they will jump off of network TV and re-create the show as a YouTube series, or something.

[–]whiteknight521 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I don't know, even if they have to self-censor to an extent, it is still good to have some sort of rational presence on television. A YouTube series would be preaching to the choir mostly, I think. Mythbusters can lure people in with guns and explosions (something religious people tend to like) and give them a dose of logic as well.

[–]Thereminz 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They won't do it,

There was a time where they started doing some pseudoscience myths but after that ep jamie said no more of those.

[–]rottinguy 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Too easy.

[–]MegaZeusThor 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

They try and stay away from woo bs and religion falls under that.

Best if there's some physical claim: people can do this, this killed a person, this ancient weapon was super effective, cars do better when...

[–]ERoad -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

DOWNVOTE ALL THE ATHEIST IDEAS!

[–]bitch_puddin 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

My husband wrote to them asking them to do it. They'll never touch it - or rather, they'll never be allowed to touch it.

[–]metaslaytera 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I thought I heard that they wanted to bust creationism once, but of course that wasn't going to go over well with the executives. Sad really.

[–]SimilarImage -4 points-3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]LazerChicklets 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]SimilarImage 4 points5 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I like it here just fine, thanks.

[–]LazerChicklets 2 points3 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]SimilarImage 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]LazerChicklets 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]SimilarImage 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

[–]LazerChicklets 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

ಥ_ಥ

[–]pornmonger 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

I'm not sure what I've just seen, but I approve.

[–]lains-experiment -2 points-1 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

So what. Context is everything. great another bot.

[–]SimilarImage 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Images spark conversation each time they're posted. I simply provide links to previous conversations sparked by the same image. :)

[–]Namiriel 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

The image has nothing to do with the post, you have contributed nothing.

[–]iMarmalade 0 points1 point ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

It's usually more relevant... this time it's a miss. No big deal.

[–]SimilarImage -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Nothing except links to other conversation started (at least in part) by the same image. Which is my goal. The image has everything to do with the post, though. Imagine a post with the same title and no image, the meaning is lost.

[–]DynamicP -1 points0 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

Too bad they wouldn't be ablebto bust the truth. How about that evolution? That seems pretty nice to bust.

[–]darwins_spear -2 points-1 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

...they could come to this board and examine the myths that:

  1. Atheists are logical,
  2. Atheists care about science more than ideology,
  3. Atheists are as polite as Christians,
  4. Atheists are capable of creating a society.

[–]Feinberg 1 point2 points ago

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

1-4 CONFIRMED!