Bigfoot footage: Time for a lesson in skepticism
We protect our kids from junk food and with the announcement this week that Bigfoot “evidence” has been compiled by The Sasquatch Genome Project we now need to remember to also limit their intake of junk science.
“Junk science is faulty scientific data and analysis used to advance special interests and hidden agendas. Individual scientists may use junk science to achieve fame and fortune,” according to the Junk Science website.
Dr. Melba Ketchum, is the leader of the group of researchers chasing Bigfoot using a science net woven of HD video of furry people napping in the woods and DNA samples from an unknown hominid species, according to ABC. Ketchum declared Tuesday in a press conference that this is “a serious study” that concludes the legendary Sasquatch exists in North America and is a human relative that arose approximately 13,000 years ago. No peer reviews of the research were presented by Ketchum.
My son Quin, age nine, watched the press conference, saw the video and photo evidence presented, and laid down the scientific law on the subject.
“Just ‘cause it has a 'sciency' name doesn’t mean they have an idea of what they’re doing or that it’s real,” said Quin.
I honestly thought Quin would be thrilled to learn that the legendary Bigfoot is being said to actually exist. Thank you Norfolk Public Schools, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Vsauce Channel on YouTube, for giving my son a Bigfoot-sized footing in reality.
Apparently my parental scientific method was flawed when I picked this story to show Quin. I had all my research lined-up: Quin’s nine. He’s a boy. He loves science. Boys love a good monster story.
However, my science and the Sasquatch Genome Project have something in common, neither took into account the volatile properties of logic, science, imagination, big money, grainy video, and credibility when the catalyst is a child’s mind.
Like the Sasquatch Genome Research Project I thought that perhaps the huge amount of money spent on the research would lend credibility, so I told Quin that the project spent half a million dollars on the five year project, according to ABC News.
“OK they’re knuckleheads,” Quin said.
He buried his face in his hands and talked through his fingers. “Seriously? Someone gave science $500,000 and they used it for Bigfoot? I can’t go to NASA’s website ‘cause Congress rage quit and won’t give science any money when they found plastic stuff on Saturn's moon and these guys are doing Bigfoot?”
Then we watched a news video of the press conference held by the scientists and saw the sketches and "scientific evidence" of DNA samples presented.
At the news conference Tuesday in Dallas, the researchers shared “never before seen HD video” – provided by millionaire businessman Adrian Erickson's The Erickson Project – of the supposed creature crawling around the Kentucky woods. Erickson also provided the money for the research.
Quin was unmoved.
“They haven’t proven Bigfoot exists. They’ve proven Star Wars exists, because that’s a drawing of Chewbacca,” said Quin of the sketch shown by researchers. “It could be a giant ape. It could be a family of Wookies crash landed on Earth and stranded here. Did they check with NASA? Oh wait, they can’t because NASA’s closed!”
Ouch! Quin began to cry and stormed from the room. He’s going to have to spend hours watching old Bill Nye videos to calm down.
My son helped me see that the problem with junk science is that it’s a lot like junk food inasmuch as it’s overpriced, addictive, makes your mind sluggish and for those raised on a strict diet of real brain food can be very upsetting to the system.
