I invite you all to read Jason Colavito's short post entitled, "Ancient Aliens and Credential Inflation." Claiming false credentials is irritating to an academic, like myself (and as those who know me know, I have a healthy disdain for the snobbery of the academy --...
pseudoscience
Soviet Gullibility and Ancient Astronaut Research
Another succinct and interesting post by Jason Colavito on that nemesis of clear thinking, the ancient astronaut theory. It's about Soviet interest in the theory. Some Russians are just as gullible as those in the good old USA.
A Case of Credential Envy?
I just read a short but telling post by Jason Colavito on the blog that bears his name entitled, "The Dubious Authorial Accomplishments of Gorgio Tsoukalos." Gorgio is the star of the cinematic tribute to non sequitur thinking known as Ancient Aliens. Jason examines...
Doctoral Degree for Ancient Astronaut Theorists
I saw two items today that have convinced me that the PaleoBabble blog needs to begin awarding the PhD in Non Sequitur Thinking for ancient astronaut theorists. The first is this wonderful post from the Skeptophilia blog. Please read it. It is an uncannily accurate...
The Bible Code Myth Redux
Okay, I know -- it's beating a dead horse. But, I was reminded of the Bible Code today by this recent rehearsal of the nonsense at the Skeptophilia Blog. And since we're beating dead horses, I should remind readers that I wrote a short book debunking this many moons...
Another Giant Human Skeleton That Isn't
I've blogged before about giant human skeletons that aren't giant human skeletons. The first two examples I blogged about were hoaxes, created with image editing software (see here and here). The Remnant of the Giants blog recently had an interesting post about a...
Ancient Aliens: Keeping the Fantasy Channel Afloat One Inane Episode at a Time
Fans of critical thinking are bound to enjoy this post over at the Bad Archaeology blog entitled, "I remember why I’ve never wanted satellite television." It's a "review" of the Fantasy Channel's Ancient Aliens show. As funny as parts of it are, I especially liked the...
The Sad Case of Carl Baugh
I came across some older stuff on Carl Baugh this evening and was startled to discover that, after 300+ posts on this blog, I'd never blogged anything about him. Time to fix that. Carl Baugh is the young earth creationist who claimed to have discovered human...
The Fictional Roots of the Ancient Astronaut Myth
All of those interested in PaleoBabble should be aware of the work of Jason Colavito. Jason has done a lot of work tracing the common ancient astronaut motifs back through science fiction of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His primary focus is H.P. Lovecraft....
Aryan Mythology as Science and Ideology
I recently came across this interesting scholarly article on how Aryan Paleobabble was used by the Nazis. It's a good academic introduction tracing their rationale and (mis)use of archaeology, linguistics, and social science data.
Scientific Proof for Parallel Universes
Pretty cool article on a recent experiment at Cal-Santa Barbara. Obvious implications for what we talk about here. Editor's note: broken link removed; see here, instead: https://www.foxnews.com/science/freaky-physics-proves-parallel-universes-exist
Akhenaten’s Mummy Identified via DNA Testing?
I just wanted to post an update on what has emerged as a controversy regarding the identification of Akhenaten's mummy (or not). The Egyptology News blog has been keeping up with the discussion pretty closely. Yesterday a post appeared in favor of confirmation that...
PseudoScience and the Ohio Serpent Mound
An interesting discussion on this over at the "Hot Cup of Joe" blog, which focuses on archaeology and anthropology. Check it out for some holiday PaleoBabble!
2012 Mythology for Dummies
A nice explanation of where all the 2012 silliness comes from. Editor's note: as outdated at this post is, it's a good exercise in seeing how people will see patterns and get married to a view of eschatology and end times and prophecy.
The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar
Such is the title of this sixteen page academic essay from Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. It is very worthwhile reading. The author discusses, among others, John Major Jenkins' ideas about 2012. Here's the abstract: ABSTRACT:...