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Post #1 Paranormal and Pseudoscience Assignment 1

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Post #1 Paranormal and Pseudoscience Assignment 1

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By:
Trevor Kennedy
Lee Vanevery
Bryan Miners

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Definition: The All-Natural Red Flag is anything that insinuates something is good for you, or better for you because it is all-natural. This concludes that things that are "man-made" are worse for you.

Connection: This quote from Gwyneth Paltrow is a perfect example of the misinformation that because something is All Natural means it is inherently good for you. The joke is that illnesses such as the Corona Virus in fact All Natural as well. Gwyneth Paltrow takes it a step further with her business Goop. Goop markets all sorts of products for wellness and health, All of which are labeled as All Natural. In modern times this belief has taken a more dangerous turn. Modern medicine is used as a sort of enemy to the all-natural movement. This has seen many not being vaccinated and opting to not take prescribed medicine. Sadly, this has in some cases led to death.

By. Bryan Miners

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Post #3 Red Flag: Mystical Energy (website.) 

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Post #3 Red Flag: Mystical Energy (website.) 

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Definition: The term energy is often used in pseudo-science claims. The word is scientific and therefore instills confidence that what is being said is based on fact. Mystical Energies are things such as Chi, Negative Energy, Bad Vibes, Healing Energies, and Crystal Energy. All these things are abstract concepts that don’t mean anything but the use of the word Energy makes them seem legitimate.

Connection: In the following article the author goes down a list of the more popular and often used energy medicines. The article seeks to debunk these claims showing there is no real proof any such energy exists however they are still widely accepted by people seeking medical treatment. Much like the term "all-natural," the term "energy," when applied to medicine and treatment, can be dangerous. Many people claim to have had some measure of success with Energy healing however this can easily be equated to the patient experiencing a placebo effect. In more severe cases, some people have gotten sicker and, in some cases, died as they were seeking the counsel of an energy healer and not an actual doctor. Many practitioners of energy healing operate under the guise that they are doctors. This is also not real.

By. Bryan Miners

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Therapeutic touch is hands-off aura massage, actual touch not included. It is the main example of so-called “energy medicine” and a close cousin of Japanese reiki. It is naked quackery. Auras do not exist and cannot be felt, let alone manipulated therapeutically.

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Post #4 Red Flag: Suppression by Authority (article)

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Post #4 Red Flag: Suppression by Authority (article)

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Definition: the red flag Suppression by Authority is the idea that powerful groups or individuals purposefully seek and destroy alternatives in medicine, engineering, ideas, etc. that would pose threats to the profits and ideologies of said powerful groups.

Connection: In 1990, Stanley Meyer claimed to have invented the car that ran on water. He claimed it could efficiently split water atoms to produce hydrogen, which would power the car. Reportedly, he showed his invention off across America, amazing onlookers. Stanley would soon be taken to court on claims of fraud, and inspections revealed there was nothing revolutionary or remarkable about his fuel cell. In 1998, Stanley would die during a meeting with his brother and Belgian investors, wherein he collapsed, vomiting, and spoke his last words to his brother, claiming he was poisoned.  A prevalent theory, that exemplifies the Suppression by Authority red flag, is that the automotive industry in America saw Meyer's invention as a threat to their profits, and they were responsible for Meyer being taken to court and eventually murdered. People who believe this also exemplify the agenticity reason for belief, as, even though corporate lobbyists and government agencies have done some nefarious things before, there is no solid proof linking anything to them being the cause of Meyer's death. Conspiracy theorists who believe these tales clearly do not use skepticism, or apply critical thinking, as the evidence they claim as a proof is really circumstantial, and doesn't hold up to scrutiny. In the case of the "poisoning" of Stanley Meyer, the thorough investigation of Meyer's death and the conclusion he suffered a cerebral aneurysm is ignored in favour of what his brother claims his last words were.

By: Trevor Kennedy

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Back in the days, cars running on water rather than petroleum fuel seemed the invention of the future, but with hydrogen or water-powered cars such as the Toyota Mirai or Honda Clarity, it doesn't surprise us anymore. Who wouldn't agree that these giant motor vehicle manufacturers with all their R&D's cannot lack behind in vehicular inventions?

Stanley Meyer and his car.

The first commercially hydrogen-fuel cell car came out in 2015 which was manufactured by Hyundai.

But, here is the catch; In the year 1990, an American named Stanley Allen Meyer claimed to invent a water-fueled cell technology which Meyer said could be used in cars so that gasoline fuel would no longer be required.

Stanley Meyer's background

Born on August 24, 1940, and joining the military after graduation, Stanley Meyer applied to Ohio State University. He was always determined to build something innovative. Meyer's twin brother Stephen Meyer quoted "We were always building something, We went out and created our toys".

After his education, Meyer owned a number of patents, roughly 200,000 which ranged from baking to oceanography and even cardiac monitoring. Patent Office gave Stanley Meyer's patents a special preference as they believed his work was "ahead of its time".

Stanley Meyer's Water Car

In the year 1975, when Saudi Arabia was cutting off its oil supply to the United States, oil prices drastically increased and the U.S was running out of oil. This all resulted in many corporations going bankrupt or losing money. Demand for new cars dropped almost to zero, something had to be done quickly.

Stanley Mayer then decided to develop a car of his own that would revolutionize the entire automobile industry and end up U.S oil crises.

Stanley Meyer with his water-fueled car

In an interview, Meyer said that "It became imperative that we must try to bring in an alternative fuel source and do it very quickly". He knew an alternative fuel has to be developed to save the U.S to run out of oil and the automobile industries going bankrupt which was keeping an entire economy on wheels.

Meyer soon developed a hydrogen-powered car, which he claimed will change the world, and no more gasoline fuel will be required, which was abundant.

Stanley Meyer's Water fuel cell concept. via Wikimedia Commons

Meyer's Water fuel cell worked by splitting atoms of water. The hydrogen was then burned to create energy which would power the pistons to move and eventually make the wheels turn. The remaining oxygen was thrown away through the exhaust, which doesn't emit any harmful emissions to the environment as compared to the traditional petroleum-powered cars.

With that mechanism applied, emission from mainstream automobiles could have been eliminated and the threat to the environment like global warming could potentially be decreased.

Meyer, after a few months of development, built a buggy that was powered by his water fuel cell engine. It worked like it was supposed to be. He showed off his invention across the United States and one of those some people witnessing Meyer's invention were Professor Michael Laughton, who was the Dean of Engineering at Mary College of London, Admiral Sir Anthony Griffin who was a former controller of the British Navy and some other high achievers were there.

Anyone who witnessed this invention of Meyer's was amazed at how revolutionary the entire concept was.

Conspiracies Against Stanley Meyer and Lawsuits

But soon after gaining a little popularity, Meyer faced a number of lawsuits against his inventions claiming it to be fraudulent and illegitimate. Meyer's water fuel cell was later examined by the expert witness in the court who found that there "was nothing revolutionary about the cell at all and that is was simply using conventional electrolysis"

Many investors now started claiming that Meyer's invention was not revolutionary and was just doing a case of money laundering. The man who had more than 200,000 successful patents in his account now was facing lawsuits for fraudulent against his best invention.

Despite all that, some were still in favor of Stanley Meyer. A judge named Roger Hurley defended Meyer, stating "I would not represent someone who I would consider to be a shyster or a bum", "He was a nice guy".

Stanley Meyer's Death

On 21 March 1998, Stanley Meyer was killed mysteriously. While in a restaurant along with his brother Stephen Meyer and two Belgian investors, Stanely suddenly grabbed his neck, rushed towards the door, dropping to his knees and started violently vomiting.

His brother ran outside and asked him "What's wrong"? Upon which he replied, "They poisoned me...". That was the last thing Stanley said, as described by his brother.

A newspaper article post-Stanley Meyer's death.

The investigation was carried out on the case, and after 3 months the police concluded that Meyer died of a cerebral aneurysm. But many disagreed with the police report and claimed that Stanley Meyer was murdered, as his invention could have paved the way for free energy and the mainstream automobile industry would have suffocated to its end.

Other evidence that Meyer was murdered was due to the fact that Meyer's patents were attracting more than general attention from governments and mysterious visitors from around the world. His brother even mentioned that the two Belgian investors who were with Stanley on the day of his murder knew something; "I told them that Stand had died and they never said a word". "Absolutely nothing, no condolences, no questions, I never, ever had the trust of those two men ever again".

Stanley Meyer's mysterious death still remains one of the top conspiracies of all time, he was called a fraud and his inventions to be totally bogus, and all that when he invented something revolutionary? A man with that many patents, almost all of which were successful, died mysteriously?

Is it possible that Meyer DID invent a car that can run on water but the mainstream automobile manufacturers didn't want to lose their fortune over a single man's work? It will remain a mystery how actually Stanley Meyer died, and no one would ever know if his work was legit or not.

Now since you have read about Stanley Meyer's Conspiracy, read about Deep Dark Secrets of Abandoned Hashima Island. You might also like reading about America's Creepiest TV Hack incident.

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Stanley Meyer - How his Water fueled car lead Mysterious Death

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Back in the days, cars running on water rather than petroleum fuel seemed the invention of the future, but with hydrogen or water-powered cars such as the Toyota Mirai or Honda Clarity, it doesn't surprise us anymore. Who wouldn't agree that these giant motor vehicle manufacturers with all their R&D's cannot lack behind in vehicular inventions?

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Post #5 Red Flag: Ancient Wisdom (article)

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Post #5 Red Flag: Ancient Wisdom (article)

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Definition: The red flag Ancient Wisdom is outdated information with no scientific reasoning. Many years ago, very little information and resources were available to obtain proper knowledge about human anatomy and our universe. Ancient wisdom had no evidence to support specific claims, such as medical procedures. Medical science today relies on results, not theories. Products claiming to be from ancient wisdom are not ideal.

Connection: This article connects to Ancient Wisdom as it explains how pseudo-archaeologists believe structures such as the Pyramid of Giza and the Great Zimbabwe site were, built by extra-terrestrial beings. Egyptians were intelligent, and Egyptians had the knowledge to use ramps to move large blocks of limestone. Since the late 19th century, science-fiction authors have written about Martians and other alien lifeforms engaging in these incredible structures. Although it seems logical that extra-terrestrial life built the archaeological structures within Egypt, Africa, South America, and North America, there has not been evidence that this could be a realistic claim.

By, Lee Vanevery

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At the ancient site of Hatnub, a quarry in the eastern Egyptian desert not far from Faiyum, archaeologists have recently discovered a sled ramp system used to transport alabaster blocks. Post holes and a ramp with stairs on either side indicate that the contraption allowed Egyptian builders to move heavy blocks up and down steep slopes. Inscriptions have now helped archaeologists from the Institut français d'archéologie orientale and the University of Liverpool to date this groundbreaking technology to at least the reign of Khufu, who ruled from 2589-2566 BCE. Khufu is known as the pharaoh who likely commissioned the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Discovery and reconstruction of the ramp allows us to better understand ancient construction techniques. It also chips away at the long-held but fringe theory that the blocks were so heavy and the distances they would have to travel so lengthy that aliens must have built the pyramids.

Where did the theory of aliens building the pyramids actually come from? Since the late 19th century, science fiction writers have imagined Martians and other alien lifeforms engaged in great feats of terrestrial engineering. Earlier alien theories surrounding Atlantis may have spawned fantasies about alien building. The most substantial evidence for non-earthly creatures arrived in the wake of H.G. Wells 's success.

Capitalizing on the fervor surrounding Wells's The War of the Worlds, astronomer and science fiction writer Garrett P. Serviss penned a quasi-sequel titled Edison's Conquest of Mars in 1898. Serviss posited that "giants of Mars" had moved large blocks and built the Great Pyramid. He even noted that the Sphinx had Martian features. Edison's Conquest was part of a number of science fiction works published as books or serialized in newspapers in the late 19th century which imagined alien invasions fought off by great inventors of the time. Thomas Edison was a favored hero in these science fiction fantasies much later collectively called Edisonades.

The popularization of the theory of alien architects as having a basis in science rather than consisting of only fictional musing can be attributed to Swiss author Erich von Däniken's 1968 publication of the book Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past. Originally published in German and subsequently translated into English, it was one of the first popularly sold books to suggest that extraterrestrial life forms, not humans, built structures associated with our ancient civilizations. In 1966, Carl Sagan and Iosif S. Shklovskii had already speculated that contact with extraterrestrials might have occurred in their book Intelligent Life in the Universe, but von Däniken took this theory to new levels.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of that book's publication with over 65 million books sold to date. While its ideas might be laughable to most, the creation of doubt is a pernicious and rhetorical agent. The questioning of human building projects in Chariots of the Gods? remains a bedrock for many within the field of pseudo-archaeology. Far from innocuous, these alien theories undermine the agency, archaeology, and intellect of non-European cultures in Africa and South America, as well as the Native peoples in North America by erasing their achievements.

A potent combination of tabloids and television helped to make von Däniken's book a bestseller in the United States. Historian of pseudoscience John Colavito has remarked that while the book became a bestseller in Europe, it was the National Enquirer's underscoring of von Däniken's work through a serial series published in the tabloid that introduced it to readers in the US in 1970. Three years later, NBC aired an adaption of the book retitled In Search of Ancient Astronauts (featuring a cast of all white men) which translated and visualized pseudo-theories of archaeology and science for broad popular consumption.

It is notable that many (though not all) extraterrestrial theories focus on archaeological structures at sites within Egypt, Africa, South America, and North America - a fact that has led some academics to see beliefs in ancient alien engineers as a stalking horse for racism. In a piece for the online journal The Conversation rather frankly titled " Racism is Behind Outlandish Theories about Africa's Ancient Architecture," Julien Benoit, a postdoctoral researcher in vertebrate paleontology at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), addressed the continued harm of these theories:

Firstly, these people try to prove their theories by travelling the world and desecrating ancient artefacts. Secondly, they perpetuate and give air to the racist notion that only Europeans - white people - ever were and ever will be capable of such architectural feats.

Belief can indeed lead to action. In 2014, German pseudoscientists and "hobbyists " defaced a cartouche of Khufu inside the Great Pyramid in their misguided search to prove their alien theories. The Pyramids of Giza and the Great Zimbabwe site are commonly cited by pseudo-archaeologists as structures built by extraterrestrial beings, along with the Moai heads on the tiny Easter Island off the coast of Chile.

Stonehenge, in the English countryside of Wiltshire, is one of the few structures built by European ancestors placed in this category structures allegedly built by aliens, though in the original printing of Chariots of the Gods? von Däniken does not discuss the site any more than to say its massive stone blocks were from Wales and Marlborough. The disproportion of speculation surrounding non-European versus European structures is noticeable. As medieval historian Chris Reidel noted,

That's what the ancient aliens theory does: it discredits the origins of civilizations, and almost entirely of non-white civilizations. People may suggest Stonehenge was built by aliens - but do the[y] suggest the Roman Forum or Parthenon were? No.

We must question what is at stake in these cases. While the British are not in any danger of having their overall intellect or capability as a culture questioned, many non-European cultures are historically more vulnerable to such questioning.

If we look to von Däniken's work, there can be little doubt that his racial beliefs influenced his extraterrestrial theories. After a short stint in jail for fraud and either writing or appropriating the material for a number of other books that developed his ancient astronauts theory, von Däniken published Signs of the Gods? in 1979. It is here that many of his racial views are most boldly stated. British archaeology officer Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews points out on his Bad Archaeology blog just a few of the many racist questions and statements posed by the author: "Was the black race a failure and did the extraterrestrials change the genetic code by gene surgery and then programme a white or a yellow race?" He also printed beliefs about the innate talents of certain races: " Nearly all negroes are musical; they have rhythm in their blood." Von Däniken also consistently uses the term "negroid race" in comparison with "Caucasians."

What does it mean to deny a non-Western civilization their accomplishments? As Everisto Benyera, a lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences at the University of South Africa, has noted, these "Western denialists" prefer to revoke agency and skill from ancient Egyptians or the Shona people of the Bantu civilization, rather than recognize their intellectual ownership of these structures. In a chapter addressing "Colonialism, the Theft of History and the Quest for Justice for Africa," Dr. Benyera remarked:

Western denialists would rather attribute the Great Zimbabwe to aliens, who do not exist, than attribute them to the Shona people and the Africans who exist and who built them. The denial of the Shona people of their intellectual ownership, among others of the Great Zimbabwe, Khami ruins, is theft of history.

And while many may consider theories of ancient aliens to be an outlandish and ultimately harmless belief or meme, Benyera points out that there is an extant spectrum of western denialism whose occupants seek to rescind and reallocate great accomplishments from African civilizations in particular.

To Benyera, one example of western denialism lies in the writings of the historian Niall Ferguson. Benyera notes that Ferguson underscores the colonial gifts of parliamentary democracy and the English language to the countries that they colonized in his book Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World. Like von Däniken, Ferguson's views have been disseminated by television shows. A six-part series also called Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World aired on Channel 4, ostensibly to hype the book's release. Arguing that aliens brought magnificent structures to many African civilizations erases accomplishments, but so does arguing that colonizers brought gifts (rather than imposed obligations) upon the nations they colonized.

Colonization coded as the gift of civilization remains an entrenched defense of colonialism.

In recent years, academics have increasingly called foul on alien theories as cultural erasures outside of Africa as well. A year ago, Christopher Heaney, a professor of Latin American history at Pennsylvania State University, wrote an article addressing the racism behind notions that Pre-Columbian bodies were evidence for extraterrestrial life. Others have sought to dispel the racist theories surrounding Native mound-building cultures.

In comments to Hyperallergic, Morag Kersel, an archaeologist at DePaul University, noted the connection between ancient aliens and the idea that an ancient and superior race had originally built mounds like those at Cahokia in southern Illinois. The myth supported racist policies and has done lasting damage.

It's an extension of the 19th-century myth of the mound builder. No way could the North American mounds and artifacts have been made by people of the First Nations, it had to be an "alien" (non-local) race. Rather than set up a white supremacy model, which may have not been as popular, von Däniken takes the "alien" further to "aliens" from outer space.

Kersel noted that the use of pseudoscience revoking the accomplishments of Native American cultures is a sad part of American history. Journalist Alexander Zaitchik pointed out in an article for the Southern Poverty Law Center that there was widespread popularity and belief in the "Lost Race of the Mound Builders" in 19th century America. It was used by Andrew Jackson and others to undermine the intellect and abilities of Native peoples as we removed them from their native lands.

Today, many of von Däniken's theories can still be found in television shows like Ancient Aliens on the History Channel. Since 2009, the show has featured a mix of mostly white male conspiracy theorists posing harmful questions about the legitimacy of human involvement in archaeological structures. As of recently, they have at least begun to incorporate actual Egyptians such as Ramy Romany. Despite his history of racist views, Von Däniken appears to still be a paid producer on the show Ancient Aliens.

Most Egyptologists see shows like Ancient Aliens as a program that capitalizes on the bizarre rather than endeavoring to be out-and-out racist. In comments to Hyperallergic, Salima Ikram, distinguished university professor and Egyptology unit head at the American University in Cairo, noted that even Egyptians viewing the History Channel find the program more fantastical than factual: "I think that often it is more that people want the extraordinary and the bizarre, and do not want anything too real, as they crave the fantastic - look at the types of films being made and their popularity." For most watching these programs, they are indeed about escapism through conspiracy theories - and internet memes.

For others, the attraction to books and television touting ancient alien conspiracies may be a bit more racially motivated. In comments to Hyperallergic, Robert Cargill, an assistant professor of Religious Studies and Classics at the University of Iowa who also served as an academic counterbalance on a number of episodes of Ancient Aliens, discussed the role of the program in supporting racist ideas of ancient capability:

There is an underlying ethnic bias against people of color that many white people don't even recognize when the magnificent achievements of the ancient world are attributed to aliens instead of to their rightful creators - the ancestors of modern Egyptians, Iraqis, Guatemalans, Peruvians, etc. This is not to say that belief in ancient alien theory makes one racist. However, attributing the achievements of the forerunners of darker-skinned peoples to aliens because you believe they couldn't have possibly done it themselves might be perceived as racists to the people of color who descend from these ancient innovators.

As Cargill and many other right-minded academics now make clear, the necessity for scientists, archaeologists, and academics in general to talk to the public about the ethnic biases of pseudoscience is becoming ever more apparent. In 2015, bioarchaeologist Kristina Killgrove already discussed the need for archaeologists to dispel pseudoscientific myths through public outreach. Public-facing scholarship in the humanities and STEM fields can serve as strong rebuttals to pseudoscientific narratives broadcast on television and online.

In July, the 50th anniversary edition of Chariots of the Gods? was published along with a new foreword and afterward by the author. Yet it is notable that the punctuation that originally posed the book's title as a question has now been removed. The title stands more as a statement than a question, but it is up to archaeologists, historians, and the public to continue to interrogate the insidious arguments that it contains.

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Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens

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At the ancient site of Hatnub, a quarry in the eastern Egyptian desert not far from Faiyum, archaeologists have recently discovered a sled ramp system used to transport alabaster blocks. Post holes and a ramp with stairs on either side indicate that the contraption allowed Egyptian builders to move heavy blocks up and down steep slopes.

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Post #6 Red Flag: Confusion of correlation with causation (short film)

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Post #6 Red Flag: Confusion of correlation with causation (short film)

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Definition: The red flag Correlation vs Causation is commonly confused to have a relationship with one another but has different meanings. Correlation is where two actions are related. Whereas causation is an action that directly causes another.

Connection: This short film has an opening scene with dialogue between Phillip Baker Hall (Sydney) and Kirk Baltz (Douglas Walker). Douglas has an urgent matter to discuss with Sydney, but Sydney will not discuss anything until he has a lit cigarette in hand and the coffee has poured. Often, you will encounter a smoker who drinks coffee this is a correlation. Not every smoker also drinks coffee. Does one cause the other? I do not believe so. It would highly depend on the person and what their daily life involved. Coffee contains caffeine, and cigarettes contain nicotine which is both stimulants. Absolutely anyone who consumes both would say they pair well together. To smokers, a cigarette can relieve any stressful situation, meaning one could have a cigarette without consumption of coffee, caffeine only increases activity in the brain and nervous system. For example, it is seven in the morning you arrive at your favourite coffee shop and notice a group of construction workers smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. Both act as stimulants to jump-start the day, drinking coffee is not causation to smoking cigarettes it is a mere coincidence.

By, Lee Vanevery

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Cigarettes & Coffee by Paul Thomas Anderson (1993) [FULL MOVIE]

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Post #7 Reason For Belief: Agenticity (article)

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Post #7 Reason For Belief: Agenticity (article)

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Definition: People are apt to assign intention, meaning, or responsibility to unseen forces, groups, or individuals in order to explain bizarre occurrences.

Connection: This article details the historical legend of the hanging of the Hartlepool monkey, an event that is connected to the agenticity reason for belief. Quite far from France, the people of Hartlepool, of whom it was unlikely they had ever met a french person, were stirred up into believing that the French military had sent a monkey to infiltrate their rather non-strategic town, a preposterous and unbelievable strategy. The people of Hartlepool also would have displayed some emotional connection as a reason for believing the monkey was a spy, as the French and English were repeatedly engaged in military conflict, and the article even states that political cartoons about the French may have been partially responsible. A limitation of this source is that the tale is quite old. No one is really sure if the residents actually hanged a monkey after putting it on trial for espionage, and the story has been mostly used to discredit and poke fun at the people of Hartlepool. That being said, it still proves how people can attribute strange occurrences to beings or groups (like the French military) for bizarre coincidences and situations (a monkey washing up in the leftovers of a shipwreck).

By: Trevor Kennedy

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During the Napoleonic Wars legend has it that the people of Hartlepool hanged a shipwrecked monkey as a French spy...

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A quote from 1984 by author George Orwell

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Post #8 Reason for Belief: Ideology (image.)

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Post #8 Reason for Belief: Ideology (image.)

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Definition: Ideology is a form of social / political beliefs or philosophies. It is these philosophies that help to shape a person’s willingness to believe claims. These philosophies are deeply engrained and usually learned over a person’s entire life through various experiences.

Connection: This quote from the novel 1984 by George Orwell is an example of ideological belief. It also highlights how these firm ties to one’s ideological beliefs can be dangerous. Ignoring fact, evidence, and truth, because it goes again a personally held opinion. These opinions are often in the forms of political affiliation, religious faith, something they have been taught from a young age and brought up to believe as fact.

By. Bryan Miners

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Post #9 Reason for Belief: Unexplained (video)

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Post #9 Reason for Belief: Unexplained (video)

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Definition: Unexplained is a reason for belief that simply cannot be explained, we recognize an event or action has occurred without logically thinking it through we try to explain the matter in our own words to make it believable.

Connection: This is a video of Criss Angel levitating, he is an American magician and illusionist. He became famous for his illusions with the show “Mindfreak” which aired on A&E from 2005-2010. His most popular illusion was levitating, but he was also an incredible magician. Even though everything he does seems real, it is just an illusion. And no one at the time could clearly explain how his tricks were done, it just seemed believable. It is easy to say magic is real and there is no other explanation, but every magician has their secrets. Linked below is a video revealing some of Criss Angel's best magic tricks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXwXQQA9epo

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Criss Angel - Mindfreak - Flying one 2 another building -uploaded by streeetboy.avi

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Post #10: Critical Thinking Analysis - The Death of Stanley Meyer

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Post #10: Critical Thinking Analysis - The Death of Stanley Meyer

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Define Problem: Many claim that Stanley Meyer was murdered by the government or the automotive industry to suppress his water-powered car invention that would make transportation cheap for millions.

Gather Information: This article presents the story of Stanley Meyer and his water-powered car, and how there is a conspiracy he was murdered to suppress his invention. The primary argument for this theory is that corporate lobbyists are very powerful when acting in their own interests, and a water-powered car that would make transportation cheap would damage, if not destroy the auto and gas industries. Furthermore, the two investors present when Stanley died were reportedly not phased by the incident, leading some to believe they were not investors at all and were actually Meyer's assassins. The main argument against this theory is that Meyer was taken to court on several different claims of fraud and it was even proven there was nothing remarkable about his invention. Furthermore, if Meyer's invention held any credibility, there would have been a rush to replicate it both at the time and once the patent had expired.

Evaluate Evidence: This source seems credible, as it simply tells Meyer's story and the conspiracy that accompanies it, taking a neutral stance by not attempting to convince the reader that Meyer was actually murdered.  There is no solid proof presented to indicate that Meyer was murdered by corporate interests, and the theory exists on speculation and eyewitness accounts from Meyer's brother.

Recognize Assumptions, Emotions, Biases: People may be swayed to support this theory by negative emotions toward auto manufacturers and fuel companies. Owning a car isn't cheap, and it is quite easy to say that it remains expensive partially due to the auto industry suppressing alternatives. One could also be swayed by Meyer's appeal and seemingly good-natured intentions. This theory also assumes that Meyer's invention did everything as claimed when the evidence says otherwise.

Synthesize Evidence, Identify Alternatives: The present evidence in the case of Stanley Meyer indicates really two alternatives. The first, regardless of whether his invention really was revolutionary, is that Meyer died of a cerebral aneurysm as indicated by the police investigation into his death. The second alternative aspect is that Meyer really was a fraud, and his invention was a farce. The fraud cases that Meyer went to court over eventually led to an investigation that concluded Meyer's fuel cell was not revolutionary in any manner.

Select Best Alternative: The best alternative to this conspiracy is a combination of the two listed above. With the concrete evidence here, to think Meyer's death was anything but what was listed at the end of the police investigation is a far reach. Furthermore, the fraud allegations, combined with an inability or unwillingness to replicate Meyer's work since his death show the lack of credibility of his claims.

By: Trevor Kennedy