This short video describes the early founding and attempts to excavate the treasure of Oak Island. The Video opens with the author’s early warning that not all the stories covered may be fact and are debated by people knowledge on the issue for at least a century. It does a good job into the story and lives of the people involved in the first few years of this mystery that would attract many more to Oak Island, although it does not go far into more modern attempts.

Conclusion

The info available seems very complete, with many facts being thrown around. This, however, might be a instance of Proof by Verbosity to assail the listener with such a well put together story to make it seem factual. It is unfortunate that the author states in the beginning of the video that some of the information is contested, but doesn’t let us know which and what view points pertain to the various sides of the debate. This may be Confirmation Bias on the part of the author in order to make a more interesting story-centric video for more traffic.

Description

This video is a very well produced trailer to a History Channel show called to Curse of Oak Island. It does not provide a lot of information but is visually stimulating and throws tidbits of information at the viewer.

Conclusion

This video exhibits several Red Flags that I will detail. The first is Appeal to Authority: this is done with some of the quick information blubs thrown at the view including mention of two American Presidents being involved, as if to validate the claim. Another could be Ancient Wisdom or Mystical Energy, when a man recants the curse that seven treasure-seekers will die before the treasure is found, and six have died already.

This video is a trailer from the same TV show but uses a different tactic then the trailer in Post 3. In this trailer they introduce a character who claims to be a skeptic, and in fact repeats this feature of himself many times in a short span, while also saying many times he needs proof. At the end it is clear he changed his mind, although it is never revealed why. I guess I will have to tune in to find out…

Conclusion

I think this trailer is very misleads. This man claims many times that he is a skeptic that needs proof, using Proof by Verbosity to instil the idea in the viewer that he is some expert that needs persuading on the matter, and if he can be persuaded, then the mystery must be true. It uses tense moments to underscore the importance of this character’s approval. At the end, he believes that the mystery is solved without proof being provided. They is, in sports terms, an Alley-Oop. They first set up the premise that the character is an expert that needs persuading without providing good reason why, and then after they persuade him they use an Appeal to Authority to make the viewer believe that this was a pivotal event.

This picture depicts the theorized markings that were on a stone which depending on description varied in size from 2-3 feet to only 12-16 inches wide. A Reverend in 1949 attempted to translate the script on the stone in 1949, revealing the message, “forty feet below two million pounds are buried.”

Conclusion

Perhaps the Reverend’s translation of the markings were believed by so many so completely because at the time the Catholic Church was in a position of authority culture-wise, thus making Ideology one reason why this translation may have been spread so wide, as the Reverend no doubt had a position of Authority among the religious.

This image shows words that may appear on a shirt or mug, clearly meant to be sold as merchandise. The Phrase is: “Eat. Sleep. Oak Island. Repeat.”

Conclusion

This is clearly a play on the old popular culture phrase of a similar nature where words are inserted after “Sleep” to show that the wearer or user of the object inscribed with the phrase really enjoys the activity or thing that has been inserted. In this case, Oak Island is the inserted word. This is an example of ideological Support, used to appeal to people who believe in the Mystery of Oak Island and could be taken in by the application of a popular culture meme by those looking to capitalize on the mystery. A belief that is also being capitalized on is Emotional Connection that people have, who may want an object to represent their belief in the mystery. 

This Photo is an image of a bunch of coins likely dated to nearly 1000 years ago based on the Crusader Cross symbolized on them.

Conclusion

This photo in fact has nothing to do with the findings at Oak Island. It is purely an image that grabs the eye to initiate the reader’s unconscious connection of the image of a gold pile to the possibility of treasure at Oak Island. This is purely a Red Herring, giving the reader irrelevant imagery and information to trick the reader before the article has begun.

Conclusion

It is nice to have a piece that honours one of the prime “truth-seeker” of this mystery at the ripe age of 95. However, as this article is more of a factual piece than an opinion piece, it doesn’t delve into the conspiracy that seven men will die before the treasury is found, with Dan being the sixth.

This article provides information on a possible Roman-era sword unearthed at Oak Island. 

Conclusion

The article seems to glaze over the hard to confirm nature of actions of those that are involved with the founding. It falls back on relying on the opinion of a person whose education or expertise in the matter is un-cited, other than his title as Antique Collector.” This is an Appeal to Authority. The article mentions many examples that the Romans may have reached North America long ago, without providing evidence. This could be the use of Ancient Wisdom hoping that the reader will believe such a statement because of the other great feats the Romans accomplished, even though there is little to no material to back up the claim.

I was genuinely surprised that the searchers on the island did find any treasure to begin with, even though it is far less substantial than the legend would have us believe.

2.

I really liked Pirates of the Caribbean as a kid, so the idea of some sort of buried treasure was interesting.

3.

I found the video research the most interesting because of the quick information available. It was also far easier to find. Pictures on the other had were a nightmare, as most searches just yielded results of excavation shafts and a forested island, both of which weren’t applicable to this project premise.

4.

I am most likely to remember the video of the guy claiming to be a skeptic over and over so the viewer would believe him only to say that he becomes a believer at the end. This was funny because it seemed this was supposed to have some impact on the viewer, although they never revealed why this guy was an authority on the matter, or why he became a believer. 

5.

The most harmful belief is the Emotional Connection used to prey on people’s wallets. The least harmful red flag is the Ideological Support, because it doesn’t really harm anyone in modern times to be interested or a believer in this mystery. There are dangers however of people trying to dig themselves without experts, and bad consequences because of that.

6.
I think that I would advise someone close to me to seek out skeptical sources about the Mystery of Oak Island, and not be taken in by the show on History TV

This Article/Blog post provides a little information about the mystery of Oak Island and a heavy dose of the authors opinion.

Conclusion

While the author does admit that the current personalities on the show that can be seen in previous posts may have found some riches, he concludes that they hardly have found what people would consider the treasure. This ties in with his theory stated in the title that they must keep treasure hunting until “ratings decline,” which basically means they will never find it while they are getting good ratings, for the show may be more lucrative in the long term then the treasure. This is a good flagging of the Ideology exhibited by many main-stream shows produced by large corporations, which will often milk the product dry. The author does unfortunately fall back on ad hominin attacks on some of the show’s casts, which can be an example of Proof by Verbosity.