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Busting the MythBusters' Yawn Experiment

Posted by kdawson on from the it's-not-the-company-it's-the-hour dept.

markmcb writes "Most everyone knows and loves the MythBusters, two guys who attempt to set the story straight on things people just take for granted. Well, maybe everyone except Brandon Hansen, who has offered them a taste of their own medicine as he busts the MythBusters' improper use of statistics in their experiment to determine whether yawning is contagious. While the article maintains that the contagion of yawns is still a possibility, Hansen is clearly giving the MythBusters no credit for proving such a claim, 'not with a correlation coefficient of .045835.'"

2 of 397 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Surprising how many people take them seriously! by madsenj37 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I do not have a science or engineering background, therefore I cannot build, create or test in a valid manner? Your argument is flawed. Then again I do have a philosophy background with some knowledge of logic. You obviously do not, therefore you cannot deduce in a meaningful way.

    --
    Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
  2. Re:Well... by tonymtdew · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Yo Moron,

    If they start preaching the scientific method in the show, how many kids could actually watch it? In a sense, they place a simple hypothesis out there in the beginning and go see what they can find out about it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that your idea wouldn't fly. I was a physics major in college and the first thing the general public says is "I wouldn't be able to do it. Its too complicated and boring." By dumbing it down the way they do, they reach the audience that could never appreciate science in the least!

    Do you live in a bubble?

    Shit.