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Forging a Head: The Upside of Scientific Hoaxes

Posted by timothy on from the may-I-interest-you-in-some-goat-organs? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In a very funny piece over at Science Careers (published by the journal Science), scientist-comedian Adam Ruben suggests that a lot of good can come from a well-intentioned hoax. 'Hoaxes have infiltrated science for centuries,' Ruben writes, 'from fake fossils (Piltdown Man, archaeoraptor, Calaveras skull) to fake medical conditions (cello scrotum, the disappearing blonde gene) to fake animals (Ompax spatuloides, Pacific Northwest tree octopus, Labradoodle).' In contrast to fraud, Ruben argues, such hoaxes do a great service to science by illustrating 'failures of our most important tool: our skepticism.'"

5 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. I did not evolve from an ape.... by Readycharged · · Score: -1, Troll

    Darwin's theory of evolution has got to be the longest running scientific joke!

    1. Re:I did not evolve from an ape.... by Readycharged · · Score: 0, Troll

      Ok....That should read, "I was never an ape.....or an amoeba, for that matter" Seriously, evolution is unproven.

    2. Re:I did not evolve from an ape.... by Readycharged · · Score: -1, Troll

      I'm sure you are intelligent enough to know exactly what I mean; to wit I do not believe that man evolved from an amoeba - via apes - to Homo sapiens. Sure, scientific theories are unproven, but some are more credible than others - backed up by supporting evidence. There is more evidence in Creationism - as well as it making more sense.

  2. Re:Yes but by rubycodez · · Score: -1, Troll

    Irrelevant, climate modelling and making economic and political decisions based on those models is not science. The climatologists and their benefactors have set up their own echo chamber, and reality is proving them wrong. We are not on some runaway graph of ever increasing temperature.

  3. God is punishing the Bible Belt by mangu · · Score: 0, Troll

    As punishment for your disbelief, the Lord has sent the worst tornado season and the worst floods ever recorded. This is His new Commandment: "Thou shalt believe that burning fossil fuels cause global warming".