Jul 22 2008
Even If I See It, I May Not Believe It
Contrary to the popular saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” the true skeptic will not place 100% confidence in their powers of observation. Why? Because they are flawed. First, my senses are not organs of immaculate perception. Second, countless psychological studies have shown just how easy it is to influence what we experience and remember.
A ScienceDaily article today bears this headline: Eyewitnesses May Misidentify Perpetrator Of A Crime Due To Stress Or Fear. In previous generations and centuries, having an eyewitness was the gold standard in proving innocence or guilt. Fortunately, science has recently developed more accurate tools (and much less subject to the influence of bias, etc.), such as DNA analysis of evidence. As the article states:
Evidence shows that mistaken eyewitness identification is a common cause of miscarriages of justice. 218 people wrongly convicted in the USA have been exonerated by new DNA analysis from crime scene samples. 75% of these cases were the result of mistaken eyewitness identification.
Roughly one month ago a YouTube video caused quite a stir. Actually it was three videos all released on the same day. The videos “showed” that it is possible to cause popcorn kernals to pop with ordinary cell phones! You put a few cell phones in a circle around corn kernals, use other phones to call those phones, and WOW! hot popcorn!
I was alerted to the videos by an email forward from a family member. The overall message of the email: See, cell phones are really dangerous, probably cause brain cancer, and there is no doubt some government and/or corporate conspiracy keeping us in the dark about it.
Whether or not cell phone use may contribute to brain cancer is certainly an open question. However, what I found most concerning about the affair was the lightning quick jump people made to believe. In what? A video.
In reading the comments I was struck by how many people said, in so many words, you skeptics are just deniers, but you can’t deny what I have seen with my own eyes. I wondered, hadn’t these people ever been to a magic show? Is there likewise a conspiracy keeping me from accepting that there really are nickels behind my ear, waiting to be plucked into sight for my delight by a grandfather, were I to have one living?
And wouldn’t you know it, the cellphones-making-popcorn videos were a hoax.
No, you shouldn’t believe everything you read or hear. As, perhaps somewhat disturbingly, you shouldn’t even believe everything you see. Or at least what you think you saw.
