Miscellanea Agnostica

It’s the 21st century, fercryinoutloud. One would think we’ve learned a thing or two by now. After all, physicists just a few days ago announced the heretofore-elusive Higgs boson exists. That was a major advancement in a scientific field which hadn’t even existed, a little over a century ago. Yet, for all of our advancements, people still love to launch themselves into a dozen different kinds of desperate wingnuttery, over mere broadcasts (as they did back when Orson Welles kicked off a panic back in 1938).

Sadly, despite all of our progress over the course of the 20th century and extending into this one, apparently Americans are just as gullible — and stupid — as they were some 74 years ago. The Los Angeles Times reports that a science-fiction show about mermaids has apparently forced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to have to tell people that mermaids don’t exist (WebCite cached article):

In one of its more head-turning posts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced — wait for it — that there is no evidence that mermaids are real. …

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this post is why NOAA, a U.S. scientific agency, would want to weigh in [cached] on these mythical creatures any more than they’d want to expound on the potential atmospheric perturbations caused by Santa Claus’ countless Christmas Eve flights around the globe. …

The inspiration for this posting, says Discovery News [cached], likely comes from the Discovery branch “Animal Planet,” which used a documentary-style format for its science-fiction TV show titled “Mermaids: The Body Found.”

Really, people? For real? A science-fiction show convinced you that mermaids exist? How can you be that fucking stupid? Seriously!? I have to file this one under “you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Photo credit: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/GettyImages, via the L.A. Times.

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