Okay, has anyone else seen this show? I have just seen the first episode and its like...awesome. Really, its a sudden dose of common sense and logic that more people need.
Pen and Teller's: Bulls###
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Ruv Draba
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I've seen episodes from several series. They argue well-researched cases for positions the presenters believe (which is generally to discredit some myth or other). The arguments normally consist of fact, opinion and humour.
Given that their aim is to expose the fallacies of a 'pro' position, their arguments work by presenting researched fact for the 'con' position, alongside satirical counter-arguments against the 'pro' position. Now, nobody's ever gone poor selling pop cynicism to jaded audiences, and Penn and Teller used to make a living 'exposing' magic tricks by lying elaborately about how they were performed, so one should take the satire with a generous fistful of salt.
The facts are always interesting though.
I think that if the positions are ones you believe or are readily prepared to believe, then it's easy to find the arguments persuasive, but satirising the 'pro' position doesn't necessarily discredit the whole position and I suspect that audiences are not always strongly persuaded by every show.
Nonetheless, there is an awful lot of delusion (self and other) in the world. If nothing else, Penn and Teller's satirical presentations expose a lot of it entertainingly.
Making sense of truth isn't always so easy as they'd have us believe though.
Given that their aim is to expose the fallacies of a 'pro' position, their arguments work by presenting researched fact for the 'con' position, alongside satirical counter-arguments against the 'pro' position. Now, nobody's ever gone poor selling pop cynicism to jaded audiences, and Penn and Teller used to make a living 'exposing' magic tricks by lying elaborately about how they were performed, so one should take the satire with a generous fistful of salt.
The facts are always interesting though.
I think that if the positions are ones you believe or are readily prepared to believe, then it's easy to find the arguments persuasive, but satirising the 'pro' position doesn't necessarily discredit the whole position and I suspect that audiences are not always strongly persuaded by every show.
Nonetheless, there is an awful lot of delusion (self and other) in the world. If nothing else, Penn and Teller's satirical presentations expose a lot of it entertainingly.
Making sense of truth isn't always so easy as they'd have us believe though.
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Their programme on second hand smoke (not as harmful as you'd think) and recycling (not as useful as you'd think) was very interesting. It's pretty funny too. Penn and Teller rock.
I like what I've seen on my perfectly legitimate and totally non-illegal streaming website that is currently based in <country removed for security reasons>
Its funny. Its clever. And its fairly logical.
A bit more sweary than I'd like, and sometimes they make their bias obvious...buuut wait, that's the point of their show. Though I do love the fact that they have a bit on alternative medicine and they have a fake doctor in a mall selling fake remedies and it looks like people buy it lock stock and barrel, but at the end of the show, Penn (or was it Teller...which one is the one who talks?) admits somewhat sheepishly that lots of people DIDN'T go for their fake medications...but people putting snails on their faces to cure wrinkles is a heck of a lot funnier.
Very nice.
Its funny. Its clever. And its fairly logical.
A bit more sweary than I'd like, and sometimes they make their bias obvious...buuut wait, that's the point of their show. Though I do love the fact that they have a bit on alternative medicine and they have a fake doctor in a mall selling fake remedies and it looks like people buy it lock stock and barrel, but at the end of the show, Penn (or was it Teller...which one is the one who talks?) admits somewhat sheepishly that lots of people DIDN'T go for their fake medications...but people putting snails on their faces to cure wrinkles is a heck of a lot funnier.
Very nice.
tomber
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Some episodes are good, some are...bullshit.
Actually, their "facts" for this episode have been debunked. Their research came from ONE source that has since been discredited by some overwhelming counter research. (I know this because after being convinced by the episode, I tried to find some more facts to throw at my non-smoking friends. Instead, I discovered the real story.)
They are funny, likable guys. They often make their points in a witty, creative way.
However, it's been my experience that they only deal in "common sense" when I am ignorant of the unbiased facts and I happen to already agree with their position. At the end of the day, it's a frustrating show.
The facts are always interesting though.
Actually, their "facts" for this episode have been debunked. Their research came from ONE source that has since been discredited by some overwhelming counter research. (I know this because after being convinced by the episode, I tried to find some more facts to throw at my non-smoking friends. Instead, I discovered the real story.)
They are funny, likable guys. They often make their points in a witty, creative way.
However, it's been my experience that they only deal in "common sense" when I am ignorant of the unbiased facts and I happen to already agree with their position. At the end of the day, it's a frustrating show.
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I enjoyed it for awhile (saw most of series 1 & 2) and then got fed up with the bashing and biased hate.
I wish they'd go back to magic touring (I'm not going to Vegas to see them). I LOVE their magic.
I wish they'd go back to magic touring (I'm not going to Vegas to see them). I LOVE their magic.
So far, I am enjoying it.
So far being a few shows. I know fully that they're biased...in fact, THEY know full well they're biased. Thats part of why I like them.
But I admit I'm a crotchety Libertarian atheist at heart too, so we're like kindred spirits.
Though I am handsomer. And I don't make nearly as much money.
Note: I've only watched 4-5 episodes, and they haven't seemed all that hateful. Opinionated, belligerent at times, and very biased, but NOT hateful.
sooo please don't tell me about any episodes in later thingies. I wanna make my own opinion and stuff.
And I'm not *actually* crotchety.
So far being a few shows. I know fully that they're biased...in fact, THEY know full well they're biased. Thats part of why I like them.
But I admit I'm a crotchety Libertarian atheist at heart too, so we're like kindred spirits.
Though I am handsomer. And I don't make nearly as much money.
Note: I've only watched 4-5 episodes, and they haven't seemed all that hateful. Opinionated, belligerent at times, and very biased, but NOT hateful.
sooo please don't tell me about any episodes in later thingies. I wanna make my own opinion and stuff.
And I'm not *actually* crotchety.
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I liked the water episode, where they served restuarant diners water from the garden hose out back but told them it was highclass bottled water, and so many people seemed to love it.
LOL.
Yeah, well, back when we were kids, we drank from the garden hose out back all the time. And from water fountains. By some miracle, we survived that. <G>
Susan G.
LOL.
Yeah, well, back when we were kids, we drank from the garden hose out back all the time. And from water fountains. By some miracle, we survived that. <G>
Susan G.
I quite like it, even if I not completely agree in some subjects they have a well-presented point...
They have said that their last show is going to be about themselves and their show
They have said that their last show is going to be about themselves and their show
The more I watch, the more I agree with its fundamental message of "don't disguise politics as science and for GODS SAKE DO SOME DAMN RESEARCH AND CRITICAL THINKING!"
Its also good to see I'm not the only one who is shouting that the world *isn't* going to end any time soon, unless we do something really monumentally stupid. Like...Great Wall of China sized stupid. No way, three times bigger!
Its also good to see I'm not the only one who is shouting that the world *isn't* going to end any time soon, unless we do something really monumentally stupid. Like...Great Wall of China sized stupid. No way, three times bigger!
Entertainment isn't science, either, and entertainment is all the show really is. Penn and Teller are not men of science, they're just entertainers.
I think that after the first 2 seasons, they ran out of reasonable things to go off about, and the topics they chose started getting silly.
The first season, and most of the second season is very funny, though.
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They're very funny and point out some logical absurdities, but they also play fast and loose with the truth.
Their credibility was ruined for me, however, when during a show about enviromentalism, they used Richard Pombo, former US congessman, oil and mining lobbyist, and all round complete jerk as a creditable source in debunking environmental "myths."
