Demistificator

Un demistificator este un individ care discreditează și contrazice pretenții ca fiind false, exagerate sau ridicole. Termenul, care este evident derivat din verbele a mistifica și a demistifica, este strâns conectat cu investigarea sceptică în subiecte controversate așa cum ar fi OZN-uri, fenomene paranormale, en:cryptids, teorii conspirative, medicină alternativă precum și în cazul cercetărilor pseudoștiințifice.

Demistificatori notabili

Harry Houdini a demistificat spiritiștii.^[1]
James Randi a demistificat vindecătorii prin puterea rugăciunii, chirurgii cu mâinile goale, mediumii și pe alții care afirmau că ar avea puteri paranormale.^[2]
Martin Gardner, autor de matematică și de științe empirice care a demistificat pe larg parapsihologia.
Ray Hyman, psiholog cunoscut pentru demistificarea unor studii parapsihologice.
Penn & Teller demistifică scamatorii și iluzionism.^[3] Ei au demistificat multe alte aspecte ale credințelor populare în spectacolul lor Penn & Teller: Bullshit!. Ei abordează similar alte câmpuri ale studiului științific serios, cum ar fi încălzirea globală.
Philip Klass a fost un pionier al scepticismului științific asupra OZN-urilor.^[4]
Donald Menzel a fost precursorul lui Philip Klass în demistificarea OZN-urilor.
Carl Sagan a demistificat așa-zise întâlniri de gradul al treilea cum ar fi răpirea lui Betty și Barney Hill și pseudoștiință, cum ar fi cartea lui Immanuel Velikovsky Worlds in Collision.^[5]
Phil Plait demistifică astrologia și scenariile apocaliptice.
Stephen Barrett a întemeiat Quackwatch și scrie despre înșelătoriile medicale.^[6]

Organizații

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
The Skeptics Society
The MythBusters, a program on the Discovery Channel. Two former special effects technicians, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, use modern technology to test the validity of urban legends.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology debunked the World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories.
Popular Mechanics has released several publications also debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, in particular those mentioned in Loose Change.
Snopes debunks or validates urban legends.
Quackwatch
SourceWatch
The website Bad Astronomy, by the American astronomer Phil Plait, debunks astrology and other myths related to the sky.

Note

^ Houdini and the spiritualists Arhivat în 26 aprilie 2016, la Wayback Machine., Summit Daily News, 3 noiembrie 2007, "Houdini himself wouldn’t have believed in his second coming anyway, because he didn’t believe in spirit manifestations. In fact, he spent much of his life and career debunking spiritualists and mediums — an admirable mission that history and forensic specialists now tell us probably led to his untimely death at the age of 52."
^ The wizard gets a windfall--even the Amazing Randi needs advice on how to keep his $272,000 prize from vanishing, CNN Money, 1 septembrie 1986, "Randi began his campaign against fakes in earnest in 1964, during a stint as the host of a radio talk show in Manhattan. He had become disturbed by the number of listeners phoning in with such flummery as tales of self-styled clairvoyants' uncannily correct forecasts. Gradually, his work as a debunker began to rival his show-business career, gathering momentum in the early 1970s, when Uri Geller caught Randi's attention."
^ Review/Theater; Penn and Teller Offer Several Variations On a Magic Theme, New York Times, 4 aprilie 1991, "As debunkers, they seek to remove the mystique from magic, to demonstrate the digitation behind the presti."
^ Pseudoscience, Skepticism To Make A Close Encounter Arhivat în 13 mai 2009, la Wayback Machine., Seattle Times, 12 iunie 1994
^ Obituaries; Betty Hill, 85; Claim of Abduction by Aliens Led to Fame, Los Angeles Times, Oct 24, 2004, "Carl Sagan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer, was among the Hills' debunkers, yet he considered their story noteworthy."
^ Area parents seek answer for Autism, The Times Leader, 1 aprilie 2002, "That is coincidence, said Dr. Stephen Barrett of Allentown, a veteran debunker and operator of Quackwatch.com."

Vezi și

[houdini-1] Houdini and the spiritualists Arhivat în 26 aprilie 2016, la Wayback Machine., Summit Daily News, 3 noiembrie 2007, "Houdini himself wouldn’t have believed in his second coming anyway, because he didn’t believe in spirit manifestations. In fact, he spent much of his life and career debunking spiritualists and mediums — an admirable mission that history and forensic specialists now tell us probably led to his untimely death at the age of 52."

[randi-2] The wizard gets a windfall--even the Amazing Randi needs advice on how to keep his $272,000 prize from vanishing, CNN Money, 1 septembrie 1986, "Randi began his campaign against fakes in earnest in 1964, during a stint as the host of a radio talk show in Manhattan. He had become disturbed by the number of listeners phoning in with such flummery as tales of self-styled clairvoyants' uncannily correct forecasts. Gradually, his work as a debunker began to rival his show-business career, gathering momentum in the early 1970s, when Uri Geller caught Randi's attention."

[pennteller-3] Review/Theater; Penn and Teller Offer Several Variations On a Magic Theme, New York Times, 4 aprilie 1991, "As debunkers, they seek to remove the mystique from magic, to demonstrate the digitation behind the presti."

[klass-4] Pseudoscience, Skepticism To Make A Close Encounter Arhivat în 13 mai 2009, la Wayback Machine., Seattle Times, 12 iunie 1994

[sagan-5] Obituaries; Betty Hill, 85; Claim of Abduction by Aliens Led to Fame, Los Angeles Times, Oct 24, 2004, "Carl Sagan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer, was among the Hills' debunkers, yet he considered their story noteworthy."

[6] Area parents seek answer for Autism, The Times Leader, 1 aprilie 2002, "That is coincidence, said Dr. Stephen Barrett of Allentown, a veteran debunker and operator of Quackwatch.com."

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