Modern Myth and the New Skepticism (WisCon 31 panel)
Science and Technology•Conference Room 5• Saturday, 10:00-11:15 a.m.
The show Mythbusters, with its experiments that, while flashy, adhere to scientific methods, has reawakened a wider and more mainstream interest in science than has been true for a number of years. Is this a crafty and sagacious way to hook the masses into using their brains, or does it dumb down science to a race to see who can create the biggest explosions? Does it really lead its watchers in the direction of questioning “accepted wisdom”, or are they all just secretly living out adolescent fantasies of blowing things up? Or is the real answer “all of the above”?
M: Hilary Moon Murphy, Richard Butner, Deborah S. Franklin, Allan Moore