Gostei bastante do episódio de ontem da série The Big Bang Theory, chamado The Prestidigitation Approximation.
O Howard aprende truques de magia, e mostra ao Sheldon.
Como céptico que é, obviamente que o Sheldon assume que é um truque. Tenta de todas as formas (incluindo detectores de infravermelhos e detectores de radioactividade) compreender como é que o Howard faz o truque… mas não consegue.
O Sheldon fica furioso quando a Penny descobre qual é o truque!
Mas ele nunca descobre…
Lições a retirar em termos de pensamento crítico:
– quando alguém vos diz que consegue fazer coisas mágicas ou paranormais, devem duvidar.
– devem tentar de todas as formas encontrar o “truque”.
– mesmo que não percebam o truque, não quer dizer que as coisas sejam verdadeiras. Podem ser falsas na mesma, mas vocês é que não conseguem perceber qual é o truque.
– neste caso, o Howard estava simplesmente a mentir… e o Sheldon nunca percebeu.
Faz-me lembrar vários prémios, como o prémio de 1 milhão de dólares do James Randi, dados para todos aqueles que provarem que conseguem ter poderes paranormais/pseudos.
Muitos já tentaram, mas nunca passaram sequer da 1ª fase (a mais fácil de todas).
Ao contrário do Sheldon, Randi detecta sempre as mentiras dos pseudos. Mas mesmo que não detectasse, o mais provável era acontecer como neste episódio: Howard mente tão bem, que o Sheldon não detecta… mas é na mesma uma mentira e uma manipulação.
3 comentários
Jesus deve ter tido o mesmo problema que o Stan…
(então e eu e a minha mãe sincronizadas com as sms?? ela a perguntar e eu a responder, ao mesmo tempo, sem qq aviso prévio, hãaaa? explicam isso como?? 😀 😀 comé q agora eu vou dizer às pessoas q não sou bruxa nem adivinha?…)
Author
Esta variação: “Randi worked with performance artist José Alvarez, who posed as a channeller known as “Carlos,” who was presented on Australian TV and soon had a wide following. After this hoax was exposed, the artist was constantly approached by people who believed him to be genuine, even if he told them directly that he was an actor.”
Fez-me lembrar South Park:
http://www.astropt.org/2008/07/27/o-maior-parvalhao-no-universo/
Por mais que o Stan explicasse que não tinha poderes nenhuns e era tudo um truque, as pessoas continuavam a achar que ele falava com mortos
😛
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Stan: Okay, I’m gonna pretend that a dead person is talking to me about you, okay?
Woman 4: Okay.
Stan: Okay, watch, Kyle. Uh, it’s an older man, someone very close to you.
Woman 4: My father?
Stan: Does this month, November, hold a special significance?
Woman 4: [gasps] My birthday’s in November!
Stan: Right, because he’s saying, “Tell her ‘Happy Brithday.’”
Woman 4: Oh my God.
Stan: See, Kyle? I just started with something really vague. I chose an older man because I’m betting that, based on this woman’s age, her father is most likely dead. But if her father wasn’t dead, I could still say it was some other older man.
Man 2: Well then how’d you know her birthday was in November?
Stan: I didn’t. I just asked her if November meant anything. Her father could have died in November, or Thanksgiving could have been really special for them. But I go with the birthday and validate it now, as if I knew, by saying “He wishes you a Happy Birthday.”
Woman 4: [gasps] What else does he say?
Stan: Okay, I’ll just use an old standard. He saying “the money. Stop worrying about the money.”
Woman 4: [gasps] Oh my God! My sister and I have been fighting over his inheritance.
Woman 3: That’s amazing.
Stan: No it isn’t! When a father dies, inheritance is usually an issue, and money is something everyone worries about.
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Stan: Okay, listen to me. Listen very carefully. This is a trick that I am doing. Okay? Watch. All I’m gonna do is say a name that I’m gonna pick at random. Okay? [puts his hand to his temple] They want me to acknowledge Pete, or Peter.
Woman 5: [jumps up] Yes! Yes, my Peter! [begins to sob]
Audience: Wow!! [begins to clap]
Stan: No! Stop clapping! All I did was pick a random name and wait for somebody in the audience to give a response. Now that I see that there’s a lone woman crying, my instinct tells me Peter was her husband. So I say, “Peter was your husband?”
Woman 5: [sobbing] Yes, yes! Yes, my husband Peter!
Audience: Wow!! [begins to clap]
Stan: [getting annoyed] Stop it! I didn’t do anything!
Man 9: [rises and accuses] You knew Peter was dead!
Stan: [reminding] I didn’t start by saying Peter is dead! I started by saying, “They want me to acknowledge Peter.” That could have meant Peter was in the audience or that Peter was somebody’s friend, or Peter had died. I couldn’t be wrong, see? Now, I can look at this woman and see that she’s fairly young, so odds are her husband was fairly young when he died. So I can say something like, “I’m getting that Peter’s death was very untimely”
Woman 6: [sobbing] Yes, it was.
Audience: Wow!! [begins to clap]
Stan: [frustrated]
Esse episódio faz-me lembrar o projecto alfa onde o Randi e dois psíquicos falsos conseguiram enganar uma equipa de cientistas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha
O James Randi é o meu herói, até parece o Pai Natal e tudo 😛