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Skeptic Guy
1st September 2006, 03:40 PM
I am not sure if this is the right forum for this subject. I thought that general skepticism fits...

I was planning to start a thread on this Internet radio show sometime in the near future. However, I just visited the site today and it has gone so far beyond its typical weirdness, I thought I needed to bring it to your attention now.

I would like to introduce you to The Weird and Wacky world of The Edge Radio Broadcast (theedgeam.com)!

Perhaps you already know about the site. I ran across it a couple of years ago (perhaps I found it from one of Randi’s Commentaries pointing out something particularly woo-like) and have been fascinated with it ever since. I mean forget about TAPS, Loose Change, George Noory (in fact he is a guest on tomorrow’s show); they all pale in comparison. The show is hosted by Daniel Ott and his bio states, among other things:

Daniel Ott “America’s Talk Show Host” has been researching political truth, unexplained mysteries, scientific advances and the supernatural for many years. Very studied at his profession, he seeks to enlighten his listeners with the latest scientific developments, exciting interviews, research and caller experiences. Daniel will ask questions no other host could even think of. Enlightening, Entertainment and Controversial.

He claims to ask "penetrating" questions but he has to be the most credulous, uncritical interviewer on the face of the planet. Guests in the past have included hollow earth believers, moon program hoax believers, UFO abductees, demonologists, Planet X “experts”, as well as any other woo-lunatic with a crackpot theory to espouse.

Subjects covered include Illuminati, the New World Order, end-times, angels, devils, they even had breaking news and live updates from an in-progress alien abduction! The common thread that seems to run through it all is religion, which, I suppose, isn’t surprising.

One reason I wanted to post it now is that I discovered that our Loose Change friend, Dylan Avery, was interviewed back in May and he talks about Gravy’s viewing guide and just spouts out the same old tired stuff he always has, but without any questioning from the host

The other reason is that I just find it fascinating. It shows that there is a community of people out there that have created their own version of reality where anything goes. No matter how bizarre the claim, they just slot it into their world as a truth and go about their merry way.

Why does this happen? What is it in their psychological make-up that makes them not only believe the most outlandish stuff, but to feed on it, nurture it and grow it? I would like to hear your opinions.

At the very least, if you need a chuckle, listen to a show. It’s like a satirical comedy show, but their serious.

CLD
1st September 2006, 04:34 PM
He's no worse than Art Bell. Bell's frequent guests were many of the same folks, including *supreme nutjobs* Dr. Ed Dames and Richard Hoagland, both of whom he treated credulously. At least Bell admitted (once or twice) that the premise of his show was pure entertainment.

Skeptic Guy
1st September 2006, 07:06 PM
He's no worse than Art Bell. Bell's frequent guests were many of the same folks, including *supreme nutjobs* Dr. Ed Dames and Richard Hoagland, both of whom he treated credulously. At least Bell admitted (once or twice) that the premise of his show was pure entertainment.

You know there are times when I think I hear a bit of a smile in Ott's voice, but it is usually when he hears some religious view that is so far off in outerspace that even he can't get his arms around it.

If you read the forum at the site, it is incredible how many wackos are out there...and they feed off one another. You might get someone who says something like, "Of course that wasn't a demon!....You have to have the pentagon drawn in human blood in order to call a demon!" "Of course! I forgot! "

Incredible

But I think it runs deeper than that. I think they take comfort in sharing this delusion with each other. The real world is complex, hard, and often times scary. Nothing is going to change that for them because they don't understand the real world well enough, so they create this fantasy world around them that, while maybe no less scary, they control. If there aren't a couple of pieces that don't fit together, they just make one that fits in between. I have heard guests on this show say things as if they are making it up on the fly.

No wonder it's so hard to fight this stuff, they can just make it up but we have to stay within the strictures of science...as expansive as they may be.

CLD
1st September 2006, 08:52 PM
I understand why you are drawn to this phenomenon. I too, wonder about it, and often play amateur sociologist by advancing theories and speculation on why people believe such crazy things (apologies to Shermer). One factor is that our entertainment culture creates misapprehensions, especially among young people. They equate fame with credibility, e.g. the two TAPS plumbers and Einstein are equally respected because they're both famous for discovering stuff and being smart. Furthermore, someone being interviewed on the radio appears credible as well, especially if they have written a book and use scientific sounding language to explain some nutty but attractive nonsense.

As far as guests on the radio shows making stuff up, you bet they do. Time and time again, Ed Dames predicted the end of the world. When the world didn't end on schedule, he merely revised his predictions and added some new twist to draw attention away from his failure. I don't know if Ott does this, but Bell would facilitate these folks by pushing their books and products. There may have even been a percentage commission in it for Bell.

Skeptic Guy
8th January 2007, 11:34 AM
I was away for some time, but The Edge Radio Broadcast is still around and as wacky as ever...

Did you know that the Earth is not rotating? It's True!

A little humor for your day as quoted from The Edge Radio Broadcast.


January 20th, 2007 8:15 PM EST
Marshall Hall
The Earth is Not Spinning

http://theedgeam.com/guests/pics/MarshallHall.gifMarshall Hall is a retired High School teacher and President of The Fair Education Foundation, Inc. Marshall is married to his beloved wife, Bonnie. His organization is committed to discovering TRUTH and exposing deception. Exposing the False Science Idol of Evolutionism, and Proving the Truthfulness of the Bible from Creation to Heaven...Indeed, the diligent listener will be astonished at the level of demonstrable hi-tech fraud, baseless assumptions, occult mathematics, etc.,-- all part of a religious conspiracy -- that has been at work over many centuries implanting the incredible evolution myth about the origin of the Universe, the Earth, and Mankind. This interview will be a "crash course" for people everywhere of all ages who are ready to learn how evolutionary mythology has deceived the world...and what it will mean to every living person when that deception is exposed.

Marshall is the author of several books including:

The Earth Is Not Moving, The Truth About Evolution & 12 other titles.

The Earth is not rotating...nor is it going around the sun.

The universe is not one ten trillionth the size we are told.

Cosmology is an anti-Bible religious plan disguised as "science".

The scheme from Copernicanism to Big Bangism is a factless lie.

Those lies have planted the Truth-killing virus of evolutionism in every aspect of man’s "knowledge" about the Universe, the Earth, and the Creator