Here be Dragons



Here be Dragons is a documentary hosted by Brian Dunning that exposes pseudoscience and encourages critical thinking. The title was chosen since it was a phrase used on old maps and globes to denote that dragons were in unexplored places. Brian argues that people still believe in claims as ridiculous as dragons.

Because the film is intended for a large audience, it doesn't go into religious topics like creationism, but the message of promoting rationality is still there.

The actual movie
Brian Dunning has made the full movie available on YouTube:

Red flags
Red flags are qualities of pseudosciences that indicate that they are bollocks.

Many of them already have articles on this wiki.

Some red flags not referenced in this video are shady announcements (e.g., scientific journal vs. press conference); claims not fitting into reality; trying to give new information; attacking existing, validated ideas; inability to test the claim; being too good to be true; and/or if the spelling and grammar are bad.

Appeal to authority
Appeal to authority is using authority figures to endorse their products, which include celebrities, institutions, guys in white lab coats, or people with PhD's but not in the right field.

Ancient wisdom
Ancient wisdom is using, as products, medicines and other items that people from ancient civilizations used. The problem with this is that the ancients knew much less than we do now, and what they used was probably inferior.

Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is when people remember things that confirm what they believe or want to believe, but forget things that contradict or pose a problem for the belief. This is fairly common in fortune telling and very common with psychics.

Correlation equals causation
Or more generally, Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

Red herrings
Red herrings are distractions from the real question posed by critics used to get away from the legitimate problem with the pseudoscience.

Proof by verbosity
Proof by verbosity is the use of red herrings; and a lot of it. It is laying claims on everything using big words that may or may not be true, but obfuscate the listener.

"Mystical energy"
See the subtopic on Pseudo-scientific use of the term energy.

"All natural"
"All natural" is the idea that foods with the label all natural are healthier. This is not true, and the standards for being all natural are so low that the label is virtually meaningless, not to mention that many things found in nature are deadly.

Why people believe weird things

 * 1) The unexplained is cool
 * 2) Simple answers are seductive
 * 3) Inquisitive nature of people
 * 4) People lack the tools for complicated responses
 * 5) Critical thinking isn't much encouraged by society or our educational system
 * 6) Pop culture