Adam Ruins Everything

From RationalWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Our Feature Presentation
Films
Icon film.svg
Starring:
Warning icon orange.svg This page contains too many unsourced statements and needs to be improved.

Adam Ruins Everything could use some help. Please research the article's assertions. Whatever is credible should be sourced, and what is not should be removed.

Adam Ruins Everything is a web-series-turned-tv-show hosted by Adam Conover (1983–) of CollegeHumor, playing himself as an annoying know-it-all who takes people on magical journeys to learn about the irrationality of everyday life.

The setting is arguably something of a parody of old educational specials, with the other characters reacting with appropriate annoyance that Adam is disrupting their daily routines. The show is quite similar to Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, but with broader topics and less profanity.

While Conover has claimed in interviews not to cover political subjects, some of his episodes deal with issues that are rather partisan in the US, such as security theater,[1] the US voting system, and car culture.

Infotainment galore[edit]

Much of what the show presents is scientific, and Conover even cites his sources onscreen.

However, Conover announced at the end of the first episode that the season will cover why attempts to stop climate change are futile.[2] An episode depicting the issues of going green was later released albeit a little over a year after this claim, though.[3] While this isn't true, stopping climate change will take drastically more than what we have in mind.

Not to mention his talks on law enforcement seemed to suggest that DNA evidence is the only scientific means of establishing guilt (it also ignored techniques that can make eyewitness testimony more reliable).[4] In the show's first corrections segment (appearing in "Emily Ruins Adam Ruins Everything") he has, however, also established that DNA testing can also be as subject to human error as other forensic methods.[1]

The show's segment about mammograms contained misleading information.[5][6] The segment accurately acknowledges that a mammogram cannot tell the difference between types of cancers but incorrectly suggests that, because of this, serious treatments are recommended for all types of cancer.[6] This fails to mention that, after a positive result on a mammogram, a doctor will suggest a follow-up biopsy that can help to differentiate between cancer types, determine whether a lesion is benign or malignant and is used to select appropriate treatment. Doctors would not give a positive cancer diagnosis and prescribe treatment because of a mammogram since it is only a screening test.[7]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 See the full episode
  2. Review: TruTV’s ‘Adam Ruins Everything’ Challenges Beliefs About Giving
  3. http://www.trutv.com/shows/adam-ruins-everything/blog/adams-sources/adam-ruins-going-green.html
  4. "Enjoy" the full episode.
  5. Adam Ruins Everything - The Truth about Mammograms (Tease) | truTV truTV. Jul 19, 2017.
  6. 6.0 6.1 The Little Known Truth About Mammograms CollegeHumor. Jul 26, 2017.

    Over-diagnosis can lead to over-treatment. Since mammograms can't tell the difference between these kinds of cancers, we recommend serious treatments for all of them. And that can result in women getting treatments they don't need.

  7. If You’re Called Back After a Mammogram American Cancer Society. Sep 21, 2015.