Decoding the Past

Summary:

History Channel Series

Decoding the Past

mike1986 16 Nov 2010 04:18

Now i don't plan on watching it but i'm curious if anyone's seen The History Channel Decoding the Past The Mayan Doomsday Prophecy. It's on some time late tonight which is an interesting thin to put on late at night. I know that 2012 is garbage but this show started airing in 2006 which is about the first time i started hearing about this 2012 stuff.

Re: Decoding the Past

Astrogeek 16 Nov 2010 04:31

The History Channel has about 7 of these shows running.

They are all essentially the same show: ask lots of open-ended rhetorical and leading questions, have a token scientist introduce a topic, cut over to the "independent researcher/author" type to "explain" it, and never, ever, utter a skeptical word.

Don't bother watching it.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Decoding the Past

mike1986 16 Nov 2010 04:48

My question is i wonder if anyone at History Channel LLC actually believes in this crap it would seem kind of silly for them to air these shows for the last 2-4 years if no one actually believed it although they're also doing it for ratings which in TV equals big money.

Re: Decoding the Past

Astrogeek 16 Nov 2010 04:51

My guess is "probably not". They are going for ratings and viewers, plain and simple. Big splashy disaster shows get watched. Shows where you say "No, not a lot is going to happen" don't get watched. Guess which ones they air?

The only show that I know of that has hit a good model for debunking is Mythbusters… and only because they blow stuff up.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Decoding the Past

emmylou 16 Nov 2010 04:33

Sounds like a good Doc………I ain't seen it though…..

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Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Albert Einstein

Re: Decoding the Past

mike1986 16 Nov 2010 04:49

I actually watched the Decoding the Past documentary on Cults this weekend and it was pretty good.

JustAKid (guest) 16 Nov 2010 04:23

i'm not gonna watch it. i have enough anxiety over this. it comes on at 12:00 am EST

Moo (guest) 16 Nov 2010 05:35

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3895341627365179412# <—- This thing? Let me know if it's this, cause if it is… it's so full of crap.

I mean, it strikes out three times.

1) There is no Maya Prophecy.

2) The I Ching does not give prophecies.

3) Web.Bot doesn't give prophecies.

and I think it mentions everyone's favorite prophet, Nostradamus. That's ANOTHER strike if so.

Anyway, if that's the thing (which IIRC it is), feel free to watch it and get a good laugh.

mike1986 16 Nov 2010 13:31

Nope that's Nostradomis 2012 which i've talked about on here on the past as i've seen it and i think that one started airing within the last two years. I wonder if the History Channel realizes their the main media outlet for a lot of this 2012 garbage.

snorks 16 Nov 2010 16:44

The I-Ching is used to divine the future. The one reading the I-Ching is doing the forecasting. And like all divinations is subject to interpretation by the diviner. It seems soo woo woo to the outside observer - oh this really esoteric Chinese thingie predicted the future and it's bad. However, like all divination systems, it is cultural specific.

mike1986 18 Nov 2010 19:50

There is also no Hopi Prophecy fortelling the end of the world as a matter of fact oddly enough as much as i hate to bring up the Bible the Many shall run to and frow prophecy is Bible Prophecy and nothing from the Hopi as a matter of fact the full prophecy is Many shall run to and frow and knowledge will be increased. The Olibet Prophecy.

Moo (guest) 16 Nov 2010 05:44

Eh fuggit, I'll explain it since I have seen it. IN NUMBERS!

1) Astrogeek was right. Yes, it's largely all Pro-2012 and no skeptical views what so ever.

2) They pretty much lie out of their teeth left and right. About the Maya, the Hopi, the I Ching, and anything else you can see on the sidebar to your left.

3) The cutest part is, at the very end of the program, they cover their butts a bit. They mention along the lines "And every time it has been foretold the end of the world was near, they've been wrong."

So basically you waste an hour of your life watching one-sided crap, only for the program to go "well this is probably BS but hey we got your view minutes already BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

TL;DR It sucked.

bikenbeer2000 16 Nov 2010 12:15

With reference to your note 3, they start with a flat contradiction of what they say at the end:
"History shows a surprisingly good track record for those who say doomsday is almost here."
Err… pardon? A success rate of precisely zero is "a surprisingly good track record"?
I wonder if the scriptwriter would put money on a horse which has finished last in every race it has ever run. After all, it must have "a surprisingly good track record."
You don't need to be any sort of expert to see straight through this kind of tripe.

Last edited on 16 Nov 2010 12:18 by bikenbeer2000 Show more

mike1986 16 Nov 2010 13:38

Wait they actually say that History has a good record for those predicting doomsday Um what's that record their always freaking wrong that's why we're still here. I hate you History Channel.

Marko S 16 Nov 2010 15:45

"History shows a surprisingly good track record for those who say doomsday is almost here."

This sentence doesn't even make sense. What does that even mean?

How about this? History shows a surprisingly good track record for those who say leprechauns exist.

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One's convictions should be proportional to one's evidence. - Sam Harris

snorks 16 Nov 2010 16:36

Actually history does not have a good track record for doomsday. If you study 'end days', you will find all sorts of failed doomsday predictions. Millerists thought the world would end in the 1840s. The Russian Orthodox Church in 1492. We are still here. For those who say it does, are cherry picking their favourite ones.