I have decided to do my Be a Skeptic on Penn and Teller. I actually really enjoy this show, I like that Penn has no holds barred on what he says and I am a huge fan of his because he is currently in Celebrity Apprentice and my dad actually helped him when he was building his house in Las Vegas. I remember a long time ago that Penn and Teller used to debunk and basically show you how all their magic tricks were done and that it wasn't real and we shouldn't believe in the bullshit when it was all an optical illusion.
The aim and purpose of the show is exactly what you said "Critical thinking" it is amazing what bullshit is out there if you would just take the time and actually understand what it is that you are reading and comprehend. Most people in society today just accept what someone says as fact, such as organic food tastes much better, when in this show they tested this theory and made people eat the same exact non organic food with blindfolds on, told them that one was organic and made them pick which one was organic, and the truth was, they were both non-organic, and I believe he told the people and they were shocked and felt stupid. I honestly do believe if you take some of these things that society is just automatically accepting as truth and do simple tests like these you can debunk alot of stuff. Im glad there is a show like Penn and Teller because they aren't going to sugarcoat anything or how they feel.
Penn and Teller go after a wide variety of topics, including; psychics, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, organic food, the bible, vaccinations, etc...They go after each topic first discussing what exactly the topic is, and what the beliefs are of a certain topic, the one I am currently watching is about the Bible. They tell you a very general overview of the bible and that people just take it as fact when it is actually alot of fiction, and he says that he is going to go through and debunk tons of stuff in the bible, so he states the problem and then what he is going to do and how he is going to back up his claim that it is fiction.
In this episode, the first thing that he does is have a camera crew go out on Hollywood Boulevard and ask people if they think that the bible is factual or not, and some people actually believe that it is complete fact, not saying that they aren't correct or anything, but I do find it funny that he is asking people on Hollywood Boulevard which is full of crazy people haha, so he can probably get alot of interesting responses based on the places he interviews people.
The next thing he does is bring in "experts" people that are history and archaeology professors to give their take on if they think the bible is fact or fiction, and the consensus so far is that the stories in the bible don't match up to historical documents. One thing I did find interesting was that on some of the concepts, the two "experts" has opposing theories on certain things, which showed you both sides of the spectrum, therefore you can choose which one you personally believed more and you aren't just lead around to believe in one certain thing like a blind man.
They definitely do all this debunking in an extremely funny and interesting manner, which is probably to keep the audiences attention. The next thing they did was use something modern, such as the Elvis conspiracy that he isn't really dead and that he had his own recipe for fried chicken that, is completely different in two books, and they ask how screwed up would this recipe get in 2000 years comparing it to the bible. Throughout the entire episode he keeps throwing up one liners about Elvis which was pretty funny.
Penn also tells you to get your OWN bible out, so that you know they arent making this shit up and to read along with them, this definitely gives you a sense of them knowing what they are talking about, and also that they believe in themselves enough to get you, the viewer, actively involved.
The rest of the episode is them breaking down certain stories in the bible such as noah,moses and the red sea, jesus, etcc..at the end of the episode Penn tells you to not just take their word for it, and for you to actually go out and read the bible yourself and get your own take on it, I think that is a very classy ending and doesnt just make it seem like their opinion is the only right one.
Bible Episode
Penn and Teller Bullshit!
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