Bullshit!
For Kyle’s past two birthdays, I have given him the DVDs of Penn and Teller’s Bullshit!, seasons 1 and 2, respectively. If you haven’t seen the show, here’s the official synopsis on the Showtime web site. And if you haven’t heard of Penn and Teller, here’s a link to their official web site. Basically, they are a team of magicians – exceptionally talented and hilariously funny – who are also skeptics and have branched off into the arenas of debunking and mythbusting.
Topics from Season 1 include Feng Shui, alien abductions, and environmental hysteria. Topics from Season 2 include PETA, recycling, and the war on drugs. Topics from Season 3 (not yet on DVD) include circumcision, endangered species, and family values. From the broad range of topics listed here (and this is only a small sampling of all the topics they have covered), it’s apparent that Penn and Teller don’t fall squarely on one side of the political spectrum. They are equal opportunity critics, not constrained by personal politics. Their objectivity in the range of topics that they pursue, along with the extensive expert research conducted in each investigation, lends a great deal of credibility to the conclusions that they reach. Viewers may disagree with these conclusions on an emotional level, but it’s nearly impossible to dispute the research upon which the conclusions are based.
Unfortunately, we can’t yet watch the episodes in front of the girls. There’s a shitload of profanity (Penn gets really worked up and F-bombs rain down), and some brief nudity. But we agree that the girls SHOULD watch Bullshit! when they are teenagers, with plenty of reruns while they are in college. Critical thinking is one of those essential life skills that seems to have gone by the wayside in favor of emotion and rhetoric. Even if the girls disagree with the conclusions in Bullshit!, or if their political or religious beliefs differ from ours, it’s important that they arrive at those conclusions and beliefs via a process of reasoning. I would hope that they would employ the scientific method and not be swayed by mere propaganda. And if all else fails, and they insist on falling prey to emotion and rhetoric, at least they will be able to be honest about it.
November 26th, 2005 at 12:10 pm
Hmm, I’ll have to look for that one in order to watch it. Sounds totally different from what I’d expected it would be.
The only time I’ve really seen Penn and Teller is when I saw one of them (the tall one — can’t keep them straight) on the street in NYC. Julie, I bet this wouldn’t be a big deal to you since you probably saw celebs all the time there, but I was in high school and it was my first in-person celebrity sighting.
Also, didn’t he name his child Moxie Crimefighter? Poor girl.
November 26th, 2005 at 3:39 pm
I love Penn and Teller. I have not seen the show, but I will check it out. Is it still on Showtime or can you only watch it on DVD?
November 26th, 2005 at 3:53 pm
I love those guys but could never get into this show. Although they had a special on NBC recently where they showed you how they did their tricks, and that was good although I suspect the secret magician’s union is pissed off.
November 26th, 2005 at 9:53 pm
OK, I added it to my Netflix queue… but I am concerned they will squash my vim and vigor for environmental causes and second hand smoke.
November 27th, 2005 at 12:42 pm
This show sounds like a hoot. I am going to see if I can find some torrents of it. Thanks for the tip!
November 30th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
I love Penn and Teller.
Have you ever read Michael Shermer’s “Why People Believe Weird Things”? Penn and Teller wrote an endorsement on the back cover, which is part of the reason I picked it up. It’s a great argument for skepticism, written by the director of the Skeptics Society. And it’s a fun read.