Why I Hate Criss Angel

I just abandoned watching Discovery Channel's newest travesty - Deception with Keith Barry.
For those of you who haven't seen it, don't. It's precisely the same show that Mindfreak was.
Sure, if you like it for the entertainment, go right ahead.




But I hate it. I hate every show like it. It annoys the shit out of me.
Why? Well, I don't have anything against British people if that's what you're wondering.
I also have nothing against shows that twist science to entertain people. Mythbusters can be a load of fun.

I hate it because they don't announce it properly.
They tell you, incessantly, that the people are not actors.
They do not tell you that these people have been pre-screened - either by direct questioning or indirect observation - usually for hours before the filming occurs. These people are also, quite often, told what is going to happen beforehand.

The concepts that these shows play around with are (usually) quite valid in certain circumstances.
But what the shows do commercializes the science, the psychology - it belittles people who make their careers in those fields. It also, most importantly, validates every skeptic on the planet and takes away whatever respect people may have for people like hypnotists and cognitive psychologists, to name a few.

The argument I hear a lot is that any attention is good, that these kinds of psychology and science -need- the attention that these shows give them.

I'm not arguing with that, I don't mind the advertisement.
What I mind is the blatant deception involved in selling the show. It doesn't alter the entertainment value in the slightest to tell the damn truth about what is being done on these shows.
It also means that people like me don't have to spend the whole time backpedaling and explaining what is actually happening, to prevent stupid obsessions from forming in the minds of our friends.

Tell you what, pay really close attention to one of those shows next time you see it - be it Mindfreak or whatever the hell comes out next.
If you're watching closely, note the either lack of surprise or completely fake surprise on the subjects' faces when they are shown what happened "while they were out."
They are lying. That's the danger of not using actors - normal people don't know how to hide the tells.

Fuck deception and all the salesmanship plaguing legitimate science. If you want "the truth" about something that interests you, look it up - don't let some half-wit hack sell you on their ideas about it.

-C