ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Comic Stephen Colbert pioneered the word "truthiness" - his take on how
media pundits usually view the world - the idea that facts are
irrelevant, if something feels correct, it must be correct. Colbert just
won an award for his website... and elsewhere on the web, the concept of
truthiness is alive and well, and proving to be a pain for some ASTC
Museums.
 
One source of nonsense is a surprising one: skeptic James Randi, a guy
who should certainly know better. In the May 2nd edition of his online
commentary, Swift
(http://www.randi.org/joom/swift/swift/swift-may-2-2008.html), he prints
a letter from someone calling himself "Hank Hammer", in regards to
creationists running "tours" at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
These "tours", of course, are excuses for the creationists to
indoctinate kids in the idea that evolution is an evil lie etc. Mr.
Hammer claims to have written DMNS about this in complaint, and he
writes as though these tours are done by museum employees (which, of
course, they are not). This shows a lack of intelligence on Hammer's
part, especially since the video of the creationist tours
(<http://www.glumbert.com/media/ruinmuseum>) ran in an earlier edition
of Swift, and it clearly states that the tourguides are not museum
employees.
 
But Randi prints Hammer's complaint as though it really was DMNS pushing
the creationist agenda, and Randi personally adds "The Denver Museum
seems to specialize in remaining ignorant."
 
A few commentors at the column's end slammed Randi for this, and he
later added this: "But that may be too harsh a judgment; next week we'll
hear from a fan who explains the reasons behind the museum's stance..."
So we'll see on 5/9 if Randi will man up and admit his mistake. [This
item is in the section called "Another devastating video", after an
unrelated matter, but another Randi also prints another reader's
comments that are a textbook example of how NOT to deal with
creationists; said reader equates Christianity with child abuse, which
is both untrue, and is unlikely to help the cause of science education.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good outraged rant, eh Randi?]
 
And on a lighter note, my own museum was also on the receiving end of
cyber foolishness. As some of you may know, our museum is best
recognized for Conny, a life-sized replica of Connecticut's state animal
(the sperm whale) that sits in front of our entrance. Some time back, a
16 year old girl, heard, somewhere somehow, that Conny was going to be
torn down. This upset her, as - like many Connecticut residents - she
has fond memories of Conny. She could have called us and found out that
there are no plans to remove Conny, he's as safe as a concrete/steel
model can be, but she never quite got around to it.
 
She did, however, get around to creating a Facebook group declaring:
"they are TEARING DOWN THE WHALE!!!...please help me find a way to stop
this disaster!!!!!!" At last count, more than 2,400 people have joined
this group. And - it must be a slow news day - this misunderstanding was
the front page, above the fold headline in this morning's Hartford
Courant. (Story here:
<http://www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-conny0506.artmay06,0,41993
5.story>) 
 
I don't know what to make of all this, except that I hope the Facebook
recollections of Conny aren't the same as the very-non-G-rated ones that
people constantly share with me.
 
Jonah Cohen
Outreach and Public Programs Manager
The Children's Museum
 
"Science is like a two-headed monster. The first head is good. It brings
us aspirin and other modern conveniences. But the other head is bad.
Beware the second head of science, Arthur! It bites!"
         -The Tick
 

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