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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Thanks for this, Jonah. It's unfortunate that a "neutral" position on this
is felt necessary to, I'm assuming, avoid controversy. I'm trying to think
of what other reason there could be - to boost attendence? profit?! Because
someone in power at the museum happens to believe in Bigfoot? It would be a
great opportunity to talk about evolution and our understanding of science,
evidence, and so on, to distinguish between science and pseudoscience and I
doubt this would hurt attendence or profit. I always find the "FACT OR
FICTION?" banners far more intriguing than just the exhibit title.

Kids are going to enjoy this exhibit, I'm sure. But it truly concerns me
what it will do to their understanding of the world if they aren't presented
with the skeptical perspective. The Patterson film has been shown to be a
fake. The exhibit could easily present clips of the film as photos around
the television, showing clues that "detectives" used to "solve the mystery."

My idea of an exhibit of this sort would be not to force a skeptical
conclusion on the attendees but to at least present *all* the information we
have on the subject, or at least all sides. If museum personnel are
considering the idea that children and other attendees should be able to
make up their own minds about the validity of bigfoot claims, great, but
they should definitely show some factual evidence against the claims - faked
footprints, lack of physical evidence, our understanding of genetics, etc.

Perhaps this has something to do with Jane Goodall's support of Bigfoot
claims!?

At our new camp program this year we will be doing plaster casts that
resemble the many casts that are out there claimed to be the real thing.
We're going to show how footprints can grow in moist soil, how natural
markings / depressions in the soil can resemble a footprint or be
interpreted as such, and so on. We have a few of the "real" footprints
and... we have a large poster of a print made that was actually claimed to
be Bigfoot's bum. (I find this hilarious and I think the kids will love
looking at the print and comparing / contrasting it with what they know
about bums.)

In my experiences, yes, kids *love* paranormal subjects but even more, they
love to apply skepticism and discover, if possible, why these claims are
fiction, rather than fact.

There are so many wonderful possibilities for exhibiting pseudoscience and
the paranormal from a scientific, skeptical perspective. We keep thinking
about going after grants to develop the exhibits but right now we lack the
knowledge and people power to do so.

As an aside, when I hear the phrase "different ways of knowing" I think of
political correctness. Though I agree that art and philosophy afford us
different perspectives on thinking and add great value to our lives, I don't
think they are comparable to the knowledge we have built based on science
and I think it just serves to confuse the issue by claiming these are all,
equal ways, of attaining knowledge about our world.

Amanda

***
Amanda Chesworth, Educational Director
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
www.csicop.org
Inquiring Minds Program
www.inquiringminds.org
Skeptical Inquirer Magazine
www.skepticalinquirer.org
Skeptiseum
www.skeptiseum.org
Skeptic's Toolbox
www.skepticstoolbox.org




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jonah Cohen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 5:49 PM
Subject: Bigfoot


> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
>
****************************************************************************
*
>
> Not to get too controversial (he said, as he was about to get flamed)...
but
> whenever I hear the phrase "different ways of knowing" bandied about, I
get
> nervous. I worry that's it code for "I will accept absolutely any idea,
even
> if it's complete nonsense."
>
> Why? Well, check out this item from the AP...
>
> Jonah Cohen
> Outreach & Public Programs Manager
> The Children's Museum (formerly the Science Center of Connecticut)
>
>
> Bigfoot is bigger than life at Idaho museum
>
> POCATELLO, Idaho - The director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History
says
> it won't matter whether Bigfoot is farce or fact when a new exhibit opens
> Friday.
>
> Linda Deck, who is also curator of the Bigfoot exhibit, said the museum is
> taking a neutral position and simply displaying artifacts that involve the
> legendary creature that some say lives secretly in the Northwest.
>
> "As human beings we make sense of our world in a variety of different
ways,"
> Deck told the Idaho State Journal. "We've got our myths, legends and
beliefs
> and a very scientific way of knowing about our world, too, where we make
> hypotheses and test things and learn and change what we think."
>
> But for Bigfoot believers, it could be a treasure trove.
>
> Included in the exhibit is the Patterson-Gimlin film that shows a large
> creature striding away before turning and looking directly at the camera.
>
> In the clip the creature steps on a branch. That branch is included in the
> exhibit. The branch was used to calculate the creature's height at
6-foot-6
> (2 meters), said Dave Mead, exhibits director at the museum.
>
> Also on display is a flannel jacket worn by the late Rene Dahinden, who
> spent 40 years in search of Bigfoot. He wore the jacket during a series of
> commercials for Kokanee beer.
>
> Other objects in the exhibit include American Indian depictions of
Bigfoot,
> a stick thought to have been twisted by one of the creatures, art and
> sculptures of Bigfoot, hair samples said to be from a Bigfoot, a cast of
an
> impression said to be of a Bigfoot's elbow, and other evidence gathered by
> people involved in the search for Bigfoot.
>
> Jeff Meldrum, an anatomy professor at Idaho State University and a local
> Bigfoot expert, said the exhibit will give visitors a new way to consider
> the subject.
>
> "I think the (museum's) approach is a very thought-provoking one that
> recognizes there are a variety of dimensions to the experience of
Bigfoot,"
> Meldrum said. "The exhibit attempts to use the topic of Bigfoot as a
> springboard to analyze different ways of knowing. A variety of those
things
> intersect with the subject matter at hand."
>
> Mead said he expects the Bigfoot exhibit to rival an exhibit the museum
had
> 15 years ago that featured automated dinosaurs.
>
> "Bigfoot is along the same lines of attraction," said Mead. "He's
mysterious
> and big."
>
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