Debunker
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A debunker is an individual who discredits and contradicts claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with skeptical investigation of topics such as U.F.O.s, claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, or pseudoscientific research.
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Etymology
The American Heritage Dictionary traces the passage of the words bunk (noun), debunk (verb) and debunker (noun) into American English in 1923 as a belated outgrowth of "bunkum", of which the first recorded use was in 1828, apparently related to a poorly received "speech for Buncombe" given by North Carolina representative Felix Walker during the 16th United States Congress (1819–1821).
The term debunk originated in a 1923 novel Bunk, by American novelist William Woodward (1874–1950), who used it to mean to "take the bunk out of things."
Often the term "debunkery" is not limited to arguments about scientific validity. It can also be used in a more general sense at attempts to discredit any opposing point of view, such as that of a political opponent.
Notable debunkers
- Harry Houdini debunked spiritualists.
- James Randi has exposed faith healers, psychics and others claiming to have paranormal powers.
- Martin Gardner, mathematics and science writer who has extensively debunked parapsychology.
- Ray Hyman, psychologist known for debunking some parapsychological studies.
- Penn & Teller demystify magic tricks and illusions. They have also debunked many other aspects of popular belief, on their show, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!. They take a similar approach to fields of serious scientific inquiry, such as climate science.
- Philip Klass was a pioneer in the field of skeptical investigation of UFOs.
- Donald Menzel was Philip Klass' predecessor in debunking UFOs.
- Carl Sagan debunked purported close encounters such as the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, and pseudoscience such as Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision.
- Phil Plait debunks astrology and end-of-the-world scenarios.
- Stephen Barrett founded Quackwatch and writes on medical quackery.
Organizations
- Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
- The Skeptics Society
- The MythBusters, a program on the Discovery Channel. Two former special effects technicians, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, use modern technology to test the validity of urban legends.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology debunked the World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories.
- Popular Mechanics has released several publications also debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, in particular those mentioned in Loose Change.
- Snopes debunks or validates urban legends.
- Quackwatch
- SourceWatch
- The website Bad Astronomy, by the American astronomer Phil Plait, debunks astrology and other myths related to the sky.
See also