SGU Episode 666

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SGU Episode 666
April 14th 2018
666, the so-called "number of the beast"
SGU 665                      SGU 667
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
There is no such thing as the devil, just as there is no such thing as fairies, imps, or goblins. The two largest religions in the world — Christianity and Islam — teach that there is a devil. And they are wrong. There is no evidence for such a thing. Not a shred. It is simply something that germinated from the unscientific, irrational minds of early humans who tried their best to explain why bad things happen to good people, why good people sometimes do bad things, and why there is so much needless suffering in the world.
Phil Zuckerman, professor of sociology of substantial secularity
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Number of the Beast

Creepy, "evil" voice-over: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality. Ah ha ha ha ha ha haa...

What's the Word? (1:56)

• Demon

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

(laughs) (laughter) (applause) [inaudible]

History of 666 (7:28)

• Who 666 Might Have Actually Stood For

Buzz Aldrin and Aliens (19:49)

• The Story Claiming Buzz Aldrin Saw Aliens in Space Is Utter Nonsense

AI, Good and Evil (29:37)

• We can train AI to identify good and evil, and then use it to teach us morality

The Business of Exorcism (41:39)

• Vatican to hold exorcist training course after 'rise in possessions'

The Power of Satan (47:00)

• The Psychological Power of Satan

Special Who's That Noisy? (1:03:29)

J: ... If you think you know the answer, you can email me the regular way. Here is this week's Noisy.

[super fast speech with bell chiming in the background]

That was made evil for you, Bob.

B: It's rats fleeing a church!

(Rogues laugh.)

C: That's really funny!

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups (1:05:27)

_consider_using_block_quotes_for_emails_read_aloud_in_this_segment_
with_reduced_spacing_for_long_chunks –

Email #1: Acidic vs Alkiline diet

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Science or Fiction (1:10:45)

Theme: Serial killers Item #1: Dr. Harold Shipman killed 250 people, forged their wills to inherit their money, and had their bodies cremated to hide the evidence. Item #2: Pedro Lopez was convicted of murdering over 300 girls after a flash flood uncovered a mass grave of his victims. Item #3: Robert Ressler was a police officer who confessed to the rape and murder of 61 prostitutes he had previously arrested.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Police officer rapist
Science	Forged wills, cremations
Science	Flash flood → mass grave

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Bob	Forged wills, cremations
Cara	Police officer rapist
Evan	Police officer rapist
Jay	Police officer rapist

Voice-over: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:29:05)

There is no such thing as the devil, just as there is no such thing as fairies, imps, or goblins. The two largest religions in the world — Christianity and Islam — teach that there is a devil. And they are wrong. There is no evidence for such a thing. Not a shred. It is simply something that germinated from the unscientific, irrational minds of early humans who tried their best to explain why bad things happen to good people, why good people sometimes do bad things, and why there is so much needless suffering in the world.  – Phil Zuckerman (1969-present), American professor of sociology of substantial secularity

Signoff/Announcements (1:29:58)

S: —and until next week, this is your Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

S: Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information, visit us at theskepticsguide.org. Send your questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. And, if you would like to support the show and all the work that we do, go to patreon.com/SkepticsGuide and consider becoming a patron and becoming part of the SGU community. Our listeners and supporters are what make SGU possible.

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Today I Learned

• Fact/Description, possibly with an article reference
• Fact/Description
• Fact/Description

References

Vocabulary