Quote:
Originally Posted by jjjnettie
That's nice.
But I don't consider my friends 10yr old son "stupid" for getting worried about what he saw on YouTube. Kids his age tend to believe anything they see on the Internet. The fact that he rang me up to ask if it was true, to me is a sign of his intelligence.
I'm guessing you don't do much Astronomy Outreach.
I'm fortunate enough to be able to do so on quite a large scale. I get a lot of personal satisfaction from doing it.
This year there are going to be more and more people looking for the truth behind these hoaxes.
I find that people are more willing to ask questions if you don't make them feel that they are stupid for asking them.
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I totally agree JJ.
It is quite negative of Jason and Dino to have that attitude.
As I am the contact 'by phone' for the SVAA I get quite a few calls about 'end-of-times' reports that the irresponsible media and conspiracy groups scare people with.
I believe it is very responsible of misled people to call someone to double check instead of running around telling everyone else that the world is going to blow up.
I was quite happy that the 8 year old's dad cared enough about his son to check, and put his very scared son at ease.
I don't mind the approx 50 calls I get every time the story goes around that Mars will appear as big as the Moon.
I don't mind when I get calls and visitors asking if the Asteroid is really going to hit the Earth.
They are great opportunites to Outreach Astronomy.
It also shows that people want to know about 'out there'.
Stupid? No, they are the smart ones.
It would be nice if far more people would question these false predictions. Then the Predictors may have to be more accountable for their claims. Not just blindly believed by the masses.