The Chump Effect – journalists swallow whole any claim made by social scientists

The Chump Effect – the eagerness of laymen and journalists to swallow whole the claims made by social scientists. Entire journalistic enterprises, whole books from cover to cover, would simply collapse into dust if even a smidgen of skepticism were summoned whenever we read that “scientists say” or “a new study finds” or “research shows” or “data suggest.” You can throw “climate science” into that dung pile also.

This post was last modified on January 26, 2021

Bonfire of the Absurdities: After 35 year career writing software for IBM mainframes, am now self-employed contractor thinking of joining a union and striking for higher wages. Cured morbid fear of heights when I learned to look at them as lengths standing on end. Uncompromising in refusal to accept browser cookies. Amateur investor who has accumulated a small fortune in the market after starting out years ago with a large one. For recreation, I run, hike, kayak and play tennis but will not consider synchronized swimming under any circumstances.

View Comments (50)

  • Its like George Carlin said. Nail any 2 things together that have never been nailed together before and some schmuck will buy it!

    • I have a nomination for lead performer at the next WH party.

      Gallagher, and let's give potus and flotus front row seats, and no plastic sheeting cuz it's eco-unfriendly.

  • Reporters ought to be called "Bullshit passers" all they do is pass on whatever the unbelievable bullshit of the day is..If scientists said that the earth is now flat and spins counterclockwise while the sun orbits Obama, I would be willing to bet a paycheck NBC,ABC, and CBS would have that as a lead story and have their "experts" on to explain how we have all been wrong for hundreds of years.

    They don't report the news anymore, they give us their opinions, and tell us what we should believe. State run media, one of the steps to total control of the populace.

    • I actually read an article, ok parts of an article, just the other day that said there is no such thing as free-will, nothing we do is from a conscious decision, but rather has been pre-determined. But the person saying this also claimed he wasn't Calvinist.

      It's gettin' deeper folks, break out the shovels and the hip waders.

    • Or if they were trying to pass Dear Leader Sock Puppet off as actually being a right-leaning moderate.

      Oh wait, they're doing that!

    • Maybe tying them tightly to an equal number of lawyers and tossed into the sea would be a public service?

  • The Chump Effect also explains why physicians are so often (and easily) scammed out of their life savings. The longer one spends in the education system, the more likely they are to accept the word of another "expert", even if the scam is readily apparent to others.

  • And one of the most effective strategies is on your shampoo bottle. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. There is no need, but tt doubled shampoo sales.

  • This is all began with that toothpaste commercial from 40+ years ago that claimed 4 out of 5 dentists recommend their brand. Kind of a "Oh, it's on television so it must be true" mentality.

    • I think you're thinking of the Trident sugar-free gum commercials that said "4 out of 5 dentists reccommend..."

    • No, it was more like 100 years ago, with "Doctors agree, breakfast is the most importanat meal of the day." A very successful campaign to increase bacon sales.

        • If I'm not mistaken, Bernays went to doctor after doctor until he finally found one who would say that it was true and at the time no "research" had been done. To tell the truth, I'm not sure any scientific research on the subject has ever been done.

          • What it comes down to for me is, I don't care what they call it or if it's important or not, just give me bacon!!!

          • It's the fact that we are FREE to eat bacon if we choose, I think. Even those of us who don't eat bacon are on the list for beheading.

          • bacon over a campfire.......... mmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

            lol i'm reminded:

            we camped out at mineral wells state park in Tx.
            the campsites have Iron Rings that surround the campfires, and each ring has a semi-circle removed so water will drain.
            one morn we poured bacon grease into an empty lil ol coffee can and the can ended up inside the fire ring after the fire'd been extinguished. That night we all heard a bangin' and a tappin' but didn't know what was going on, and a quick flashlit perusal of the AO returned negative results and so we eventually went to sleep.

            Next morn after ablutions, it was discovered that a young armadilla had crawled through the semi-circle cut out and found the bacon grease filled lil ol coffee can (it was folger's.) Now the can was just big enough to allow the armadilla tuh snorkle down all the bacon grease, which it did. Unfortunately... what was a snug fit goin' in proved to be impossible to get out, thanks to the overlappin' backards facin scale armor. Poor thang was stuck in that can all night, the bangin and the tappin was it hittin against the fire ring to get out.

            A little shake and it was freed, none the worse for wear, and probably with it's appetite for bacon undiminished. :D

          • I cook my bacon on the gas grill, no splatter all over the kitchen and it doesn't sit in it's own fat while cooking. Comes out nice and crispy every time.

          • technically breakfast is the most important meal, because it literally means breaking the fast.

            I don't know of anyone who would call going even 6 hrs without food a fast. so by the end of 7 to 8 hours, i would imagine that one's body might actually be in need of replenishment. And by that I mean nutritive replenishment.

          • It all has to do with metabolism. While you are sleeping, your body is repairing. It sort of damps down yor metabloism like one would damp down a fire overnight. In the morning, you add kindling, then wood to the fire for it to flare back up, and Breakfast does the same for your metabolism.

      • Recently I attempted to change that phrase to one significantly more plausible; breakfast is the most important meal of the morning, no matter when you wake up.

        I failed to have the sweeping impact desired, but these things can take time!

        • Yeah, it is one of those marketing nonsense things -- translates to "most important to eat when you're awake". I'd like to nominate the folks at the health sanitoriums at Battle Creek at the turn of the last century for a "no shit, Sherlock" award.

    • The brand we laughingly referred to as 'Crust' even had that claim printed on the tube as I recall. Yes indeed, if someone says it on TV it had to be the truth, otherwise the FCC would arrest and prosecute someone.

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