Open Letter...

Open Letter to Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel

To Whom It May Concern:

Even though it's an old story, I see you chose to run your faux documentary on Mermaids, replete with interviews from faux oceanographic scientists, faux CGI representations of evolved-from-Africa mermaid-hominids with a fake "discovery" by children at a beach, and the ubiquitous claims of a "government cover-up." The NOAA made an official statement on its web site the last time this was attempted. The off-hand scripted involvement of children got my attention.

EW: Mermaid hoax drowns Animal Planet's ratings record

Here is a video of a whale sighting I participated in last summer:

Yes, it's amateurish and not shot with CGI as your hominid tribe of mer-men. The jiggles are from my breathless sprinting back and forth to each side of the boat with my mobile phone where the sightings happened. I'm quoting my You Tube page for this blog:

"Sighting 1 of 2 Finback whales, a Minke and an Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola). More videos to follow of 2nd and rest of sightings. All in all, a good day!"

That was FOUR non-mythologized sea creatures. There was no need for fake effects for the thrill of adventure. It was a good day, and a good time enjoyed by all, young and old and a diversity representing many countries that launched into the deep from Nantucket. I assure you, if a mermaid had been sighted off the bow, stern, port or starboard of our boat, there would have been even more excitement, and a lot of interviews by major networks like yourselves.

On other channels, we get schlock, crap, faux news and faux "reality shows," and as a nation we're rapidly losing our grip on critical thinking skills, healthy skepticism, scientific reasoning and the thrill of adventure for young people to seriously think about exploring a career in the sciences. In my opinion, we're just making our young people "good consumers" and not good thinkers or producers. Other nations are not doing this to themselves.

TLC: it stands for "The Learning Channel," yet hosts "Honey-Boo-Boo," and its current lineup is not too far removed. The competition for viewership in the universe of hundreds of options for consumers must be fierce, and I appreciate the struggle for viewership in a sea of options. However, we will not be a functional democracy for much longer if the only thing you can produce does not inform the citizenry, but instead dumbs down our most vulnerable via manipulation - of the very young and the very old - propagates "magical thinking" and its hand-in-hand cousin conspiracy theories.

I grew up watching Mr. Wizard (Bill Nye in the 90's thankfully carried on this tradition); the Apollo Moon Landing;  Marlin Perkins' "Wild Kingdom"; "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" and as a young adult in college, Carl Sagan's "Cosmos." THESE shows of actual events ignited the thrill of discovery in me, as I spent many a Saturday hunched around test tubes, testing electrical circuits, viewing human hairs and amoeba or peering through a refractor telescope. With respect to Cosmos, it spurred me to complete an undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics; it thrills me to go further. Surely your discourse could rise to this level, and elevate rather than insult the intelligence of and debase our nation's youth.

What you practice in these faux schlock-umentaries is frankly on the level of national child abuse. As a former high school math and physics teacher, I formally protest your actions, and ask you to reconsider broadcasting this pseudoscience ever again. I usually reserve these types of posts for Sunday, but it is a new school year, and impressionable minds should be guided in the correct way to view science: as an attempt to get at deeper truths; not propagate fiction.

Both official retractions and apologies are in order if you are mature enough to make them.

For branding yourselves under the name "Discovery Channel," ratings should not be your only criteria. Thank you.