Naked Emperors, Continental Drift, & the North/Shakespeare Discovery

Some notes on the video:

1. For a closer look at the North/Shakespeare parallels stop the video—or click here for a “Big Picture Glimpse” of the parallels—or click here for a more detailed examination of the parallels. Or even better yet, get the book: Thomas North: The Original Author of Shakespeare’s Plays.

2. As prompted by Bob Coyne in the comments section (and Jacob Waller too), I should add: Importantly, over 95% of all conventional wisdom in the hard sciences is obviously correct--especially on the macro level throughout all biology, chemistry, fluid dynamics, geophysics, genetics, meteorology, planetary science, etc. And well over 99% of all individual challengers to scientific orthodoxy today are clearly wrong--and, frequently, barely rational. Thus groupthink helps us to avoid wasting time on what Coyne refers to as "thousands of crackpot theories."

   Indeed, as groupthink is another evolutionary trait--that is, humans are predisposed to accept the beliefs of their tribe--it must confer some evolutionary advantage. And it is not hard to see why. Those who accepted the warnings and advice of elders and tribemates--about, say, which berries are poisonous or which directions are dangerous to travel, etc.--tended to survive and flourish to a greater extent than those who questioned and doubted everything.

3. Some of the maps on the interlocking continents of Pangea are from Kristie McMahon’s wonderful web page, “A Global Puzzle,” on Remote Learning Opportunities.

4. 7:30-7:31: The author of Tristam Shandy was Laurence (not Leonard) Sterne.

5. 5:39: Yes, that’s a joke.

6. Hans Christian Andersen’s story, The Emperor’s New Clothes (1837), was not originally about groupthink. It is based on a 14th-century Spanish collection of fables and stories, which included numerous Persian folktales. In the earlier versions, the thieving weavers claimed the clothes will appear invisible to people who were not the true children of their presumed fathers. Naturally, all the onlookers then claimed they could see the clothes. In Andersen’s telling, he substitutes “foolish” for “illegitimate.” In more modern retellings, the story evolved into a fable about groupthink in which the townspeople are merely going along with the Emperor and the rest of the crowd because they don’t want to stand out.