Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
-
Skepticality
-
browse past episodes
-
MonsterTalk
-
browse past episodes
-
other skeptical podcasts
Episode Notes for
Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum!
The Cardiff Giant, one of the most celebrated hoaxes in American history, on display at the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown, NY.
(Photo by John and Keturah. Used under a Creative Commons license.)
There were Giants in the earth
in those days… —Genesis 6:1
Giants appear in cultures around the world: Biblical tales of giants more than ten feet tall; Roman and Greek stories of titans and heroes; European stories of giants of mountain and hill. They all have one thing in common: enormous monsters.
On this episode of MonsterTalk we chat with archeologist Dr. Ken Feder about giants, biblical archeology — and one of the biggest hoaxes in American history.
In this episode
- The bible has stories of races of giants (but also people who lived to be several hundred years old!); Is there any reason to think that people who lived in ancient times were any larger than modern man?
- Are humans generally growing shorter or taller over milliennia?
- Why do ancient cultures postulate giants?
- What evidence would we expect to see if such creatures existed?
- From a physiological point of view, what are the advantages and detriments to gigantism?
- Gigantism often is implicit in the term “monster,” — almost all monsters are large (Bigfoot, Nessie, etc.) — you don’t really hear about many “monsters” that are only a few feet tall; what do you see as the link between gigantism and monsters?
- One of the most famous hoaxes in American history is The Cardiff Giant. Can you give us an overview of that?
- Were most scientists fooled by the giant?
- Why were so many people treating the Biblical giant-tales as literal truth?
- Are there other examples where people have misinterpreted archeological data to infer that it implied Giants?
- Does giant architecture imply giant builders?
Interesting links
A site that seems to promote credulous acceptance of retouched photographic evidence.
Music
- Opening Music: Battle of the Stone Giants by Dragon Ritual Drummers
- Monstertalk Theme: Monster by Peach Stealing Monkeys
The views expressed on this program are not necessarily the views of the Skeptics Society or Skeptic magazine.
search
Help the
Skeptics Society
at no cost to you!
Planning on shopping at Amazon.com? Start your shopping by clicking the button below, and the Skeptics Society will receive a commission. Your prices for all Amazon products will remain exactly the same, yet you’ll provide essential financial support for the work of the nonprofit Skeptics Society.
See our affiliate links page for Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and iTunes links.
get eSkeptic
our free newsletter
Free science articles delivered to your inbox once a week.
eSkeptic is our free email newsletter. Delivered once a week to your inbox, you will receive fascinating & provocative articles, event announcements, podcasts, book reviews, and timely updates from Skeptic.
FREE PDF Download
Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)
This concise pamphlet provides answers to common objections to evolution, such as: If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans?; Only an intelligent designer could have made something as complex as an eye; The second law of thermo-dynamics proves that evolution is impossible; Evolution can’t account for morality; and more…
FREE PDF Download
Top 10 Things You Should Know About Alternative Medicine
Harriet Hall, MD (aka the SkepDoc), shares her wit and wisdom about alternative medicine including: chiropractic, the placebo effect, homeopathy, acupuncture, and the questionable benefits of organic food, detoxification, and ‘natural’ remedies.
FREE PDF Download
Learn to be a Psychic in 10
Easy Lessons
Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation. While some psychics are known to cheat and acquire information ahead of time, these ten tips focus on what is known as “cold reading” — reading someone “cold” without any prior knowledge about them.