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rsl12 · 05-08-2003, 06:12 AM

there are *plenty* of reasons you should not believe this story.

#1. Very general references in terms of people involved, locations, dates, etc. This whole thing happened "sometime in the 60s" in a "northeastern city." When you hear a story with these kinds of facts, get very suspicious. Particularly since police were supposedly involved, you should have much more concrete facts--the investigation started in 1963 and John Smith of the Boston Police were spearheading the investigation. The only real specific fact that the story gives out is that it relates to the Brunswick TV company. I searched the internet quickly--there is a company called Brunswick Radio and Television that manufactured TVs up to 1956. Since the story purportedly happened in the 1960s, this doesn't make too much sense.

#2. Science is described in "star trek" terms. To quote: "magnetic ions emitted into the atmosphere in a certain manner could affect the brain’s hypothalamus." No mention of what kinds of ions we're talking about, what that "certain manner" is by which the ions would need to be emitted, and why these 'magnetic ions' would affect the hypothalamus and nothing else, and also why the hypothalamus, which regulates 'fight or flight' hormones, would have anything to do with pursuading someone to buy anything.

#3. Anachronism. Somehow, back in the 60s, these TVs were able to tell when a commercial was playing and when it wasn't! If my memory serves me correctly, the first patent of such a device that could tell a commercial from a non-commercial was less than 10 years ago, and it was used in VCRs so that, when you recorded shows, you wouldn't have to sit through all the commercials. If such a valuable piece of technology had been invented 40 years ago, don't you think someone would have tried to make money off of it?

#4. Holes in the plot. So the scientists "secretly sold" a bunch of these experimental TVs to a single city. Does this sound scientific in the slightest? How would they get data regarding who had the TVs, what they were watching, and how much of what they were buying?

#5. Lack of stories on Internet. This story is *too* juicy. If it were true, it would definitely be on the internet somewhere. Particularly since it's talking about something that happened 40 years ago! I could not find it all, leading me to speculate that this is a very very new urban legend.

05-08-2003, 06:12 AM	#13 (permalink)
rsl12 On the lam Location: northern va	there are plenty of reasons you should not believe this story. #1. Very general references in terms of people involved, locations, dates, etc. This whole thing happened "sometime in the 60s" in a "northeastern city." When you hear a story with these kinds of facts, get very suspicious. Particularly since police were supposedly involved, you should have much more concrete facts--the investigation started in 1963 and John Smith of the Boston Police were spearheading the investigation. The only real specific fact that the story gives out is that it relates to the Brunswick TV company. I searched the internet quickly--there is a company called Brunswick Radio and Television that manufactured TVs up to 1956. Since the story purportedly happened in the 1960s, this doesn't make too much sense. #2. Science is described in "star trek" terms. To quote: "magnetic ions emitted into the atmosphere in a certain manner could affect the brain’s hypothalamus." No mention of what kinds of ions we're talking about, what that "certain manner" is by which the ions would need to be emitted, and why these 'magnetic ions' would affect the hypothalamus and nothing else, and also why the hypothalamus, which regulates 'fight or flight' hormones, would have anything to do with pursuading someone to buy anything. #3. Anachronism. Somehow, back in the 60s, these TVs were able to tell when a commercial was playing and when it wasn't! If my memory serves me correctly, the first patent of such a device that could tell a commercial from a non-commercial was less than 10 years ago, and it was used in VCRs so that, when you recorded shows, you wouldn't have to sit through all the commercials. If such a valuable piece of technology had been invented 40 years ago, don't you think someone would have tried to make money off of it? #4. Holes in the plot. So the scientists "secretly sold" a bunch of these experimental TVs to a single city. Does this sound scientific in the slightest? How would they get data regarding who had the TVs, what they were watching, and how much of what they were buying? #5. Lack of stories on Internet. This story is too juicy. If it were true, it would definitely be on the internet somewhere. Particularly since it's talking about something that happened 40 years ago! I could not find it all, leading me to speculate that this is a very very new urban legend. __________________ oh baby oh baby, i like gravy. Last edited by rsl12; 05-08-2003 at 06:14 AM..