Assignment 1

1. An example of an interesting hoax was a story I remember hearing about in the UK where a woman discovered that her ‘boyfriend’ of two years was actually a woman: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11851589/Woman-discovers-boyfriend-of-two-years-is-woman-when-she-removes-blindfold-during-sex.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.   The nature of the trick was that the accused, Gayle Newland, successfully mislead her ‘friend’ - the complainant - into believing that she was a man called Kye Fortune. ‘Kye Fortune’ then proceeded to have sexual relations with the friend under the pretense of wearing a prosthetic penis and all the while the friend thought it was a real man because she was persuaded to wear a blindfold during the sessions. It was deceit of the highest and most tragic kind.  The hoax was eventually debunked when, during one sexual encounter, the complainant felt that something wasn’t right. She removed the blindfold to find her friend Gayle Newland standing there.  If this was me I don’t think I would ever have fallen for a trick so ludicrous and outrageous in its narrative. I simply cannot believe that the complainant followed the whims of the accused so blindly. I’m pretty sure that had it been me I would have asked critical questions like ‘why is this person forcing me to wear a blindfold’ or ‘why does my so-called ‘boyfriend’ not feel comfortable around me’.   In my opinion, the complainant committed a mistake in reasoning and didn’t think logically about the situation. It is possible that she was guilty of possessing cognitive bias, which is a ‘psychological tendency to filter information through our own subjective beliefs, preferences, or aversions, a tendency that may lead us to accept poor reasoning’ (Hardy, Foster and Postigo, 2015). It is possible that the complainant had never previously had a boyfriend, or had never felt ‘loved’ in the way the accused was making her feel. Therefore, instead of questioning the reality of her situation, her subjective feelings colored the perception of evidence in broader ways (Hardy, et al., 2015) 2. I remember one of the most notorious hoaxes was around the late 90's on TV. A commercial for free psychic readings would air telling people that they could call in and have their futures and fortunes told by this esteemed psychic, Ms. Cleo. This commercial would be on all the time and I can still hear the woman in a Jamaican accent telling people "Call me now for your free reading today". In researching it now I found that nearly 6 million people fell for this hoax and the network ended up costing people about $1B dollars in bills due to the charges that were accrued by the unsuspecting victims. The trick was money. Callers were told they would not be charged for the first three minutes of the call and afterwards it would be $4.99 a minute. The people calling would be on hold for the duration of the free period and more than likely just read something off of a script like a general horoscope. People wanting to know the future or the winning lottery numbers tend to gravitate to some person that claims they know to give them comfort that things will be okay. I would not have fallen for this hoax as I do not believe in neither wasting money on such things, nor that someone's future or fortune can be told by a complete stranger, especially over the phone. There are still psychics out there today that claim to know many things about you without ever meeting you, but in the film "An Honest Liar" the preacher was being fed information through a radio and that is how he was able to "heal" so many people. He was provided information on the victims and took advantage of them. That still happens today and if there are any psychics out there that can help, they are overshadowed by the frauds.   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/27/the-bizarre-legacy-left-behind-by-the-actress-who-played-miss-cleo/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a05e65daf5a4 3. The Loch Ness Monster is a famous legend from Scotland.  In April of 1934, Dr. Robert Wilson came forward with a photo of the legendary monster (Virgil, 2016).  His photo convinced a significant number of people of the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. The picture was largely accepted as genuine until 1994, when a man named Christian Spurling came forward and admitted to the hoax, claiming that he had helped make the “monster” out of a “toy submarine with a sea-serpent head” (2016). This hoax convinced many people.  I, too, believed the photo was genuine at one time.  It was an easy one to believe.  I’m not sure if it really requires a mistake in reasoning to accept this hoax, because as a layperson we do not have all of the information necessary to debunk it.  I am not an expert on biology or photography. Even though the hoax has been debunked, many people still cling to the idea that a large creature inhabits Loch Ness.  In fact, according to BBC.com, the number of sightings in 2017 (8 sightings) was the highest since 1996 (17 sightings), with the eighth sighting of 2017 having been a photo of a “fin” in the water (BBC newsbeat, 2017). In our everyday lives, we are exposed to many hoaxes, tricks, and deceptions.  I think one of the best ways to avoid being tricked is to be aware that people are trying to deceive you and looking for evidence.  When someone makes a claim, investigate to see if that claim is substantiated by science. References: BBC newsbeat. (2017, November 15). 2017 has been a 'record year' for sightings of the Loch Ness monster. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/41997932/2017-has-been-a-record-year-for-sightings-of-the-loch-ness-monster (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Virgil, H. (2016, June 30). 7 Audacious Hoaxes That Fooled the World. Allthatsinteresting.com. Retrieved from https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-hoaxes-fake-images (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.