SGU Episode 897

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SGU Episode 897
September 17th 2022
By comparison, Neanderthals needed more brain to control their larger bodies.
SGU 896                      SGU 898
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
C: Cara Santa Maria
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Quote of the Week
If I want to know how we learn and remember and represent the world, I will go to psychology and neuroscience. If I want to know where values come from, I will go to evolutionary biology and neuroscience and psychology, as Hume and Aristotle would have, were they alive.
Patricia Churchland, Canadian-American analytic philosopher
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Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Black Mirror reflections

Voice-over: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

[00:12.600 --> 00:17.480] Today is Wednesday, September 14th, 2022, and this is your host, Stephen Novella.

[00:17.480 --> 00:19.280] Joining me this week are Bob Novella.

[00:19.280 --> 00:20.280] Hey, everybody.

[00:20.280 --> 00:21.280] Kara Santamaria.

[00:21.280 --> 00:22.280] Howdy.

[00:22.280 --> 00:23.280] Jay Novella.

[00:23.280 --> 00:24.280] Hey, guys.

[00:24.280 --> 00:25.280] And Evan Bernstein.

[00:25.280 --> 00:26.280] Good evening, everyone.

[00:26.280 --> 00:30.800] You know what, guys, I'm rewatching The Black Mirror because I haven't seen most of those

[00:30.800 --> 00:32.600] episodes since they originally aired.

[00:32.600 --> 00:33.600] Really?

[00:33.600 --> 00:36.080] You mean you started at season one, episode one all over again?

[00:36.080 --> 00:37.080] Yeah.

[00:37.080 --> 00:38.160] I'm just going through in order.

[00:38.160 --> 00:43.840] And I forgot most of the details of the episodes, you know?

[00:43.840 --> 00:48.640] I sort of remember what the episode was about, but don't remember the details.

[00:48.640 --> 00:50.920] So it's almost like watching it again.

[00:50.920 --> 00:51.920] So good.

[00:51.920 --> 00:54.120] It is a brilliant TV series.

[00:54.120 --> 00:55.720] So you just watched the first season?

[00:55.720 --> 00:56.720] No.

[00:56.720 --> 00:57.720] I think I'm in the third season now.

[00:57.720 --> 01:00.800] I mean, there's not that many episodes, like four episodes a season, so I'm burning my

[01:00.800 --> 01:01.800] way through.

[01:01.800 --> 01:02.800] Yeah.

[01:02.800 --> 01:03.800] There's some good stuff in there, man.

[01:03.800 --> 01:04.800] Yeah.

[01:04.800 --> 01:05.800] Sure.

[01:05.800 --> 01:06.800] Very, very good.

[01:06.800 --> 01:07.800] Very good futurism, actually.

[01:07.800 --> 01:08.800] Quite good.

[01:08.800 --> 01:09.800] Even though they're mostly like cautionary tales.

[01:09.800 --> 01:10.800] Oh.

Cheating at Tournament Chess (1:09)

• Huge chess world upset of grandmaster sparks wild claims of cheating — with vibrating sex toy

[01:10.800 --> 01:11.800] So speaking of cautionary tales.

[01:11.800 --> 01:12.800] Yeah.

[01:12.800 --> 01:16.040] If you're going to enter a chess tournament, okay?

[01:16.040 --> 01:17.040] Don't cheat.

[01:17.040 --> 01:18.040] Now, what the heck?

[01:18.040 --> 01:19.040] Where did that come from?

[01:19.040 --> 01:21.760] Why are you bringing that up, Evan?

[01:21.760 --> 01:24.320] Because of this particular news item I ran across today.

[01:24.320 --> 01:30.240] Of course, I'm a gamer, I've been a chess player, I've been in tournaments.

[01:30.240 --> 01:32.280] So chess is something that's near and dear to me.

[01:32.280 --> 01:37.520] So when chess pops up in the news, I do pause and I read about it.

[01:37.520 --> 01:42.240] And in this particular case, this headline, it's the New York Post, so take that for

[01:42.240 --> 01:47.920] what it is, but it reads, huge chess world upset of Grandmaster sparks wild claims of

[01:47.920 --> 01:52.160] cheating with vibrating sex toy.

[01:52.160 --> 01:53.160] What a title.

[01:53.160 --> 01:54.160] I love it.

[01:54.160 --> 01:58.240] So if that's not click bait, I don't know what it is.

[01:58.240 --> 01:59.680] But here's the thing.

[01:59.680 --> 02:04.740] The Magnus Carlsen is currently the world's chess champion, he's like a five time world

[02:04.740 --> 02:05.740] chess champion.

[02:05.740 --> 02:12.400] He's on a long streak of wins, I believe he had 59 wins coming into a particular tournament

[02:12.400 --> 02:16.760] in which he was matched up in the first round against the lowest rated player, which obviously

[02:16.760 --> 02:17.760] makes sense.

[02:17.760 --> 02:21.160] Highest versus lowest and you meet in the middle and that's usually how the first round

[02:21.160 --> 02:22.600] works.

[02:22.600 --> 02:23.600] And he was upset.

[02:23.600 --> 02:24.600] He was beaten.

[02:24.600 --> 02:32.520] He was beaten by somebody who's effectively relatively new to the professional chess circuit

[02:32.520 --> 02:35.240] and tournaments and other things.

[02:35.240 --> 02:40.600] And it's causing obviously a controversy, a big one in the world of chess.

[02:40.600 --> 02:47.040] You see, because the person who beat him, his name is Hans Nieman, he admitted to cheating

[02:47.040 --> 02:49.240] in online tournaments when he was younger.

[02:49.240 --> 02:51.640] Oh boy, not good for him.

[02:51.640 --> 02:52.800] Yeah.

[02:52.800 --> 02:59.540] And so he has this cloud of accusations hovering over him that there is really no plausible

[02:59.540 --> 03:04.200] way in the world of chess that the lowest rated player can beat the highest rated who

[03:04.200 --> 03:09.800] happens to be the current grandmaster, world grandmaster, five time world champion in the

[03:09.800 --> 03:12.120] first round of a tournament like this.

[03:12.120 --> 03:18.060] Apparently it's so statistically nearly impossible that it likely would not have happened unless

[03:18.060 --> 03:21.600] there was some kind of cheating and you add on top of that the fact that this person has

[03:21.600 --> 03:26.840] admitted to cheating before.

[03:26.840 --> 03:33.620] He's being questioned by certainly lots of professional organizations about it, this

[03:33.620 --> 03:35.160] kid Nieman.

[03:35.160 --> 03:41.760] He has also been banned from chess.com, the world's number one chess website because of

[03:41.760 --> 03:42.760] the accusations.

[03:42.760 --> 03:43.760] I'm sorry, is it chess.org or chess.com?

[03:43.760 --> 03:44.760] I thought it was chess.com.

[03:44.760 --> 03:45.760] Evan.

[03:45.760 --> 03:50.640] And he's been banned from them because of these cheating accusations, yep.

[03:50.640 --> 03:54.760] The part that I don't get is you can make the accusation.

[03:54.760 --> 04:00.760] Well, first of all, I'm very triggery about someone like, I didn't win so therefore it

[04:00.760 --> 04:04.240] must be cheating, right, because we're seeing that.

[04:04.240 --> 04:05.240] Yes.

[04:05.240 --> 04:09.040] Number two, they either caught the guy or they didn't catch the guy.

[04:09.040 --> 04:10.040] You can't say afterwards.

[04:10.040 --> 04:11.040] They didn't catch him.

[04:11.040 --> 04:12.720] They did not catch him.

[04:12.720 --> 04:14.240] Let's say he had a device on him.

[04:14.240 --> 04:16.000] Let's say he was cheating, right?

[04:16.000 --> 04:17.000] Yes.

[04:17.000 --> 04:19.040] They don't catch him during the competition.

[04:19.040 --> 04:25.040] He gets up, he walks out, he gets rid of anything that could incriminate him.

[04:25.040 --> 04:28.400] So now they're making an accusation that is virtually unprovable.

[04:28.400 --> 04:34.440] So what I read, first of all, Carlson, the champion who lost, did not directly accuse

[04:34.440 --> 04:37.040] him of cheating, but he implied it.

[04:37.040 --> 04:42.520] He quote unquote all but accused him, but he didn't straight up say he cheated.

[04:42.520 --> 04:46.200] And you're right, Jay, from what I'm reading, we're not experts, but this is an interesting

[04:46.200 --> 04:51.480] story is that it's all based on plausibility and game analysis.

[04:51.480 --> 04:54.720] It's based upon like what's more likely to be true.

[04:54.720 --> 04:57.160] There's no direct evidence that he cheated.

[04:57.160 --> 04:58.160] Yeah.

[04:58.160 --> 05:02.720] Speaking of game analysis, though, I just read that both, if you look at gameplay, both

[05:02.720 --> 05:08.000] sides were making mistakes and the author was claiming that, you know, something that

[05:08.000 --> 05:13.080] would make you think that maybe he really wasn't cheating if he was also making mistakes,

[05:13.080 --> 05:17.440] which isn't necessarily true because you could just cheat not for every move, but for just

[05:17.440 --> 05:20.560] some of the critical moves, you know, so you could still make mistakes.

[05:20.560 --> 05:21.560] So yeah.

[05:21.560 --> 05:27.080] So the initial analysis was like when people were watching the game live, like if you were

[05:27.080 --> 05:31.800] listening to the commentary from what I'm reading again, it said that Carlson kind of

[05:31.800 --> 05:32.800] underestimated.

[05:32.800 --> 05:35.360] He was like, this is the first round, this is a low strength player.

[05:35.360 --> 05:41.520] He kind of rushed and that he messed up, like he did not play well early in the game, but

[05:41.520 --> 05:45.080] that he should have still been able to play him to a draw.

[05:45.080 --> 05:50.760] But then he made a bad move late in the game that Neiman exploited and won.

[05:50.760 --> 05:55.760] So it just it looked like he choked because he underestimated based on what you just said,

[05:55.760 --> 05:56.760] man.

[05:56.760 --> 06:02.040] However, once Carlson brought up the possibility that the guy cheated and people like analyze

[06:02.040 --> 06:09.720] the game in detail, some people are saying that Neiman made a clutch, brilliant move

[06:09.720 --> 06:16.680] really quickly and that that might imply that, you know, he that he cheated, that he was,

[06:16.680 --> 06:18.480] you know, that there was some sort of guidance.

[06:18.480 --> 06:19.480] Yeah.

[06:19.480 --> 06:20.480] But of course, we don't.

[06:20.480 --> 06:23.840] This is all, you know, speculation, speculation and probability.

[06:23.840 --> 06:25.600] It's possible that it was just an upset.

[06:25.600 --> 06:29.280] The thing is, unusual outcomes are going to occur from time to time.

[06:29.280 --> 06:33.100] And when they do, you can point to that's an anomaly and therefore there must be something

[06:33.100 --> 06:34.100] going on.

[06:34.100 --> 06:36.540] But anomaly should happen pretty regularly.

[06:36.540 --> 06:37.920] And there are upsets in chess.

[06:37.920 --> 06:38.920] It does happen.

[06:38.920 --> 06:39.920] You know.

[06:39.920 --> 06:40.920] Oh, in all sports.

[06:40.920 --> 06:41.920] Sure.

[06:41.920 --> 06:42.920] Sure.

[06:42.920 --> 06:44.880] So it's not enough to say, oh, this guy should not have won.

[06:44.880 --> 06:49.920] They would they would need to show evidence that he actually cheated, not although it

[06:49.920 --> 06:57.800] is interesting to this idea that we can, quote unquote, prove cheating to a high degree of

[06:57.800 --> 07:00.780] probability by analyzing the game.

[07:00.780 --> 07:03.960] So let me give you an example from a game if you guys remember this.

[07:03.960 --> 07:07.140] But I can't remember the specific video game, which a lot of our listeners know.

[07:07.140 --> 07:10.720] But somebody, you know, how they do like a you try to run through the game as fast as

[07:10.720 --> 07:11.720] possible.

[07:11.720 --> 07:12.720] Yes.

[07:12.720 --> 07:13.720] I've seen some.

[07:13.720 --> 07:17.320] Somebody did that in one of the games on the portal, whatever it was, one of the some

[07:17.320 --> 07:21.400] game where you could play through the beginning to end and broke all records.

[07:21.400 --> 07:23.720] And I think it was from Minecraft.

[07:23.720 --> 07:28.120] I think he did a Minecraft run through like faster than anybody else.

[07:28.120 --> 07:34.820] And somebody calculated the odds of him getting the drops that he got in the game.

[07:34.820 --> 07:36.320] And it was like astronomical.

[07:36.320 --> 07:39.000] I just defied all probability.

[07:39.000 --> 07:41.120] So he said he must have been hacking somehow.

[07:41.120 --> 07:47.520] He was cheating that it wasn't just based on drops, not speed, but but drops.

[07:47.520 --> 07:49.520] And when you say drops for people who aren't familiar with Minecraft.

[07:49.520 --> 07:54.200] So in other words, like you kill a bad guy and he drops treasure and that that drop is

[07:54.200 --> 07:58.480] random and there's a very hard probability.

[07:58.480 --> 07:59.480] It's coded into the game.

[07:59.480 --> 08:03.840] Like there's a one percent chance that you'll get this drop, you know, in a perfect thing.

[08:03.840 --> 08:04.840] Yeah.

[08:04.840 --> 08:10.880] So if you calculate the odds of him getting the favorable drops that he got, it defies

[08:10.880 --> 08:11.880] all.

[08:11.880 --> 08:12.880] It's like winning a lottery.

[08:12.880 --> 08:15.760] You know, it was like, but somebody always wins the lottery.

[08:15.760 --> 08:17.520] Well, that's that's kind of the point.

[08:17.520 --> 08:18.520] It's different.

[08:18.520 --> 08:19.520] No, but it's different.

[08:19.520 --> 08:20.520] It's numbers are different.

[08:20.520 --> 08:21.520] Yeah.

[08:21.520 --> 08:23.480] I have 10 million people play in that game.

[08:23.480 --> 08:24.480] Yeah.

[08:24.480 --> 08:29.640] But but so many but so many attempts at it if it's a large enough number, shouldn't there

[08:29.640 --> 08:30.640] be?

[08:30.640 --> 08:31.720] But it wasn't even close.

[08:31.720 --> 08:33.640] Not that many people do this right.

[08:33.640 --> 08:38.040] Do this like fast running, you know, run through of Minecraft.

[08:38.040 --> 08:42.320] The probability that somebody doing this, let's say there are thousands of people doing

[08:42.320 --> 08:43.320] it, whatever.

[08:43.320 --> 08:48.200] It still is like, you know, trillions to one against like orders of magnitude off it trillions

[08:48.200 --> 08:49.400] is a tough number to overcome.

[08:49.400 --> 08:50.400] It's just yeah.

[08:50.400 --> 08:51.400] Yeah.

[08:51.400 --> 08:54.840] It just should not have happened by right by chance because that doesn't mean it's impossible.

[08:54.840 --> 08:59.120] We're just saying probabilistically it's a huge red flag.

[08:59.120 --> 09:02.660] It's I think a little bit harder to say that with chess because it's not hard probabilities

[09:02.660 --> 09:03.660] that you can calculate.

[09:03.660 --> 09:07.560] It's just like maybe the guy choked and maybe the other guy got lucky or he made a he made

[09:07.560 --> 09:08.600] a move.

[09:08.600 --> 09:11.040] In retrospect, it was a brilliant move, but he could have just got lucky.

[09:11.040 --> 09:13.000] I mean, you know, could have just been.

[09:13.000 --> 09:14.000] Yeah.

[09:14.000 --> 09:15.000] Yeah.

[09:15.000 --> 09:18.860] The big thing for me, the big thing for me was Steve was when you said that this guy made

[09:18.860 --> 09:20.480] some bad moves.

[09:20.480 --> 09:21.480] He did.

[09:21.480 --> 09:24.860] A bunch of uncharacteristically bad moves.

[09:24.860 --> 09:29.600] And to me, that really kind of sways it back into this guy's corner, I think, because if

[09:29.600 --> 09:35.040] he if the champ still played a brilliant game and the guy still took him out, then that

[09:35.040 --> 09:38.520] would be, you know, it would be different, a little bit different.

[09:38.520 --> 09:39.520] Right.

[09:39.520 --> 09:40.520] Now, in terms of the cheating.

[09:40.520 --> 09:43.520] I mean, you know, this is why you don't cheat, man, because then your reputation's in the

[09:43.520 --> 09:44.520] shitter.

[09:44.520 --> 09:45.520] Yeah.

[09:45.520 --> 09:46.520] That's right.

[09:46.520 --> 09:48.080] Then if you do get lucky, no one's going to believe you.

[09:48.080 --> 09:50.280] But he said and even said, listen, he admitted it.

[09:50.280 --> 09:54.760] I admitted that I cheated once when I was 12 years old and when I was six twelve years

[09:54.760 --> 09:55.760] old.

[09:55.760 --> 10:03.160] And then when he was 16, he's now 19 years old, but he says, oh, I know he's sorry about

[10:03.160 --> 10:04.160] those.

[10:04.160 --> 10:05.160] He's reformed, whatever.

[10:05.160 --> 10:06.880] He cheats about every three years.

[10:06.880 --> 10:11.000] That's what you're saying.

[10:11.000 --> 10:12.520] You can kind of take that for what it's worth.

[10:12.520 --> 10:16.820] I mean, if you were like 30, I would say, OK, it was like he was a child and I was.

[10:16.820 --> 10:18.560] But he's 19.

[10:18.560 --> 10:25.560] It's still 16 to 19 is a huge deal, but it's not so much time that we could say he's out

[10:25.560 --> 10:29.880] of the woods in terms of still right bearing the burden of having a reputation of being

[10:29.880 --> 10:30.880] a cheater.

[10:30.880 --> 10:33.920] But it's interesting like you could make a case any way you want with something like

[10:33.920 --> 10:34.920] this.

[10:34.920 --> 10:35.920] You know, it's all about you.

[10:35.920 --> 10:37.920] You're missing like a part of this, Steve.

[10:37.920 --> 10:41.480] Evan, did I hear you correctly?

[10:41.480 --> 10:44.560] Did you say that they accused him of cheating with a sex toy?

[10:44.560 --> 10:48.160] Well, that's well, yeah, that where does that detail come from?

[10:48.160 --> 10:54.740] I'm not one hundred percent sure where that I think they're saying how could he have possibly

[10:54.740 --> 10:56.880] cheated using a piece of technology?

[10:56.880 --> 10:58.200] And this was one scenario.

[10:58.200 --> 11:03.640] And because it is, you know, because of the nature, the sexual nature of it, it obviously

[11:03.640 --> 11:06.520] gets a lot of attention more so than perhaps other.

[11:06.520 --> 11:12.160] But what's the what sex toy did this guy have that was helping him play chess?

[11:12.160 --> 11:18.040] Well, according to the accusation, it's something, you know, you anally insert and you vibrate

[11:18.040 --> 11:19.040] more.

[11:19.040 --> 11:20.480] And it vibrates and it vibrates.

[11:20.480 --> 11:22.720] Somebody would have had to have been controlling it remotely.

[11:22.720 --> 11:29.320] Well, yeah, you can other other another person or a computer or something else can control

[11:29.320 --> 11:30.320] the vibration.

[11:30.320 --> 11:32.800] Oh, and use it as a means of communication.

[11:32.800 --> 11:36.920] That's it's basically a way to send him information remotely.

[11:36.920 --> 11:37.920] Yeah, right.

[11:37.920 --> 11:38.920] Yeah.

[11:38.920 --> 11:39.920] But that's correct.

[11:39.920 --> 11:40.920] Yeah.

[11:40.920 --> 11:46.000] And that has and that and that that is a known thing in cheating when when somebody places

[11:46.000 --> 11:51.160] a device upon their body and it gives them a shock or a vibrational pulse or something

[11:51.160 --> 11:55.600] that that is very well established that people have done that in the past.

[11:55.600 --> 11:58.940] But do you think the guy was sitting there playing chess and every like five minutes

[11:58.940 --> 12:09.060] he'd be like, oh, well, this is what that sounds awfully like an argument from lack

[12:09.060 --> 12:10.060] of evidence.

[12:10.060 --> 12:11.060] Right.

[12:11.060 --> 12:12.720] It's like there's no evidence that he cheated.

[12:12.720 --> 12:18.280] That means he's a really good cheater because he he had something in his but, you know,

[12:18.280 --> 12:20.960] it's just that's not a very compelling argument.

[12:20.960 --> 12:22.360] But it is technically feasible.

[12:22.360 --> 12:25.160] You can communicate with very little information.

[12:25.160 --> 12:30.080] I think it's like three characters, three or four characters for any given chess move.

[12:30.080 --> 12:32.920] So it wouldn't take so that that can be done.

[12:32.920 --> 12:33.920] But yeah.

[12:33.920 --> 12:34.920] Yeah, you're right.

[12:34.920 --> 12:35.920] I mean, yeah.

[12:35.920 --> 12:36.920] Well, right.

[12:36.920 --> 12:37.920] Every piece occupies.

[12:37.920 --> 12:38.920] Yeah, that's right.

[12:38.920 --> 12:39.920] Every piece has a designation, a letter number combination.

[12:39.920 --> 12:44.180] So very, very easy, like you said, but let's follow this has those codes.

[12:44.180 --> 12:45.360] Let's follow this.

[12:45.360 --> 12:52.080] So he had to have a co-conspirator here that was like in the audience pressing.

[12:52.080 --> 12:53.160] Was it televised?

[12:53.160 --> 12:58.000] The button like he'd have to have somebody like looking up the information and then radioing

[12:58.000 --> 12:59.000] it to his butt.

[12:59.000 --> 13:00.000] Right.

[13:00.000 --> 13:01.000] Yeah.

[13:01.000 --> 13:02.800] So I I have to check and I haven't looked for the video.

[13:02.800 --> 13:09.360] I think it was somehow being televised or was able to be watched in real time.

[13:09.360 --> 13:15.200] And so, yeah, there would be some sort of in the audience would be too too risky.

[13:15.200 --> 13:20.080] Co-conspirator or with them or or a or something that's or a I don't know if there are automated

[13:20.080 --> 13:25.360] programs that read the chessboard or it's somehow programmed in or somebody online is

[13:25.360 --> 13:30.240] putting in the moves and then that is being relayed into whatever device supposedly this

[13:30.240 --> 13:31.920] thing is can transmit.

[13:31.920 --> 13:33.480] You know, I get you're right.

[13:33.480 --> 13:38.480] It's it's it's total speculation and unprovable at this point.

[13:38.480 --> 13:45.160] And you know, it does smack of kind of sour grapes overall, if you ask me, you know, queen

[13:45.160 --> 13:54.720] to to two D. Oh, but yes, I mean, Carlson is denying that he accused him of cheating

[13:54.720 --> 14:00.200] because that I think he knows that is bad for him now, unless you have proof.

[14:00.200 --> 14:01.200] Yeah.

[14:01.200 --> 14:03.280] You don't accuse the other guy of cheating.

[14:03.280 --> 14:05.560] Have them play five more games.

[14:05.560 --> 14:08.240] Let's see how this guy does that.

[14:08.240 --> 14:09.360] That proves nothing.

[14:09.360 --> 14:10.360] It proves nothing.

[14:10.360 --> 14:11.360] Yeah.

[14:11.360 --> 14:12.360] Why?

[14:12.360 --> 14:15.960] Because we know that Carlson will lose.

[14:15.960 --> 14:16.960] Yeah.

[14:16.960 --> 14:17.960] Right.

[14:17.960 --> 14:20.680] Because we know that the champion is better than the lowest ranking ranking guy.

[14:20.680 --> 14:23.000] It's just that did he underestimate him and choke?

[14:23.000 --> 14:24.000] Right.

[14:24.000 --> 14:27.080] That's the question that the other guy get lucky that, you know, that's the question.

[14:27.080 --> 14:31.440] And then nothing will answer that because it's done because the guy's clearly not going

[14:31.440 --> 14:32.920] to underestimate him a second time.

[14:32.920 --> 14:34.440] He's going to bring his freaking a game.

[14:34.440 --> 14:35.440] Yeah.

[14:35.440 --> 14:37.400] I played one Grandmaster in my life.

[14:37.400 --> 14:38.400] Really?

[14:38.400 --> 14:39.400] Yes.

[14:39.400 --> 14:40.400] How badly did he wipe you?

[14:40.400 --> 14:42.960] He destroyed me in like nine moves.

[14:42.960 --> 14:44.440] It was pretty much done.

[14:44.440 --> 14:45.440] Nine's not bad.

[14:45.440 --> 14:46.440] You held out for nine moves.

[14:46.440 --> 14:47.440] It was.

[14:47.440 --> 14:48.440] It was.

[14:48.440 --> 14:49.440] Yeah.

[14:49.440 --> 14:50.440] It was humbling.

[14:50.440 --> 14:51.440] It was just fun.

[14:51.440 --> 14:53.240] It was a friend of mine from high school.

[14:53.240 --> 14:54.240] His father.

[14:54.240 --> 14:55.240] Yeah.

[14:55.240 --> 14:56.240] Was technically a Grandmaster.

[14:56.240 --> 14:57.240] He played for 13.

[14:57.240 --> 14:58.240] I'd just like to be one of those guys.

[14:58.240 --> 15:01.240] You don't like to have the Grandmaster play 20 people at once.

[15:01.240 --> 15:02.240] Yeah.

[15:02.240 --> 15:03.240] Oh, gosh.

[15:03.240 --> 15:04.240] Defeats being one of those people.

[15:04.240 --> 15:08.280] You're taking up one twentieth of his attention and he's still wiped the board with you.

[15:08.280 --> 15:09.280] It's humbling.

[15:09.280 --> 15:10.280] Yeah.

[15:10.280 --> 15:11.280] So many moves.

[15:11.280 --> 15:12.280] Expertise.

[15:12.280 --> 15:13.280] Oh, gosh.

[15:13.280 --> 15:14.280] Yes.

[15:14.280 --> 15:15.280] And they're thinking so many moves ahead.

[15:15.280 --> 15:16.280] Yes.

[15:16.280 --> 15:17.280] Yeah.

[15:17.280 --> 15:21.640] The Korovinsky move from 1947 when he played Stratsky in this game and, you know, really

[15:21.640 --> 15:22.640] it comes down to that.

[15:22.640 --> 15:27.080] It's like they analyze they were they you they can memorize all the moves of a particular

[15:27.080 --> 15:31.960] game from a particular tournament from a particular, you know, year 90 that was played 90 years

[15:31.960 --> 15:32.960] ago.

[15:32.960 --> 15:33.960] It's impressive.

[15:33.960 --> 15:37.720] What's interesting from a skeptical point of view is that so many people now are trying

[15:37.720 --> 15:45.320] to infer whether or not he cheated based upon circumstantial and tangential evidence and

[15:45.320 --> 15:49.760] the logical fallacies are flying, you know, the motivated reasoning is flying.

[15:49.760 --> 15:56.900] So it's interesting to watch that from the sidelines having zero stake in the game.

[15:56.900 --> 15:58.480] But it's interesting.

[15:58.480 --> 16:02.280] And if any objective evidence emerges, we'll we'll let you know, because that would be

[16:02.280 --> 16:03.960] then then you have the hindsight.

[16:03.960 --> 16:04.960] Right.

[16:04.960 --> 16:07.960] And we'll look at all those statements and inferences with hindsight.

[16:07.960 --> 16:08.960] All right.

[16:08.960 --> 16:10.240] We're going to start off.

Is It Real: Ear Snake (16:08)

• Does Video Show Snake’s Head in Woman’s Ear?

[16:10.240 --> 16:11.800] Evan, you sent this around.

[16:11.800 --> 16:12.800] This is a segment.

[16:12.800 --> 16:14.240] I think we've done this once or twice before.

[16:14.240 --> 16:15.240] Is it real?

[16:15.240 --> 16:16.240] Right.

[16:16.240 --> 16:17.240] Is the segment.

[16:17.240 --> 16:18.240] Is it real?

[16:18.240 --> 16:20.720] Have you guys all seen the YouTube video of the ear snake?

[16:20.720 --> 16:21.720] Oh, yeah.

[16:21.720 --> 16:26.000] I you know, I was going to watch it and then I realized I don't want to see whether it's

[16:26.000 --> 16:27.000] fake or not.

[16:27.000 --> 16:28.000] I don't want to see.

[16:28.000 --> 16:29.000] Oh, my God.

[16:29.000 --> 16:31.200] A snake come out of somebody's ear.

[16:31.200 --> 16:32.380] It's a high creep factor.

[16:32.380 --> 16:33.380] It's like it's.

[16:33.380 --> 16:34.380] Oh, yes.

[16:34.380 --> 16:35.380] I want to see it.

[16:35.380 --> 16:37.600] Well, it's right now.

[16:37.600 --> 16:40.680] Snakes is a natural fear, Steve, or the brain.

[16:40.680 --> 16:42.880] We have a disposition towards fear of snakes.

[16:42.880 --> 16:43.880] Oh, yeah.

[16:43.880 --> 16:44.880] I mean, generally.

[16:44.880 --> 16:47.800] So right there, you know, is the cringe.

[16:47.800 --> 16:48.800] You don't see it come out, Jay.

[16:48.800 --> 16:52.760] It's just basically hanging out in the ear with the opening and closing its mouth.

[16:52.760 --> 16:55.800] I don't like its head is facing outward.

[16:55.800 --> 16:56.800] Yeah.

[16:56.800 --> 16:57.800] Right.

[16:57.800 --> 17:03.320] So it's a it's like a portion of a video of a longer video, which is, you know, cut

[17:03.320 --> 17:09.560] strategically to only show that there's a head of a snake protruding from a woman's

[17:09.560 --> 17:14.800] ear and someone with gloves and tweezers is kind of poking it and provoking it into making

[17:14.800 --> 17:15.800] these mouth gestures.

[17:15.800 --> 17:16.800] Oh, my God.

[17:16.800 --> 17:17.800] Right.

[17:17.800 --> 17:18.800] And they're so they're so funny.

[17:18.800 --> 17:19.800] How did it turn inside?

[17:19.800 --> 17:20.800] Did it enter from another ear?

[17:20.800 --> 17:21.800] I know.

[17:21.800 --> 17:22.800] Oh, gosh.

[17:22.800 --> 17:23.800] It's crazy.

[17:23.800 --> 17:30.800] So as a neurologist, I could tell you this is 100 percent fake.

[17:30.800 --> 17:33.080] There's just no place for the snake to be.

[17:33.080 --> 17:37.800] You would be dead if there was if there was a body attached to that snake head.

[17:37.800 --> 17:42.840] There's the only place for it to be is in your brain's brain, freaking dead if that

[17:42.840 --> 17:43.840] were real.

[17:43.840 --> 17:48.460] If that were coming out of a corpse, OK, then there would be some plausibility there.

[17:48.460 --> 17:54.360] And the other thing is, the doctor is clearly not trying to remove it.

[17:54.360 --> 17:56.960] If you were trying to remove it, you would freaking remove it.

[17:56.960 --> 17:59.200] He's just poking it to make it smoking at it.

[17:59.200 --> 18:00.200] Yeah.

[18:00.200 --> 18:03.640] Like, there's no species of snake that's just a head, right?

[18:03.640 --> 18:09.480] Like, that would be the only plausible thing is if there was just a living head of a snake

[18:09.480 --> 18:10.480] there.

[18:10.480 --> 18:11.480] Right.

[18:11.480 --> 18:12.480] My guess is there's two options.

[18:12.480 --> 18:13.480] Yeah.

[18:13.480 --> 18:16.600] Either CG, which doesn't look CG, but I mean, it's possible.

[18:16.600 --> 18:17.600] No, it doesn't.

[18:17.600 --> 18:18.600] It could be.

[18:18.600 --> 18:19.600] It could be.

[18:19.600 --> 18:20.600] It could be.

[18:20.600 --> 18:21.600] It could be animatronic.

[18:21.600 --> 18:23.800] That's damn good animatronics.

[18:23.800 --> 18:26.240] Do you consider, Bob, that it was a ghost snake?

[18:26.240 --> 18:27.240] You know, it would be ethereal.

[18:27.240 --> 18:28.240] It wouldn't be actually.

[18:28.240 --> 18:29.240] Bigfoot snake.

[18:29.240 --> 18:30.240] It's a bigfoot snake.

[18:30.240 --> 18:31.240] Lots of feet on it.

[18:31.240 --> 18:34.520] It's a psychic, ghost, bigfoot snake from the future.

[18:34.520 --> 18:36.960] No, that's the most plausible explanation I've heard yet.

[18:36.960 --> 18:41.960] Or the most likely explanation, right, we pretty much, most people agree or Snopes agrees

[18:41.960 --> 18:47.880] or whatever, is that it's just a decapitated snake and they will move for a while, even

[18:47.880 --> 18:48.880] after decapitation.

[18:48.880 --> 18:50.440] And that's why he's poking it.

[18:50.440 --> 18:51.440] Yes.

[18:51.440 --> 18:53.760] Yeah, they cut the snake's head off, stuck it in her ear, and they're poking it to make

[18:53.760 --> 18:54.760] it move.

[18:54.760 --> 18:59.000] Okay, so if that's the, ooh, if that's the explanation, I don't know what's worse.

[18:59.000 --> 19:02.160] The false story or the actual explanation for this thing.

[19:02.160 --> 19:05.320] Also then, the question with no context, is this real?

[19:05.320 --> 19:06.320] Yes.

[19:06.320 --> 19:09.440] There is a decapitated snake head in her ear.

[19:09.440 --> 19:10.440] That's real.

[19:10.440 --> 19:16.080] Well, it's not real as presented, like as a living snake nestled in somebody's ear.

[19:16.080 --> 19:19.400] And that is what we're supposed to get from it, because the first thing I said was, why

[19:19.400 --> 19:21.800] is there just a snake head in her ear?

[19:21.800 --> 19:25.440] Because of course, any reasonable person knows that there's nowhere for the body to go, because

[19:25.440 --> 19:28.560] your ear canal, how big is your ear canal?

[19:28.560 --> 19:29.560] It's teeny.

[19:29.560 --> 19:30.560] I don't know.

[19:30.560 --> 19:31.560] Like a centimeter or two?

[19:31.560 --> 19:32.560] Yeah.

[19:32.560 --> 19:33.640] An inch max?

[19:33.640 --> 19:34.760] I don't know.

[19:34.760 --> 19:35.760] And it's narrow.

[19:35.760 --> 19:36.760] Yeah.

[19:36.760 --> 19:37.760] That's what I'm saying.

[19:37.760 --> 19:38.760] Yeah.

[19:38.760 --> 19:39.760] It's short and narrow.

[19:39.760 --> 19:40.760] There's no...

[19:40.760 --> 19:44.880] And then there's your cochlea, your inner ear, and then there's your brainstem.

[19:44.880 --> 19:48.560] You know, it's just, there's no place for the snake body to be.

[19:48.560 --> 19:50.200] So there's clearly no snake body there, right?

[19:50.200 --> 19:51.480] That's that we could say for sure.

[19:51.480 --> 19:56.880] Whether it's CG or a recently decapitated head or whatever, there's no body attached

[19:56.880 --> 19:57.880] to it.

[19:57.880 --> 19:58.880] It's an illusion.

[19:58.880 --> 20:01.440] It's an illusion, right?

[20:01.440 --> 20:06.560] Is surgeon in quotes, struggles to remove live snake bones there.

[20:06.560 --> 20:09.160] It's a surgeon in quotes.

[20:09.160 --> 20:10.160] Yeah.

[20:10.160 --> 20:15.600] Because apparently it started as a clip to Facebook, posted on September 1st by India

[20:15.600 --> 20:21.280] based social media star named Chandan Singh, or 20,000 followers, whatever.

[20:21.280 --> 20:26.900] And surgeon, it was written in a foreign language, I can't read it, but the word surgeon was

[20:26.900 --> 20:27.940] in there.

[20:27.940 --> 20:31.740] And also in quotes, it says the snake has gone in the ear.

[20:31.740 --> 20:35.800] So that's why surgeon is quoted the way it is.

[20:35.800 --> 20:37.140] That guy's not a surgeon.

[20:37.140 --> 20:41.660] Or if he is, he's not trying to remove that snake skin because if he were, he would freaking

[20:41.660 --> 20:42.660] remove it.

[20:42.660 --> 20:47.880] And the other thing is, if he removed the snake, why are we not seeing that portion

[20:47.880 --> 20:48.880] of the video?

[20:48.880 --> 20:49.880] Right.

[20:49.880 --> 20:55.560] Why is it so conveniently cut before you get to see the head pop out or whatever?

[20:55.560 --> 21:00.800] And after the removal of something other than just poking the snake head.

[21:00.800 --> 21:06.800] But sitting there and allowing yourself to be used like that for this purpose is heroic,

[21:06.800 --> 21:08.760] brave or weird.

[21:08.760 --> 21:14.320] I've seen people do weirder, grosser things on the internet, so not surprising.

[21:14.320 --> 21:18.000] All right, let's move on to some news items.

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

(laughs) (laughter) (applause) [inaudible]

What Children Believe (21:18)

• Children Don't Believe Everything They Are Told

Health Effects of Gas Stoves (35:18)

• Is your gas stove bad for your health?

Neanderthal Brains (46:55)

• Neanderthal Brains

Synthetic Microbiome (58:43)

• Researchers construct most complex, complete synthetic microbiome

... encephalized

UFO Videos Classified (1:10:03)

• Navy Says All UFO Videos Classified, Releasing Them ‘Will Harm National Security’

Who's That Noisy? (1:23:35)

Answer to previous Noisy:

Jaw harp, specifically an Indian morchang (morsing)

New Noisy (1:28:51)

[whooshing and deep woodwind-like tones and vibrations]

... some of you are going to get this,

Questions/Emails/Corrections/Follow-ups (1:33:06)

Email #1: Climate Change Nihilism

_consider_using_block_quotes_for_emails_read_aloud_in_this_segment_
with_reduced_spacing_for_long_chunks –

Science or Fiction (1:44:11)

Theme: 2022 Golden Goose Awards Item #1: The development of laser LASIK surgery was inspired by a case of accidental laser injury to the eye, producing precise perfectly circular damage. Item #2: Researchers developed a powerful microscope out of paper that folds like origami, with total material costs less than $1. Item #3: While examining the properties of cone snail venom, researchers accidentally discovered that it is a potent inhibitor of HIV replication.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Snail venom inhibits hiv
Science	Powerful origami microscope
Science	Lasik from laser eye injury

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Evan	Lasik from laser eye injury
Cara	Lasik from laser eye injury
Bob	Lasik from laser eye injury
Jay	Snail venom inhibits hiv

Voice-over: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:57:48)

If I want to know how we learn and remember and represent the world, I will go to psychology and neuroscience. If I want to know where values come from, I will go to evolutionary biology and neuroscience and psychology, just as Aristotle and Hume would have, were they alive.

–Canadian-American analytic philosopher Patricia Churchland, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute

Signoff

S: —and until next week, this is your Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

S: Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information, visit us at theskepticsguide.org. Send your questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. And, if you would like to support the show and all the work that we do, go to patreon.com/SkepticsGuide and consider becoming a patron and becoming part of the SGU community. Our listeners and supporters are what make SGU possible.

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Today I Learned

• Fact/Description, possibly with an article reference
• Fact/Description
• Fact/Description

References

Vocabulary