About 10 years ago, I met a guy who happened to know an acquaintance of mine. As we conversed, I said something to the effect of "Oh...you were part of that group that went Spring camping to the same place every year. Are you still doing that?" And he got very melancholy and said that they were no longer doing that. I asked why and he sa…
About 10 years ago, I met a guy who happened to know an acquaintance of mine. As we conversed, I said something to the effect of "Oh...you were part of that group that went Spring camping to the same place every year. Are you still doing that?" And he got very melancholy and said that they were no longer doing that. I asked why and he said because he and this mutual friend of ours had gotten into a big fight about...of all things...Big Foot! This resonated with me because this mutual friend and his daughter were always wearing Big Foot t-shirts and paraphernalia. However...I had never actually inquired deeply about their BF beliefs...assuming it was somewhat tongue-in-cheek and just a cute "dad-daughter thing" together. OH NO...turns out that my friend apparently really does believe in BF and was really appalled that his buddy did not and was basically calling him out for it. The argument and discussion got so personal and deep that they stopped being friends and doing the annual camping trip.
Oh...the classic epilogue of this story is that the guy who believes in BF is a huge MAGA posting crap on FB all of the time. Surprise....surprise...
A big fight about Bigfoot. Hah. Of course the common issue with Bigfoot, and cryptids, and by extension, conspiracy theories, is glaringly insufficient evidence supporting their existence. A popular retort by believers is "prove they don't exist," which is not a valid argument since you can't prove a negative, nor should you even have to do so. The burden of proof lies on those who claim something exists to provide sufficient evidence supporting their claim. But in today's out-of-control disinformation age, making any wild claim without evidence is all the rage.
There may be, but here is what I'd say to them: large fauna that goes extinct tends to leave a fossil record. Fauna of the (purported) size of Bigfoot going extinct so recently would leave behind bodies and skeletons which would be even easier to come across than fossils. But there's nothing.
That would be even harder to believe than the existence of Bigfoot itself, considering it is physically impossible for any terrestrial vertebrate -- let alone a large hominid -- to have a cartilaginous skeleton. :)
About 10 years ago, I met a guy who happened to know an acquaintance of mine. As we conversed, I said something to the effect of "Oh...you were part of that group that went Spring camping to the same place every year. Are you still doing that?" And he got very melancholy and said that they were no longer doing that. I asked why and he said because he and this mutual friend of ours had gotten into a big fight about...of all things...Big Foot! This resonated with me because this mutual friend and his daughter were always wearing Big Foot t-shirts and paraphernalia. However...I had never actually inquired deeply about their BF beliefs...assuming it was somewhat tongue-in-cheek and just a cute "dad-daughter thing" together. OH NO...turns out that my friend apparently really does believe in BF and was really appalled that his buddy did not and was basically calling him out for it. The argument and discussion got so personal and deep that they stopped being friends and doing the annual camping trip.
Oh...the classic epilogue of this story is that the guy who believes in BF is a huge MAGA posting crap on FB all of the time. Surprise....surprise...
A big fight about Bigfoot. Hah. Of course the common issue with Bigfoot, and cryptids, and by extension, conspiracy theories, is glaringly insufficient evidence supporting their existence. A popular retort by believers is "prove they don't exist," which is not a valid argument since you can't prove a negative, nor should you even have to do so. The burden of proof lies on those who claim something exists to provide sufficient evidence supporting their claim. But in today's out-of-control disinformation age, making any wild claim without evidence is all the rage.
Huh, cryptids generally seem like pretty innocuous conspiracy theories too...
I wonder if there are any bigfoot believers that think it existed but when extinct within the last 50ish years? That would be an interesting twist.
There may be, but here is what I'd say to them: large fauna that goes extinct tends to leave a fossil record. Fauna of the (purported) size of Bigfoot going extinct so recently would leave behind bodies and skeletons which would be even easier to come across than fossils. But there's nothing.
But... Hear me out... What if Bigfoots have cartilaginous skeletons that decompose quickly and don't fossilize very well?
That's right. Bigfoot's feet are floppy. Checkmate biologists. 🤣
That would be even harder to believe than the existence of Bigfoot itself, considering it is physically impossible for any terrestrial vertebrate -- let alone a large hominid -- to have a cartilaginous skeleton. :)
Fits: MAGA and Big Foot ... and TFG is JC, Superstar re-incarnate.
TBH, if I really believed in Big Foot, I would NEVER go camping. Bears are bad enough, but Big Foots (Big Feet?)? No way man. Count me out.