A Short Student Interview of Jim Vieira

12/16/2016

My Forbidden Archaeology class wrapped up at the beginning of last week. Since going through the final projects and getting grades submitted, I've been occupied with prepping for my upcoming field school, finalizing a paper on the minimum size of demographically viable hunter-gatherer populations, and participating in a family-wide wave of coughing, aching, and vomiting. Good times.

Some of the student projects were pretty interesting, and I plan to put some of them up on the course website eventually. After that I'll weave the website content into the Argumentative Archaeologist site. It might be a while before any of that gets done (don't expect anything before the holidays are over).

In the meantime, I wanted to post a link to a short video that two of the students produced of their interview of Jim Vieira. I wrote a bit about Vieira's visit here. The students have possession of a lot more footage of Vieira in class, as well as he and discussing such compelling issues as "double rows of teeth." The students have told me that they'll still be working with that footage, and I hope that it happens (both are taking my field school, so I will be able to ask them about it weekly).

Here is the video they submitted as part of their final project:

Peter Geuzen

12/16/2016 01:38:16 pm

It's refreshing to hear he doesn't think that 2.7 million University and College Profs are part of the biggest conspiracy in history.

Joe Scales

12/17/2016 08:05:47 am

And yet as a stonemason who studied economics, he has put himself in position to investigate and pontificate well outside of his expertise. Television producers however, tend to overlook this common denominator when sensationalizing/inventing such mysteries.

Just me....

12/17/2016 12:12:19 pm

And this comment displays why "fringe" authors should make no effort whatsoever to engage with "academics" or skeptics in reasonable discussions. No matter how you approach it, or how reasonable you are, in the end they will say that, you "pontificate well outside [your] expertise." So all of you "fringe" writers wanting to somehow get involved with mainstream academics, learn this lesson. The only way to win is to not play their game.

Andy White

12/17/2016 12:58:57 pm

That's a rather negative response to a single critical comment on a blog.

Do Jim Vieira and I agree on everything? No. But that didn't stop us from having numerous interesting and constructive conversations during the three days he visited Columbia. Those conversations were made possible by the shared recognition of the most important thing that differentiates science from pseudoscience: the presence of mechanisms for identifying ideas that are wrong and adjusting explanations accordingly. Any two people that agree on the importance of that can have an evidence-based conversation, no matter what the topic. If you can't agree on that, however, it becomes pretty tough to have a dialog. It's not really that complicated of an equation.

Bob Jase

12/16/2016 01:44:57 pm

"a family-wide wave of coughing, aching, and vomiting"

So was it norovirus? flu? Us public health folks need to know.

Andy White

12/18/2016 04:55:50 am

I don't know, but it's been semi-continuous since Thanksgiving. At this point I don't think it's possible it's a single illness.

Jim Vieira

12/17/2016 06:14:18 pm

I want to address several of the comments. To Joe’s point, although I sympathize with the disconcerting nature of fact free information polluting the internet and an abundance of pseudoscience that circulates as well, a more helpful approach may be, wow it’s refreshing to see someone humbly admit their errors and work to correct them by an act of self-reflection. In reality I have intensely studied archaeological and anthropological theory for the last 5 years and I believe Andy would agree that my knowledge is far greater than a layman’s and I believe I am equipped to competently theorize about certain aspects of these disciplines. I have also considered returning to Umass to get a dual degree in these fields. That being said, I actively reach out to professionals with greater understanding than me to try to solve mysteries. Such comments actually cause people to become entrenched further in what may be irrational ways of thinking because the amygdala takes over and it precludes critical thinking by perceiving threat. I have certainly been oriented like that in the past. The best approach is to respectfully explain one’s position based on science and the scientific method. In our new show on the mystery of Roanoke we work closely with four geologists, three archaeologists, two Historians, two Native American scholars and an Elizabethan scholar to objectively attempt to solve a mystery in the spirit of comradery and friendship. This ends up being I believe a great way for people to become interested in History and archaeology.
To Peter’s point, most people are not connected to the academic world and see legitimate corruption, collusion and conspiracy in politics, banking, the pharmaceutical industry and other sectors of society. Many people don’t understand how to differentiate this reality from false claims of cover-ups in the world of archaeology and anthropology. The internet is full of such non-sense where snake oilers are trying to sell books or our claiming convenient conspiracies because they can’t produce enough evidence to make their case, which certainly exacerbates the problem. Once again this is mostly a lack of understanding of how the academic world works and the checks and balances in place like peer review and following the scientific method. The solution in my opinion would be a non-insulting, rational explanation of one’s side of the story.
And to Just Me I would say the best avenue I have found is to work closely with professionals who you know to be respectful and share your desire to solve problems while engaging in basic human decency. When people ask for my expertise regarding economic matters, coaching basketball, track or baseball, stonemasonry or how to effectively treat childhood psychiatric disorders, I always offer respectful advice no matter how inaccurate their perceptions and information may be. I am not trying to be a dick giving a lecture but this approach is the only effective way to meet in the middle regarding such matters. I would be a hypocrite if I pretended that I didn’t orient myself incorrectly in the past but that is how we find a better way to do things and relate to people.

Andy White

12/17/2016 06:46:19 pm

All that and you didn't have anything to say about how awesome it was to hang out with me and watch my kids throw temper tantrums.

Joe Scales

12/17/2016 08:34:13 pm

The problem with solving a mystery on a television show, is that the ultimate purpose is entertainment; the success of which is measured by ratings.

Andy White

12/18/2016 04:54:33 am

Point taken. But I think one could make the same argument about everything else that's on television but isn't "pure" entertainment. Because news programming also has to compete and hold viewers' attention, does that mean it has no possibility to inform? And what about science programming that combines entertainment and information? Wild Kingdom, Nova, Planet Earth . . . there's clearly a continuum of ways that one can balance entertainment and content.

Not everything about history/prehistory has to be on the Mermaids/Ancient Aliens end of the spectrum. I don't think anyone has yet cracked the problem of how to package actual archaeological science in a format that appeals to a general audience, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth trying.

Jim Vieira

12/18/2016 08:29:40 am

I agree that many shows are oriented to dragging the audience along with dry humps and false promises. If done right however, these shows can be a great vehicle to tell interesting stories and get the audience interested in the sciences. A show can provide resources to carry out investigations that otherwise would not occur. The trick is trying to solve a mystery rather than trying to prove something. Working with professionals and skeptics is the key to this. If you see the dowsing rods instead of an official archaeological dig you know you are getting, click baited. I am in total agreement with your sentiment about previous incarnations of this formula. I hope the audience will appreciate the approach we have taken in our new Roanoke special of raising the IQ and a reliance on science. Hopefully we will continue to be given opportunities to stick with this style because it is a valid criticism that the old way does not work. I know Andy will be watching my newest show and will take a screen shot of me to put as a background on his computer.

Joe Scales

12/18/2016 07:36:58 pm

Nova and Planet Earth are PBS shows, which are not wholly ratings dependent. But even their shows can have a slant, or like Ken Burns offerings, play fast and loose with the facts for entertainment's sake.

Andy White

12/19/2016 05:15:32 am

It's going to be tough to find something more compelling than Windows default.

Jim Vieira

12/17/2016 07:02:44 pm

That was professor Jim talking, now normal lunatic Jim will say your kids love uncle Jim, you secretly believe in Atlantis and I did get the phone number of that gorgeous waitress when I was visiting Columbia. But I will add that yes it was very cool to hang with you even though you hate the Patriots I consider you a friend, your pal Jim

Andy White

12/18/2016 04:56:34 am

I'm going to buy you an adult shirt for Christmas.

Day Late and Dollar Short

12/20/2016 01:14:26 pm

I'm glad Jim Vieira's trip seems to have been a good experience for everyone involved. I think the fact that Jim is willing to admit he may have approached things personally or made mistakes in the past, and has actively addressed this and explained how he has changed his approach is commendable, and honestly, impressive.

I hope this bodes well for a future Forbidden Archaeology class, and I am definitely going to tune in to Jim's new show. Please keep up the good work, guys.

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A Short Student Interview of Jim Vieira

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