# Does anyone else feel like their IQ drops 10 points when they tune in to Ancient Aliens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500 "2012-02-11T05:40:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/21 "2012-02-11T20:25:10Z")
Ten points? I lose a digit after 10 minutes’ watching. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/22 "2012-02-11T20:51:17Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I don’t know how you can have a whole series about finding Bigfoot but there you go. It is worse that that. It is a whole series about _ **not** _ finding Bigfoot. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/23 "2012-02-11T22:58:33Z")
Ancient Aliens. Sixty minutes of breathlessly asking questions and not answering a single damned one. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/24 "2012-02-11T23:33:42Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > [Fark.com](http://Fark.com) has [this](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/743037/im-not-saying-its-aliens-but-its-aliens.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.offtackleempire.com/2011/10/10/2480941/big-ten-rankings-internet-meme&h=484&w=553&sz=31&tbnid=MiMw3Adsu-2_fM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=103&zoom=1&docid=PLlhnJbY0bsbRM&sa=X&ei=l2o2T9-9B-nw0gG0qvidAg&ved=0CDwQ9QEwAg&dur=733) meme that cracks me up every time I see it. [Him](http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8149/thatasss.jpg), he who saw an actual ancient alien. ---
**Author:** ![HotDogWater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@HotDogWater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HotDogWater)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/25 "2012-02-11T23:36:13Z")
Alrighty then, I’m gonna be the guy to say it. I like _Ancient Aliens_. And not for the snark. I like the “what if?” angle. What if Jacobs Ladder was actually a loading platform to a UFO? What if the Giza Pyramid was a microwave recharging station for the mother ship. What if depictions of angels were based on aliens with jetpacks? I’m a smart, normal guy. I’m an athiest. Having an open mind while watching silly TV makes my IQ drop? Race you to the pit… ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/26 "2012-02-12T00:28:39Z")
^ You get a medal, NOT, however you do get my respect for your courage. Now that I got the flattery out of the way, let the chips fall where they may. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/27 "2012-02-12T00:52:52Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Anyway I tuned in for a few minutes, just because there was nothing else on. The less said about what I saw the better, something about ancient stones in France. But I wish I’d had a doobie, just to up the entertainment value. I know that episode, upshot he claims is that the aliens who built the pyramids find their way to their thule base by navigating with landmarks, and apparently that field of Carnak stones in France is their landmark to turn north. No, you really _can’t_ make shit like this up. And I do occasionally spark my waterpipe when I watch. > [@Mole](#): > > Briefly (eventually on mute) just to watch Giorgio Tsoukalos’ hair. Doesn’t he just sort of seem like a cartoon character who has just plugged a finger into a light socket? That hair and jittery way of talking:D > [@Smapti](#): > > And here I thought Giorgio Tsoukalos’ hair was proof that humanity not only was manipulated by aliens in the past, but is currently being manipulated by the Centauri Republic. ROFLMAO > [@Biggirl](#): > > A nightvision camera focused on a guy looking scared, whispering, 'I think we got us a 'sqatch!" in a sing-songy voice. Man, I HATE that commercial. As if only the uninitiated call it a ‘sasquatch’, the leet call it a squatch …:rolleyes: > [@Khadaji](#): > > I love the bad science (history) channel. Well, at least if I’m really bored. When I was a child I really believed in monsters and UFOs and all that stuff. I stopped believing long ago, but I still find it fun. The ancient alien ones often have some fun ways of looking at things too, enough so that it will sometimes spark my imagination. > > But lordy, one cannot go in thinking he’ll get anything like reality. I have often thought of doing a blog called "Cracked Pots’ about bad science TV but I would probably throw a rock through my TV in frustration after watching unending episodes of the crap. Occasional bad science 'thons are fun now and then but I would hate to lock myself into having to produce content by regularly watching it. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/28 "2012-02-12T00:58:08Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Well, ratings and $ comes to mind… I guess crack pots are attracted by crack pots. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/29 "2012-02-12T01:06:57Z")
Fuck me, I love that show. Hell, we have a cat named [Teal’c,](http://www.flickr.com/photos/24165035@N06/2486499276/in/photostream) and when we got adopted by a rabbit that looked like his son we had no choice but to name him [Rya’c.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/24165035@N06/5263367624/) Wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/30 "2012-02-12T01:30:31Z")
It’s bad. Real bad. But is as bad as the current Bigfoot series going on? _Hey, did you hear that noise in the forest. Absolutely must be a Sasquach. Couldn’t be anything else!_ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/31 "2012-02-12T01:59:57Z")
I half-watched one episode. It was about aliens posing as trickster gods. “This cult leader (or drug cartel member) did \, which fit the pattern of stories in folklore where a trickster god like Loki manipulates people and then gets them killed just for kicks. Obviously, you’d have to be pretty thick to conclude that it was an actual trickster god. Ha ha! Can you imagine? Therefore, each time it was an alien posing as a trickster god.”. Apparently you can take a non-sequitur, pile a second non-sequitur on top of it, and your explanation becomes valid. If I watch the show again, it will be because someone else wants to watch it; I’ll stick around and crack wise the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/32 "2012-02-12T03:12:31Z")
Hey, the show is good stuff. It’s real. It poses questions real scientists don’t ask. Now Professional Wrestling is a quack sport, I would never watch that. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/33 "2012-02-12T05:15:01Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I know that episode, upshot he claims is that the aliens who built the pyramids find their way to their thule base by navigating with landmarks, and apparently that field of Carnak stones in France is their landmark to turn north. No, you really _can’t_ make shit like this up. And I do occasionally spark my waterpipe when I watch. One would assume that a race capable of interstellar travel would have a good onboard navigation system, but I guess that’s not the case. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/34 "2012-02-12T05:47:09Z")
I suppose it might be doing harm to people who take it seriously, but I find it entertaining. I just pretend it’s a faux reality show spin off of Stargate. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/35 "2012-02-12T07:16:36Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > One would assume that a race capable of interstellar travel would have a good onboard navigation system, but I guess that’s not the case. That has always been my thought as well. While I do think it is well within the realm of possibility that there is another intelligent life form on some planet out there, I seriously doubt they are sneaking around anally probing us and pretending to be gods. I think either they simply watch us while remaining concealed somehow or they have no interstellar flight, like we have no interstellar flight. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/36 "2012-02-12T14:10:01Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > There’s a show were they look for Bigfoot all the time. I don’t know how you can have a whole series about finding Bigfoot but there you go. They have this commercial that drives me nuts. A nightvision camera focused on a guy looking scared, whispering, 'I think we got us a 'sqatch!" in a sing-songy voice. Man, I HATE that commercial. And if these assclowns did manage to find a “squatch,” I’d imagine it’d be a major news story, and you’d have heard something about it first in the mainstream media, rather than on some reality show that’s airing months after it was filmed. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/37 "2012-02-13T16:09:44Z")
A real archeologist speaks out about the History Channel’s “rubbish.” > **[I remember why I’ve never wanted satellite television](https://badarchaeology.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/i-remember-why-i%E2%80%99ve-never-wanted-satellite-television/)** > > For some reason, there is a channel known as The History Channel. Given its schedule, I can only conclude that the name is ironic in a postmodern sense. It certainly bears only a tangential relatio… ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/38 "2012-02-13T18:55:24Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > A real archeologist speaks out about the History Channel’s “rubbish.” > > [I remember why I’ve never wanted satellite television](http://badarchaeology.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/i-remember-why-i%E2%80%99ve-never-wanted-satellite-television/) Thanks for introducing me to a 3 hour timesink! :smack: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/39 "2012-02-13T21:30:19Z")
Stupid show tricks me all the time. I’ll switch over to the channel without checking what’s on, and catch 30 seconds or so of something that sounds really cool…then realize it’s this travesty. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500/40 "2012-02-13T21:37:36Z")
I’ve never seen “Ancient Aliens”, but “The Nostradamus Effect” and “Rescue Mediums” have a similar effect on me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-feel-like-their-iq-drops-10-points-when-they-tune-in-to-ancient-aliens/612500.md?page=3)