Young Australian Skeptics

The internet is abuzz with appreciation for Battlestar Galactica. Specifically, people who self-​​identify as “geeks” generally seem to love it, which is usually a good sign. Also, the show has respectable science advisers who, in interviews, sound proud of their work. Hey, I’m geeky enough, I like sci-​​fi, surely I am in for a treat if I start back at the 2003 miniseries and then work my way through the TV episodes starting at series one!

The miniseries was indeed quite entertaining. The action was well-​​paced and there would be plenty of time as the story unfolded for the plot inconsistencies and implausibilities to be explained, and therefore, forgiven. I wanted to like this show. I even overlooked the “this again?” anti-​​science stereotype of the “scientific genius who is ‘too’ rational and can’t be trusted”. Oh, and of course he has an English accent — presumably to remove all doubt that he is the villain and that we should feel free to go ahead and despise him. A certain amount of this is par for the course in television, so I absorbed the intellectually insulting devices and pressed on. After all, nine out of ten geeks agree that “BSG is da bomb”.

The miniseries that kicked off the story set everything up nicely and left me wanting more, so I decided to purchase the season one DVD and dived in. Almost straight away, things seemed … off. Characters began to behave strangely. People who were established to be shrewd and intelligent leaders were allowed to make ridiculous assertions about the nature of the universe, while those around them nodded in solemn agreement. The dialogue was infused with pro-​​magical-​​thinking and downright anti-​​science themes which, it soon became obvious, was not tongue-​​in-​​cheek on behalf of the writers whatsoever. No explanation seemed forthcoming regarding how the toaster-​​like Cylon robots had “evolved” (!) into perfect replicas of humans within a matter of decades. Not “engineered themselves” mind you. No, the introduction to every episode asserts flat-​​out that they evolved. With a claim like that hanging out there, you would think the writers would be anxious to begin hinting at an explanation ASAP so that the viewers’ suspension of disbelief doesn’t snap like the proverbial over-​​stretched rubber band. But I digress.

I have forced myself, masochistically, to sit through nine episodes of the first season, and I can bare it no longer. It has to be said (as this rant is now in its fourth paragraph) that the root of the problem with the show is that it is deeply religious. Whole episodes are dedicated to showing that science is a silly way to figure things out and those who value it are morally bankrupt. I kept hoping there would be some clever twist that would set everything right and dispel my fury at being treated like an idiot, but no. The reality BSG is set in is very different to the one we know and love. Superstition, magic, religion and other fallacies are the truth, while the very things that could conceivably allow a civilisation to progress to the point where it is colonising the galaxy are constantly pelted with dung and belittled.

Skepticism is proven futile and is derided at every opportunity. Astonishingly, God is unfailingly credited for anything positive (but not negative) that happens, which completely undermines the heroes’ efforts and struggles…not good for a character drama. The “wise” president demands to have her cancer treated with alternative therapies. Her doctor (another besmirched “science-​​type” who chain-​​smokes, behaves like a jerk and is shown “rightful” disdain whenever he attempts rationality) ends up recommending prayer with a straight face. Indeed, prayer is a very good idea in the BSG universe as it never — not once — fails to be answered within seconds. Indeed the phenomenon is so obvious that the characters seem amazingly stupid for not praying for the death of all Cylons, the restoration of their homelands, and the eradication of all those exasperating people who still insist on using logic in such a universe.

In this re-​​imagining of BSG, Cylons are religious fundamentalists who — in characteristic subtlety — “hate our freedom” (of course), and yet, ironically, any skeptic would agree that they are the more rational species by far. In their universe, a scientific experiment would easily detect the presence of a god, the power of prayer and the superiority of listening to voices in one’s head over good reasoning. The characters would then face the dilemma of their faith being irrelevant in the face of solid proof of these things. Drat! Faith — and the BSG universe — still makes no sense!

It occurs to me that I what I have written does not go far enough. If you are someone who enjoys self-​​harm, extreme sports, or swallowing little involuntary up-​​chucks, then I highly recommend you check out this overrated show for yourself. Otherwise, consider yourself warned.

Topics for discussion are: why do otherwise rational people like this show when it insults rationality so? How can the writers get away with their constant bombardment of religiously credulous themes? How do the writers overlook the irony of including clumsy, ham-​​fisted analogues to Bush-​​era politics while representing science in an extremely Bush-​​like way? Other than the depiction of space as being silent and dark, did the show’s much-​​touted science advisers have any wins at all, or were they there just for show?

Here endeth my self-​​indulgent internet rant. Everyone gets one.

Tags: anti-science, Battlestar Galactica, Religion

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Joel Birch, Pseudoscience, Religion, Space, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.