Debunking YouTube's archaeoastronomy skeptics
Image from Scijinks.gov Some YouTube commentators, like Milo Rossi of MiniMinuteman and Stefan Milo, have made ignorant comments about the astronomical interpretation of Gobekli Tepe and Pillar 43. Below, I make the scientific case for this interpretation. Q: What is science? A: Science attempts to create consistent models of reality. Q: What is a good model? A: One that has a lot of explaining power relative to its inputs. This is also known as Occam's razor, parsimony, and model efficiency. Q: How do we measure the 'explaining power'? A: There are many ways, but the best is to use statistical methods, including hypothesis testing. Examples of statistics in science Suppose 100 pills given to a random sample of people, of which 50 are placebos. Suppose all those taking the pill are dead by the next day, but none of those ta...