Debunker

The American Heritage Dictionary traces the passage of the words "bunk" (noun), "debunk" (verb) and "debunker" (noun) into American English in 1923 as a belated outgrowth of "bunkum". The first recorded use of the words was in 1828, apparently related to a poorly received "speech for Buncombe County, North Carolina" given by North Carolina representative Felix Walker during the 16th United States Congress (1819–1821).{{cite book|chapter=debunk|chapter-url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/D0064600.html|title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|location=Boston|year=2000|edition=4th|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406173424/http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/D0064600.html|archive-date=2008-04-06}}

The term "debunk" originated in a 1923 novel Bunk, by American journalist and popular historian W. E. Woodward (1874–1950), who used it to mean to "take the bunk out of things".{{cite book|author=Woodward, William|year=1923|title=Bunk|publisher=Harper & Brothers|isbn=978-0306708466}}

The term "debunkery" is not limited to arguments about scientific validity; it is also used in a more general sense at attempts to discredit any opposing point of view, such as that of a political opponent.

• Cicero debunked divination in his philosophical treatise De Divinatione in 44 BCE.
• Sextus Empiricus debunked the claims of astrologers and dogmatic philosophers (c. 160 CE)
• Lucian wrote a book named Alexander the False Prophet against mystic and oracle Alexander of Abonoteichus (c. 105 – c. 170 CE) who led the Glycon cult then widely popular in the Roman Empire. He described Alexander's alleged miracles as tricks, including the appearance of the god Glycon being an elaborate puppet.Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrma Nummorum veterum, ii. pp. 383, 384 Lucian also describes him as using thuggery against critics to silence them, including himself."Alexander the False Prophet," translated with annotation by A. M. Harmon, Loeb Classical Library, 1936. [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm]

• Mick West operates the website Metabunk, where he investigates and debunks conspiracy theories, and has contributed multiple articles to Skeptical Inquirer.{{cite book|last=West|first=Mick|title=Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|year=2018|isbn=9781510735804}}{{cite web |title=About Metabunk |url=https://www.metabunk.org/threads/about-metabunk.1966/ |website=Metabunk |access-date=7 June 2025}}{{cite web |title=Author: Mick West |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/authors/mick-west/ |website=Skeptical Inquirer |publisher=Center for Inquiry |access-date=7 June 2025}}

• Stephen Barrett founded Quackwatch and writes on medical quackery."Area parents seek answer for Autism", Times Leader, April 1, 2002, "That is coincidence, said Dr. Stephen Barrett of Allentown, a veteran debunker and operator of Quackwatch.com."
• Adam Conover hosted the television series Adam Ruins Everything which debunks several misconceptions.{{cite web | url=https://shortyawards.com/10th/adam-ruins-facebook-on-facebook | title=Adam Ruins Facebook…. On Facebook - the Shorty Awards }}
• Dorothy Dietrich is a professional magician and Houdini expert and historian. Has been put in charge of Houdini's grave site, and is the founder of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania.{{cite web|url = http://blueridgegazette.blogspot.com/2006/05/houdini-museum.html |title = Houdini Museum|access-date = January 22, 2011}}{{cite web

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• Brian Dunning produces the podcast Skeptoid.{{cite web|last1=Weiss|first1=Eric|title=10 To Start: Skeptoid|url=http://skepticsonthe.net/10-to-start-skeptoid/|website=Skepticsonthe.net|access-date=8 January 2017|date=2011-08-05|archive-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108094850/http://skepticsonthe.net/10-to-start-skeptoid/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Skeptoid in Chinese!|url=http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/12/skeptoid-in-chinese/|website=Doubtfulnews.com|access-date=8 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027111745/http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/12/skeptoid-in-chinese/|archive-date=27 October 2016|url-status=dead}}
• Stanton Friedman has debunked both supposed UFO cases and debunking attempts on other UFO cases.{{cite web|last1=Dickinson|first1=Terence|title=The Zeta Reticuli Incident|url=http://www.nicap.org/articles/hillzeta.htm|website=NICAP.org|access-date=8 January 2017}}
• Martin Gardner was a mathematics and science writer who extensively debunked parapsychology in his magazine articles and books.{{cite web|title='Skeptical Inquirer' Magazine Names the Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the Century|url=http://www.csicop.org/articles/19991214-century/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325140204/http://www.csicop.org/articles/19991214-century/|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 March 2008|access-date=8 January 2017}}
• Susan Gerbic is the founder and leader of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia which has the mission of improving the skeptical content of Wikipedia.{{cite web|title=Skeptical Connections: Susan Gerbic|url=http://skepticalconnections.wordpress.com/susan-gerbic/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502093123/http://skepticalconnections.wordpress.com/susan-gerbic/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 May 2014|access-date=8 January 2017}}{{cite web|title=Wikapediatrician Susan Gerbic discusses her Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project|url=http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/wikapediatrician_susan_gerbic_discusses_her_guerrilla_skepticism_on_wikiped|website=CSICOP.org|publisher=The Center for Inquiry|access-date=8 January 2017|date=2013-03-08}} She has focused her skeptical activism at debunking celebrity "psychics" such as Sylvia Brown, Chip Coffey, Tyler Henry and Thomas John.{{cite web|last1=Coyne|first1=Jerry|title=E! about to debut new show starring a psychic 'grief vampire' |url=https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/e-about-to-debut-new-show-starring-a-psychic-grief-vampire/|website=Wordpress.com|access-date=8 January 2017|date=2016-01-21}}{{cite web|title=Grief Vampires Don't Come Out Only at Night|url=http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/grief_vampires_dont_come_out_only_at_night|website=CSICOP.org|publisher=The Center for Inquiry|access-date=8 January 2017|date=2016-01-20}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/magazine/psychics-skeptics-facebook.html|title=Inside the Secret Sting Operations to Expose Celebrity Psychics|last=Hitt|first=Jack|date=February 26, 2019|website=New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226133658/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/magazine/psychics-skeptics-facebook.html|archive-date=February 26, 2019|url-status=live|access-date=February 26, 2019}}
• Britt Marie Hermes is a prominent debunker of naturopathy having once practised as a naturopath.{{cite news|last1=Kirkey|first1=Sharon|title=Should naturopaths be restricted from treating children after tragic death of Alberta toddler?|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/should-naturopaths-be-restricted-from-treating-children-in-wake-of-death-of-alberta-toddler|website=National Post|access-date=3 December 2017|date=2016-04-04}}
• Harry Houdini debunked spiritualists.[http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20071103/AE/71101026 Houdini and the spiritualists], Summit Daily News, November 3, 2007, "Houdini himself wouldn’t have believed in his second coming anyway, because he didn’t believe in spirit manifestations. In fact, he spent much of his life and career debunking spiritualists and mediums – an admirable mission that history and forensic specialists now tell us probably led to his untimely death at the age of 52."
• Ray Hyman is a psychologist who is known for debunking some parapsychological studies.
• Philip Klass was a pioneer in the field of skeptical investigation of UFOs.[https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19940612/1915280/pseudoscience-skepticism-to-make-a-close-encounter "Pseudoscience, Skepticism To Make A Close Encounter"], Seattle Times, June 12, 1994
• Phil Mason is a scientist and YouTuber with the online pseudonym "Thunderf00t" (also "VoiceofThunder"), who debunks various snake-oil merchants and fundraiser campaigns for certain products, using basic scientific understanding, e.g. the laws of thermodynamics, to show that the advertised things simply make no sense and cannot deliver what is promised. He is known for criticising religion, pseudoscience, creationism, Hyperloop, Solar Roadways, etc.
• Alan Melikdjanian (Captain Disillusion) is a debunker of viral videos and hoaxes on the Internet, usually deconstructing them and explaining the post production techniques and software used to create the illusions.{{cite web|last1=Blevins|first1=Joe|title=Beakman and Captain Disillusion debunk those "free energy" machines|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/beakman-and-captain-disillusion-debunk-those-free--237842|website=A.V. Club|date=June 7, 2016 |publisher=Onion Inc.|access-date=8 January 2017}}
• Donald Menzel was Philip Klass's predecessor in debunking UFOs.{{citation needed| date = January 2017}}
• Joe Nickell writes regularly for the Skeptical Inquirer.
• Penn & Teller are an entertainment team who often demystify magic tricks and illusions.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE3DB1639F937A35757C0A967958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/T/Teller Review/Theater; "Penn and Teller Offer Several Variations On a Magic Theme"], The New York Times, April 4, 1991, "As debunkers, they seek to remove the mystique from magic, to demonstrate the digitation behind the presti." They have also debunked many other aspects of popular belief on their show, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.
• Phil Plait is an astronomer and science writer whose speciality is fighting pseudoscience related to space and astronomy. He established Badastronomy.com to counter public misconceptions about astronomy and space science, providing critical analysis of pseudoscientific theories related to these subjects.{{cite news|title=Moon Hoax Spurs Crusade Against Bad Astronomy|work=The New York Times |date=January 11, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/11/science/moon-hoax-spurs-crusade-against-bad-astronomy.html|access-date=8 January 2017}}{{cite web|title=James Randi Educational Foundation Names New President|url=http://archive.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/797-james-randi-educational-foundation-names-new-president.html/|website=Archive.randi.org|access-date=3 November 2017}}{{cite web|title=NECSS Conference: Phil Plait – The Final Epsilon|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn4G1jt5LCY|website=Youtube.com| date=November 27, 2013 |access-date=8 January 2017}}
• Basava Premanand founded Indian CSICOP and the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations,{{cite book|author=Johannes Quack|title=Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TNbxUwhS5RUC&pg=PA101|access-date=27 June 2013|year= 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199812608|pages=98–99, 101}} has exposed various Indian "god-men" (fakirs, sadhus, swamis, gurus, faith healers){{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3813469.stm | title=Sai Baba: God-man or con man? |work=BBC | date= 2004-06-17 | first=Tanya | last=Datta | access-date = 2017-12-03}}{{cite web|title=His harshest critics died with a wish unfulfilled|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-25/india/29470884_1_sathya-sai-baba-whitefield-ashram-miracles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928203813/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-25/india/29470884_1_sathya-sai-baba-whitefield-ashram-miracles|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 September 2013|access-date=3 November 2017|author=Sushil Rao|work=The Times of India|date=25 April 2011}}{{cite web|title=An Indian Skeptic's explanation of miracles|url=http://mukto-mona.net/Articles/yuktibaadi.htm|publisher=Mukto Mona|access-date=3 November 2017}} and was known for being the most fierce critic of Sathya Sai Baba and his frauds.
• James Randi has exposed faith healers, "psychics" and others claiming to have paranormal powers.[https://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/1986/09/01/83423/index.htm The wizard gets a windfall – even the Amazing Randi needs advice on how to keep his $272,000 prize from vanishing], CNN Money, September 1, 1986, "Randi began his campaign against fakes in earnest in 1964, during a stint as the host of a radio talk show in Manhattan. He had become disturbed by the number of listeners phoning in with such flummery as tales of self-styled clairvoyants' uncannily correct forecasts. Gradually, his work as a debunker began to rival his show-business career, gathering momentum in the early 1970s, when Uri Geller caught Randi's attention."
• Benjamin Radford is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic who has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns debunking topics such as urban legends, unexplained mysteries and the paranormal.{{cite book |last1=Radford |first1=Benjamin|author-link=Ben Radford |title=Mysterious New Mexico |date=2014 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |location=Albuquerque |isbn=978-0826354501}}{{Citation | newspaper=Skeptical Inquirer | publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry | volume=31 | issue=5 | date=Sep–Oct 2007 | url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/santa_fe_courthouse_ghost_mystery_solved/ | last=Radford | first=Benjamin | author-link=Benjamin Radford | title=Santa Fe 'Courthouse Ghost' Mystery Solved | access-date=April 10, 2013}}
• Carl Sagan was a noted astronomer who debunked purported close encounters such as the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, and pseudoscience such as Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision."Obituaries; Betty Hill, 85; Claim of Abduction by Aliens Led to Fame", Los Angeles Times, Oct 24, 2004, "Carl Sagan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer, was among the Hills' debunkers, yet he considered their story noteworthy."
• Richard Saunders is prior president of Australian Skeptics, host of the Skeptic Zone podcast, a science activist, and is a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Fellow.{{cite web |title=Power Balance Tests |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynbx5JfEwcA&fbclid=IwAR0OkfijOv5A4_VGDNCcyp4piIM92uQ9WrGdoHh6ztiSJ_Y7WAVq07HFijk |website=YouTube | date=January 31, 2010 |publisher=TodayTonight |access-date=17 June 2020}}
• Michael Shermer is executive director and founder of the non-profit organization The Skeptics Society, and editor-in-chief of the group's magazine, Skeptic.

• American Council on Science and Health
• Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
• The MythBusters, a program on the Discovery Channel. Two former special effects technicians, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, test the validity of urban legends.
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology debunked the World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories.
• James Randi Educational Foundation
• Popular Mechanics has released several publications also debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, in particular those mentioned in Loose Change.
• Quackwatch
• Snopes debunks or validates urban legends.
• The Skeptics Society

{{see also|Science communication}}

File:Charles Napier Hemy - A Nautical Argument 1877.jpg

Australian Professorial Fellow Stephan Lewandowsky{{cite web |title=Stephan Lewandowsky |url=http://www.psy.uwa.edu.au/Users%20web%20pages/cogscience/Stephan_Lewandowsky.htm |website=psy.uwa.edu.au |publisher=Cognitive Science Laboratories, University of Western Australia |access-date=15 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125205446/http://www.psy.uwa.edu.au/Users%20web%20pages/cogscience/Stephan_Lewandowsky.htm |archive-date=2011-11-25 }} and John Cook, Climate Communication Fellow for the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland (and author at Skeptical Science){{cite web | title = About | url =http://www.skepticalscience.com/about.shtml | website = skepticalscience.com | publisher = Skeptical Science |access-date = 15 December 2011 }} co-wrote Debunking Handbook,{{cite book|author1=Cook, J.|author2=Lewandowsky, S.|title=The Debunking Handbook |publisher=University of Queensland |location=St. Lucia, Australia|year=2011|isbn=978-0646568126|oclc=768864362|url=http://www.skepticalscience.com/docs/Debunking_Handbook.pdf}} in which they warn that debunking efforts may backfire. Backfire effects occur when science communicators accidentally reinforce false beliefs by trying to correct them,Silverman, Craig (June 17, 2011). [http://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_backfire_effect.php "The Backfire Effect: More on the press’s inability to debunk bad information"]. Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia University (New York City). a phenomenon known as belief perseverance.{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Social Psychology|editor=Baumeister, R. F.|display-authors=et al|publisher=Sage|year=2007|isbn=978-1412916707|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|pages=109–110|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQBzAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Encyclopedia%20of%20Social%20Psychology%22&pg=PT157}}{{Cite book|title=The Art of Scientific Investigation|last=Beveridge|first=W. I. B.|publisher=Norton|year=1950|location=New York|page=106}}

Cook and Lewandowsky offer possible solutions to the backfire effects as described in different psychological studies. They recommend spending little or no time describing misconceptions because people cannot help but remember ideas that they have heard before. They write "Your goal is to increase people's familiarity with the facts."{{cite journal|last1=Skurnik|first1=I.|last2=Yoon|first2=C.|last3=Park|first3=D.|last4=Schwarz|first4=N.|title=How warnings about false claims become recommendations|journal=Journal of Consumer Research|volume=31|pages=713–724|year=2005|doi=10.1086/426605|issue=4 |s2cid=145120950 }}{{cite journal|last1=Weaver|first1=K.|last2=Garcia|first2=S.M.|last3=Schwarz |first3=N.|last4=Miller|first4=D.T. |title=Inferring the popularity of an opinion from its familiarity: A repetitive voice sounds like a chorus|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=92|pages=821–833 |year=2007|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.92.5.821|pmid=17484607|issue=5 }} They recommend providing fewer and clearer arguments, considering that more people recall a message when it is simpler and easier to read. "Less is more" is especially important because scientific truths can get overwhelmingly detailed; pictures, graphs, and memorable tag lines all help keep things simple.{{cite book|last1=Schwarz|first1=N.|last2=Sanna|first2=L.|last3=Skurnik|first3=I.|last4=Yoon|first4=C.|title=Metacognitive experiences and the intricacies of setting people straight: Implications for debiasing and public information campaigns|volume=39|pages=127–161|year=2007 |doi=10.1016/S0065-2601(06)39003-X |series=Advances in Experimental Social Psychology|isbn=978-0120152391}}

The authors write that debunkers should try to build up people's egos in some way before confronting false beliefs because it is difficult to consider ideas that threaten one's worldviews{{cite journal | last1 = Nyhan | first1 = Brendan | last2 = Reifler | first2 = Jason | title = When corrections fail: the persistence of political misperceptions | journal = Political Behavior | volume = 32 | issue = 2 | pages = 303–330 | doi = 10.1007/s11109-010-9112-2 | date = June 2010 | s2cid = 10715114 }} [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/nyhan-reifler.pdf Pdf.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730172526/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/nyhan-reifler.pdf |date=July 30, 2014 }} (i.e., threatening ideas cause cognitive dissonance). It is also advisable to avoid words with negative connotations.{{cite journal|last1=Hardisty|first1=D.J.|last2=Johnson|first2=E.J.|last3=Weber|first3=E.U.|title=A dirty word or a dirty world?: Attribute framing, political affiliation, and query theory|journal=Psychological Science|volume=21|pages=86–92 |year=1999 |doi=10.1177/0956797609355572|pmid=20424028|issue=1 |s2cid=6588052}} The authors describe studies which have shown that people abhor incomplete explanations – they write "In the absence of a better explanation, [people] opt for the wrong explanation". It is important to fill in conceptual gaps, and to explain the cause of the misconception in the first place.{{cite journal|last1=Ecker|first1=U.K.|last2=Lewandowsky|first2=S. |last3=Tang|first3=D.T.|title=Explicit warnings reduce but do not eliminate the continued influence of misinformation|journal=Memory & Cognition|volume=38|pages=1087–1100 |year=2011|doi=10.3758/MC.38.8.1087 |pmid=21156872|issue=8|doi-access=free}} The authors believe these techniques can reduce the odds of a "backfire" – that an attempt to debunk bad science will increase the audience's belief in misconceptions.

The Debunking Handbook, 2020, explains that "backfire effects occur only occasionally and the risk of occurrence is lower in most situations than once thought". The authors recommend to "not refrain from attempting to debunk or correct misinformation out of fear that doing so will backfire or increase beliefs in false information".{{Cite book|last=Lewandowsky|first=Stephan|url=https://sks.to/db2020|title=Debunking Handbook|publisher=Databrary|year=2020|doi=10.17910/b7.1182}}

• The True Believer
• List of scientific skeptics

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Category:Scientific skeptics

Category:Conspiracy theories

Category:Pseudoscience