Hermione Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes ... But, more to the point: why isn't
> material connected with the debunking of
> pseudoscience/pseudohistory a bigger seller than
> it actually is?
>
> The world is wild for detective stories, of all
> sorts. The act of debunking is - or can be - an
> exercise in detecting misrepresentation or fraud
> ... and yet it doesn't seem to have anything like
> the appeal of a fictional detective story.
>
> Why not, I wonder ... ?


There's a couple of reasons.

People love explanations for things they don't understand. They like reasons that tie everything together for them. This cuts across all disciplines, including debunking.

Two, the tone of the debunkers rarely rises above snotty derision. When you basically tell people that they are idiots and fools, you've lost them. Every time.

Three, if you want to learn more, the Internet gives you all the ancient aliens information you want--for free. How many 'pure science' sites do that? Or do they want $45 for a thirty-year-old paper you can only read once? Keeping it hidden behind paywalls makes it look like "there's something They don't want you to know."