Re: Important Follow-up Message

John, I understand fully the urban legend status of the NPR message. My
point was that someone else had indeed forwarded the NPR message to
Behav-An last week because he felt that supporting NPR was a worthy
endeavor (excuse the mentalistic phrasing). The motivation to assist was
the source of my referral, not the urban legend status of the message
itself. In other words, Peter wrote to Behav-An because he was advocating
for its support. I thought the metaphor apt for the support of CCBS in this
context.

Thanks,

Joe Plaud

At 11:48 AM 4/12/2002 -0400, [email protected] wrote:
>In a message dated 04/12/2002 9:09:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
>[email protected] writes:
>
><< a message went out from a member concerning the urgent support of National
>Public Radio (NPR). This issue illustrates how NPR advances its mission:
>through "listener support." >>
>
>A couple of points should be made:
>
>1. Whether or not someone supports NPR or not, a message about it has
>no more to do with behavior analysis than, say, were someone to post
>a message urging support for the John Dillinger Died for You Society
>(see Shea & Wilson, 1975 for extensive coverage of this vital Society).
>
>2. The "Help NPR!" message was a HOAX message, one that has been
>making the rounds of the internet since two college students started
>the HOAX (how many times must it be repeated that it was a HOAX
>anyway?).  They sent out the original HOAX message in 1995.
>
>Back then, the hoax claimed that Newt Gingrich and the Republicans
>were all set to wipe out funding for NPR, PBS, and Big Bird of
>Sesame Street.  The Big Bird bit dropped out after a while.  Variations
>of the message also cropped up over the years. Sometime in 1998
>someone added an "urgent message" stated "last week" by Nina
>Totenberg to the chain letter.  Since the hoax continues to make the
>rounds of the internet, and since no matter which week it is, there is
>always a "last week," poor Nina must be speaking the same "urgent"
>warning week in and week out....
>
>3. What's incredible is that in spite of several messages delibertely
>written by me to point out the hoax, there are still people hitting
>Behav-An with the same letter, dutifully, but one should add, ignorantly,
>adding their name to that hoax letter's online "petition."  This, after
>giving links to the snopes.com Urban Legends site!  This goes to
>show that ideology can blind people to fact, I guess.
>
>4. "At least their hearts are in the right place."  Yes, perhaps, but one
>wishes their minds were as well.
>
>   -- JE