William of Ockham, where are you now that we really need you?

I must recount a really bizarre event. A high school student called me at work (the Swedish Space Corporation) and wanted to interview me about the technology used in Apollo. When he appeared at my office it turns out that it is the sorry old story about shadows in the pictures that Armstrong and Aldrin took and all the other purported oddities that are supposed to prove the Moon landing was a fake. The young man explained that he had been sent by his teacher as part of a school project in "critical thinking". I couldn't help myself but told him that if he had practised a little critical thinking he would not have come at all - he would have found that the story of Apollo being a fake is a fake itself. For example, I said, how could hundreds of thousands of NASA employees have been convinced to shut up about this "truth" for 34 years?

To make him understand I mentioned ”Ockhams razor”, an idea attributed to the monk William of Ockham in the 14 century that the simpler explanation is to be preferred over the more complicated - all unneccesary assumptions need to be "shaved off"! But I only saw a blank stare. Finally I gave up and directed him to web sites (www.badastronomy.com) where the so-called proofs are analyzed and the arguments make the story of the Apollo fake disappear like trolls at sunrise!

But what kind of teacher teaches pupils to arrange interviews under false pretenses and not try to discuss the basics of the Apollo fake myth before sending the students on a "fool's errand"? Clearly, this student, like most kids, was an ardent believer in the Apollo fake myth.

Sorry for blowing my top, but I watched Apollo-17 launch from Cape Canaveral and participated in amateur radio tracking of its way to the moon! See http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/Apollo17/APOLLO17.htm