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I am not a gigantic fan of Bullshit, Penn and Teller's Showtime series in which they "are pit bulls for the truth, poised to tear down these myths in the most jaw-dropping fashion possible", according to their website. I have found their shows to be generally of two types:

1. Decent take-downs of low-hanging fruit Such as the catholic church, people who want to cure homosexuality, belief in magnetism curing pain, etc.
2. Credulous distortions masquerading as skepticism The absolute worst case of this was when they denied that second-hand smoke was harmful. Their evidence was pretty embarrassing: they quoted a single judge's ruling that a certain researcher had cherry-picked data. In reality, the evidence is generally undeniable (and rather obvious) that second-hand smoke in relative proximity increases lung and heart disease by 25%. When it became clear that they were being bludgeoned by the facts, Penn retreated, saying that new data showed he had been wrong. This itself was bullshit, as the data were around way before the show (more here).

Now I see on tvguide.com that the show will take on vaccinations in their upcoming eighth season. This is a moment of truth for P&T: are they going to side with the Huffington Post/Bill Maher ilk and claim that vaccinations are bullshit (which seems to be what the episode's title implies, since the topic isn't "anti-vaccinationists") or will they fall on the side of ORDINARY INTELLIGENCE and tear down the dangerous idiots trying to get people to believe in the demonstrated falsehood that vaccines cause autism?

Here are the student evaluation comments on my Phys 8 (Physics for poets) class, unedited. I always come away from reading these ambivalent. Nobody ever says I'm stupid, which is nice, I guess. Most of the comments are something like "is arrogant" or "treats me like I'm stupid". I think maybe I need to learn how to talk to people like they aren't stupid. I don't even normally think that, but the perception appears to be there. Should I worry about that? I don't know. (Pros outweigh cons 2:1.)

Pro:

• Good TA.
• the t.a. goes over all the material that the professor went over in class the day before so that way we can understand it better and this helped me understand more clearly. although some of the quizes were a bit hard overall they were useful to help us. also he answered any questions we asked with full detail.
• GREAT TA! Very helpful in all areas. Very entertaining. Very discrete and straight-forward. Always have the answer to students questions. Office hours are accessible and available.
• The TA was really smart and knew everything that he was teaching. He explained things in a form that evreyone could understand. He was really helpful.
• He clarified what the book did not.
• I have never seen Reuben show up to a lecture for the entire quarter, yet he always knows what is going on in the lecture hall. In discussion, he always gives a brief synopsis of what we discussed in lecture, but then goes on to add more. He is constantly reminding us of how to do the math problems and which equations to use, which is nice. However, he is biased about physics-- he likes what he likes and he is good at expressing these opinions.
• He can actually answer questions in further detail than expected about things related to the class, gives good relatable examples for further clarity, and is pleasant and friendly as well. Overall, very good TA.
• Reuban understood everything he was teaching us and helped us with clarifying almost everything that we wanted to learn from Lecture. He is very helpful in office hours and plans study groups for us if we wanted too. Overall he was knowledgeable and understood what he was teaching us.
• a pleasure to have as a T.A. Like the professor he also seemed interested in disseminating the awesomeness of physics, which I appreciate.
• Probably the coolest fricken TA I have ever had. He has counted to infinity twice. He ordered a whopper at Mcdonalds, and they gave it to him. He can make 20 minute rice in 10 minutes. He made the material easily understandable, and was patient and understanding with all student.
• The TA was very good at clarifying the material covered during lecture.
• Did a good job going over the material.
• Very passionate about physics, despite having discussion so early. Knows what he is talking about and prepares the class thoroughly. Great teaching assistant.
• Reuben was really helpful reviewing the material before class.
• The quizzes he gives every section accordingly with the material we have just learned are very effective.
• Great teacher assistant.
• Reuben is a very good TA. Even though he doesn't attend lectures, he still explains the concept really well. Also, he's really funny during discussions and he understands us.
• He covers the material we learned in lecture, which is helpful, because it's review. The way he goes about it helps me to better understand the material. He also is open to answer any questions we have.
• Very dense discussions and far superior to any other science TA's I've had in the past. Moved quickly through a lot of material but when paying close attention it helped a great deal with reinforcing what was taught during lecture.
• He help me understand physics better.
• He was much easier to understand and approach than the professor!
• Thank you very much
• Came to class everyday with a really well thought out teaching plan. Made it understandable and really did a great job stimulating the above average students and at the same time making it understandable for the others. Great TA.

Con:

• sometimes i found it difficult to understand how the things explained in discussion related to lecture. we did mostly mathematical things in discussion and we dont really do that in lecture. However, the things presented were very helpful and helped me understand the course.
• Reuben did not seem very approachable, although he did do a great job of explaining concepts, I just did not feel comfortable in his section. Very tense I would say. He was a very good teasching assistant, but just the class atmosphere was off.
• seemed unmotivated at times, but great help regardless
• I was not impressed by Reuben. He clearly understands the subject material but isn't able to teach the material to others very efficiently. I frequently had more questions about the material after the discussion than before. I did very well on the midterm yet almost never got full credit on the section quizzes. I think that the fact that Reuben did not attend lecture hurt his ability to teach us the material.
• I could tell Reuben knew his subject well, which is good, but it gave him a sort of smug that radiated like black-body radiation (you know its there but you can really tell) [Ed.: What?]
• Understood the material very well and is well prepared during discussions. Sometimes a little too smart when discussing in a basics physics class, but other than that very good TA.
• Reuben was a good teaching assistant because he always explained everything that we were learning in lecture every discussion period. he always came prepared and ready to begin his explanation. However, he made himself very unapproachable and sometimes he talked as if we had the same level of education of physics as he did and I couldn't connect what we were learning to his explanation. [Ed: Trust me, I did not talk to you as if you had the same education of physics]
• To put it simply, don't fire the guy. He goes his job fairly well, and definitely knows his stuff. He's just bland, boring, and not really personable, or the greatest teacher, but with work, he could get there, but right now the class is nothing more than another lecture. With a quiz at the end.
• A little intimidating and condescending. Didn't appreciate that. But nice and very humorous overall.
• Pro: Knew what he was talking about and explained the material well during the discussion and I felt prepared for the quizzes. Con: Always came late to discussion and has a very monotonous and croaky voice. [Ed: I don't think 1 minute after the bell is very late, is it? I just hate being early to classes. I'm too awkward]
• Clearly understands the material but struggles to put it in a languages that people who do not understand the material would understand.