Skeptoid #1055: Caught in the Feedback Loop

[suspenseful music] Episode number 1,050 was about interrogation methods, specifically torture.

Does it actually produce useful intelligence from its victims? In the course of discussion, I also ran down a list of drugs that have been tried as potential truth serums over the decades, and one of those I mentioned was sodium pentothal.

Listener David, who is a pathologist, wrote in, "Quick note, pentothal is the brand name of sodium thiopental.

Note the ending A-L, which indicates an aldehyde group.

The ending O-L, on the other hand, indicates an alcohol group.

Most people use the long-standing and incorrect sodium pentothal.

Understandable, but incorrect.

Any harm done? Not likely." David is correct.

I did use the brand name pentothal instead of the chemical name thiopental.

This is a convention that I've followed pretty consistently since the beginning of Skeptoid.

If I were to mention Kleenex or Velcro in passing in an episode, I would likely say Kleenex or Velcro instead of multi-ply disposable facial tissue or hook and loop fastener strips.

I do this so that people know what I'm talking about, and to avoid interrupting the flow with a superfluous explanation.

If the item I refer to is not in itself germane to the subject, I will generally use a familiar term whenever one exists It turns out that the phrase sodium pentothal is far more common on the internet and in print, and certainly in movies, than the phrase sodium thiopental.

Even the Wikipedia article on it begins with, sodium thiopental is well known in popular culture, especially under the name sodium pentothal.

Now, if the episode included any factual discussion of thiopental, such as its effects, its intended usage, or certainly its chemical composition, then I would have, of course, used its chemical name, or at a minimum, given it alongside its more common name.

But in this case, I was merely reading off a list of three or four drugs that have been given as truth serums to interrogation subjects throughout history.

And although I don't know, I'd lay odds that the brand pentothal is indeed what the CIA actually administered, so my usage was probably literally correct as well.

[suspenseful music] Episode number 1,050 was about interrogation methods, specifically torture.

Does it actually produce useful intelligence from its victims? In the course of discussion, I also ran down a list of drugs that have been tried as potential truth serums over the decades, and one of those I mentioned was sodium pentothal.

Listener David, who is a pathologist, wrote in, "Quick note, pentothal is the brand name of sodium thiopental.

Note the ending A-L, which indicates an aldehyde group.

The ending O-L, on the other hand, indicates an alcohol group.

Most people use the long-standing and incorrect sodium pentothal.

Understandable, but incorrect.

Any harm done? Not likely." David is correct.

I did use the brand name pentothal instead of the chemical name thiopental.

This is a convention that I've followed pretty consistently since the beginning of Skeptoid.

If I were to mention Kleenex or Velcro in passing in an episode, I would likely say Kleenex or Velcro instead of multi-ply disposable facial tissue or hook and loop fastener strips.

I do this so that people know what I'm talking about, and to avoid interrupting the flow with a superfluous explanation.

If the item I refer to is not in itself germane to the subject, I will generally use a familiar term whenever one exists It turns out that the phrase sodium pentothal is far more common on the internet and in print, and certainly in movies, than the phrase sodium thiopental.

Even the Wikipedia article on it begins with, sodium thiopental is well known in popular culture, especially under the name sodium pentothal.

Now, if the episode included any factual discussion of thiopental, such as its effects, its intended usage, or certainly its chemical composition, then I would have, of course, used its chemical name, or at a minimum, given it alongside its more common name.

But in this case, I was merely reading off a list of three or four drugs that have been given as truth serums to interrogation subjects throughout history.

And although I don't know, I'd lay odds that the brand pentothal is indeed what the CIA actually administered, so my usage was probably literally correct as well.