Scooby Doo as a Skeptical Role Model (Oh, and Happy Birthday)

This year is Scooby Doo's 40th birthday. Hard to believe.

At least he's older than I am.

Scooby premiered on September 13th, 1969. But you know the best part of the Scooby Doo cartoons? No, not the question of Velma's sexual orientation or what Fred and Daphne were doing when they weren't onscreen. Or even why Fred always wore that ascot.

Okay, maybe it was some of that.

What I was referring to was that the original incarnation of Scooby Doo was really an introduction for kids to think in a skeptical manner. Basically, skeptical thinking is just questioning an assertion before accepting it. It's integral to the scientific method; scientists must have proof for a claim and show that the idea is not pulled from their arses.

If you lived in a small island in the middle of the ocean that didn't happen to get television or popular media advertising for various toys in the past 40 years I'll tell you what Scooby Doo was; the premise was really very simple.

A bunch of teenagers (Fred, Shaggy, Velma and Daphne) drive around in a psychadelic van (the Mystery Machine) with their sentient talking dog with a speech impediment (Scooby Doo) until they arrive in a town of the week. In this town they encounter some ghost, creature or monster that is terrorizing some person, people, or townsfolk. This group of teenagers and their dog offer to investigate said monster, creature or ghost. Madcap chases ensue and eventually the monster, creature or ghost turns out to be a very human criminal trying to scare people away in order to commit or perpetuate some theft or scheme, which they would have gotten away with if it weren't for those meddling kids and their dog.

In other words, they encounter some group that claims a ghost or monster is attacking their town and the Scooby gang investigates to find the truth behind the claim. Skeptical thinking for kids.

The early shows were just as much fun as they were formulaic. Later incarnations veered away from this and started getting more into the "woo" factor, incorporating "real monsters" and watering down the skeptical thinking to appeal more to the updated audience (or to distance the newer shows from the older ones).

But regardless of this straying from the concept, the original show was a fun romp for kids. I remember watching it as a kid and later on having fun with the in-jokes and yes, wondering what was up with Fred's fashion choices. I mean, an ascot? Geez, Freddie.

Happy birthday, Scooby. Thanks for the memories.