http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/fantastic-creatures.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/anatomy-coelacanth.html
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/bigfoot_at_50_evaluating_a_half-century_of_bigfoot_evidence
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/10/siberia-home-to-yeti-bigfoot
After reading the following articles certain questions popped into my head.
Why are people really so obsessed with such frivolous ventures?
It seems clear that the Big foot or yeti is just a figment of the imagination that has become ingrained in society due to the innate quality of raw curiosity we posses as humans. It makes a great story, all these sightings, all the evidence but like both articles say, there is no real concrete evidence and even the most “golden evidence” was proven to be a hoax. On the other hand there are many times in history when no one believed what we consider to be fact today, such the earth is round and revolved around the sun. It may be quite unjust to classify these people as delusional for devoting their time to this hobby, for it is some of these “delusional” people (Galileo comes to mind) that in the past have made discoveries that shaped the world as we know it today. When the I read the link about fantastic creatures, I was fascinated. Fantastic though commonly used to describe a great experience also means remote form reality or imaginative. Most of the creatures within the article are well-known and recognized today although it took many years to obtain scientific proof. Maybe more time is needed to truly obtain evidence of Big foot. I mean the coelacanth was thought to have died out 66 million years ago, but now since 1938 clear evidence was found which proves that it still survives today!
Maybe in the years to come we will be presented with real evidence of the existence of big foot but for now to most people, including me, big foot seems like a myth someone started to describe something that he could not discern. From the National geographic show brain games I can say for sure that one’s eyes can be very deceiving as the brain can only focus on one spot, in detail, at a time. The brain may believe it saw big foot, but it may just as well be a huge rock!
In an alternate earth: The past meets the present 
I concur with your statement about classifying committed people as delusional. A lot of what we know today would not be true if there were not people committed to their beliefs. Science is field where you have to persist in proving yourself over and over with data proving you are correct. It is amazing to me all the new discoveries that we find year after year through perseverance and dedication. However, I think we can put a pin in the Big Foot search. An animal of that size living in secret right before our eyes does not seem plausible given the amount of exploration that we have done across our country. I just do not see any way there has not been any evidence found after this long of searching. I like to keep an open mind about mysterious things, but Big Foot just does not have a leg to stand on anymore.
Great post Christina. I’ve read a lot of blogs tonight, and yours is the first one I’ve come across that was logical and balanced. A lot of blogs I read tonight were one sided, so I like that you looked at the topic from both sides. I also like that you defined the word fantastic. I think that puts things into perspective quite nicely.
My only question is, what would you define as a frivolous venture? I only ask, because at one point and time the thought of investigating electricity and electromagnetism was considered frivolous as well. I find that it is important to specifically define these things, as they can lead to deeper discussions and analyses of note.
I hope you are right about people just needing more time to prove that Bigfoot exists because I would love to see it and tell everyone that I was wrong about believing it did not exist. Even though you make a very strong argument with Galileo and his proving everyone wrong about the earth and the sun, I am still going to have to stick to my word and continue on believing that Bigfoot does not exist and is just a myth as you believe. Very good argument though, I had not thought of it that way.
I am in total agreement when you mention the things people will do when they are completely unknowledgeable about a topic, and how sometimes we are fooled. I believe people put too much emphasis on what they see, don’t see, or wanted to see. As the phrase goes, “The hand is quicker than the eye!”
It is very easy to trick the eye, it could be done willingly, or accidentally. Its the accidentally part that our imaginations contribute to the most. I can agree that in respect to our current topical studies about imagination improving scientific advancement of society, but left unchecked, history can also tell us it has been detrimental. I guess its a case by case measurement of how the imagination can be applied that we must look at and decide if it is beneficial enough to continue.
I agree with you that it is unjust to classify people as delusional for searching for unknowns on our planet. I believe one of the worst things people can do is to assume they already have all the answers. In science, nothing can be proven. We only accumulate data to support or deny hypotheses. Keeping an open mind is what will help us to grow.