Thread: The science myths that will not die

The science myths that will not die : Nature News & Comment

Full Story at the link - little bit of a read , but worth it

Many myths have emerged after one researcher extrapolated beyond the narrow conclusions of another's work, as was the case for free radicals. That “interpretation creep”, as Spitzer calls it, can lead to misconceptions that are hard to excise. To prevent that, “we can make sure an extrapolation is justified, that we're not going beyond the data”, suggests Spitzer. Beyond that, it comes down to communication, says Howard-Jones. Scientists need to be effective at communicating ideas and get away from simple, boiled-down messages.

Myth 1: Screening saves lives for all types of cancer

Myth 2: Antioxidants are good and free radicals are bad

Myth 3: Humans have exceptionally large brains

Myth 4: Individuals learn best when taught in their preferred learning style

Myth 5: The human population is growing exponentially (and we're doomed)

I have never heard of any of those myths.

Sciences are human-inspired and manufactured theories -
It's all guess work.

Never heard of those either but I've heard of these ones:

Myth: Mushrooms are a plant
Myth: All races are dead even in every single way
Myth: Homosexuals are no more likely to be pedos than heterosexuals
Myth: Co2 is pollution
Myth: Islam is the religion of peace
Myth: Mass immigration is vibrant
Myth: Gays are totally innocent of causing the AIDS pandemic
Myth: Immigrants are hard working
Myth: Faggots make good parents
Myth: Blacks cannot ride bicycles because there heads are not areodynamic
Myth: Theres no gravity in space
Myth: Bannana grow on trees

Myth: it must be true becuae it is on the internet

is facebook mainly responsible for the decline in rational thinking or does the internet allow more exposure for loud retards ?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-final-column/

There is nothing — NOTHING — too crazy for the Internet hoax beat. Pregnancy by flu shot? Six days of total darkness? In the past 82 weeks, I’m prettyyyy sure I’ve seen just about everything.
We launched “What was Fake” in May 2014 in response to what seemed, at the time, like an epidemic of urban legends and Internet pranks: light-hearted, silly things, for the most part, like new flavors of Oreos and babies with absurd names.
Since then, those sorts of rumors and pranks haven’t slowed down, exactly, but the pace and tenor of fake news has changed. Where debunking an Internet fake once involved some research, it’s now often as simple as clicking around for an “about” or “disclaimer” page. And where a willingness to believe hoaxes once seemed to come from a place of honest ignorance or misunderstanding, that’s frequently no longer the case. Headlines like “Casey Anthony found dismembered in truck” go viral via old-fashioned schadenfreude — even hate.
There’s a simple, economic explanation for this shift: If you’re a hoaxer, it’s more profitable. Since early 2014, a series of Internet entrepreneurs have realized that not much drives traffic as effectively as stories that vindicate and/or inflame the biases of their readers. Where many once wrote celebrity death hoaxes or “satires,” they now run entire, successful websites that do nothing but troll convenient minorities or exploit gross stereotypes. Paul Horner, the proprietor of Nbc.com.co and a string of other very profitable fake-news sites, once told me he specifically tries to invent stories that will provoke strong reactions in middle-aged conservatives. They share a lot on Facebook, he explained; they’re the ideal audience.

Originally Posted by baldrick

The science myths that will not die : Nature News & Comment

Full Story at the link - little bit of a read , but worth it

Many myths have emerged after one researcher extrapolated beyond the narrow conclusions of another's work, as was the case for free radicals. That “interpretation creep”, as Spitzer calls it, can lead to misconceptions that are hard to excise. To prevent that, “we can make sure an extrapolation is justified, that we're not going beyond the data”, suggests Spitzer. Beyond that, it comes down to communication, says Howard-Jones. Scientists need to be effective at communicating ideas and get away from simple, boiled-down messages.

Myth 1: Screening saves lives for all types of cancer

Myth 2: Antioxidants are good and free radicals are bad

Myth 3: Humans have exceptionally large brains

Myth 4: Individuals learn best when taught in their preferred learning style

Myth 5: The human population is growing exponentially (and we're doomed)

Small world. Read that this afternoon. 1 is really interesting. Article drifts after that.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

It's all guess work.

Wrong, again.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

Originally Posted by thaimeme

It's all guess work.

Wrong, as usual

Ftfy...

Jumping jeebuses.! Is this thread for real? Can't you wankers get out of your own way?

Fuck it; just go buy the new Toyota with the leather interior.

^^ sorta means the same thing, does it not?

Originally Posted by kingwilly

^^ sorta means the same thing, does it not?

Nearly. But somewhat more precise as to frequency.

Okay.

Originally Posted by blue

Myth: Blacks cannot ride bicycles because there heads are not areodynamic
Myth: Theres no gravity in space
Myth: Bannana grow on trees

Myth: prejudice improves othography,
Thank you baby Jesus there is no sin tax.

Science still can't answer why we yawn when we see someone else yawn.
Must be the sweet baby Jesus.

The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

Really...??

Originally Posted by Dapper

Science still can't answer why we yawn when we see someone else yawn.
Must be the sweet baby Jesus.

Sleepidarity

Contagious Yawning - HowStuffWorks