Persistence of Ignorance
By Peter LloydA limitation of our eyes enables us to see movies as fluid motion, when we're actually looking at a series of dozens of images each second. It's called Persistence of Vision. A similar phenomenon might be called Persistence of Ignorance.
Some ideas, as false as they can be, simply refuse to go away. Snopes.com makes a business of investigating all kinds of scatterbrained claims and disabusing us of those that are false.
True Story: I was among a group of friends at dinner. As we ordered drinks, one chose not to order alcohol, because he was taking antibiotics. I couldn't think of any reason why alcohol should interfere with an antibiotic, so I expressed my skepticism.
"Oh, yes! It's true," I was subsequently informed with great assurance and nodding heads, that the combination was, indeed, dangerous if not deadly.
As it turns out, there is little danger. Better yet, the source of the mistaken fear is laughable. It seems some very moralistic doctors administering antibiotics to victims of sexually transmitted diseases literally invented the Antibiotics and Alcohol bugaboo. They did so in order to discourage the infected from drinking. We all know what drinking leads to.
If you want to combat the Persistence of Ignorance and avoid the embarrassment that comes with looking like an idiot when you get caught knee-deep in misinformation, consider the following three suggestions.
First, you have to want to. And that's not easy. We all like to be the one who informs the rest of startling news, amazing cures, and strange-but-true tidbits. Get over it.
Second, you need to develop a skeptical attitude. Start with statistics. Did you know that 57.4% of statistics are made up on the spot? I just made that up. If you believed it, start making a habit of always challenging new information, especially if it surprises you. Trust yourself. You might be right. But check yourself. You might be wrong.
Third, work like an investigative reporter. Get up and go get the facts. Google it. Dig. Read.
Visit James Randi Foundation. Watch Penn & Teller's Bullshit.
Read Everything You Know Is Wrong by Paul Kirchner.
You'll never know it all, but when you do know what you're talking about, you'll feel better about yourself.
Six More Myths Busted
Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest problems.