How gullible are we?

[enyaj]

Junk Science

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to
alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or totalelimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."

And for plenty of good reasons, since:

1. it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
2. it is a major component in acid rain
3. it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
4. accidental inhalation can kill you
5. it contributes to erosion
6. it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
7. it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.

Forty-three (43) said yes, six (6) were undecided, and only one (1) knew what the chemical was .

Do you?

The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"

He feels the conclusion is obvious.



It isn't just science that plays such games, our own Church can do so with it's various arguments re interpretation of the Bible etc.




Jayne (in Aroha, Hope, and Love. ) nz

. * . (\ *** /) * . A saint is not one who never falls
*.* ( \(_)/ ) * * It is one who gets up and goes on
. . (_ /||\_) . * every time they fall.
* . /____\ *..* (Anon.

[Caroline]

The sort of fake science that he was trying to expose is a bit of a bugbear of mine. It's not fun watching TV adverts for cosmetics with me in the room.

Of course email scams depend on people being both gullible and greedy, and they must have some degree of success or they would have died out.

The difficulty is that we don't all know enough about all things to make our own informed judgements, so we have to decide who to believe. Within the Church (universal) that can be a real problem. Most people hold their views honestly and with conviction, very few are trying to sell something on grounds they know to be false.

Personally I think that we need to learn the principles behind the teaching in the Bible in order to gain an understanding of what is right, and then, hopefully, we will instinctively recognise when something we are taught doesn't sit right. But that is just my view - why should anyone agree with me?

PS I do know what the chemical is, and he might have added that it can be dangerously explosive.

[Isobel]

Yes, it annoys me too.
My addition would be that prolonged contact with the chemical's solid form can cause injury or even death.

[Karen]

Contact with the solid form is a useful painkiller, especially useful for soft tissue damage, so it is not all bad!