Chapter 6: The Great Crow Fallacy

To me, the idea of crows being intelligent enough to use cars to crack walnuts seems a bit far-fetched.  Although, as I write that sentence I can't help but think that if I observed a crow continuously dropping walnuts or some sort of other hard shelled food specimen, I might attempt to come to the same conclusion that Terry Maple or David Grobecker did.  After several tests, research showed that birds often drop food onto hard surfaces in order to crack it open.  They do not, in fact, drop food onto hard surfaces with the intention of having a car crack it open.  

Further into the chapter, the great fertilizer scare is mentioned.  It seems that it is so easy to lead the public astray and trick them with unlikely evidence that does not actually consist of thorough research, just strings of assumptions and possibilities.  The lesson from this section states that not all studies are equal.  It is shocking how gullible we, as society, are in everyday life.  It appears that we will believe anything the news or any 'scientific' study without backup research tells us.  Furthermore, without proper evidence and thorough research, simply saying something does not make it true.  

There are so many false claims in advertisements that products are better than others when in reality most serve the same exact purpose.  The current trend is for advertisers to state that it is "clinically proven" that their product to do or prevent various things.  These claims are usually false or proved from ancient, out-dated data.  The bottom line is that we must be careful with what we believe to be true and "scientifically proven."  Research is the key. 

Chapter 5: Facts Can Save Your Life

In Chapter 5: Facts Can Save Your Life, the section titled 'Selling False Hope' was particularly disturbing.  The point of this chapter was that getting facts wrong can cost you money, get you in trouble with the law, or even take your life.  The story of the cancer patient so desperate to beat the disease was terrible.  Any person who would take advantage of a person fighting cancer is absolutely despicable and deserves severe punishment.  It is devastating that people are so desperate that they will do virtually anything to cheat death.  Anything that claims it has a '100 percent cure rate for bone cancer' is simply lying.  Furthermore, clues seemed to be present everywhere that this product was not going to be positively effective.  

Being misinformed consistently ruins lives.  Teens put their health at risk by getting facts wrong about sex.  By assuming that everyone is doing it, teens feel pressure to keep up with their peers. STDS are contracted and seem to be so common these days, which is extremely terrifying.  If teens and college students got their facts straight about what others are actually doing then they might feel less pressured to have sex.  Unwanted pregnancies are more and more common.  These days, each of my friends know at least one person who has gotten pregnant at a young age.  It is a true statement that facts can save lives.