Here are four incredibly bad ideas (that are still commonly believed):
1) That people should be judged for, blamed for, or feel shame about the behavior of their ancestors.
Of course, if your ancestors did bad things, you should condemn those acts. And if you directly benefit from something bad your family member did, you should consider if you can make amends.
But, logically, people cannot be morally responsible for events that they were unable to affect.
This bad idea (th...
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nuance
How to avoid feeding anti-science sentiments
A major mistake scientists sometimes make in public communication: they state things science isn't sure about as confidently as things it is sure about.
This confuses the public and undermines trust in science and scientists.
Some interesting examples:
1) As COVID-19 spread early in the pandemic, epidemiologists confidently stated many true things about it that were scientifically measured (e.g., rate of spread). Some of them were also equally confidently stating things that were just spec...
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Eight common, slick-sounding claims that I think are misleading – and their clunky alternatives
Written: November 3, 2018 | Released: July 23, 2021
Here are eight common and slick-sounding claims that I think are misleading, along with a very clunky alternative for each that I think is truer and more useful:
"You'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did" -> don't try to minimize the amount of regret you'll have - try to maximize the total amount of the things that you value."Opposites attract" -> birds of a feather flock together (in fact, only a few typ...
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