Careful Of Myth Debunking

A recent article about 6 “debunked” myths, should be considered carefully. Some of the items that are being “debunked” are in fact, true common sense  words of wisdom. The people who originally published the material, have taken common sense, and twisted the words, or keyed in on one single word in a whole paragraph, to change the original meaning. For example:

Most people, as kids or otherwise, have heard that you should wear a hat on a cold day, as you lose a lot of heat through your head. This common sense statement is true, if you consider that most people going outside into the cold, will wear boots, pants and a coat. If their hands are cold, they wear gloves or put their hands in their pockets. Thus “most” heat lose will occur via your uncovered head – so wear a hat!

The “myth busters” will twist common sense, to say that you do not lose more heat through uncovered skin on your head, than through other uncovered skin, such as your butt. But how often do you go outside on a cold day, with a bare butt (vs not wearing a hat).

A similar twisting of the truth, was related to putting on weight if you eat at night. The common sense logic says if you eat at night, you are likely eating more and thus will put on weight. The “myth busters” would twist this logic to say that a calorie has the same amount of energy regardless of the time of day it is eaten. So go ahead and eat at night as it has no effect….

The danger with such widespread “news” coverage, is that people will not sit and consider what is being said. They hear a quick blurb on the radio or TV and figure they don’t need a hat, or can eat all they want…

In a perfect world, such twisting of the original meaning, would not get public exposure. As we’re not in a perfect world, it’s up to each of us to consider what is said and look at the full context of the message.

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