Phylbert’s Weekly Words to the Wise

HOW GULLIBLE ARE WE?
Susceptiblity to Enviro-Quackery

[This provocative news item was published in the Feb ’98 Education Reporter (Eagle Forum). Have we placed science on a pedestal and glorified it to the point that even pseudo-scientific jargon takes on its own powerful mystique that can be used to bluff the gullible?]

"How Gullible Are We?" was the title of a prize-winning science project by a freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High School. The student won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair last year for attempting to show how people have become conditioned to environmental alarmism and the fear it causes.

His project was an experiment that involved persuading people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical dihydrogen monoxide. To make his case, he cited the following:

1. It can can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.
2. It is a major component of 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.

The student asked 50 people if they would support a ban on the chemical, based on the above data. Forty-three said yes, six were undecided, and only one knew that the chemical was water, good old H2O.

HOME