Popular Belief

[Sum1sgruj]

Popular belief is hardly truth in most circumstances. For example: Being out in the cold will give you a cold. The fact is, a cold is a virus that is obtained through other people spreading it, just like the flu or any other illness.

Popular belief is something that ensures ignorance. It also hurts your wallet. Take toothpaste as another example. Sure, toothpaste makes your breath fresh and whatnot, but fluoride does not make your teeth stronger. Logically, you'd have to be a real dumbass to think otherwise. The reasoning is simple: You are rubbing micrograms of metal against your enamel. Fluoride contaminates wells and actually makes your bones brittle in large amounts.

Why does man live by beliefs that are so far away from the truth? You would think that after 1000s of years, we would have become more practical. The smartest man surely is a doctor// they fool the minds of millions.

 

[coffeecup]

There is a mix of truth and falsity in a lot of popular beliefs out there. But you shouldn't really take'em at face value anyway.

For the cold:
Studies have shown that when your body has been subjected to sub-normal temperatures for extended periods of time, your immune system is suppressed so your ability to stave off viruses and infections is reduced. Additionally humidity is depressed when the temperature is low so the prevalence of the virus outdoors can be more common than during warmer periods. I think people are smart enough to realize that the cold is a virus not something that comes from cold weather.

For flouride:
No one believes it makes your teeth permanently stronger, there's a reason why you're supposed to brush every day. It provides a temporary shield against the acidity of your mouth as well as inhibit some of the enzymes that allow plaque to eat away at your teeth. There are studies out there that show significant reduction in cavaties when using flouride. Plus, it's only bad for your teeth (makes'em brittle) if you swallow the toothpaste. I don't think anyone is dumb enough to do that.

Stop nitpicking dude. Of course there is misinformation out there, but I don't find the majority of people out there are as stupid as you seem to believe. It's easy to point at the problems in our society, the real difficulty is coming up with a viable solution.

 

[Valvalis]

I think the problem is that it's much easier for most people to live by common standards than to look up things individually on their own. It's the inquisitive people who ultimately further society, but most people would rather not spend their time researching or questioning things, they'd rather enjoy life as much as they can based on the fact that "hey, at least the way it's set up right now works." There are tons and tons of things in the world that could be improved, but the things that are immediately life-threatening to people often get the most precedence when it comes to problem-solving. Which is how it should be; however, IMO long-term detriments should also be paid more attention to than they currently are, for example pollution, overpopulation, and dangerous chemicals that poison us over time. As humans we tend to pay a lot more attention to the immediate consequences of things without employing much foresight into the long-term, which is why I'd say about 90% of the problems in the world today exist.

What's sad though is, you're right Sum1, after all the history we have you'd think people would be more active in their own lives than passive, but sadly that just isn't the case it seems

 

[Martel]

Popular belief is hardly truth in most circumstances. For example: Being out in the cold will give you a cold. The fact is, a cold is a virus that is obtained through other people spreading it, just like the flu or any other illness.

The latter part of that statement is popular belief, as well. There is no more or less proof for science than there is for anything else. It isn't any more correct or incorrect than other theories, it just conforms more with the current definition of logic.

You may argue that science has proven its worth, but I would disagree. It has only proven things because people BELIEVE it has proven things. Belief in any idea gives it a certain validity from the perspective of the believer, up to the point that they stop believing in it. Who is to say that in the future a more logical idea than the current idea of science won't come along and "prove" everything we think we know as a result of scientific experiment to be incorrect?

Taking your example of a cold - at the moment, people believe a cold is a type of virus. What happens if someone comes up with the idea that it is not either of these things, but in fact the work of a spirit that is invisible to the eye, and could prove this to the majority? It would displace the scientific idea as the popular belief and be seen as truth, fact, or whatever you want to call it. Would it have any less or more validity than ideas that had preceeded it?

Popular belief is something that ensures ignorance.

This I agree with. Popular belief restricts thought, it makes people extremely narrow-minded to alternate perspectives which are no more or less valid than their own perspective. Once popular belief is established, it overrides everything else, when really it doesn't have any more validity than anything else, simply more people shouting out in its favour.

Why does man live by beliefs that are so far away from the truth? You would think that after 1000s of years, we would have become more practical. The smartest man surely is a doctor// they fool the minds of millions.

Truth is a concept, not an absolute. The idea of truth itself is popular belief, but just because people think it is so does not actually mean that it is so.

From my perspective, for example, science is a ridiculous number of far-fetched assumptions created as a result of mankind's insecurity in not knowing about the things around him. Man fears and hates the unknown, so he gives it labels and forces it to bend to his expectations with concepts like science and religion. You may not think this is the truth, and it does not conform with the popular belief that science is the answer to all of the mysteries of the Universe, but you cannot prove or disprove it, just as I cannot prove or disprove it.

In my opinion, man lives simply by beliefs, which he creates to serve as his version of truth. Once in a while a particular belief - be it religion, science or something else - will become popular and be given the label of truth, but whether it is actually so or not is up for debate.

 

[GalaxyFlare]

Interesting query Gruj.

Popular belief..........contrary to it.......justifications made because of it.......ignorance inspired by it..........In some cases its not such a bad thing when you go through live the way our civilization does working day after day paying bills buying food and drink if youhad any idea what went into the production of such things wed all become fucking amish out of disgust.

What I find annoying Popular belief is the incredibly mundane thing s people struggle to comprehend........like the fact that tap water is just as good for you as Bottled water.........really? NO its not! Bottled is kept in a vacuum from its production date and so is only as good as it was when it was sealed.

Or the societal beliefs about Minorities..........granted you dont need know everything about them but some kind of insight might help you understand other cultures?

It just make it easier to understand the world if its concealed with in Popular beliefs, I dont agree with it, but it takes alot of energy to want/try to be aware of everything.......not to mention impossible.

Buying into Popular Belief is a more polite way of syaing you really dont care as well........I think, you think "THIS" about a way of life or ""THAT" about a group or religion
and it makes it easier to accept if your not in it every day of your life.

Popular Belief is not a bad thing IMO it makes living easier unless yu find it difficult not knowing things about the world.

 

[Sum1sgruj]

The latter part of that statement is popular belief, as well. There is no more or less proof for science than there is for anything else. It isn't any more correct or incorrect than other theories, it just conforms more with the current definition of logic.

You're taking this into a whole other subject. There are many other threads that deal with this, most of which I've posted on

The reason I say this is because popular belief is a very visible and can only be opposed by the sense of universal truth and logic (which tries to oppose everything, really)
If you start a thread like it, I'll be happy to debate it

Anyways, Galaxy Flare has a nice point. It does make things simple and more comfortable in general life. But by the same point, does it not stir just as much complexity and instability at the same time?