Why we are mistaken - the key ideas of Asya Kazantseva's book "Someone is wrong on the Internet!"

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Is it true that homeopathy has no side effects, GMOs contain genes, and meat is unhealthy? Asya Kazantseva writes fascinatingly about the hottest controversial issues. We will tell you why this book from the publisher is useful for everyone to read.

In the book "Someone is Wrong on the Internet" Asya Kazantseva has collected questions that cause the most heated debate, and tells what the scientific community thinks about this. For example, are GMOs dangerous? Is it true that men are smarter than women? Asya argues and reinforces each statement with a description of a study or experiment.

Myths and misconceptions appear even when there are well-proven and proven scientific theories. Why it happens?

One of the reasons is that the amount of information in the modern world is so huge that it is almost impossible for an ordinary person far from science to comprehend it. Plus, every day there is more and more new information. How to understand in such a flow what is true and what is not, which discoveries deserve attention and which are not of practical value? This is discussed in the final part of the book: how to search and find reliable scientific information.

Why are we wrong

It would seem that the Middle Ages are long past, but 32% of our compatriots believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth, and 29% are convinced that people lived at the same time as dinosaurs. Perhaps you chuckle inwardly at such people. But it's easy to make a mistake. You yourself may be a victim of common misconceptions.

Why do we take so much for granted? Asya identifies three main reasons.

• We like the familiar. In psychology, there is a concept of "cognitive ease": we like everything familiar and familiar. We are comfortable seeing what we expect to see. Critical thinking and fact-checking, on the other hand, requires mental effort.
• We trust people. Under pressure from the majority, we even believe in incredible things. Especially if we are not talking about some abstract majority, but about people we like, whom we want to be like. If they support a misconception, most likely we will support it too.
• We love patterns. In random coincidences, we like to find relationships. Searching for meaning where there is none (and finding) is a natural tendency of a person.

Why Misconceptions Need to Get Rid of

Asya divided the twelve myths in the book into three groups:

• medical (for example, does vaccination lead to autism, is acupuncture a reliable treatment);
• scientific (are GMO dangerous);
• vital (is meat harmful to health, is it possible to become gay because of propaganda).

In some cases, knowing the truth is vital. For example, Asya tells the story of Nozifo Bengu, a South African woman who died of AIDS at the age of 32. After being diagnosed with HIV, Nozifo received conventional antiretroviral therapy. But then she switched to an alternative treatment: instead of drugs, she drank lemon juice, ate garlic and ginger. As a result, she started the disease and it all ended sadly. But the most terrible and wild thing in this story is that the woman did it under the influence of state propaganda.

Misconceptions can spread so widely that you can hear them from very authoritative, important, personable people. In this light, it becomes clear why critical thinking and the ability to independently determine the reliability of information is so important.

Of course, there are chapters in the book that do not address issues related to life, health and safety. But they are just as useful. For example, learning more about homeopathy saves you more money in your wallet rather than spending it on well-advertised pacifiers. Some chapters are just interesting to read for general development.

Why do you need this book

The book is actually universal. It will be interesting to read to people of different ages, social status and educational level. We all sometimes argue, and sometimes we all lack information to prove our case.

Asya is a little disingenuous when she says that her book is an indispensable tool for holivars on the Internet. The content of the book is much broader, more interesting and more complex than ordinary discussions on the Web. After reading, you will become more attentive to any new information. In addition, you will probably learn a lot about scientific research and experiments in various fields: medicine, psychology, sociology, biology.

Another undeniable advantage of the book is that it is read in one breath thanks to the author's apt remarks, humor, and self-irony. Reading Someone's Wrong on the Internet is like talking to an erudite friend.

Asya convincingly proves that you don't have to be a narrow specialist to understand a scientific problem. And even in a huge flow of information, you can navigate.