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I've written before about the problems of misleading headlines on popular summaries of research news.
Sometimes a cartoon can say the same thing in fewer words. This one does.
It's funny but sad, because it impacts our health.
You folks at Health Central and your thoughtful readers who comment give the internet a good name. Google search is your friend (as well as other ways to find related material). We curious folks who want to know more can now indulge our curiosity within seconds of seeing an unexpected claim anywhere. Even if only a small fraction of us check it out, responsible bloggers can amplify their voices when it matters.
Thank you for being a part of the solution to the problem you mention.
Dick
ps See the wave.google.com for a new way to carry on a discussion like this. I was particularly impressed that it can already suggest to inadequate spellers the right "they're" to replace their "there" and the right "too" or "two" or even "tu" to replace their "to". Could such a mechanism bring the subjunctive back into English?
indeed the internet is double-edged- the democratization of information is a crucial freedom, but the loss of peer review dilutes the information in quite troublesome ways
Our schools need to teach students how to find reliable information on the Internet. And this doesn't mean simply going to official sites like the ADA.
But this problem has always existed. Information in books and lectures isn't always reliable either. I remember how shocked I was the first time I heard one of my professors say something that I knew wasn't true.
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I did some research as a student, many years ago, and remember how the smallest bit of information from a study could be taken out of context and blown up totally out of proportion. Facts are meaningless without the complete study and background information.
Yes. But the average person doesn't have the time to research everything, which is the problem.
That's what we're here for! I love to find out what was actually said/printed.