Falsehoods
Category archives for Falsehoods
Primitive Cultures are Simple, Civilization is Complex (A falsehood) III
Posted by Greg Laden on September 23, 2009 This is the third of three parts of this particular falsehood. (Here is the previous part)
Primitive Cultures are Simple, Civilization is Complex (A falsehood) II
Posted by Greg Laden on September 22, 2009 In the first part of this discussion, I reminded you that we are talking about “falsehoods.” “Falsehood” is a term I and others have co-opted and have used for well over a decade in courses across the land on evolutionary biology and related topics. The idea is to identify a statement that, when uttered in…
Primitive Cultures are Simple, Civilization is Complex (A falsehood) I
Posted by Greg Laden on September 21, 2009 This is yet another in a series of posts on falsehoods. To refresh your memory, a falsehood is a belief held by a number of people that is in some way incorrect. That incorrectness may be blatant, it may be subtle, it may be conditional, it may be simple, it may be complex. But, the…
What is the Placebo Effect, and it it getting stronger?
Posted by Greg Laden on September 8, 2009 I’m an anthropologist and a biologist, so really, I have no problem with the idea of a “placebo effect” in which people become convinced that they are being given an effective treatment and thus, because of that thought in their mind, improve.
Culture Overrides Biology (Another falsehood)
Posted by Greg Laden on September 3, 2009 At issue here is the idea that “biology” is slow and ponderous, glacial, even geological, in its rate of change, while culture is quick and snappy and makes rapid adjustment. Connected to this is a subtly different but very important idea: Culture actually makes sensible adjustments to compensate for changes in the biological realm.
Acting for the survival of the species (a falsehood)
Posted by Greg Laden on September 2, 2009 Today’s falsehood is the idea that individual animals act for the benefit of their own species.
A Falsehood: The poor and the dark skinned have more babies than the rich and the light skinned
Posted by Greg Laden on August 31, 2009 Good morning and welcome to another installment of “The Falsehoods.” Today’s falsehood is the assertion that the poor have more babies than the rich, or that the poor just have more babies to begin with. In comparison to … whatever.
Is it a Falsehood that Humans Evolve from Apes?
Posted by Greg Laden on August 28, 2009 This is another falsehood, but a tricky one. Remember the point of falsehoods: They are statements that are typically associated with meanings or implications that are misleading or incorrect, and in some cases downright damaging. “Humans evolved from apes” is an excellent example of a falsehood because it is technically correct, yet the implied meanings…
Falsehood: Nature maintains balance.
Posted by Greg Laden on August 27, 2009 There is a lot of evidence that nature is in balance. An invasive species throws off the balance of nature in a given region by out-competing some similar indigenous form. When something destructive happens there is a return to status quo, eventually. A few cold years are followed by a few warm years, or a…
Natural Selection is Survival Of the Fittest (A Falsehood)
Posted by Greg Laden on August 26, 2009 Let me remind you of what we mean by “falsehood.” A falsehood is not merely a statement that is factually untrue or logically flawed. Rather, it is a statement that when uttered in certain company rings true; It is a statement that sounds right to people; It is a statement that may be made frequently…