2023-09-30 01:00:06
Before a false story we firmly believe that it is possible to destroy it by demonstrating, with evidence, which itself is a lie. However, this is not the case because the data does not kill the story.
The narrative is stronger, larger and more robust, it has the quality of to be resilienta word that comes from physics, and which means that a material -in the face of temperature changes- does not modify its structure. In this sense, given changes in the evidence, the story does not change its belief.
Taking a little history, the story of the French Revolution leads us to remember it as a total success, however, it was ephemeral and lasted only ten years. The concepts of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity were defeated by Napoleon in 1799, who ended up imposing an empire.
Massa called out Milei: “Those who deny climate change talk to dogs, treating them like children”
Another concept that revolutionizes us is that evidence needs the story to survive, but this is not reciprocal, the story does not need evidence to survive over time. Therein lies the crux of the matter: a story can lead us to react wrongly to evidence influenced by said story.
Fact does not kill a story: water
A good example and the most unusual was the complaint made by Nathan Zohner, who was only 14 years old, who reported and demonstrated with “evidence” that a substance called Dihydrogen Monoxide It was found in everyday life and has the following characteristics:
- This substance is a key contributor to desertification and soil erosion.
- Every year several hundred deaths are recorded due to its inhalation
- Prolonged exposure to dihydrogen monoxide – in solid form – can cause acute burns and necrosis.
- It is present in many poisonous agrochemicals
- In contact with iron, it corrodes it in a short time and can cause buildings to collapse.
With all this evidence, Zohner convinced to the students of a school, and subsequently to thousands of citizens, that the best thing was ask for a ban on the use of Dihydrogen Monoxide. In conclusion, the population asked for a ban on… the use of water!
What happened then? In 1998, an Australian MP launched a legislative proposal to ban it nationwide. In 2002, Atlanta’s water company was accused of containing suspected dihydrogen monoxide in its system, but company officials explained to the media that the city’s water did not contain more monoxide than the law allowed.
This has been an example of how a story It can lead us to make wrong decisions.
The fact does not kill the story: religion
In the case of religion, the issue is quite similar. The accounts of it have never had scientific evidence of existence, but they survive thousands of years. On the other hand, a scientific discovery may not have social approval and be forgotten in history if it does not have a story to support it.
The evidence has a dependent relationship with the story, however the story is independent.
But then, how to respond to an erroneous story that people believe? Neither more nor less than generating another story, and inoculating doubts regarding the first. The contamination of information acts as a cumulative antibody, which corrodes the credibility of the narrative.
We are emotions walking, and honestly, almost always the truth has sailed alone, isolated from stories that sustain it, but plagued by stories that engulf it in slow motion. There, among the darkness, you can find wandering truths, starving and lonely in search of non-existent company.
*President Fund. EcoConsciousness
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#data #kill #story
