Someone once said a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It could also be said that misinformation that passes as fact can be a dangerous thing, too. Erroneous information can distort issues, prejudice our thinking, and possibly cause us to take a wrong turn in making everyday decisions in our lives. Below is a list of items that our "comon wisdom" has ordained as fact. Some are serious, others just plain silly. How many of the these have you regarded as fact?
Myth: Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women.
Truth: While nearly fifty thousand women a year die from breast cancer, cardiovascular disease kills half a million women annually.
Myth: Our forest are swiftly disappearing:
Truth: We have more forest acreage today than we did a century ago. According to the US Forestry Service, our country grows 22 million cubic feet of wood a year, while cutting down 16.5 million cubic feet a year, a net increase of 36 percent annually.
Myth: Cinderella's slippers were made of glass.
Truth: In the original version of Cinderella written in Old French, her slippers were made of white squirrel fur, or "vair." Years later, subsequent translations mistook "vair" for "verre", which means glass. Cinderella has been wearing glass slippers ever since.
Myth: Teen smoking is on the rise.
Truth: Recent studies have found that 15 percent of current high school seniors smoke at least a half pack of cigarettes daily, compared to 20 percent of seniors in 1979.
Myth: Sharks must keep moving or die.
Truth: While most species of shark breath by swimming with their mouths open, other species, such as the sandtiger, nurse, bull and lemon sharks can breath without having to swim.
Myth: Handguns are the leading cause of death in children under the age of ten.
Truth: Fewer than fifty children a year under ten are killed by handguns. By comparison, twice that number annually drown in five-gallon buckets, and five times that number drown in bathtubs.
Myth: The term "shyster" is derived from the Shakespeare character of Shylock.
Truth: "Shyster" is actually derived from from an unscrupulous American lawyer named Scheuster, who practiced law in the 1840's.
Myth: Urban sprawl is rapidly overtaking our nation.
Truth: Cities and suburbs comprise a mere 3 percent of the total US land area. In fact, according to the Pacific Research Institute, the amount of government protected land has tripled in the past thirty years.
Myth: Lemmings are furry little animals that follow one another to their death.
Truth: Lemmings do not follow each other into the sea and drown. Being migratory animals, they leave their home areas when food becomes scarce, and will forge rivers and streams to find new food sources. Unfortunately, sometimes they attempt to swim across bodies of water that are too deep for them to negotiate. The result is that large numbers will drown.
Myth: The total number of police officers killed in the line of duty is increasing.
Truth: Figures from the US Bureau of Statistics show that in 1979, 134 police officers were killed nationwide. Last year it was fewer than one hundred.
It is a truism that knowledge is power. But wrong information can be as dangerous as no information at all.
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