You know how kids should have their tonsils taken out? NYTimes points out that not all common beliefs are true, even among experts, due to "information cascades." This is a bit like viral marketing, or urban legends, in which people tend to draw conclusions based on believing other influential people around them.
For example, back in 1988 U.S. surgeon general C. Everett Koop declared that fatty food was as horrible for your health as smoking, and that a diet high in fat led to early death. The message was picked up by marketers, who promptly focused in the early 1990s on "no cholesteral" claims. Trouble was, this wasn't true. Researcher after researcher tried to prove this hypothesis to no avail. Americans have always had fatty diets; our first settlers consumed large portions of meat. Dr. Koop had been swayed by a few reports, which in turn created an information cascade.
There are a lot of messages in the market that cascade like this. In the 1970s, most children had tonsillectomies, because physicians cascaded this message to their peers. Medical research later showed that this is often unnecessary. Today, you can see the viral messages spread about global warming, trans fats, tainted meat products, urban gangs flashing headlights at your car, and Hillary Clinton's horrible laugh. Some of the messages are true, and some are not.
Scott Adams, the genius behind Dilbert, posts a further take on the trouble with truth in his blog. It's a great Saturday morning read, with a cup of coffee and a doughnut.
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