False “Facts” Can Ruin Any Argument

There are many occasions requiring the careful formulation of an argument and backing up of said argument with valid rationales and facts. Such occasions range from informal discussions to scholarly and professional debates to written presentations of all sorts, including, of course, academic papers. Arguments often fail for reasons of style, such as unclear messages and improper writing conventions (see “Grammar,” “Writing Guides,” and posts on the various style guides on our blog, the Proofreading Pulse).

They also often fail for reasons of substance, such as a lack of substance (no backing) or poor substance, such as inconsistent backing or even false information. One category of false information is that which has been considered common knowledge and has been proven false unbeknownst the person citing it. In today’s post I will share some surprising (to me at least) revelations about truth and lies, and in my next post I’ll offer tips for fact checking to make sure your next assignment is both well written and true.

NOTE: I truly believed all of the “facts” discussed below until I wrote this post and was even a little shocked at times as I wrote this. Believe it or not!

1. “Fact”: You lose most heat through your head, so that’s why hats are so important.

The truth: You lose the same amount of heat through your head’s surface as you do from the other surfaces of your body. Science has proven it. It may be that people believe this one readily because if you live anywhere it gets cold you’ve probably experienced a cold head on a cold day. The reality is your head was probably cold and you experienced it as colder than the rest of you because it was bare as opposed to the rest of you, which was covered in clothing. Any exposed part of your body will have an impact on your overall sense of temperature comfort. And any exposed part will be cold if the weather is cold.

2. “Fact”: We only use a small percentage of our brains (often cited as 10%).

The truth: It is pretty enticing to believe that our brains are only used to a small degree because then it becomes easier to believe that amazing, incredible feats are possible if only we figure out how to tap into the remaining unused portion of our brain power. But it has been proven by neuroscientists that we use our whole brains, some parts more than others, but all of it nonetheless. The fact that some people survive and function at a high level even when large parts of their brain are removed or destroyed (check out the tale of nineteenth-century railroad worker Phineas Gage here) may contribute to this myth, but science has proven that that is all it is.

3. “Fact”: People thought the world was flat and European explorers such as Christopher Columbus set out to prove this wrong.

The truth: Since the time of the ancient Greeks like Pythagoras and Aristotle, who studied the world and the earth’s shape with various calculations related to the sun and shadows and facts about the planet, educated people have been aware of the shape of the earth. Powerful, wealthy people in fifteenth-century Europe, like Christopher Columbus, studied the writings of ancient Greek philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians, among other things, so they would certainly have known the earth was round. Christopher Columbus and other explorers certainly did have some mistaken beliefs, such as China’s being accessible by a westward journey from Europe, but the earth being flat was not one of them.

4. “Fact”: Chameleons color change to blend in with whatever background they are in front of.

The truth: Most people know there are limits to chameleons’ color changing; it’s not like in cartoons where the creatures go from brown to purple to plaid to match their surroundings. But many people believe the reason chameleons change color is precisely to blend in. Chameleons can change colors because their skin contains melanophores and iridophores, which are pretty complicated but basically are cells that rearrange themselves in various ways to make the skin appear to darken and lighten and to reflect light in different ways to produce different color effects. Very interesting! But the reason that chameleons do this is not to hide, but instead to reflect their mood and/or communicate feelings and desires to others of their species. It’s kind of like a peacock fluffing out his feathers to signal his toughness and status as a fine catch to the peahens.

A few of the facts I read about seemed clearly wrong to me before, and I was unsurprised to learn they were false. Very surprising to me, though, was how many times I was truly flabbergasted by the debunked lies. I’ve written in the past about the importance of citing sources, but it is also critical to consider your sourceless information, the things you just know (i.e., think) are true, and do a little fact checking of yourself and other authorities in your life. More to come on this in November!

Sarah P.