People will believe anything, no mater how outlandish it is.
I've alway said, if you say something (anything) loud enough and long enough, with enough conviction, people will believe it. Especially if there has been scientific research on the subject.
This tendency to believe a strongly sent message is why Ad campaigns
work so well. It's also how cultural trends are set; presidents are
elected; and social standards are established.
It's
even determines how people behave.
This is not the bad news (it's just the news).
The bad news is: Certain ideas in our culture -- ideas which people take as truths -- have given people license to be rude to others and not take responsibility for it. And they seem to be blind to this. A condition I refer to as: "ruditude" (a self-righteous, demeaning attitude).
In certain instances they don't even think about their behavior as bad-mannered. As I've toured the country, lived in numerous states and lived bi-coastally, I've noticed this especially in the case of non-smokers towards
smokers. This is not true of every individual, but it has become general
practice to feel justified in scorning those that partake in a pleasure
that really doesn't impact the scorner to any great extent. Not only
have cigarette smokers been treated with disdain they are
being banished as if they are criminals. ("Smokers are not allowed here").
I don't know how many times people use "the research" as an
argument to support their case against any particular issue (be it smoking, eating fat,
consuming salt, drinking alcohol, prostitution or whatever the market deems an important issue).
We all know, or should know, that research results are never
objective. (Actually nothing is objective -- except that everyone has a
subjective experience -- but that's a topic in itself and will be
addressed on some other post). Results on any research can be skewed to
favor any idea. Those of us who know this make great debaters.
But when people use research results to justify their beliefs, my response is: "I don't believe that myth, it's all in how it's marketed."
Case and point: The anti-smoking
movement has put a bad spin on smoking. It has done so to the extent that people
actually feel that they have a right to be offensive toward smokers. Behaviors like defaming and ostracizing smokers or making make out and out derogatory remarks become common place. This is conduct that the culprits teach their children is unacceptable behavior. Yet they do it to smokers. . . even in front of their kids. Great role modeling -- huh?!?
In what other circumstance would someone, without thinking, come up to a total stranger and speak this way or tell them how to behave? Yet in any public place you can be sure someone will approach a smoker and do exactly that: "You're disgusting! You shouldn't smoke! Smoking is bad for you. You stink!" Who are you people? Did your Mama not teach you manners? Unfortunately, these people are representative.
They often use "the research" to say they have a right to do so "because second-hand smoke kills." Actually, the research on second-hand smoke does not indicate that people are dying from someone else smoking, but that is the common belief. In reality, it's no longer a health issue, it's a crusade to control others. Needless to say, I was pleased to see that 20/20 just did a segment on this myth and how out of hand it's become.
Irregardless, does anything you've read or heard really give you reason to be mean to someone else? Please, people deal with your anger and righteousness in a more constructive way.
And lets try to have common courtesy be more common, no matter what the "research" says.
Anyone got a light?
I have been blessed with a charmed life - I really believe that all my experiences have given me the opportunity to confirm what I already know . . . which is: life is magical. 
