Thursday, August 2, 2007

The Ignorant are Easily Manipulated

Here is a Video by Penn and Teller where a petitioner gets hundreds of signatures to ban 'dihydrogen monoxide'. That stuff sounds really bad, doesn't it, until you think a little bit and realize the petitioner is getting people to want to ban WATER - H2O!!




Those people did not even give a thought to the possibility of that strange sounding chemical being any more than an evil poison. Most of us learn that water consists of two hydrogen atoms (dihydrogen) and one oxygen atom (monoxide) in elementary and middle school.

This is one of the reasons why I teach. You cannot do much with adults who choose to be stupid and ignorant, but there is hope for the kids. Knowledge is power, literally.

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