Myths
One problem of hubris is that one is often blind to it. We are blind on our own bias, our mistakes and stereotypes. Take animal myths. I grew up believing there were certain birds that the crocodiles allowed to do dental work in their mouths. The issue is that I read it in an encyclopaedia. It turns out that nobody has observed in the field. But if you had asked me about mutualism, I could have cited this as an example.
Some slightly more enlighted people will seize this point and just say that it is a single example. The problem is that the encyclopaedia was actually wrong on the topic of mutualism. It also cited another example of birds (honeyguides) guiding honey badgers to the hives. Now I need to clarify a few points. Honeyguides do lead people to hives so that they can feed on the leftovers. But honey badgers are largely nocturnal, have poor eyesight and hearing, and don’t climb trees very well. Videos of honeyguides leading honey badgers turn out to be faked. (The honeyguide was stuffed and the honey badger was tamed.)
Some more sophisticated critics will then point out that my misconceptions are part of a poor education system. If I had kept up with the modern facts, I would not be misled. This theory turned to be full of holes. A decade ago, it was a fact that Komodo dragons used their toxic bacteria salvia to bring down their prey. It turned out that Komodo dragon has its own venom and its salvia is usually free of toxic bacteria.
There are still problems even if I read all the latest scientific facts. One is that the scientific consensus may change without much fanfare. It turned out that mammals are not always warm blooded. Some reptiles can maintain a higher body temperature than its surrounding (They can do it without basking in the sun.).
I will end this topic with a picture at an unnamed zoo. The problem of using rules is that the is a need to revise the rules regularly. And no rule is always ironclad.
Some slightly more enlighted people will seize this point and just say that it is a single example. The problem is that the encyclopaedia was actually wrong on the topic of mutualism. It also cited another example of birds (honeyguides) guiding honey badgers to the hives. Now I need to clarify a few points. Honeyguides do lead people to hives so that they can feed on the leftovers. But honey badgers are largely nocturnal, have poor eyesight and hearing, and don’t climb trees very well. Videos of honeyguides leading honey badgers turn out to be faked. (The honeyguide was stuffed and the honey badger was tamed.)
Some more sophisticated critics will then point out that my misconceptions are part of a poor education system. If I had kept up with the modern facts, I would not be misled. This theory turned to be full of holes. A decade ago, it was a fact that Komodo dragons used their toxic bacteria salvia to bring down their prey. It turned out that Komodo dragon has its own venom and its salvia is usually free of toxic bacteria.
There are still problems even if I read all the latest scientific facts. One is that the scientific consensus may change without much fanfare. It turned out that mammals are not always warm blooded. Some reptiles can maintain a higher body temperature than its surrounding (They can do it without basking in the sun.).
I will end this topic with a picture at an unnamed zoo. The problem of using rules is that the is a need to revise the rules regularly. And no rule is always ironclad.
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