Stereotypes And False Beliefs

ARE FALSE BELIEFS ALWAYS BEST AVOIDED OR ELIMINATED OR CAN YOU THINK OF EXCEPTIONS TO THIS PRINCIPLE.EXPLAIN WHY YOU HOLD THAT VIEW.

Since the beginning of mankind, false beliefs have been engrained in society. False beliefs often stem from observations made by society. However many false beliefs have resentment, jealousy, fear, greed etc as a foundation. Thus many false beliefs encourage destructive behaviour and habits( eg marijuana is not addictive) Family feuds and even wars have been based on false beliefs.(eg Hitler with his false belief of a superior Aryan race) False beliefs also lead to stereotyping and bias and this is the basis of gender and racial discrimination.( eg blacks can 't swim, blondes are dumb)

False beliefs have been passed on via anecdotes ( eg folklore, teachings of the elderly etc) the written word ( a good example is the Bible), art and theatre (Shakespeare) and now

Many of our health remedies are based on observations and many medicines were discovered by trial and error. Thus I think there are many exceptions to the principle in the medical field.With our advanced technology, many of these observations can now be adequately researched and used to our benefit. A very good example is the one about the cold weather causing the common cold. We know that the common cold is usually caused by either the coronavirus or the rhinovirus and not by a cold temperature. Yet through the years people have observed an increase in the incidence of the common cold during the winter months. Doctors have researched this and come to the conclusion that a drop in the ambient temperature causes these viruses to flourish and also a drop in body temperature can drop the body 's immunity. Another example was the supposed false belief that chewing the bark of white willow helped pain. Scientists subsequently discovered that the bark contained salicin which is a chemical similar to