Geronimo79 wrote:I've seen the image behind the guy in the video several times its not even about radiation polution but everybody believes it because ooow the enviroment.. it has become a trigger word to shut down critical thinking.
Geronimo79, this thread is an interesting reminder of the challenges people face regarding perspective.
For many without truly educated views into a particular issue (including well-meaning but non-physics/chemistry/biology/mathematics/statistics/ecomomics/medicine/whatever-educated journalists), it's hard to tell the difference between opposing eloquently-presented perspectives, even if one perspective is actually a thousand times better founded than the other. (It's a major reason that belief systems are so tribal in nature, and the cause of much conflict.)
The fact that the colourful graphic in question is a shameless misrepresentation is evidently of secondary concern, at best, to some who agree with the message, or with the messenger.
Here are a few areas of note which are regularly hopelessly misunderstood and/or misrepresented, among media producers and consumers of media alike:
Big numbers. For (apropos) example, many don't readily comprehend the difference between a body of water containing a quadrillion litres of water and one containing a septillion litres. They both sound, simply, really big. But you could fit a thousand thousand thousand of one into the other, which is similar to a football compared to a football stadium.
Similarly, a government-spending news story involving a few million dollars spent or misspent can invoke similar passion to that of a few billion dollars, even though one is next-to-nothing compared to the other.
Chemicals. Chemical this, chemical that, often with negative context, expressed with chemistry-illiteracy. Pure water is a chemical, as are the constituents of everything else found in nature. Expressing them in molecular terms or calling them chemicals doesn't make them badder.
Percentages, stated without any reference to (or even apparent understanding of) the fact that percentages are fractions of specific quantities, and not quantities themselves.
Relative context. The threat of death resulting from regular fast food ingestion is far more serious than that related to certain adventure sports, or terrorists. Similarly, I suspect the threat of sun-induced skin cancer among those who play outside may be less than the threat of sedentary-lifestyle-induced cardiovascular disease among those afraid of the former.
Cheers,
James