Trust Can Only Be Earned
OPINION: Yep, the stories just keep on coming. I haven’t noted any sign of them drying up yet, no let-up seems to be in sight! And with the rapid advances in AI, maybe the worst is still to come.
In my files I have kept quite a number that caught my attention at the time. Those who made the comments were usually well-educatied, with many considered 'experts' in their field.
Just like today, their comments influenced many people. These few examples I have space to list, surely expose and highlight for us, yet again, just how easily we humans can be so wrong about stuff.
I'll kick this off with a couple of the more amusing ones. Obviously, they may not have been amusing at the time for those involved, but they can put a smile on your face today!
"We don't like their sound... Guitar groups are on their way out... the Beatles have no future in show business." Decca records on rejecting The Beatles - 1962.
"Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." - Darryl F Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox - 1946.
And one for us horse-lovers: "The horse is here to stay, but the autonomobile industry is only a novelty - a fad." President of Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford's lawyer, warning him to stay away from the industry.
I'm sure all these guys would all love to be alive today so they could get their words blocked, or better still, edited from history!
Tobacco companies used to recruit medical doctors to promote their products. Usually, the doctor was gifted a carton of the cigs first, then asked for their support. Thousands obliged, even recommending smoking! Ads contained pictures of doctors and/or nurses - even mums with newborns!
Try this line from the past: "Chesterfield Cigarettes are just as pure as the water you drink."
In a 2006 ruling, Judge Gladys Kesler stated: "Substantial evidence establishes that [tobacco companies] have engaged in and executed - and continue to engage in and execute - a massive 50-year scheme to defraud the public..."
Yep, they had been lying for 50 years, and finally got officially busted for it. Surprise, surprise!
I was never big on the science options offered when I was a kid at school many sunsets ago. I ended up getting cornered and taking biology. I well remember learning about the human appendix being totally useless; an evolutionary left-over that was disappearing from the human body!
Of course, 'science' confirmed it! I quote from a Family Health Encyclopedia: "This is an evolutionary relic from the times humans ate grass. It has no useful function today but is prone to an infection called appendicitis."
Really? Yeah right!
By 1976, good medical textbooks were beginning to learn that the appendix was not totally useless. In a 1995 medical text, the authors were emphatic about the function of the appendix.
According to North Korea's State Information, their former leader (the "Dear Leader"), holds the world record for a round of golf. He is said to have completed the 18-hole course in a staggering 34! He came 38 under par, with five hole-in-ones! Wow!
The amazing thing is that people believe it. I guess when any government becomes the only outlet for 'truth', stuff like this can easily happen! Where knowledge is controlled, results like this become the new normal.
Humans with the little bit of knowledge we have, we think we're know-it-alls. I say we seriously need help!
I'm thankful for all I have learnt, plus, I'll stick with the 'Good Book'; it's never let me down!
Take care out there and keep well.
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