| The best of the best myths, urban or social | | | | accountability when it comes to potentially |
| myths, have been given a rigorous going-over. | | | | damaging myths. I guess that makes us feel |
| I think we've all heard these urban legends | | | | smart when we figure them out. Enter the |
| throughout our lives and the kind of fun to | | | | inquisitive and curious John Stossel, 20/20s |
| talk about. First we grew out of the old folk | | | | challenging reporter, to deconstruct the |
| myths that our parents used as forms of | | | | media-driven myths of 2005. |
| domestic control: we realized that eating | | | | |
| watermelon seeds would not grow a whole fruit | | | | As reported by LBN (Late Breaking News), John |
| in our bellies, that crossing our eyes would | | | | Stossel took it upon himself to de-mystify |
| not make our eyes stick that way, and, sadly, | | | | his version of the best of the best of |
| we learned there was no Santa Claus, no Tooth | | | | myths--numbers one through ten as follows: |
| Fairy, no Easter Bunny, no dead man with a | | | | |
| hook for an arm. and who can forget that mom | | | | Number 10: Americans have less free time than |
| and dad always had to walk 5 miles in the | | | | we used to. |
| snow to get to school... uphill both ways. | | | | |
| | | | Number 9. Money buys happiness. |
| Do remember the one about Pop rocks and cola? | | | | |
| As it went if you put a bunch of proper | | | | Number 8: Republicans shrink government. |
| action your math and chased it down with some | | | | |
| soda, it would explode. That's one of my | | | | Number 7: The world is getting too crowded. |
| all-time favorites. Or what about the one | | | | |
| about Bubble Yum bubble gum? Whenever you put | | | | Number 6. Chemicals are killing us. |
| it into a piece of Bubble Yum it had a bit of | | | | |
| a crunch to it. That was due to the fact that | | | | Number 5: Guns are bad. |
| it was loaded with sugar. But as one of the | | | | |
| best of the best myths, the story had it at | | | | Number 4: We're drowning in garbage. |
| the con actually contained spiders eggs and | | | | |
| that's where the crunching came from. I love | | | | Number 3: We're destroying our forests. |
| that one. | | | | |
| | | | Number 2: Getting cold will give you a cold. |
| As Munich freelance writer Klaus Manhart | | | | |
| reiterates in his article, Likely Story, in | | | | Number 1: Life is getting worse. |
| Scientific American Mind, humans need myths. | | | | |
| The brain needs a story he writes, and the | | | | Now granted, minds such as those belonging to |
| brain needs, once the story is told, to be | | | | Manhart, Stossel, really have an overriding |
| able to explain the unexplainable, [as | | | | drive to have their world makes sense to |
| Manhart notes Joseph Campbell discovered] to | | | | them, to have and to find an explanation for |
| follow through on its imperative to impose | | | | the apparently unexplainable. But do we |
| order on the world. | | | | really need to figure everything out, in |
| | | | faith, in nihilistic determination and |
| Maybe he's right in his theory about why we | | | | malcontented spite? There's nothing wrong |
| need myths, we are also called to our | | | | with a little mystery and our lives is there? |