Thursday, March 25, 2010

Another great example.....

.....of our nation's inability to think. Apparently, a Denver "nutritionist" thinks she has proven that Happy Meals do not rot by apparently leaving one out for a year.

Why does this demonstrate Americans can't--or at least don't--think anymore? Simple; in a nation full of people who have cleaned reeking dead hamburgers and dead stale fries out of the back seats of minivans, this woman was taken seriously with her absurd claim. Nobody appears to have bothered to ask her if she actually ate a stale year old Happy Meal, or have asked if what she really demonstrated is that food can be dried and look much the same a long time later if you keep it away from mice.

Put in historical terms, Louis Pasteur dealt with this woman's claim with his famous demonstration of the impossibility of abiogenesis. (thanks to Pentamom for correction)

1 comment:

pentamom said...

It also speaks to the perceived need to achieve a level of gross-out or sensationalism to make a point that exists quite nicely without it: Happy Meals contain too much fat and salt per calorie to be healthy for frequent consumption. There is no need to "prove" they're made out of some kind of bizarre inorganic space chemical in order to justify discouraging their frequent intake. But because human beings stubbornly insist on being independent actors driven by a mixture of rationality and appetite who don't always listen to their (p)(m)aternalistic betters, the "reasons" for particular choices have to get ever more dramatic. The option of letting people make their own choices for good or for ill is not on the table, so we have to ramp up the propaganda.