> You could wisely point out I claimed there's research, and I could at least provide it. The research I've seen tells me this won't help since people tend to d

> You could wisely point out I claimed there's research, and I could at least provide it. The research I've seen tells me this won't help since people tend to discount research that goes against their beliefs, and use research that supports those beliefs as reinforcement. It won't do you any good if you start out with a strong belief in the unsupported original claim, as seems to be the case with most people I see here making it. Come on man, I think I'm on your side here, but this is a cop-out. If you're not sure where to find the studies, just say so -- otherwise, why hold them back at this point? (Surely you don't hold the extreme view that everyone is completely impervious to evidence, so you can't just say that the evidence proves itself not to be worth sharing.) I too remember reading about evidence contradicting the 'sunlight is the best disinfectant' meme -- for example, studies demonstrating that false claims stick with people and continue to affect their thinking, even to the point of being held as beliefs, after they are convincingly refuted (or perhaps even withdrawn by the person who presented the original claim, who admits that they completely made it up). If I have time later, I'll see if I can find some good sources to link to.