A website I created devoted to all the “facts” that have been changed or proven false since you graduated high school. User submissions welcome.

  • MrQuallzin@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    As another user said, sources for updates should definitely be required. If your goal is to educate people, provide them with the sources you yourself are pulling the facts from.

    I’d also suggest curating what “facts” are being presented and how. I put in 2011 for myself, and according to the website it was “taught in schools around the world” (copied from your mission statement) that “The 5-Second Rule for Dropped Food”. Yes, that is a nonsense sentence. What exactly is the fact you are stating was taught around the world? What science or fact was being taught that was disproven or updated?

    Of course we can infer that this refers to the old wives tale/childhood joke (I cannot think of a better term, sorry) that when food is dropped, you have 5 seconds to pick it up for it to be “safe”. I’d be concerned if this was taught in ANY school as somehow being scientific at any point in time (after germ theory was widely accepted).

    You might also have different categories or subjects instead of saying things are “facts”. The old food pyramid wasn’t taught as being “the best nutrition guide” or that it was irreplaceable. It was the best we had at the time, and any competent science class will remind you that these things change as we learn more. I’d label that as “Guidelines” or similar instead.

    • bklyn@piefed.social
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      7 hours ago

      I think a lot of this could be resolved by presenting this in a different context; perhaps if it were framed as “common misbeliefs” or “debunked common beliefs”, and users could search by date of birth.

      this could be expanded later, too, to include regional stuff.