Night in Tunisia

Science and Fact

Since we're on the subject of things that drive me crazy, here's another one:

People here find unrelated causality and call it fact. They will
defend these "facts" past the point of reason, and even in the face of
science. How about some examples:

Tunisian Fact: Consuming black pepper will give you stomach ulcers.
Why is this a fact? Several people have members of their families who
have ulcers and these people sometimes used black pepper in their
food. Many of the Tunisians I have met have solemnly agreed that this
is true, and so, correspondingly, it must be a fact.
Why is it then that cultures that use black pepper often are not all
diagnosed with stomach ulcers, if black pepper truly is the cause? No
answer. A fact is a fact.

Tunisian Fact: Apricots, if consumed to early, will make you very sick.
I can't count the number of people who have warned me off of eating
slightly hard apricots for that reason. And everybody who comes down
sick and can't make it to work will be diagnosed with having eaten
green apricots. So far three people have been diagnosed (by the
staff) as such. And what's more it's considered a VALID reason for
not attending work - no doctor's note needed.

Tunisian Fact: Diet pop has as many calories as regular pop.
This is where science comes in. Apparently in a world with minds
ingenious enough to send us to the moon and back, to create vaccines
for polio and tuberculosis, to create more plastics and advanced
engineered materials than we could possibly count, we have no one
capable of making a sugar substitute that is low-calorie. No science
will prevail. A fact is a fact.

There are others -
Drinking very cold water will halt your digestive process.
Seatbelts are dangerous and can be fatal.
Keeping your house warm in the winter can make you sick.
And many more.

I have stopped trying to explain why I defy these warnings. I have
stopped asking people "why". I sort of say "oh" and then after a
deliberate pause, continue doing what I was doing. I think most
people believe I will die of ulcers, digestive problems, winter
heat-stroke and hanging by seatbelt before I get home.

How do we Canadians survive, eh?

posted by tiaraletourneau @ 6:34 p.m.