The 2010s
19 entries on file
Things people believed and taught during the 2010s.
The decade of social media getting good at delivering wrong information at scale. Anti-vaxx went mainstream. Chemtrails persisted past parody. Detoxes, raspberry ketones, oil pulling, blue-light glasses, and a thousand wellness fads launched on Instagram with no double-blind data anywhere near them. The 'eight-second attention span' fake-stat went viral and is still circulating. CRISPR babies happened in 2018. The replication crisis in psychology blew the 1970s and 80s wide open. We used to think science was settled. The 2010s reminded us that 'settled' was a stronger word than the data deserved.
5G Towers Cause Cancer
Non-ionising radio waves below the threshold to break a chemical bond, let alone a DNA strand
Modern Attention Spans Are Shorter Than a Goldfish's
The number is fake; the goldfish is fake; the source is a Microsoft slide deck citing a citation that cites itself
Avocado Toast Killed Millennial Homeownership
House prices outran wages by a factor of about ten; avocados are not the variable
Gluten-Free Is Healthier for Everyone
If you don't have coeliac disease or diagnosed sensitivity, gluten-free swaps usually have less fibre and more sugar
5G Technology Causes Health Problems or Spreads Disease
5G frequencies are non-ionizing radiation; no scientific evidence links them to COVID-19 or health harm
AI Will Become Sentient and Take Over Humanity
Current AI systems are narrow task-learners with no consciousness; general intelligence remains theoretical
Dark Mode Significantly Saves Battery Life on All Screens
Dark mode only reduces power on OLED displays; LCD screens consume similar power regardless of content
Facebook Listens Through Your Microphone
Targeted advertising stems from data mining behaviour, not audio surveillance; microphone monitoring at scale is implausible
A Dopamine Detox Resets Your Brain
Dopamine isn't a battery you can drain or recharge by avoiding TikTok for a weekend
Blue Light Glasses Stop Screens Damaging Your Eyes
The screens aren't damaging your eyes; the glasses aren't doing anything
Microplastics Are Slowly Poisoning Everyone
They're definitely everywhere. The 'poisoning' part is several confidence-of-the-data steps further than the headlines
Cold Plunge After Every Workout for Recovery
It blunts the muscle adaptation you just did the workout for
Adderall Is Just Strong Caffeine
It's a Schedule II amphetamine; coffee is a different drug at a different scale of effect and risk
Sitting Is the New Smoking
Smoking kills around eight million people a year. Sitting does not.
Power Posing Changes Hormone Levels and Behaviour (Amy Cuddy, 2010)
Original study's findings failed to replicate; meta-analyses found no reliable effect
Quantum Computers Will Break All Encryption Overnight
Practical quantum computers capable of cryptanalysis are decades away; post-quantum standards are already emerging
Blue Light from Screens Causes Permanent Eye Damage
Blue light causes digital eye strain but not retinal damage; sunlight exposure poses larger photochemical risk
Microplastics from water bottles are severely toxic
Microplastics present but health impact unclear at current exposure levels
STAP Cells (Stimulus-Triggered Acquisition of Pluripotency) Discoveries Were Fraudulent
2014 Nature papers retracted; images were fabricated and findings irreproducible