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Lies We Tell Kids

paulgraham.com

431–433 of 433 posts

Re: Lies We Tell Kids

#431
In general, I really liked this article, and found it thought-provoking.

However, saying that Marie Curie was included in the science books just because she was a woman is insulting and untrue. She was one of the all time greats--the only person besides Linus Pauling to win not one, but TWO Nobel Prizes. Despite extremely meager resources, and at great personal cost, she discovered, isolated, and named two new radioactive elements, polonium and radium. She also discovered thorium, but didn't get official credit for it. She discovered radiation therapy for cancer. Her work laid the foundation for the the work of Max Planck and Niels Bohr and the nuclear age, both its helpful and harmful aspects. Without her work, there would have been no atom bomb, and no nuclear energy. Her influence is vastly important and far-reaching.

Parents don't want their children to swear because it's vulgar and coarse. Well-bred people used not to swear at all, but it has become increasingly common among people of all backgrounds.

Re: Lies We Tell Kids

#432
And in a hundred years, philosophy might be out of fashion, so should also be listed as a lie.

OK, taking my tongue out of my cheek: You don't even know what religion is, so defining it as a lie is . . . a lie you've told to your readers.

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