Online "Urban Legends" Exercise

Instructions: Maybe you've heard the one about the car thief who was crushed in an earthquake right after he stole a car. Or maybe you've heard about the drunk driver who was so loaded that he didn't realize he'd hit something until he discovered the body of a child embedded in his car's grill the next morning. Maybe you've heard that using deodorant will cause breast cancer, or that if you leave a tooth in a glass of Coca-Cola overnight, it will dissolve.

What do all of these stories have in common besides being widely circulated? Answer: They're all untrue, and they're all examples of urban legends. Urban legends are stories that are often repeated, but in actuality, have little or no basis in fact.

Check out http://www.snopes.com and read about the research methods the site uses to determine if stories are true or not. Click on the "randomizer" button (or the area that interests you most). Check out 5-10 stories. You'll get various tales that may or may not be true. Notice how many of them are full of the fallacies discussed in Chapter Seven. Identify the significant errors in each untrue story.

How many untrue stories did you come across? Were you able to identify the fallacy in each? Did you find any legends that seemed familiar? Maybe you've received a few in e-mails from friends or family.

In summary: Competent listening involves a certain degree of healthy skepticism. As the text points out, skepticism is not about automatically dismissing claims or about being a naysayer. Notice how the snopes website uses research to determine whether something is true or not. Even the most outrageous stories are looked at carefully.

It is imperative to keep an open, yet skeptical, mind when evaluating the millions of claims you're likely to encounter in your life. If necessary, seek more information when you're unsure of something. Ask questions, check your inferences, and if you ever come across a story that sounds really suspicious, don't hesitate to check out snopes.com.