Popular ideas, potentially refuted
(Last updated: October 2022)
Below is a list of popular ‘turns out’ style content that it (drumroll…) turns out, may not be correct after all. That is – if you are willing to accept the counterarguments.
Books
Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams (Matthew Walker)
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Yuval Noah Harari)
- vs A Response to Yuval Harari’s ‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’ (C.R. Hallpike)
The “Ten thousand hours rule” from Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)
- vs The Sports Gene (David Epstein)
The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)
- vs Is the Tipping Point Toast? (Clive Thompson)
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Angela Duckworth)
- vs Much Ado about Grit: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of the Grit Literature (Marcus Crede)
Documentaries
What the Health (Netflix)
- vs What the Health: A Movie with an Agenda (Science-Based Medicine)
- vs The Game Changers Review – A Scientific Analysis (Layne Norton)
Other
Oatly Oat Drink as a healthy alternative to milk
