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From the 1930s to 1950s (far too long) the medical community just would not wake up to the fact that cigarettes could cause harm (see More Doctors Smoke Camels). Why did they stick with this misperception for so long? When so many good people come to the wrong conclusion it probably means some deeply human cognitive biases are at play. Most people have a long studied desire to prefer the status quo. If this is what was always thought, why think differently?
They are not the only groups of humans to stay anchored to old ways. For years nutritionists believed that all calories in food are the same, including all forms of sugar. This led to the conclusion that we might want to watch calories overall but sugar is great. Now that obesity is an epidemic and diabetes the fastest growing disease in the world, most professionals realize that too much sugar is bad. But even after it was discovered that Harvard medical researchers were paid to lie in studies about sugar, humanity is still almost totally ignoring this topic. Clearly there are cognitive bias issues here too.
The technology community is not immune to getting stuck with an opinion and not wanting to shift, even in the face of evidence. One of the big ones is that you need to use a personal VPN.
In 2010 it was good advice to recommend a VPN for ..
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