11th speaker Takanori Hamauzu
"Doubt it!"
Why he delivers his speech
Today, we have massive information in this information society, and of course, there are lots of information that lacks credibility. Besides, you will be deceived by information like this, even if you know there are much risk of being deceived. Knowing how we are likely to be deceived and actually being deceived are different problems. Needless to say, I sometimes think “Oh, I was deceived.” Then, I finally found one of solutions to prevent from being deceived. My speech topic is about a crucial social problem and, at the same time, also about an issue that are so close to us.
Script
It was when I traveled in Kyoto in my high school days. I went down a river on a raft with my friends. The guide was a nice, cheerful man. On the boat, he said “There are many deer here like in Nara, and I think you can see them soon. Look at the left bank of the river!” So, I stared at the bank, but I couldn’t see anything except trees. Still, the guide shouted “Hey, look! There is a deer!” Where? I wonder. That is a tree, and a tree… Oh What!? “Chopper” from “One Piece”. Your “deer” is the stuffed toy of “Chopper”!? What a liar you are! Poor friends couldn’t see through his lie, so they leaned out of the boat to find a “deer”. Suddenly the boat lost its balance and we were thrown out of the boat. Oh dear! How miserable we were! Even after that he continued to tell lies without hesitation. And each time he told a lie, we were deceived.
You may think “What a silly event!” but this story has an important lesson. It is “Do not believe everything. Hold a skeptical view”. And this is a first step of critical thinking. Let me talk about an interesting scientific research related to critical thinking.
In 1997, a freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High in Idaho researched a chemical compound called Dihydrogen Monoxide, or DHMO. He found that this chemical is a major substance in acid rain, contributes to the greenhouse effect, and has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients. He also discovered that DHMO is often used in nuclear power plants and in many forms of cruel animal researches. Most dangerously, it is used as an additive in certain “junk-foods” and other food products. Then, everybody, do you think this chemical should be banned? Actually he asked 50 people this question. The result was as follows. 43 people said yes, 6 were undecided, and only one found out that DHMO was water. The researcher concluded people were easily deceived. I think we are likely to be deceived when we face difficult technical terms and things that are apparently based on objective data, like “fake science (pseudoscience)”.
So, what should we do in order to prevent from being deceived? The answer is simple. Doubt it. You should always think “Is that true?” Let’s go into details. You should think in this way when you get uncertain information, which I call it Information A for now. First, you assume Information A is not true. Given that information A is true, that assumption have some contradiction. So, if that happens, you can completely believe that Information A is true. This way is called proof by contradiction, 背理法 in Japanese.
We can use this method for various things, for example “hydrogen water”. Nowadays, it’s popular among middle aged women. Many of them are absorbed in antiaging and some of them never fail to drink hydrogen water, even if their family say “It’s too late, my Mom!” Then, does hydrogen water have an effect on antiaging?
Some say that hydrogen itself can distinguish active oxygen that is one of causes of aging. But even now, no scientists succeed to prove this theory. So we can’t conclude the theory is true or false because it’s still in research stage.
So, here, I want to start analyzing this question; does hydrogen water contain sufficient amount of hydrogen to have a certain effect? Let’s use the method here! You assume that hydrogen water have enough hydrogen, and you try to deny it. There are two ideas that can give the reason for the denial of this assumption. First, there are much hydrogen gas in our body. Compared with the amount of hydrogen gas in our body and hydrogen water, the latter is so small. Therefore, even if we drink it a lot, it’s not effective. So, the amount of hydrogen in hydrogen water is not sufficient. Second, if hydrogen water is in plastic bottles or aluminum cans, hydrogen molecules can go through these bottles or cans and sometimes completely disappear, like soda tastes flat. It can’t work anyway. Now, you succeed to deny the assumption. Then the final answer to the question is “NO, hydrogen water doesn’t contain enough hydrogen”.
I know this way is complicated, but you don’t have to prove that there is a contradiction if you can’t. It’s enough to find the information is suspicious. We are likely to make a decision without thinking a lot. It matters that you shouldn’t jump at some information. Don’t rush to believe it. Doubt your first impression, and you are less likely to be a victim of cheat.
Having a habit of doubting brings you additional merits: you can reconsider an established notion. Many people say “Personality is good”, “Difference should be respected.” Of course I guess so, but I try not to believe the whole argument. Let’s doubt these notions. Is personality really good? Why? Then you may find what ‘personality’ is, or what a ‘good’ personality is. How about ‘difference’? Please apply this method to it by yourself.
Just doubting is not the final purpose. It’s OK if you cannot reach a truth within a short period. What you have to do before you believe information is finding a weak point or something wrong in it by doubting it. Then you will not be deceived by the cheerful but tricky guide in Kyoto.