What do celebrities know about science?

The short answer is: “Not very much”. But their fame can lead them to have a real influence over the take-up by credulous people of all sorts of nonsense devices or techniques.

The organisation Sense About Science has just published its annual round-up of some of the weird advice offered by various celebrities in 2010.

The one that really riles me is the so-called Power Balance bracelet about which I blogged here.

Why do people believe such weird things? I’ve offered some suggestions here.

I suspect that celebrities are particularly prone to fads and fashions for things that they think will make them thinner of healthier or stronger because they are often insecure individuals under such public pressure to be special and even prefect.


 




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