The great mountaineer George Mallory partially funded expeditions through speaking engagements. To the common post-speech query, Why climb it? he gave some variation of the politic reply, To show that the spirit that built the British Empire is not dead. Then once, during the fund-raising tour for what would turn out to be his final expedition, he spat out in exasperation, Because it’s there.

That uncharacteristic retort is possibly the most famous line in mountaineering.

Humans remember things that are simple, catchy, or juicy. Everyone knows one should drink eight glasses of water a day, but it isn’t true. The salient sentence in the report citing a daily need for water noted the requirement was mostly filled by water contained in food.

The Great Wall of China can’t be seen from space. Most humans use most of our brain capacity every day. Swallowed gum passes through the body. The “sugar high” is a myth, for both children and adults. Glass windows do not flow over time. The five tastes–sweet, sugar, bitter, sour, and umami–are each distributed on all parts of our tongues.

The three headlines Bradley Accused, Bradley Convicted, and Bradley Exonerated all lead to the same conclusion about that scum Bradley. The widespread belief that vaccinations cause disease has fueled outbreaks of measles and whooping cough. Bullying on social media can lead to devastating results for vulnerable kids.

A young friend who visited Nicaragua earlier this summer observed that everyone she encountered had a smart phone, including those living in plumbing-free houses with dirt floors. We speculated that was due to our species strong desire for social connectivity. We can choose to be part of a group that excludes Bradley, or one that observes doctors conspiring to spread autism, or one that wittily and publicly taunts people not like us.

Or not. Is the best group one that tries to include everyone? That’s another thing I just don’t know.