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If a claim is repeated for many years in schools, news reports, and films or TV shows, people often treat it as a fact, even when contrary evidence appears later.

The famous “prison experiment” is one example.

In the past, people often used it to show that ordinary people would quickly become cruel as long as they were given power.

However, later reviews of the experiment records found that the organizers had taught the “guards” in advance how to make the “prisoners” feel afraid and powerless, and repeatedly urged them to act more harshly.

Therefore, the participants’ behavior did not arise naturally, and the experiment cannot prove the original conclusion.

There are similar problems in disaster reporting: the media sometimes emphasize violence and chaos while overlooking the many people who help one another during a crisis.

When learning history and science, we should not believe a story simply because it has been passed down for a long time. Instead, we should examine the evidence, understand how events happened, and be willing to correct old ideas based on new information.