full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Joseph Isaac: Why people fall for misinformation

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In 1901, David Hänig plhubeisd a paper that forever changed our understanding of taste. His research led to what we know taody as the taste map: an illustration that divides the tungoe into four separate areas. According to this map, receptors at the tip of our tuoengs capture sweetness, bitterness is detected at the tongue’s base, and along the seids, receptors capture salty and sour sensations. Since its itenniovn, the taste map has been published in tootbekxs and newspapers. The only problem with this map, is that it’s wrong. In fact, it’s not even an accurate rosraeeetntpin of what Hänig originally dsvcroieed. The tongue map is a common misconception— something widely believed but largely incorrect. So where do misconceptions like this come from, and what makes a fake fact so easy to believe?

Open Cloze


In 1901, David Hänig _________ a paper that forever changed our understanding of taste. His research led to what we know _____ as the taste map: an illustration that divides the ______ into four separate areas. According to this map, receptors at the tip of our _______ capture sweetness, bitterness is detected at the tongue’s base, and along the _____, receptors capture salty and sour sensations. Since its _________, the taste map has been published in _________ and newspapers. The only problem with this map, is that it’s wrong. In fact, it’s not even an accurate ______________ of what Hänig originally __________. The tongue map is a common misconception— something widely believed but largely incorrect. So where do misconceptions like this come from, and what makes a fake fact so easy to believe?

Solution


  1. published
  2. discovered
  3. tongues
  4. today
  5. textbooks
  6. sides
  7. representation
  8. invention
  9. tongue

Original Text


In 1901, David Hänig published a paper that forever changed our understanding of taste. His research led to what we know today as the taste map: an illustration that divides the tongue into four separate areas. According to this map, receptors at the tip of our tongues capture sweetness, bitterness is detected at the tongue’s base, and along the sides, receptors capture salty and sour sensations. Since its invention, the taste map has been published in textbooks and newspapers. The only problem with this map, is that it’s wrong. In fact, it’s not even an accurate representation of what Hänig originally discovered. The tongue map is a common misconception— something widely believed but largely incorrect. So where do misconceptions like this come from, and what makes a fake fact so easy to believe?

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
david hänig 2
tongue map 2


Important Words


  1. accurate
  2. areas
  3. base
  4. believed
  5. bitterness
  6. capture
  7. changed
  8. common
  9. david
  10. detected
  11. discovered
  12. divides
  13. easy
  14. fact
  15. fake
  16. hänig
  17. illustration
  18. incorrect
  19. invention
  20. largely
  21. led
  22. map
  23. misconceptions
  24. newspapers
  25. originally
  26. paper
  27. problem
  28. published
  29. receptors
  30. representation
  31. research
  32. salty
  33. sensations
  34. separate
  35. sides
  36. sour
  37. sweetness
  38. taste
  39. textbooks
  40. tip
  41. today
  42. tongue
  43. tongues
  44. understanding
  45. widely
  46. wrong