Bow down before the "study"

The study "suggests". It is "scientifically" based on someone asking questions of 22 teenagers.

From that, the researchers concluded a scientific result – worthy of national and international distribution world-wide. It is such a scientific finding in fact – it made its way into a journal. What the study is about is irrelevant. What is relevant though is how easy – interviewing 22 teenagers is hardly onerous – it is to get published in a science journal. It can also be lucrative if it was sponsored by a corporation hoping to create the perception of something for future profit-making and as such, paid the researcher who asked the 22 teenagers some questions.

Thus is the state of science these days.

Not so amazingly, given the gullibility of today’s reading public, readers of the article online gave it a 5-Star Rating, suggesting highly credible and newsworthy. It is no wonder then, given this public reaction there is obviously overwhelming acquiescence of authority say-so in matters of so-called secondhand smoke harm and the dangers of smoking, especially if one is willing to believe a study based on the oral statements of only 22 people and apply it over the entire population of humanity.