True Myths

Steven B. Zwickel 

June 30, 2026

If you’ve been conscious for a few years or spent time online at all, you have already been told that: 

a) whatever you do, you’ve been doing it all wrong, and 

b) most of what you think you know is completely wrong. 

Here is my contribution to misinformation. Feel free to share—after all, it was on the internet, so it must be true.

Defending the Border, the Natural Way!

Because landmines are illegal under international treaties, North Korea planted thousands of acres of poison ivy along the border. 

Math nerds got the beat!

Algorithms were invented in Algeria as a way to help dancers keep time.

Bikes are the pits!

Bicycle riding can damage the axilla nerves in your armpits. Every time you press down on the pedals, you strain these fragile nerves, which doctors believe can lead to crippling olecranon and result in severe articulatio cubiti, for which there is no known cure. The best way to avoid this problem is to ride “no hands.”

It’ll give you the jitters!

The Jitterbug dance was named for a species of deadly pythonflies that wobble, or jitter, before they attack their prey with a fatal sting. Pythonflies are native to Putzi Island in the North Khazakh Sea and water park.

Ouija beats Gallup!

A study found that the Ouija board was far more accurate at predicting the winners of local and national elections than the so-called “Scientific” polls. The teenaged Weird sisters of Albumen, Nova Scotia, using a homemade planchette, were able to call the winners of 18 elections consecutively. University-sponsored political polls only succeeded in picking winners 43% of the time.

You think you have friends? Hah!

A scientific study showed that people who claim to have friends are actually delusional. Researchers at the University of Death Valley Corroborations Fallacy Department interviewed everyone they know and all the respondents said that they didn’t believe that they were friends—more like y'know acquaintances, or like random guys they knew from someplace, or like just to hook up. The researchers did a statistical analysis and discovered that 88% of the people who thought they might have friends did not hear or understand the question or live on one of the seven continents, leading to margin of error greater than the sample size.

Watch those Cukes!

Always store cucumbers vertically in the refrigerator. This will keep them from realizing that they are going to end up in a pickle.

Not P________ C_________!

It is illegal to refer to _______ people as ______ people in seven states: _______, _______, _______, _______, ________, ______, and _______. In one state, _________, self-censorship is a felony!

School Kids got it Right!

“Liar, liar, pants on fire” is based on the way people used to testify in court in olden times. A witness was asked to stand next to an open fireplace and, if he was lying, it was believed his breeches would catch fire, thus exposing him as a liar. The practice ended with the invention of the “pinky swear” which was much more reliable.

Berry Unlikely!

Dingleberries were small, brownish fruits that  grew on the Dingle Peninsula of Ireland. Their putrid taste led people to use the same term to describe a foolish person or the stuff that gets stuck to one’s underpants.

Don’t talk nonsense!

The first “babbling” brook was located in ancient Babylon, for which it is named. Later, after a heavy rain event, it became the “Rivers of Babylon”. Using the word babble to mean talking nonsense did not become common until the invention of school boards.

Stay on your best behavior!

Rowdiness was not always considered rude or bad behavior. Algernon Michael Rowdy was a popular entertainer in the 16th Century, until one night he gotteth y- drunk and toreth up ye tavern in Derbytown. After that, rowdy became an epithet for a person who was out of control.

Stay Safe!

Automotive experts recommend the best way to test the airbags in your car is to try driving straight into oncoming traffic.

Chopper rides can cure you!

The best way to stop hiccups is to take a ride in a helicopter. The faster the helicopter rises, the faster the hiccups will stop. An elevator also can help. No one knows why this works, but it does!

Great Scot!

Bagpipes do not cause psychosis, according to a study by the National University of Scotland. Researchers found that most people—over 70%— are able to stay sane listening to “The Campbells are Coming.” However, the sight of a sporran led to paroxym in more than a third of those tested.

Quit yer bellyachin’, sailor!

The Yiddish word “kvetch” for a person who complains a lot originally applied to a type of small sailboat. Eastern Europeans used a double-ended boat to transport goods on rivers. These “yawls” were called ketches and they were hard to manage, so the sailors would complain in loud, vulgar (not the same as Volga, the river) language. Locals referred to this as kvetching.

If you have been putting your left shoe on first, you are endangering your life!

Always put your right shoe on before the left. Left feet are always larger than right, and squeezing your foot into a left shoe can force the arteries in your leg to contract, which is bad for your heart. Starting with the right shoe gives your circulatory system time to adjust.

Geologists find source of Quakes!

Terrorist groups are responsible for an increase in earthquakes, researchers found. The terrorists are known to jump up and down while screaming slogans. It is believed that this repetitive motion causes tremors in the earth’s mantle, which is primarily composed of silicate minerals rich in magnesium, iron, and calcium (such as olivine and pyroxene). Silicate responds with violent shaking and cracking of the surface—believed to be the origin of “Silicon” valley. The tremors slow down and stop when the terrorists get tired of jumping.

Think Artificial Intelligence is “artificial”? Think again!

If you’ve been fooled into believing that computers are behind so-called artificial intelligence AI, you are not alone. A poll of Americans found that this is one of most commonly held myths these days. What the folks behind AI don’t want you to know is that they have been using simians to respond as AI Chatbots. Once scientists proved the "Infinite Monkey Theorem" (where 1,000 primates with keyboards replicated the works of Shakespeare) it was a simple step to using them to answer users’ dumb questions online. Look at any FAQ page and see for yourself!

Don’t eat these if you don’t want to get pregnant!

Scarfing down buttery crescent-shaped rolls with jam for breakfast may land you in a real jam! These pastries came from Mesopotamia and were once called “Fertile” Crescent Rolls because eating them resulted in so many pregnancies. Better to switch to a mulch-based hot cereal.

There’s more to it than just brushing!

If you brush your teeth regularly, that’s a good thing, but it’s only half of what you should be doing for good dental health. Dentists recommend that, in addition to brushing, you spend time combing your teeth. Regular combing will make sure each tooth is straight up and down and you’ll avoid nasty “dent-riff”, the oral equivalent of dandruff in your hair.

And remember, if you read it online, it is absolutely, 100%, guaranteed to be true. Or not.

🇺🇸 No Flags Today

May 25, 2026

Steven B. Zwickel

Today is Memorial Day, a holiday set aside to remember those who died fighting for the USA. I have lived in this neighborhood for over 30 years. It was developed in the early 1950s and many of the first homeowners were WWII vets. The houses are almost entirely one-family homes, most of them remodeled ranch-style houses.

       When we first moved in, almost every house had a flag-staff holder mounted next to the front porch and you would see American flags flying in front of many houses. Today, when I took my dog for a walk, I didn't see a single flag flying anywhere. 

       I know why we decided not to put our flag out. We talked about it and both felt that, while we still love our country, we are ashamed and disheartened by the direction in which it is being led. Flying the Stars and Stripes was once a patriotic symbol that represented all of us. Now, it seems, the flag has been co-opted by people who seem to revel in the idea of a divided nation, of us (good, patriotic, conservative Americans) versus them (unpatriotic, people with liberal values).

       The term conservative comes from the idea of conserving, or saving. The original conservatives, disgusted by the excesses of the French Revolution (beheadings, seizure of estates, etc.) were those who argued in favor of conserving the political system. Wikipedia says "It entered the political lexicon in 1818 when French writer and politician François-René de Chateaubriand used the term to title his monarchist newspaper, Le Conservateur, which sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution and restore the Bourbon monarchy." 

       The word liberal traces its roots to the Latin adjective līber, which means "free," "unrestricted," or "befitting a free man". The idea of a liberal education was supposed to enable lower- and working-class people to achieve a higher standard of living. Having a liberal political orientation came to mean someone was in favor of making changes and reforms that would make this possible. Wikipedia says, "With the rise of the Enlightenment, the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, defined as "free from narrow prejudice" in 1781 and "free from bigotry" in 1823."

       The idea of Left and Right, goes back to the French Revolution. An economic crisis led the French King to call a meeting of clergy, nobility, and commoners. The commoners left to start their own "National Assembly" (later known by other names) to decide what to do. Seats were not assigned, but delegates sat according to their political leanings: 

• Those who supported the King and wanted to keep the traditional system sat on the right. 

• Those who advocated getting rid of the monarchy and making changes sat on the left. The further a delegate sat to the left, the more radical his position. Supposedly, there was some competition to see who could sit farthest to the left without falling off the bench. 

       My father, a US Navy vet who served in WWII, spent 20 years in the Naval Reserves, and was a lifelong Republican, was the most patriotic man I ever met. He told me that, when politicians started wearing little US flag pins in their lapels, he was revolted. "If you really love your country, then you don't need to flaunt it with a flag pin," he said. He explained that you don't need to advertise your patriotism like wearing a t-shirt with a logo on it. Show your patriotism by working to make the American dream come true for everyone.

       That, of course, would require compromise and intelligent discussion of issues by those with the power to make things better. I keep hoping....

       Meanwhile, no flags.

       

Managing Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

 Managing Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

Steven B. Zwickel

April, 2026

Last year I was invited to give a presentation based on the  Communication-Based Model of Leadership I created {See <https://stevenbzwickel.blogspot.com/search?q=leadership>} 

I have done this presentation many times since I created it almost 20 years ago and I realized that it needed to be updated and refreshed before I presented it in 2026. The world has changed and my presentation needed to reflect those changes. 

I decided that I needed to add a section about being a leader in a world where people don’t feel safe. I have written about the importance of feeling safe before {See “It’s Better to Be Safe” August, 2020 <https://stevenbzwickel.blogspot.com/search?q=safety>} so it seemed logical to include ideas about what leaders can do to help people in the workplace feel safer in my presentation.

Then I realized that a major source of anxiety and fear nowadays seems to be coming from Artificial Intelligence (AI). It seems everywhere you look there are articles about AI and how (A) it will make life easier, (B) it is taking away people’s jobs, (C)  it is making people stupid, or (D) it will end civilization as we know it, which may, or may not, be true. 

All of these seem to add up to a major change in the workplace: AI makes people feel unsafe because they fear losing their job security, their privacy, their right to fair treatment, and their ability to trust the reality they see online. 

I decided to add a section to my presentation about dealing with AI in the workplace. This blog entry summarizes what I told my audience what I think leaders (supervisors, managers, bosses—anyone in charge of other people) need to think about.

To start with, I told my audience that you can’t keep people from being afraid. You can reassure them that you will do what you can to help with job security, privacy, right to fair treatment. Dealing with the other psychological/emotional impacts of AI may require major lifestyle changes (such as reducing/eliminating use of phone and social media—which often make people feel insecure about who they are, what they do, where they live, etc. because that is how advertisers get people to buy goods and services.

I explained that as near as anyone can tell AI is here to stay and that it will continue to cause problems. Although it is “easy to use” it can be a struggle to get useful responses from a chatbot. I consider myself good at framing questions so I get usable answers—the result of going through law school and graduate work in social work. But I have also struggled to get a reliable response from a chatbot, so I know that AI can be a real waste of time. 

I also know that AI sometimes hallucinates—it comes up with bad responses and false information. This can lead to a loss of the writer’s credibility, as in recent cases where attorneys were disciplined for citing legal precedents that didn’t exist. It can also lead to an organization making bad business decisions, which can result in wasting time and losing money.

I am a realist, so I know AI is not going away; we are going to have to learn to live with it. {I have no hope that our government will ever come up with a plan for regulating or controlling AI, so there is no point in waiting for legislation to make our lives safer}.

That means that leaders must now consider how to adjust to the reality of AI. If they do nothing, workers will continue to waste time trying to get useful answers, the company will continue to be at risk of losing money due to bad business decisions, and the organization may lose credibility if there are errors and misinformation in what it distributes.

Like it or not, use of AI in the workplace is inevitable, so let me suggest ways an organization might approach these problems. 

1.  I believe organizations must have a policy regarding the use of AI. I realize that this technology is brand new and no one knows what it will become, but if you don’t have a policy in place, people will not know what is considered acceptable. Start with a policy and revise it as AI use evolves.

2. Insist that anyone in the organization using AI must disclose that they did so. The rule ought to be “If you put your name on it, it better be yours, but if you used AI, you need to make that clear”. Call me old fashioned, but I think that people ought not to get credit for someone, or something, else’s work.

3.  Train people to use AI efficiently. The most important skill for using AI efficiently is knowing how to ask a question {prompt} to get a usable answer. Of course, different types of questions will yield different answers, so people need to learn to frame questions properly. Of course, training costs money; the company won’t like this! And training takes time and effort; no one will  like this!

4. Users of AI must conduct due diligence. Chatbots hallucinate! That means that all sources must be checked for validity. To protect the organization from lawsuits, the use of patented/copyrighted material must be noted and AI users should be prepared to answer questions about all the sources. The danger of not doing so is that relying on misinformation could cost a company a lot of money.

Stupid People do Stupid Things 

Steven B. Zwickel

March, 2026

"Stupid people do stupid things" is kind of obvious. Even when they fail, they may continue to do stupid things, not realizing that what they are doing doesn't work, but that's what you'd expect from stupid people, so it's no surprise.

What surprises me, though, is when smart people do really stupid things. 

Some examples I have seen otherwise clever people do: 

#1 turn over their retirement savings to scam artists, 
#2 "innovated" and ran a successful, family-owned business into the ground, and 
#3 disregarded the advice of an attorney [who charged them a lot] so they lost their house, their jobs, and their savings. 

Why does this happen?

I think smart folks do stupid things for a variety of reasons. 

• Sometimes they are trying to show off how really clever they are. 
• Other times greed, envy, jealousy, or a desire for revenge makes them do stupid stuff. 
• Irrational and counter-productive behavior may also have something to do with getting back at someone or some institution, even when doing so is sure to have negative consequences. 
• There are those who are so wedded to one way of thinking or doing (or too lazy) they can’t absorb new information; thus, they stupid things because they are unable to adapt to changing conditions.

Perhaps these smart people are making decisions based on emotion when logic and reason would lead them in a better direction. 

Or, it could come from being overconfident and disregarding the possibility that they could be wrong, like failing to conduct due diligence before acting.

• Chest pains and won't go to a doctor? In denial? Maybe trying to show he's smarter than some dumb MD?? 
• Depressed and suicidal but "doesn't believe in all that pseudo-science psychology stuff".
• Caught in a long-term pattern and can't break out, so "never needed a dentist and don't need one now"
• Can't admit he or she might have been wrong. "Got a real deal on this watch; just $100 in cash for a real designer classic timepiece that retails for over $2,000!"

Yipes!!

I asked my AI pal why smart people do stupid things and this was my answer:

I can offer several reasons why smart people sometimes do stupid things.

• Smart people are not immune to emotion. Even the most intelligent people can make decisions based on emotion rather than logic. For example, someone who is feeling angry may say or do something that they later regret.
• Smart people can be overconfident. Sometimes, smart people are so confident in their own abilities that they make decisions without considering all of the possible outcomes. This can lead to them making mistakes.
• Smart people can be lazy. Sometimes, smart people take shortcuts or make decisions without thinking things through carefully. This can lead to them making mistakes.
• Smart people can be influenced by others. Smart people are not immune to the influence of others. They may make decisions based on what they think others want them to do, rather than what they actually believe is the best course of action.

It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes, regardless of their intelligence. However, smart people are often in positions of power and influence, so their mistakes can have a greater impact on others. It is important for smart people to be aware of their own limitations and to take steps to avoid making stupid decisions.

 The Aspiring Autocrat and the Personal Loyalty Oath

Steven B. Zwickel

September 26, 2025

I caught a short segment on the news a while back, showing a group of immigrants becoming Americans by taking the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance. It was very moving and got me thinking about how important these oaths are to those who hope to become autocrats.

Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."  {Code of Federal Regulations Section 337.1 }

Swearing loyalty to the Constitution and the laws, not to a tyrant

Those who take the oath pledge to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the US. All those who enlist in the armed forces and all federal officials take an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution before starting their jobs. <https://www.thoughtco.com/oaths-of-office-for-federal-officials-3368324> 

It is much the same for all the people who wear the uniform of the United States, including the top brass:

US Military Oath of Enlistment

I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. 

(Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

Tyrants Demand Personal Loyalty

We are very lucky in this country that no one has yet tried to replace the standard oath with a pledge of personal allegiance to the leader. History offers examples of aspiring autocrats who used personal loyalty oaths as a way of gaining power, often by getting control over the generals and admirals who lead the military. This is what happened in Germany in 1934:

Germany 1934

Mystery of the Missing Museum

What Happened to the Engineering Museum?

Steven B. Zwickel

August 5, 2025

Here is a campus mystery I am unable to solve.

Science Hall is one of the older buildings on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. The building now standing on Park Street is the second version. 

"Replacing a sandstone-faced, wooden structure that burned on December 1, 1884, Science Hall was completed in December, 1887, and was first occupied by University personnel in January, 1888." <https://geography.wisc.edu/history-of-science-hall/>

An illustration of the new Science Hall building, rebuilt after the fire of 1884.
<https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AWITQTR5TDGPZ28K>

The building still stands and is still in use, but something is missing. Apparently, there used to be an Engineering Museum in Science Hall. 

According to the "Catalogue of the University of Wisconsin for the academic year 1885-86" (October, 1885); Page 102, a section called The new buildings shows a floor plan for the lower level of the building:

Apparently the Museum was housed in Science Hall on the basement floor in the northeast corner. In the lower left corner of the floor plan, an area 40' x 40' is clearly labeled "Engineering Museum."

The UW-Madison has plans to renovate Science Hall and looked into the history of the building. According to DFD #20E2A — Science Hall - Advanced Planning Study: Final Report by architects Aro Eberle [Nov 5, 2021] <https://cpd.fpm.wisc.edu/planning/science-hall-advanced-planning-study/>:

Basement / Garden Level 

Current Uses: Mix of Nelson Institute and Geography administrative offices and classrooms, office support space, Nelson student lounge, mechanical and utility space, men’s restroom, underground electrical transformer vault, and some Geography administrative offices. 

Alterations: This level was originally (1887) used for laboratories, a reading room/museum, restrooms, mechanical, and janitorial. 

I found the following in the 1906 “University of Wisconsin Catalogue 1906-1907” on p. 258:

"THE ENGINEERING MUSEUM contains a complete set of Schroeder's models* for descriptive geometry, including shades, shadows, and perspective; also a small collection of Schroeder's kinematic models, besides a number of smaller models, made by students, illustrating problems in kinematics. An excellent industrial collection is in process of development.

"The standards of weight and measure belonging to the state are kept in the civil engineering department, and all official comparisons are made here."

* I looked up Schroeder's models and found an example at <https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/kinematic-curve-models-j-schr%C3%B6der/9AFrdR51bXHTAw>

Entries for the Engineering Museum continued to appear in the catalogues, right up until 1921, then they disappear. What happened to the museum is a mystery.

1906-1907

1913–1914

1920–1921

And then the museum seems to have vanished.

What happened to the Engineering Museum?

I was lucky enough to have taught Technical Communication classes for the College of Engineering for 28 years. As part of my work I ran a K-12 Engineering Outreach Program to teach school children about what engineers do and I was a facilitator for Camp Badger Exploring Engineering for many years. 

I spent a lot of time explaining what engineers have done and continue to do  and I always thought it was a real shame that there is no place to showcase all the incredible accomplishments of Engineering faculty and students.

Once upon a time, there was an Engineering Museum and exhibits, which must be of historical interest by now. 

Now it's a mystery and no one seems to know what happened to it.

A "Museum" in Science Hall around 1900—was this part of the Engineering Museum? <https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A3MIQIJBGWW2NP8L>