>There's a lot of this faux science going around. Second-hand smoke, for example. Most state's smoking bans and a good number of federal laws are based upon the assumption that seciond-hand smoke is hideously bad for you. Now, logic and common sense would dictate that second-hand smoke IS bad for you, or as George Carlin put it, you wouldn't want to eat a second-hand ham sandwich. Having said that, there are no thorough scientific studies on just how bad it is. So all these laws are built on assumptions without hard fact.

A guy was about to get his lungs punctured to drain the liquid accumulated there. He heard that the job isn't painless, so he snuck out of the hospital, went to nearby village and got stiff drunk. In the morning, during the checkup they found that puncturing is unnecessary, because the liquid from his lungs was gone. Doctor guessed the guy was drinking (probably being well versed in the symptoms of hangover himself - that place is famous by its wine), and said that that would explain it - alcohol uses up the water from the body.

"So, doc, the puncturing can be avoided by drinking?"
"Yep"
"Doc, you MUST publish that!"
"Do you think I'm crazy or what? Where would I publish that?"

IOW, if there's a political will to say that green is purple, you can talk about wavelengths, black bodies and degrees Kelvin all day, you won't get far, the prevailing wisdom will still have the green as purple.