A fellow graduate from University of Minnesota’s chemical engineering school told me this week that “I am afraid the average person’s level scientific understanding in this country is in the dark ages.” His skeptical comment, with which I am sorry to say I agree, stemmed from an inflammatory email passed along to both of us by a mutual friend, an attorney who has been deemed a “super-lawyer” by his peers. No offense, but I do not think his expertise extends to the scientific arena. (Similarly, I make no claim to knowledge of law.) The email he circulated from internet comes with this cover comment “An engineer friend of mine sent this and added that it ‘Seems to be legitimate!’ Wow!” Attached are photographs from a simple comparative experiment that apparently supports the commentator’s contention that “microwaved anything…corrupts the DNA in the food so the body can not recognize it.” It concludes by saying: “Proof is in the pictures of living plants dying. Remember You are also Living. Take Care.” See the photos and commentary for yourself at Snopes.com — a site maintained by Barbara and David Mikkelson that follow up on “urban legend.” Their articles seem to be well-researched, intelligent, and full of common sense. Why do average people, or in this case — clearly someone far above the mean for general intelligence, seem to be so gullible about legends like this one about the dangers of microwaves? David Mikkelson provides this explanation: “The power of illustrative anecdotes often lies not in how well they present reality, but in how well they reflect the core beliefs of their audience.”