Does Everything Cause Cancer?
It’s not uncommon to see scary headlines about cancer. Headlines like “Bad Day for Bacon: Processed Meats Cause Cancer, WHO Says”1; and “Will Your Grill Kill You?”2 were everywhere following the World Health Organization’s 2015 decision to place processed meats—like bacon and hot dogs—in the same category risk as tobacco smoking and asbestos.
While some of these types of attention-grabbing headlines are well-researched, they don’t always rely on accurate and responsible scientific reporting—instead, they often play up emotional drama to get a click. These types of headlines, unfortunately, also seem to line up with our brain’s natural biases toward how we filter new information. This can make it challenging to accurately assess the information provided.
I’ve previously written about heuristics—our brain’s tendency toward taking mental shortcuts to quickly problem solve or make a judgment. They’re handy in situations where we need to think on our feet, but heuristics are prone to error and not ideal for making complex decisions or judgments, like those about health behaviors and cancer risk.
Excerpted from Psychology Today
