Gas-saving Myths

Since I began March with an explanation of critical thinking, I decided to end it with an example on the same subject.

I came across this article on Yahoo! Finance, and if you rarely click onto the links, this is one I definitely recommend taking a look at.  It talks about four myths about saving gas, and with gas prices high and rising, saving gas is something of universal interest.

Beyond the fact that it’s good information, the reason I chose it is that it makes some good points about critical thinking.  In the case of the first myth, it gives a good, logical explanation of why buying gas early in the morning makes little or no difference.  From a critical thinking standpoint, logical explanations are far superior to celebrity endorsements or the testimony of a friend or relative, but are sometimes not good enough.  The other three examples tell of tests or experiments performed to validate or disprove the beliefs.  These provide an even stronger argument.  Furthermore, the tests were done by reputable organizations with no direct stake in the outcomes – Popular Mechanics, Edmunds and Myth Busters.  That makes their conclusions even more reliable.

There is a kind of critical thinking continuum, running from endorsements (little or no credibility) through explanations (better) and experiments (even better), ending with validated experiments, those that have been reviewed and duplicated.  That is not to say endorsements are always wrong.  Sometimes what trusted, experienced people tell you is perfectly true, but it depends on how they got their information.  Sometimes experiments have flaws in design and give wrong information.  In general though, the trustworthiness of information can be judged by the strength of the evidence and its position along this continuum.  We would be wise to follow this rule of thumb when choosing products or lifestyles.

One more thing – don’t forget about the placebo effect.  There are instances of people who have tried the magic magnets under the hood of their car or those expensive fuel additives and reported an increase in fuel mileage, unconscious of the fact that they were so excited about this new discovery that their driving habits changed as well.  Stronger evidence that I’ve seen about such products show they are not a wise investment.