"Myth" in tech journalism

I think of myths as widely shared stories that societies use to make sense of the world, but for most people, most of the time, myth means a widely held but false belief (Oxford, sense 2). Over the week-end I made a quick inventory of what counts as tech myths on the internet, and the results helped me think about the semantics of the term.

Set-up

I did a web search on DuckDuckGo, Google and Bing for "technology myths" on 13-14 June 2020. (The pages I looked at are at https://pinboard.in/u:pierredv/t:tech-myths/.) It’s a popular genre of tech journalism, and it felt like many stories were inspired, if not copied, from each other. My unscientific harvest of the more common myths is given below after a few reflections.

Observations

I was struck that evidence to support the debunking claims was very seldom given; the method of persuasion was ethos ("you can trust me"), with some "here's the reason" logos thrown in. On the face of it, the counter-arguments were just as likely to be false notions as the beliefs being refuted. It certainly was not a question of combating mythos with logos.

A common pattern was that these myths led to more or less harmful behavior:

• Many examples implied that belief in the myth would lead to behavior that had poor outcomes, like buying the wrong camera, leaking personal information, or being exposed to viruses
• Other misconceptions would lead to unnecessary behavior, like unplugging a phone as soon as it was charged, not using a cellphone at a gas station, or closing background apps on a phone.
• Some beliefs caused unnecessary worry, like cellphones causing cancer, or magnets deleting data
• Some were simply correcting misconceptions, like the web being the same as the internet, or video games made kids naughty.

A detour through definitions

In summary (skip ahead to Results if you’d like) the internet seems to use the word "myth" in the following sense: 

• A widely held
• false
• belief
• in a specific proposition
• that influences everyday behavior 
• to the detriment of the believer

This definition is a subset of a more general one:

• A widely held
• belief
• that influences thought or behavior

The more general definition retains the qualifier that the belief is widely held, but doesn’t take a view on whether it’s true or false. The belief could be in a collection of claims rather than just one. In the general case, the influence could be on general orientation, as in religious or political beliefs, as well as on everyday behavior. It does not judge the influence as detrimental.

While this is quite generic, it’s not entirely empty. It excludes non-trivial concepts like “my uncle is cunning” (which is not widely held), “it is possible to draw a straight line from any point to any other point” (axiom, not belief), and “the sky is blue” (doesn’t influence behavior). Still, it includes many instances don’t count as myths in any way, such as “the sun rises and sets regularly,” “if you cut me, I bleed,” and “love will find a way.”

However, one can get from this general definition to the another sense of “myth” by narrowing it down in another direction. First, one can posit that the beliefs have spiritual power, rather than 

everyday application. For Vincent Mosco, for example, “Myths are stories that animate individuals and societies by providing paths to transcendence that lift people out of the banality of everyday life” (The Digital Sublime, 2004: 3), for William Doty, they are “narrative fictions whose plots read … as projections of imminent transcendent meanings” ("Mythophiles’ Dyscrasia,” 1980); and for Richard Slotkin, they are “a set of narratives that acquire … a significant ideological charge” (The Fatal Environment, 1985: 19) Second, Doty and Slotkin’s definitions point out the importance of narrative. Third, the propositions can be quite abstract and have little or nothing to do with everyday behavior. Mosco, for example, argues that “three of the central myths of our time [are] the end of history, the end of geography, and the end of politics” (2004: 13). 

With these constraints, one at arrives at this alternative definition of myth:

• A widely held
• belief
• in significant or far-reaching truth claims
• presented in narrative form
• that influences thought or behavior

Here ends the diversion into semantics which I indulged in to help me understand why dictionary definitions of “myth” (cf. Oxford, Merriam-Webster) give two seemingly contradictory meanings. 

And now, back to the advertised programming.

Results

Here are the "myths" that showed up more than once (wording varied slightly between instances), ranked by the number of occurrences.

 

Eleven occurrences

• More megapixels means a better camera

Eight

• Incognito mode or private browsing keeps your information private

Seven

• Macs can't get viruses
• You shouldn't charge your phone overnight

Six

• Cell phones cause cancer
• The Internet is the same as the World Wide Web
• Don’t recharge batteries until they are almost dead

Five

• More signal bars mean better service
• Smartphone companies slow down old models when a new one is released
• Using a cellphone at a gas station is a fire risk
• Closing background phone apps saves battery life
• Always shut down your computer at night
• Magnets will erase your data

Four

• Emptying the Recycle Bin permanently deletes files
• Airport X-ray machines can wipe device memory
• Don't use third-party chargers

Three

• Antivirus protects from all viruses
• Jailbreaking or rooting your device is illegal
• More RAM means a faster computer

Two

• You always need to “safely remove” external storage
• Standing next to the microwave is bad for you
• Don't put metal in a microwave
• The refresh button speeds up your Windows PC
• You need to regularly defragment your hard drive
• If you post a disclaimer, you can prevent Facebook from using your photos
• Facebook uses your phone's microphone to listen in on private conversations
• Video games make children naughty
• Never use the phone while it’s charging
• Let your battery drain to zero before charging
• You are not a likely target of cybercrime
• Password protected networks are safe from hackers