The Urban Legend That Rewrote the Law + 2 other things
An old Halloween myth rewired parental instincts and laws, AI models like Qwen 3 and MiMo-7b are beating benchmarks, and fear often disguises itself as caution. Learn to spot it and act anyway.
Thing 1 - The Urban Legend That Rewrote the Law
It started with Halloween.
Not from lack of candy. From fear.
In the 1960s and 70s, parents across America suddenly started X-raying candy bars and inspecting apples like they were defusing bombs. Why?? The infamous urban legend of razor blades hidden in Halloween treats had taken hold.
By 1985, 60% of parents lived in fear of Halloween sadists. Schools stopped letting kids trick-or-treat on the streets. Hospitals offered free X-rays. Some towns canceled Halloween altogether.
But here's the twist that makes this story fascinating:
It was almost entirely a myth.
Researchers studied every reported case since 1958. They found zero instances of strangers harming children through tampered candy. The few deaths that did occur? One child found his uncle's heroin. Another was murdered by his own father who contaminated candy to frame strangers.
The real danger wasn't from neighbors. It was from family. It's always those closest to you, ain't it, Julius?
Yet this false story spread like wildfire and permanently changed our culture. Today, parents still warn kids about pre-packaged candy only. Laws were passed. Communities were fractured.
Why was this myth so "sticky"? Three reasons:
- It was visceral - The image of a razor blade in an apple is horrifyingly concrete
- It tapped primal fear - Nothing terrifies parents more than threats to their children
- It seemed credible - With reports on the news, who would question it?
The Halloween sadist story shows how an idea can reshape society even when it's completely false. Next time you see a viral fear story spreading, ask yourself: Is this based on facts, or just tapping into our deepest anxieties?
Because sometimes, the scariest monsters are the ones we create ourselves.
(source: Made to Stick)
Thing 2 - AI of the week
- I know you didn't ask for this, but now you can shop from ChatGPT...
- Alibaba introduced Qwen 3 - their largest open weight models so far, beating OpenAI's o1 on benchmarks
- That Black Mirror episode? Or DEEP Robotics LYNX M20?
- Midjourney improved v7 model and added new experimental aesthetic parameter to play with details
- Xiaomi released MiMo-7b model optimized for reasoning
Beats OpenAI's o1-mini and Alibaba's QwQ-32B-preview on multiple benchmarks - ElevenLabs launched Sound Effects in Studio
Thing 3 - Fear is tricky
Fear rarely says:
“I’m scared. Don’t do it.”
Instead, it says:
“Maybe wait a little longer.”
“Secure a backup plan first.”
“Let’s think about this more.”
“What if you change your mind?”
- Cory Muscara
Sounds familiar? Learn to recognize it so you can do it anyway.
Cheers, Zvonimir