Some share characteristics of origin myths or trickster myths. The trickster involved in several of them is Benjamin Franklin. One notion sees it as the system's ability to repair itself. If we are cut, our body sets to work to heal the wound, and in ths sense we are alive, as is a worm or an amoeba. When public concerns change, a successful legend responds by finding a new niche, as would an animal population.
Legends spread and recede like animal populations, and so do the accounts of why they are false.
Just as foxes need rabbits, a debunking needs its legend or it will lose its importance and be forgotten. A debunking that is overly convincing can bring about its own death, possibly with the paradoxical consequence that the legend is later resurrected and does better than before. Why We Believe This chapter discusses psychological, social and political principles behind our credulity. The school offenses of 1940's and 1990's present a striking and clear picture, and this is why the legend is believed. In fact, its clarity is irrelevant and it should be ignored unless there are also grounds to believe that the surveys were really done.