Carrots

Germany entered both world wars with a similar tactic. Move quickly to knock out France in the west, then turn their attention and manpower towards defeating Russia in the east. In 1914, the strategy was known as the Schlieffen Plan, and it came close to success, before a counterattack at the River Marne brought the German advance to a halt. In 1940, the plan was known as Blitzkrieg. The second time around it succeeded far better than even the Nazis could have hoped for. By late June, just weeks after the initial attack, France was under Nazi control.

Before he could turn his attention to Russia in the east, Hitler had one more problem to address. The British. Initially, Hitler attempted to make peace with the brits. He offered peace terms that could have prevented any further war. The British however were aware at this point, that Hitler’s promises were entirely worthless, and they flat rejected any offer of peace, opting instead for war.

Thus, the stage was set. One little island, the lone holdout against the most powerful military the world had yet seen. Opting to follow the advice Hermann Goring, Hitler launched an air assault on the British Isles. Goring assured him the Luftwaffe could easily overpower the fledgling Royal Air Force, and the battle should not take more than a few days. The Nazi’s preferred tactics were nighttime bombing raids, using the cover of darkness to hide their movements. The plan was flawless. Except for one secret weapon the British had up their sleeves.

British food scientists had recently been diving further into the various nutrients found in vegetables, and the benefits they could provide. One that they focused in on, was the beta-carotene found in carrots. Beta-carotene is converted by the body into vitamin A, which is vital for eye health. As luck would have it, the English homeland is an excellent environment for the cultivation of carrots. Thus, the Government got to work extolling the benefits of carrots. With their citizens and pilots downing the bright orange vegetables with every meal, the British were soon able to spot the Nazi aircraft from a great distance. This distance allowed their fighters to scramble and be ready to meet the incoming planes at sea before they were anywhere near their bombing targets.

The benefits of carrots and how they can help you see better have continued to be extolled by parents around the world as they try to convince their children to eat vegetables. The only thing is, it’s not true. That’s not to say beta-carotene isn’t good for eye health. It is. But it won’t improve your vision. It won’t help you see at night. And it won’t help you win an air war.

The British were not fools. They understood carrots would not improve vision and they knew that the vegetable would not make their pilots see at night. They had another way to see at night. They had recently developed a working radar system. Human eyes will never be able to see well at night. But radar can. And it works even better if your enemy doesn’t know.

Radar enabled squadrons of spitfires to know exactly where to be, in order to intercept the enemy. It worked so well that it turned the tide of the battle. The British understood that the Nazis would undoubtedly begin to wonder how the British were always able to be at the right place at the right time. The entire campaign promoting the benefits of carrots was a red herring. Meant to distract the Nazis from the real reason. What even more impressive, is it worked.

That myth worked so well that it persisted for years. As more people heard it the myth picked up more steam. Eventually almost anyone in the western world would happily tell you that carrots would improve eyesight. But think for a second. You’ve probably eaten a carrot. Did you notice your vision improve that night? Millions of us have had the same experience. Carrots were eaten. Eyesight did not improve. Why do we let the myth persist if we all have first-hand evidence that it is not true?

A psychologist would call this the bandwagon effect. If everybody around you thinks carrots improve eyesight, you are more likely to simply go along with it. Humans feel the most comfortable in groups. So even if we could easily see that the group is wrong, we will often blind ourselves to the truth.

Sometimes the bandwagon effect can be helpful. Do you ever remember the audience being wrong on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”. Sometimes, the bandwagon effect can be devastating, like the rise of the aforementioned Nazi Party in Germany.

The bandwagon effect tries to wreak havoc on your finances constantly. “It is important to have a good credit score”. “Make sure you plan ahead so you get a tax refund”. “Don’t let the equity in your home go unused”. “Crypto is going to change money as we know it”.

I’m not about to tell you that any of those statements are or are not true. Because the reality is that the truthfulness depends on each individual. Advice that is right for you, will certainly not be right for everybody else. Thus, advice that it right for most people may not be right for you either.

Personal finance is personal. Following the financial bandwagon, will make you overlook that, and make choices that will end up harming you. Pay attention to what others are doing. But make sure it's right for you, before you get on board.