Myths die hard. Why? [aerospace engineers´ role in non-defense work]

A myth is a falsehood perpetuated by a population that chooses not to investigate the underlying truth. Most myths are harmless. However, the myth that aerospace engineers are nonproductive in non-defense work certainly hurts our profession. We examine the mechanism used in promoting myths, and find that some myth perpetuators, including the ones that perpetuated the aerospace-engineer myth, are well compensated for their services. Also, substantial financial rewards are available to those who can correctly recognize the falsehood in myths. The 1950´s myth, “Trade in your car at 50,000 miles and save maintenance cost,” is an example. We evaluate other myths