There's something about the way the human brain is hardwired that once a really bad idea gets into circulation it takes an extraordinary effort to eradicate it. In California people who drive Prius cars under the delusion they are "saving the planet" employ gardeners using 2-stroke leafblowers to clean their yards, happily oblivious to the fact the leafblower produces more pollution than 200 modern automobiles combined. Circumcision is another wonderfully stupid idea that resists all attempts to eradicate it, which leads me to wonder if there's a formula one could use to predict the endurance of an idea? For example, the larger the stupidity and self-harm factors, the greater the appeal and endurance of the concept?