Why Don't You Prove It?

We all like proof. Come on, admit it. How many times have you asked someone to "prove it"? Especially when they're telling you something that just doesn't sound like it could actually be true.

"No, I can't believe that! Seriously? ... Prove it!" 

As it turns out, asking for proof might not always be such a good idea. I recently came across Jonah Lehrer's article The Truth Wears Off, which was published in The New Yorker in December of 2010. In it, he writes about the so-called 'decline effect', which has recently become a heavily debated issue within the scientific community.