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The 49ers' substation injury theory persists, even after it has been debunked - NBC Sports

nbcsports.com

The 49ers hired an expert to debunk their own substation-causes-injuries theory — yet the belief refuses to die among fans and players.

Illusory CorrelationConfirmation BiasOccam's RazorAttribution Theory
The 49ers' substation injury theory persists, even after it has been debunked - NBC Sports

Theory Briefing

  • The 49ers brought in an outside expert specifically to investigate whether electrical waves from a nearby substation caused their unusual run of injuries.
  • The expert's findings debunked the substation theory, yet belief in it has persisted among the fanbase and within the team.
  • The team's injury troubles were severe enough to prompt an official investigation, showing how desperate the search for an explanation had become.
  • When a string of bad luck defies easy explanation, people reach for hidden environmental causes — even after those causes are ruled out.