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We only worked out how bees fly back in 2017. Why do we sleep? How do bicycles stay upright? Why does hot water freeze faster than cold water? We don't really know.
Let's wait for more information. Our biochemistry skills aren't top-tier yet. Let's wait for superintelligence before we try to analyse billion-year-old history at a molecular level!
Yes we do.
As a general rule, hot water doesn't freeze faster than cold water. Hot water turns into cold water before it freezes, after all.
In specific cases, hot water might cause something to happen that doesn't happen if you start out with cold water, such as evaporating (so the remaining water freezes faster) or melting frost so it makes better contact with the freezer. Then hot water does freeze faster. It's unclear how often this matters.
The original belief was probably someone misunderstanding "hot water cools down faster than cold water" and assuming that this means it freezes faster. It doesn't, because it initially cools down faster, but the rate of cooling slows as it gets colder.
I'm referencing a specific effect here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect
There's some debate about whether it's real or not and various potential explanations for why this might be the case. Anyway, my point is that if we don't thoroughly grasp how water freezes (!) then we shouldn't be too confident about much more complex matters.
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