list of common misconceptions
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November 15, 2023 at 11:55 am #51361
Wikipedia has a fabulous article on common misconceptions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions
I read the whole article from beginning to end during a lunch hour. I wish so much there was more. A few I already knew, a few were a little surprising, others were even a little shocking.
I was most surprised about some misconceptions that I have read in formal sources:
the pyramids were built on slave labour
Marco polo did not import pasta (already existed)
Napoleon was not short
American Gothic is not husband and wife, but husband and daughter
there is no such thing as an alpha in a wolf pack (in fact, alpha males, as we “understand it” are uncommon in nature)
people do not eat spiders while sleeping
we do grow new braincells
there is no such thing as photographic memory
November 15, 2023 at 1:32 pm #51362Gillray’s cartoon depicts a tiny Napoleon wearing boots that dwarf him, tearing his hair out in rage. He is surrounded by overturned furniture that is as big as he is, with speech bubbles swirling around him filled with manic raging thoughts about Britain.
And it worked. Shortly after these cartoons appeared, Napoleon sent a flurry of diplomatic notes across the English Channel demanding that the British government censor its press. Needless to say, British ministers ignored him.
So much for the Napoleon complex theory, LOL. His escape from his island exile and return to Paris, where he regained supporters and reclaimed his emperor title, was a fascinating 100 days. His Waterloo was right around the corner. Napoleon III was his popular nephew and was also the last emperor and first president of France and presided over much reform.
November 15, 2023 at 4:47 pm #51364I have used this tall tale of mine a few times with Xtians. Usually, it comes up when talking about how modern culture has a negative impact on society. The usual trope about how video games are ‘making society more violent’ gets the following reply from me;
“When I was young, I only played Pac-Man and I did not grow up to be an adult who wandered around a room munching multi-colored pills while listening to repetitive music”.
I always enjoy the reaction 🙂
November 15, 2023 at 5:02 pm #51365Take the test here. Answer 30 questions. See if you can get more than 250 points.
November 15, 2023 at 5:43 pm #51367Take the test here. Answer 30 questions. See if you can get more than 250 points.
I got 3 wrong, but no site like that gets my email.
November 15, 2023 at 6:29 pm #51368Here are a few more misconceptions. You probably believe a couple.
Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Owls can turn their heads 360 degrees.
Bulls are enraged by the color red.
People only use 10% of their brains.
Chameleons change color to match their surroundings.
You can suck venom out of a snake bite.
Birds will reject their chicks if touched by humans.
Bananas grow on trees.
Camels store water in their humps.
All bats are blind.
Cats always land on their feet.
Sharks don’t get cancer.
The Great Wall of China is visible from space.
Humans swallow an average of eight spiders a year while sleeping.
Moss only grows on the north side of trees.
The seasons are caused by Earth’s varying distance from the sun.
Eating carrots improves your night vision.
Earth is the only planet with seasons.
The Great Barrier Reef is a single coral entity.
Plants purify indoor air significantly.
Water drains in different directions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres due to the Coriolis effect.
Sugar makes children hyperactive.
Poinsettias are highly toxic to pets and humans.
Bulls hate the color red.November 15, 2023 at 8:37 pm #51374The immaculate conception is a misconception.
November 15, 2023 at 8:51 pm #51375Immaculate conception. A misconception or failure to conceive. You know what THEY believe. Magic fuck aint a matter of luck. If you could pop with a pin original sin you’d not need to magically conceive to disbelieve.
November 15, 2023 at 8:54 pm #51376Oxygen.
How many women have i heard proudly proclaim that so and so has a home that is IMMACULATE!
Tying one’s worth into cleanliness which is next to godliness and on an even higher plane when it is immaculate is unfortunate. It is kind of amusing though.
November 15, 2023 at 8:59 pm #51377BIGGEST MICONCEPTION:
Most of us will live out our natural lives. No molesta por favor. Good luck with that.
November 16, 2023 at 3:31 am #51380Immaculate conception. A misconception or failure to conceive. You know what THEY believe. Magic fuck aint a matter of luck. If you could pop with a pin original sin you’d not need to magically conceive to disbelieve.
There once was a virgin named Mary,
Whose story was a bit extraordinary.
She claimed immaculate conception,
Causing quite a perplexion,
“He said he was God!” (but his real name was Larry).November 16, 2023 at 3:34 am #51381The word “immaculate” is weird in the sense that it is in common use whereas the word it’s based on, “maculate” is not part of the general everyday vocabulary, though it may still be used in some specializations.
There is a small class of words called “cranberry morphemes” which consist of words which appear to be built off other words which are no longer in use or never were. Examples…
“refrigerator” is a very common word even though “frigerator” isn’t used.
“referee” is another common word built off a never used base word, “feree.”
“detergent” is a word, but “tergent” is not.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by
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November 16, 2023 at 4:03 am #51383Jake,
BIGGEST MICONCEPTION:
Most of us will live out our natural lives. No molesta por favor. Good luck with that.
Ackshuyally, we all live out our natural lives…It’s just that, so far, something in Nature always takes it away.
November 16, 2023 at 4:49 am #51384Fellow Unbelievers,
I scored better than average on detecting misconceptions, but I was surprised at the truths I got wrong.
The question on Mentos™ and carbonated drinks threw me. I thought it was just Diet Coke™ that triggered their fizzy reaction. Turns out other carbonated drinks react with Mentos™ too, but not as intensely.
I thought that hair and nails grew after death. But I based that on the fact that bodies can spasm and move in miniscule amounts even a month after death, so I tried ham-handedly to base my answer on fact.
Some people still actually think that weight loss after death is “the weight of a soul”. But that’s because they are full of what leaves a corpse when the sphincter muscle loosens up. 💩
That, and body water weight voids through the urethra and evaporates from pores and elsewhere as well. 🍵. So adherents to “the weight of a soul” notion are full of “piss and vinegar” for their viewpoint too. 😁
November 16, 2023 at 5:02 am #51385Jake,
Oxygen.
How many women have i heard proudly proclaim that so and so has a home that is IMMACULATE!
Tying one’s worth into cleanliness which is next to godliness and on an even higher plane when it is immaculate is unfortunate. It is kind of amusing though.
Cleanliness isn’t next to godliness, either in the dictionary or in real life, since God does not exist to be next to anything.
But cleanliness does help keep us in earthliness, since it eliminates deadly pathogens and trip hazards. Pathology and Gravity has more to do with that than Patriarchy and all humans need to be in the act of cleaning up their things, themselves, and each other.
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