Misconceptions you hate!

[Halceon]

Not a misconception per se, but "random". Random is nondeterministic, random is equal chance for all possible outcomes. What you mean is "arbitrary" at best and most often "some idiotic nonsense", which has nothing to do with selection at all.

Also, I hate the misuse of "theory" as seen here

People who keep saying that evolution is "only a theory". Look, I'm a Christian, and I think it's time we stop kidding ourselves. Evolution is a "theory" in the same sense that gravity is one.

Theory is the description of how things work, it is based on evidence, but doesn't necessarily contain any data. What you and the people you speak of should be using is "hypothesis". And usually it isn't even the fault of the people doing it, because they've been taught that way. I don't know when that word became mutilated in the english language, but it's horrible. Just horrible.

 

[torzath]

Betta fish live in tiny mud puddles.
So many of these fish end up in all sorts of horrible containers because of people spreading this around.
Those "puddles" happen to be rice paddies, shallow bodies of water that may be only a foot or two deep but can extend for acres.
Also, they're tropical, but a lot of people keep them without heaters.
And another misconception is that if you have a betta fish in a vase with a plant, it will feed from the roots and you don't need to feed it. Betta fish in the wild are strictly insectivores, but might try to eat the plant in desperation.

 

[ScumbagEddie]

"So, where do you live, Pargencia?"
"I live in NY."
"Oh, what's it like there? Have you been to the Statue of Liberty? Is everyone in the Big Apple as mean as they say? What's the craziest thing you've seen on the busy streets? Do you walk to work, since it must be hell to drive in the streets? Is the rent REALLY too damn high, or is Jimmy McMillon just a crazy looking black Colonel Sanders talking out of his ass?"

...

....

"You do know there is an entire STATE above that godforsaken city with the same name, right?"

I was born outside of Syracuse, in a place well know for silverware. I feel your pain. NYC is the worst city i've ever been to

 

[Superior Mind]

Religion as a whole. The notion that any human knows the big answers to life is ridiculous yet billions of people seem to think they have it nailed down due to texts from a time before we even knew how big our own planet was, written by people who couldn't explain the world around them. Yet people in the modern day insist that though these texts were wrong about so much, they were right about the God thing and the afterlife thing. I suppose it's the belief of certainty that bugs me the most more than the self-righteousness.

Also the notion that if you lack religion you lack morality. That is mega-bullshit. As a non-believer I don't kill, rob, rape torture etc. etc. not because I fear some form of holy retribution, I don't do it because I know it's wrong and I don't want to be a ****. To think that without religion humanity would be immoral is ridiculous, particularly when you think of all the horribly immoral things done in the name of religion over the past couple thousand years.

 

[Korolev]

There's a wikipedia page on Common Misconceptions. Pretty much everything on that list has bothered me and everyone would do well to read it - Just go to wikipedia and type in common misconceptions in the search bar and then prepare to have your common misconceptions shattered!

EDIT: There is one common misconception that has always bothered me: when hippies and new-agers claim "science says a bumblebee cannot fly, yet it does anyway, proving mind over matter" or some such nonsense. This is a myth. In the 1930's ONE, and ONLY ONE scientist thought that bumblebees should not be able to fly - and his math was incorrect. These days, scientists know perfectly well how bumblebees fly. Yet the myth persists.

So spread the word - the next time some hippie new-age, crystal waving guru says that "science can't explain how bumblebees fly, just say "Oh yes they can!"

 

[Slenn]

That being interested or majoring in science makes you smarter than other people. I get this remark as a physics major all the time: I've had music and art majors comment on the fact that since I'm good at math and science they'll say something along the lines of "You are so much smarter than me." While I admit that getting this far in physics does take a lot of work, art and english majors are just as smart in their own respect. They're much smarter than they think they are and I refuse to admit that either area is smarter than the other.

 

[an874]

"So, where do you live, Pargencia?"
"I live in NY."
"Oh, what's it like there? Have you been to the Statue of Liberty? Is everyone in the Big Apple as mean as they say? What's the craziest thing you've seen on the busy streets? Do you walk to work, since it must be hell to drive in the streets? Is the rent REALLY too damn high, or is Jimmy McMillon just a crazy looking black Colonel Sanders talking out of his ass?"

...

....

"You do know there is an entire STATE above that godforsaken city with the same name, right?"

Yeah, but to be perfectly honest having lived both near NYC and in Rochester (as well as visiting other areas), nothing north of NYC is worthy of interest save for a couple of schools.

OT: The misconception that Indian (that's Asian-Indian to be clear to any American readers) is a language, when in fact no such language exists, and while we're at it Chinese isn't exactly a real language, but rather a family of mutually intelligible languages.

 

[redspud]

that a man who transitions to a womin, isnt a real womin (i use this as an example but obviously this goes for a womin who transitions into a man, as well)

Technically they aren't.

OT: Because your Hispanic your automatically from Mexico. Seriously do people not know how to read a map?

 

[AroLombardi]

that a man who transitions to a womin, isnt a real womin (i use this as an example but obviously this goes for a womin who transitions into a man, as well)

Please, please tell me these were typos of some sort.

OT: That when I tell a guy I'm bi that I instantly want to jump their bones.

 

[torzath]

That being interested or majoring in science makes you smarter than other people.

I've gotten this really often as a computer science major too. Bugs me as well.

Captcha: from server. lol.

 

[Of-the-Lion]

-Thinking that Muslim extremists are more of a threat than Christian extremists.

I want to shake your hand and never stop.

Also: 'Colombus discovered the U.S'. No. No he didn't. Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola. You know who did discover America? (Natives excluded) Lief Ericson. A norse man of steel. Furthermore, Columbus didn't establish a settlement, or even have any intention of doing so. Nowhere near enough representation is given to the person who deserves it: ex-Pirate Christopher "hook-for-a-hand" Newport. Not only did he found the first lasting English settlement in North America, but that settlement is still around today.

 

[Dango]

That I watch anime and therefore must an ultra-weeaboo-japanophile who loves of everything that comes out of Japan.

 

[lacktheknack]

That somehow opinions can be "misconceptions".

I got one now: the misconception that calling something an "opinion" makes it one. Some things are facts you can just be wrong about.

True, but I wasn't referring to those. I'm referring to "I like electronica and pop" or "asparagus is delicious", which many people will tell you is an "invalid opinion". Whatever the hell that means.

Unless you just used my post as a springboard. In which case, carry on.

 

[teebeeohh]

that a scientific theory is something that is debatable, the only reason not to call it fact is because we can't know that at some point in time someone will drop a beer and it will move away from the center of gravity. While interesting this would have absolutely no consequences on the conclusions and applications the theory of gravity has.

You are not special.
intelligent life may just be a fluke and you have no predetermined goal in life, stop making other being(or cosmic entities) responsible for your shit.
the abyss does not gaze back

rule of thumb: everything is random, stop assigning it arbitrary meaning.

 

[easternflame]

VIDEOGAMES ARE THE CAUSE OF VIOLENCE! AAAAARRRRGGGGG
Also on my list, Nuclear power is too bad to be used because it's dangerous. Excuse me sire, do you realize how much Nuclear power is important to world economy and energy?

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

An acquaintance of my brother thinks that Redundant means recursive.

I checked the dictionary lately, it means to be rendered pointless. stupid idiot insists that he`s right.

 

[renegade7]

That all americans have guns. The way one of my corp-mates in EVE Online said it you'd think every American was issued his or her own handgun at birth.

 

[lacktheknack]

You misunderstand me. I didn't say you were being illogical. I said you were being a jerk.

It's not your place to dictate to others what it's OK to believe and what it's not.

I'm not "dictating" anything. This is just basic logic.

Am I really a jerk for pointing out that believing something that exists despite having no real evidence to exist is generally a dumb thing to do?

It descends into OPINION whether or not logic is the only thing of value. For example, I think that attitude is pure crap, while you reciprocate the feeling. I believe highly in the value of imagination (which often breaks the limits of reality) and the spiritual. (...which many claim doesn't exist in the first place. Ok, whatever you say.) Now I'm not harming anyone, I'm not "wasting my life", and I'm not dragging society down in any way (if anything, I'm more philanthropic and have a better work ethic than the norm due to religious beliefs and general nature), so who the hell are you to tell me that my values are useless/wrong? It's not that I hate logic (I'm a science major, after all), I just think that there's a place for every type of perception.

Am I saying you're wrong? No, I'm saying that we have a difference of OPINION. And that there's no way to tell if one is correct or the other.

As I said earlier, once you've based something in some form of opinion (here: whether solid evidence/logic is the only line of thinking of value), then you no longer have the right to call the other side a "misconception".

 

[FernandoV]

My personal biggest beef is that everyone thinks it is okay to believe that something exists without any empirical evidence to support it.

Here's a tip: It's not.

Because people don't have a right to their own opinions/beliefs?