What are the worst misconceptions you know of?

[The_root_of_all_evil]

That misconceptions has three s's.

Hmm, surprised no-one pointed this out sooner. You must be the finest grammar nazi in the land then. Or at least the most devoted, take your pick.

Don't know which one's the best really... But it's spelled correctly in the OP, so I guess it was a bit of a snark.

 

[Trestin]

That Pagans, Wiccans, and the like are devil worshipers.(Now the devil worshipers do, but they do actually acknowledge a devil.)

 

[peduncle]

Theories have no real proof.

Well, this is true in one sense of the word. However, I hate it when it's used as an argument against SCIENTIFIC theories. If you do so, you clearly know nothing about science.

this, this, this, this, this, a thousandtimesthis!
it positively infuriates me when this happens

 

[Rekrul]

Autistic people are like rainman, since I started working with autistic kids, thats the number one question I get from people, "ah wow, are any of them like rainman?" "No."

 

[PurplePlatypus]

The misconception I hate? A few words.
Andrew Wakefield, fuck you.

 

[DaJoW]

That all brown people are Arabs. FFS, there's Indians, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, etc.

You have no idea how much shit people give me in airports just cause I'm brown.

Also that all Arabs are Muslims. I think the biggest Muslim country in the world is actually Indonesia, and a good proportion of Lebanese people I know are Christian, not to mention that many countries people think of or constantly refer to as being in the Middle-East aren't in the Middle East. Afghanistan? Not part of the Middle East. It's Central Asia...

Cracked had a list of misconceptions about Islam where they mentioned that the number of Christian Arabs is about the same or more than the number of Jews in the world.

OT: Apart from stuff already mentioned, the only ones that really bug me are the ones I've heard said about Sweden. I heard a quote on a British show a while back about how Swedes were depressed bastards who live half their lives in darkness. Second part is true, but that goes for all general populations. That we have elks everywhere, that it's terribly cold all year, that the country is being taken over by Muslims etc. I once spoke to someone who actually thought we had a Polar Bear problem in winter.

Edit: Oh yeah, and "It's winter and it's cold, therefore there is no such thing as AGW".

 

[zelda2fanboy]

For the most part a degree will raise your income...And raise your odds of getting a job in general, though perhaps not in any specific field. Some jobs require a degree, others pay reduced pay unless you work incredibly hard for advancement if you don't have one.

And commission-only can easily benefit the employee. You have to work harder for more money, but isn't that the goal anyways? In the end it pays for your effort, unlike wage-based employment which pays because you were there and probably did something that day/hour, with no consideration for how much you actually accomplished.

The government helps the citizens each and every day. It also hurts quite a bit financially, but the goal of government should be a deterrent from invasion, and most of the governments today are performing that role as well as they can.

You can't control whether or not someone buys something, therefore "working harder" doesn't factor into the equation. Thus, a person spends hours waiting around for someone to come in and nothing happens, making the entire day a complete waste of time. Whenever I go into Best Buy, a store that offers no commission to its employees, I get immediate help without even asking for it. A commissioned employee will ignore customers to go after a sale and tries to read people to tell if they're worth their time or not.

My business degree hasn't gotten me anything and I still work at the same crap job I've worked at for three years. I've never gotten a raise over minimum wage. I've applied at dozens of places without either an interview or a call back. Odds don't mean jack to me right now.

The government (any government) takes your money by force in return for whatever goods or services they feel like providing. Any expectation of receiving aid is foolhardy and the fact you would even get help isn't really help since they already took your money anyway. That would be like paying ten bucks just to walk into a department store, getting nothing, and them saying "We'll we do have lights, walls, and heat, so there's nothing to complain about." You may argue that the minimum wage set by The Government is helping me by offering me more money than the average state would pay me, but that gain is diminished by high taxes. Sure, I'll agree the government helps some people, but it also hurts some people. Believing that the government WILL help you is a misconception.

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

On topic, I would say that all people who play video games are/were/will become this man:

One can only dream...

OT: That Hindu's are Muslims...I am not kidding, people actually think this.

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

The belief that rational, logical thought is the way forward and that it makes you fundamentally better as a person. I know my rationalist atheist types, and guess what? They're nearly exclusively cunts with massive egos and superiority complexes.

I may be a deeply irrational and chaotic human being but that doesn't make me better or worse than anyone (or anything) else (not that I believe better or worse exist in the first place, but that's another discussion entirely.)

I'm looking at you, Richard Dawkins.
(captcha: 'sky's the limit')

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

Here's another
"I can't/don't know how to dance."

We all can, just a lot of us cannot dance in that way you see in clubs that's essentially no different to a peacock showing off its feathers. All of us have the potential ability to shut off our rational mind and let our movements flow, however that may manifest itself. Such a beautiful thing that gets eschewed for a shallow mating call..

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

Cannot have nothing without everything. ^

 

[john_alexander]

In the same vein; the idea of 'inherent meaning'.

Meaning is not a thing, it is an event. There is no such thing as inherent meaning, merely ideas being interpreted individually into individualist meanings.

I'm sorry, I have to disagree with this. If this was true then how can any two people, or a society for that matter, agree on the meaning of anything and communicate?

In two ways; first, by being convinced meaning can be inherent (it's the way the human brain works; it tricks itself into believing meaning is inherent in order to facilitate communication). Second, by accepting interpreted meanings on a large scale; symbolism, for example. A Crucifix doesn't actually mean anything (for example, to myself, it's just a cross with a figure on it), but widespread acceptance of the idea of the crucifixion of Christ and the ideas it is said to represent builds an interpretation that is very different between myself and a devout Christian. Or a Buddhist.

A further example, using the Crucifix, is this; imagine someone from, say, a secluded village. Think stereotypical jungle tribe; no technology, little-to-no communication with the outside world. They look at a Crucifix and see nothing of any importance; it has no meaning beyond an unfortunate guy stuck to two intersecting pieces of wood. And it only has that meaning because, more than likely, these imaginary tribespeople have witnessed death, and so filter this unknown man's being stuck to wood in that pose through their experiences.

To go back to the original question of 'how can any two people, or a society for that matter, agree on the meaning of anything and communicate?': because they have to. Their (our) brains deceives them (us) because they have to in order to survive. Strength is in numbers, and numbers can only be formed by communication. So the brain tricks itself, creating formal agreements between brains that are mistaken for absolute meanings.

This is not to say that everyone is wrong, which is the usual path people take down this philosophy; if there is no inherent meaning, there is no truth. This, I believe, is a mistake. If there is no meaning, there is nothing but truth. The problem is not that everyone is wrong, but that everyone is right (to certain extents; this is a gross oversimplification of the idea).

EDIT: Also, people rarely, if ever, completely agree, even when faced with exactly the same evidence. People might share interpretations on one thing, and hold completely exclusive and contradictory interpretations on another. How can this be? If meaning were inherent, all people would absorb the same ideas and concepts in exactly the same manner. Another example; the movie Irreversible (a VERY disturbing movie; you have been warned) contains an uninterrupted nine-minute rape scene (Hey! I warned you!). To me, this scene is disgusting, brutal, disturbing, and yet oddly fascinating; that human beings can do this to each other frightens me to no end. My eyes were glued to the screen for the whole nine minutes. To a rape victim, this would not in any way be fascinating (well, maybe; I can't generalize about something I don't know. All I know is my friends reaction), it would be an abomination, something that should never, ever absolutely EVER be shown on film.

Different meanings drawn from exactly the same situation, idea and concept.

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

We only use ten percent of our brains, and if we unlock the other 90% we can become super-smart gods.

I want to go up to people who believe that and kick them in the face. With a boot.

Isn't that whole, ten percent thing just we use ten percent but only because we use so many different sections at different times? like you use different sections for different things, and some are used sub-conciously?

 

[blankedboy]

"Anime is only for children".

Oh god, I hate this one. Bible Black is NOT FOR FUCKIN CHILDREN YOU'D SCAR THEM FOR LIFE

rofl imagine having a movie night with your kid and then watch elfen lied. xD

Better yet, Elfen Laid.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

The girls hate guts, gore, blood, ect.

Also that all girls hate violent/gory/horror games. makes me sick and drives me crazy to hear that .-.

 

[Imat]

For the most part a degree will raise your income...And raise your odds of getting a job in general, though perhaps not in any specific field. Some jobs require a degree, others pay reduced pay unless you work incredibly hard for advancement if you don't have one.

And commission-only can easily benefit the employee. You have to work harder for more money, but isn't that the goal anyways? In the end it pays for your effort, unlike wage-based employment which pays because you were there and probably did something that day/hour, with no consideration for how much you actually accomplished.

The government helps the citizens each and every day. It also hurts quite a bit financially, but the goal of government should be a deterrent from invasion, and most of the governments today are performing that role as well as they can.

You can't control whether or not someone buys something, therefore "working harder" doesn't factor into the equation. Thus, a person spends hours waiting around for someone to come in and nothing happens, making the entire day a complete waste of time. Whenever I go into Best Buy, a store that offers no commission to its employees, I get immediate help without even asking for it. A commissioned employee will ignore customers to go after a sale and tries to read people to tell if they're worth their time or not.

My business degree hasn't gotten me anything and I still work at the same crap job I've worked at for three years. I've never gotten a raise over minimum wage. I've applied at dozens of places without either an interview or a call back. Odds don't mean jack to me right now.

The government (any government) takes your money by force in return for whatever goods or services they feel like providing. Any expectation of receiving aid is foolhardy and the fact you would even get help isn't really help since they already took your money anyway. That would be like paying ten bucks just to walk into a department store, getting nothing, and them saying "We'll we do have lights, walls, and heat, so there's nothing to complain about." You may argue that the minimum wage set by The Government is helping me by offering me more money than the average state would pay me, but that gain is diminished by high taxes. Sure, I'll agree the government helps some people, but it also hurts some people. Believing that the government WILL help you is a misconception.

You can control whether or not someone buys something, to some extent, and that is precisely what commission demands of you. How many people buy useless junk because somebody convinced them to? The answer is just about every single person on this planet. Convincing somebody to buy something they want is easy. Convincing somebody to buy something they think they may need at some point for some reason is harder, but still easily accomplished by a good salesperson. Getting somebody to buy something they will never use more than once is difficult, yet it happens all the time. To say that commission is worthless is to say that these events never, ever happen, and that simply isn't true. And why would commissioned employees go after a sale if they're already with a customer? Isn't "customer," by it's very definition, a person who is purchasing something? Even if they're just looking, why would it be wrong for an employee to let them do what they want and then leave, rather then pestering them. If they want help, they can ask for help, but if they're not buying anything why would they need help?

If you have a business degree but companies don't want you, I'm thinking that may be your own fault, or at least the fault of your skillset. A degree doesn't guarantee you a job: You still have to work at it. You have to go to interviews, make a good impression, and be the best candidate for the job. In a field like generic business that is going to be difficult unless you have other skills to offer. There are many, many people with business degrees. There are many, many people with business degrees and some other skill, or even another degree, such as knowledge of coding (HTML is big, but Java/C/C++ knowledge would also be an excellent addition to one's skillset), multiple spoken/written languages, and even experience at prestigious companies will more likely than not get the job before somebody who walks into an interview with only a business degree to their name. Employers want to hire the best possible candidate, and in such a competitive job market simply having a degree won't cut it.

Your view on government is inherently flawed...Let me rework your scenario to be how life works: That would be like getting chased by a roving band of psycho murderers with torches and pitchforks, paying $10 to get into a defended bunker, and the defenders drive off the marauders. You didn't get anything, except the knowledge that you can safely live your life in peace, so clearly you should be complaining that that $10 was wasted. Meanwhile, the man behind you did not pay the same $10, and he was violently butchered where he stood, his home was taken over as a drug den, and his family was forever scarred. The government exists to protect it's citizens from harm, no matter what that harm may be. True, most modern governments are fraught with financial difficulties and political intrigue, but they still protect their citizens. Their job is not to protect you from financial ruin, however. Their job is not to give you money if you refuse to get it for yourself. It is only mercy that says they should even give you money if you can't get it for yourself. The government shouldn't actually be involved in your financial life in any way, shape, or form, beyond collecting your taxes to sustain their protection. Them intruding on your financial affairs only serves to break this delicate economy little by little. Minimum wage shouldn't exist, from a purely economic point of view. The services provided by minimum wage employees have to be marked-up even more to offset the wages. The natural price-points of goods and services are skewed, so much so that the minimum wage no longer satisfies it's condition of the minimum wage necessary to survive. The cycle is terrible, and the government is at fault, yet who is going to tell people that they no longer have a minimum wage? That they must live on the wages they deserve, rather than the wages they may need? No politician could get rid of the minimum wage, nor would he want to. But politician greed is another matter for another day. Long story short: The government exists to protect. Anything more is simply a nicety completely unnecessary to the primary function, and should not be taken for granted.

Sorry for the wall of text, just trying to prove a point...

 

[Treblaine]

"PC gaming is a virtually unattainable goal due to the gratuitous cost and complexity; elitism general"

Considering the amount that the consoles Companies are able to weasel out of people I can't stand this generalisation. Yes some PC enthusiasts can spend thousands of dollars on a PC rig, but equally console gamers can spend thousands on a Gargantuan premium-priced Bravia HDTV and gold-plated Surround sound system for their consoles )to spite many console games not even being in HD resolution).

The thing is you CAN spend a ridiculous amount on a gaming PC, but if you only want to moderately outperform PC you can get by with such cheap tech.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-pc-build-a-pc-overclock,2739.html

$400 ain't bad especially considering console games often costs usually about 33% more than PC and of course you get a whole PC with all the things other than gaming you can do with a PC.

 

[Imat]

1) people with small feet/hands have small penis'

2) everyone in europe can understand each other (chinese people believe this)

3)the virgin mary was a virgin

Thank god someone brought the third point up! It's actually mistranslated, it's supposed to mean: "Young woman Mary" or something of similar meaning! The "Virgin" Mary was actually 14 when giving birth to Jesus, which was perfectly fine at that time!

I don't think that is a misconception...Mary is said to have been impregnated through miraculous means. Not saying she never had sex, but I'm fairly certain she was a virgin when Jesus was born, or at the very least conceived. So referring to Virgin Mary is referring to her miraculous pregnancy and subsequent birth of Jesus. Interesting fact: Jesus is said to be a prophet of Islam, and Mary has one of the biggest chapters of the Qur-an devoted to her. I did not know this until I wikipedia'd Mary, so I thank you for pointing me to that.

 

[savandicus]

When people think that Jesus was white. So stupid.

When people think Jesus was black, one of the most annoying things in the world is when people hear that Jesus is white and then start trying to argue that he was black because they cant think sensibly.

Also all sorted of stupid misconceptions about nearly every single religion there is, if anyone ever brings up any religion in a conversation you can be pretty certain that 90% of whatever being said are misconceptions unless you have someone of that religion around.

I never said Jesus was black, but he was clearly not European like so many believe. Don't be an ass.

You completely missread me, i never meant that aimed at you. I was agreeing and adding to you. Sorry if you thought it sounded like an attack on you, that was never my intention.