What are the worst misconceptions you know of?

[Baradiel]

That America is a country when its actually a continent.

Uhh, what about Canada and Mexico? Are they not part of the North America continent?

I think that was his point. Not sure, but thats how I read it:

ie, When people say 'America' they usually mean the United States of America, as opposed to either of the 'Americas'. I think that was what he was getting at.

 

[Dark Knifer]

That America is a country when its actually a continent.

Uhh, what about Canada and Mexico? Are they not part of the North America continent?

I think that was his point. Not sure, but thats how I read it:

ie, When people say 'America' they usually mean the United States of America, as opposed to either of the 'Americas'. I think that was what he was getting at.

Ah, that makes more sense... Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[Steven True]

Which is ridiculous, there are plenty of people out there who have no opinion one way or the other.

Then those people are called agnostic atheists.
Atheist: They lack a belief in any god(s).
Agnostic: They lack knowledge of any god(s)

You are wrong there pal,
Agnostisism is the belief that it is impossible to know ehether or not there is a(are) god(s) an agnosic atheist is somone that strongly believes that there is no god but knows thaty they can't know for sure.

I will agree with you on your definition of agnosticism, since it essentially the definition I proposed.
But, atheism in not a belief that there are no gods. It is the lack of the belief in a god. These are too different things. Atheism, simply put, is the lack of theism.
Agnostic atheist can be someone that strongly believes that there is no god but knows thaty they can't know for sure.
It can also be someone that has no strong beliefs about any god(s) and knows that can't know for sure.

 

[imagremlin]

That America is a country when its actually a continent.

Uhh, what about Canada and Mexico? Are they not part of the North America continent?

I think that was his point. Not sure, but thats how I read it:

ie, When people say 'America' they usually mean the United States of America, as opposed to either of the 'Americas'. I think that was what he was getting at.

Ah, that makes more sense... Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Yep, that's exactly it. I was born is South America, which, together with North (and, for some, central America) make up America, the continent. Therefore, technically speaking I'm an American.

 

[Kyoufuu]

- That not believing in gay marriage or being opposed to gay marriage and being against gays are the same thing.

Its not?

I think it is!

Ladies and gentlemen, proof that it is a -very- common misconception.

Being against gays would be something like the Westboro Baptist Church, the 'God hates gays' lot, those people. The misconception that this is the same as simply not believing in gay marriage is equivalent to believing that Muslims who believe in the Koran kill non-Muslims ("If they attack you, you may kill them. This is the just retribution for those disbelievers." K 2:191). Aka, a big one.

 

[Kyoufuu]

However, a few countries in Europa has already put a ban on neutering of dogs. In Norway, castrating your pet is illegal unless its necessary due certain medical reasons.


For more information on the subject, i can recommend this summarization by Laura Sanborn from Rutgers University.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

So they did find life on Europa? Intelligent life that bans the neutering of dogs?

 

[GenericAmerican]

All Germans are Nazis...I hate my friends for this.

Guns are evil...why? Because some idiot decided to kill someone with it? Well then Knifes are evil, cars are evil, your hands are evil.

Football players are all whore mongers and idiots, not true

The world is overpopulated...in some areas sure, big cities and what-not...where I live, no-o-o-o. Could use more people out here

I play video games=I am a nerd? Wait what? I also hunt, play sports, and write. Following that logic I am a nerd, who is a rightwing gun-toting-nutjob, who is musclebound and sleeps with cheerleaders, and is a 'fag' because reading is for chumps.

Fag, or gay, means homosexual...not it doesn't

Rock/metal, is evil.

I could go on and on

 

[CarlMin]

However, a few countries in Europa has already put a ban on neutering of dogs. In Norway, castrating your pet is illegal unless its necessary due certain medical reasons.


For more information on the subject, i can recommend this summarization by Laura Sanborn from Rutgers University.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

So they did find life on Europa? Intelligent life that bans the neutering of dogs?

Funny. Europe, obviously. I wrote it on my iphone so it automatically corrected to "Europa". ^^

 

[tigermilk]

That Napoleon was a midget. He was 5' 7", which is hardly a shrimp.

And about average height for a man of the time.

 

[TeeBs]

That gay people can fly through walls.

 

[harknesssimm]

that marxism is a political theory

its a social theory based on the movement towards an economic system, its closer to feminism than stalinism.

also that misanthropes can't be nice people

 

[Singularly Datarific]

That Napoleon was a midget. He was 5' 7", which is hardly a shrimp.

And about average height for a man of the time.

Well, shorter than the average British (They're TALL)
and political cartoons exacerbate every feature.

That gay people can fly through walls.

Whaaaaaaaat? But my friend's uncle's cousin says so!

 

[TeeBs]

That Napoleon was a midget. He was 5' 7", which is hardly a shrimp.

And about average height for a man of the time.

Well, shorter than the average British (They're TALL)
and political cartoons exacerbate every feature.

That gay people can fly through walls.

Whaaaaaaaat? But my friend's uncle's cousin says so!

Trust me dude, I asked a gay guy and he got really angry which means it must be true!

 

[PekoponTAS]

The misconception that unique tastes = hating popular things to be cool.

 

[Yomandude]

Everything newscasters have to say about videogames.
EVERYTHING.

 

[Xealeon]

That the American Civil War was about slavery and that the North was the justified side.

 

[queenorivers]

[deleted]

 

[feather240]

- That not believing in gay marriage or being opposed to gay marriage and being against gays are the same thing.

Its not?

I think it is!

Ladies and gentlemen, proof that it is a -very- common misconception.

Being against gays would be something like the Westboro Baptist Church, the 'God hates gays' lot, those people. The misconception that this is the same as simply not believing in gay marriage is equivalent to believing that Muslims who believe in the Koran kill non-Muslims ("If they attack you, you may kill them. This is the just retribution for those disbelievers." K 2:191). Aka, a big one.

No see here you're wrong about your definition of the term misconception. Yes someone pointed this out before but I'll reiterate. A misconception is a common misunderstanding of something which is a fact. Your statement is debatable and the use of the words "i think" mean opinion, therefore what I said isn't a misconception at all but an opinion.

Also denying someone's rights is a clear sign of opposition.

Since when is marriage a right?

 

[queenorivers]

- That not believing in gay marriage or being opposed to gay marriage and being against gays are the same thing.

Its not?

I think it is!

Ladies and gentlemen, proof that it is a -very- common misconception.

Being against gays would be something like the Westboro Baptist Church, the 'God hates gays' lot, those people. The misconception that this is the same as simply not believing in gay marriage is equivalent to believing that Muslims who believe in the Koran kill non-Muslims ("If they attack you, you may kill them. This is the just retribution for those disbelievers." K 2:191). Aka, a big one.

No see here you're wrong about your definition of the term misconception. Yes someone pointed this out before but I'll reiterate. A misconception is a common misunderstanding of something which is a fact. Your statement is debatable and the use of the words "i think" mean opinion, therefore what I said isn't a misconception at all but an opinion.

Also denying someone's rights is a clear sign of opposition.

Since when is marriage a right?

You misunderstand, I put it pretty badly so I don't blame you. Denying to be given the right to marry, not talking basic human rights here.

 

[Kashrlyyk]

....
Only an atheistic-normative perception results in the default position of 'no god', an objective view has no default position for complete uncertainty to return to.

No, the default position is always "x doesn't exist" if there is no evidence for the existence of x.

2000 years ago in Europe the default position was: "There is no America." And at that time that was the correct default position, because there was no evidence for America's existence. Therefore right now the rational default position is "There is no god.".

There was no concept of America, hence the automatic assumption. Objectivity has no -unproven- default assumptions.
If the universe created itself and time and the laws of physics and everything, and if this could be proven (obv red-shift; so sensible folk believe in the big bang & expansion, but not necessarily the rest of it) then a shift from monotheistic father-gods to a more hindu-like consideration of 'god as the universe' still makes sense.
Even with proof of expansion, there is no application of occham's razor in a field where there is no certain knowledge and no measurement possible.
Unless I've missed the point?

I was answering to this: "Only an atheistic-normative perception results in the default position of 'no god',", which is wrong. Since there is no difference between "There is not one bit of evidence for x." and "X doesn't exist." Another way to show why the default position is "X doesn't exist."

To that you replied with vacuous crap. Particular the "hindu-like consideration..." is such a huge amount of bullshit. You just "assert" without even the smallest explanation. And you made it perfectly clear you don't know what Occam's razor is.

And now I stop before I waste even more of my time.