What are the worst misconceptions you know of?

[Blue_vision]

An economical construct which does not include human nature at all is inherently flawed. If it's to be involved with people, and yet does not assume how people act, then why can it be considered adequate?

Well it's obviously not a misconception because it's not a falsified fact, seen as how it can be argued against.
It is not a true fact to say that socialism has no grounding in real life, because the plausibility of a socialist/communist system could (and is) argued with both sides bringing up legitimate points using legitimate logic.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Every single misconception about sharks, especially the Great Whites.
Give the poor creatures a break.

They are killers! What animal could possibly end more human lives?

Oh wait, cows.

Nevermind :/

 

[Marik2]

It's one I don't get, but I think it comes from the other stupid misconception that the only reason people would believe is because they're too stupid to understand how science works. I know a few people that think that.

It's not as widespread as i made out, but several times i've been called over by people i know who say things like "Hey Joe, you do physics. Explain to this person how the big bang disproves God." and then won't accept "It doesn't" as an answer.

Tbh i think it's just because the atheists around me seem to turn it into some sort of self-superior cult who think anyone who doesn't believe what they do is lower than them.

I like how some atheists become as bad as the religious nutjobs they hate so much and dont see the irony.

And a common misconception I get is that since I believe in a God, people assume I believe in the biblical god

Believing in a God=/= believing in the biblical god

Here lies my argument. I've heard people freak out over evolution, saying it's an attempt to disprove God. I'll usually say that maybe evolution is how God wanted it to work, and if there's any higher power, the belief in It can be strengthened by understanding the world you believe It created. This sometimes causes the atheists/agnostics to rip on me because they think I'm stating a newfound belief in God, and my neutrality is destroyed -_-

Its because to a lot of Christians, evolution destroys the idea that their god isnt as all powerful like in genesis (with the whole making Adam out of dust and stuff)

 

[whaleswiththumbs]

*cough*http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/ *cough*

 

[trophykiller]

Warhammers = massive and unwieldy weapons wielded by brutes and berserkers. On the contrary:

http://www.zombiesurvivalwiki.com/page/The+Warhammer%3A+Underrated+and+Misunderstood

On a similar note, that everyone on that site is a loser 14 year old because they prepare for zombies. We use zombies more as a way to prepare for any dsaster.

Moving on, that because I own not only one firearm, but several, I'm going to kill someone. I'm a nice guy and would never hurt an innocent.

Because I have aspergers, I can't get along with others. I do that just fine. Another thing, that I'm destined to fail due to the aspergers. Both Keanu Reeves and Bill Gates have it too, and they're huge successes.

That anyone elses religion is wrong and you need to get on the internet and complain about it, because yours is so much better and has never had a bad person practice it. You know who you are.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

Err.... if somethings a theory its as close to fact as you can get in science, scientific theories have lots of proof

(does that read as bad as I think it does?, fatigue is messing with my brain)

Let's see if I can help.

A scientific theory is backed by compelling evidence and is capable of predicting the outcomes of future events. In this regard, a theory offers proof beyond reasonable doubt.

A fact is an observable event in nature. A fact that fits a theory verifies the theory, especially if the theory was made before the observation was made.

Contrast to a mathematical theorem which has been logically proven beyond all doubt. If the premises (the axioms) are accepted, the theorem cannot be denied.

Contrast also to a layman's theory which is merely commonplace parlance for a hypothesis by those who don't know any better. Even then I find myself using the terms interchangeably when I'm not careful.

 

[laststandman]

The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy.

Well despite Tolkien's wishes, they were a commercial trilogy, even though he had wished to release them all together. One large volume would have been interesting though.

OT: That Thomas Edison is to thank for modern electricity.

Just being published in three volumes is not enough to make something a trilogy.

I agree, I see the Lord of the Rings as more of a history (a history of the War of the Ring, that is). However they were released as a trilogy, so I cant really blame people for thinking that they are, especially with the movies being released in the same format (although, they took heavy liberties in the films, especially between TT and RotK)

 

[andrew623]

Basically all the misconceptions about Islam.
But the one that really "grinds my gears" is that all muslim women have to wear the veil.

The veil is a custom, not Islamic law. The only countries that i can think of that require the veil are Iran and Saudi Arabia. Many Islamic countries discourage wearing a veil (eg Morroco, Egypt) and some have a limited ban (ie banned in public institutions, universities etc) on the veil (eg Turkey, Tunisia)

Also the misconception that Buddas are regarded as deities in Buddhism (Slightly true in some schools of Mahayana Buddhism)

 

[Dr Snakeman]

You'd be surprised how prevalent the belief that the heart is located in the left side of your chest is. It's right under the sternum, but when people get shot in the heart in movies, where is the wound? Exactly.

It's ridiculous, but at least there's Dexter and his anatomically-correct murders.

To be fair it does poke out to the left side a bit
http://www.getbodysmart.com/ap/circulatorysystem/heart/anatomy/location/tutorial.html
so they're not totally wrong, mostly wrong but not totally.

When you think about it, that's how misconceptions happen. There's always a grain of truth that gets distorted with the retelling. Few things are outright lies, just a lot of people getting confused over time.

 

[xdom125x]

When people think that Jesus was white. So stupid.

This is one of those topics I debate just for the sake of conversation with people that still believe in God. I hypothesized that if Jesus did have Godly powers, he could have had the power to be born white in the Middle East.

 

[blankedboy]

I have another.

"40% of men have had sex with another man."

Which is bullshit, because then the average gay man has had sex with at least 200 men. Seriously, who comes up with that shit?

"Anime is only for children".

Pff fine. That half the anime you guys watch isn't made for a demographic far younger than yourselves. =p

But it isn't. I've seen 4 animes, all four are aimed at teenagers.
That's all, not half.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

No I am not evil, I am not a satanist, I don't wear black all the time, I am not always depressed

I assume your a goth, so could you please tell me what it means to be a goth? If it doesn't have anything to do with being depressed or dressing a certain way. What is a goth to you?

Edit: That came off a bit passive aggressive didnt it? Apologies

I'm going to second this request. If it isn't just a superficial fashion choice/attitude combo, then what is it?

 

[Stevanchez]

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

Every saying or belief about penis size is completely false and stupid.

 

[FireCoroner]

That the highest break in a game of snooker is actually 155 and not 147, which most people tend to think.

Those ignorant pricks!

 

[KrazyShrink]

That throughout history, women have always cooked and cleaned. Generally they did work similar and complimentary to men's.

Also, that there are black scorpions in deserts. The ones they show in movies are emperor scorpions, and live strictly in jungle habitats.

Edit: Jesus christ, how could I forget nuclear energy? Unbelievably misunderstood. Nuclear power plants cannot explode and kill thousands of people, they're highly contained and controlled and simply don't work like that. Cherynoble was exposed and used graphite for cooling, making it way more dangerous than modern plants, and it only killed 31 people, all firefighters who went directly into it. Living near a nuclear power plant doesn't increase your risk of cancer at all, the amount of radiation even 3-mile-island gave off was almost nothing compared to what we normally get. Also, the stuff you see rising out of nuclear power plants isn't pollution, it's pure, plain steam.

 

[some1stolemyusername]

That gamma radiation is ionising. Sorry, had to call you out on that one, gamma is an electromagentic wave, just like visible light, radio and microwaves.

"gamma-ray photons can ionise atoms by knocking out electrons by means of photoelectric and compton effects. furthermore, if a gamma ray has sufficient energy, it can undergo pair production... which(sic) go on to produce further ionisation"
Giancoli, DC, 1998 "Physics: Principles with Applications", 5th edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

 

[Rhiehn]

Evolution literally means, monkeys turning into people.