What are the worst misconceptions you know of?

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StereoMike

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Jul 13, 2010
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Keepitclean said:
Arkzism said:
all guys want sex
I hate this misconception! I sometimes want a sandwich or my ironing done aswell...

StereoMike said:
I guess I'll address some of the things. Japan is kind of a weird place.


Keepitclean said:
StereoMike said:
Well, I'm a Canadian living in Japan so I have kind of a long list of misconceptions people have about "foreigners". I'm not Japan bashing here, but these a pretty much held as truth by anyone over 30 or who has never left the country.

1. Foreigners can't eat natto, umeboshi, or raw fish. (note: that's "can't eat" not "don't like")
As in you don't have the right to or can't eat because you will die if you do?
Like we can't process it right or something. I've never gotten a straight explanation. The best one I got was from a Japanese person whose English wasn't great, telling me that it's not part of our traditional cuisine so it's reasonable to think that we can't deal with eating it. That's the clearest explanation I've got though. The best way to respond to a person who acts surprised that you like sushi is to ask if they can eat pizza, and they'll look all shocked and confused as to why you would ask them that.
So may they think its disgusting but they eat it anyway because of tradition, we all know how big they are on that. A lot of my white friends aren't too keen on raw fish dishes. I'm also a white Australian but I live in a very "multicultural" area so I hang out with Asians a lot. Seriously, you should see some of the looks I get when I mention that I don't like rice. They look at me like I just turned bright blue and say something like "What do you eat!?!".

I love raw tuna with wasabi and soy sauce. The fresher the better.

EDIT: Your post portrays the Japanese as major Elitists. Is it a problem or are these just minor things that make Japan Japan?
Well there are a lot of Japanese who love tradition, but like Newton says, for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. This is true in this case. There are a lot of Japanese people who reject traditional Japan and focus on anything cutting edge or new. Definitely understandable for a country that is relatively recently starting to embrace it's place as a world citizen.

And I don't mean to imply that people are being elitist when I hear questions like "can you use chopsticks?" and things like that. It's actually more like over-sensitivity. They want to make you feel comfortable and unfortunately the way they do that is by using stereotypes like they're always true. The thought process is goes something like this: "Oh I have an American friend coming to visit! I'll take them to Burger King!" and they think that's a nice, culturally sensitive thing to do. For example, I ate dinner once a week with a traditional Japanese farming family because I was teaching their son English, and they never, ever gave me chopsticks. But the kicker was they made very traditional Japanese food, and it's all designed to be eaten with chopsticks! I had a hard time eating udon noodles like they were spaghetti.

The ironic thing is I'm kind of fueling misconceptions about Japan with these posts concerning misconceptions that some people have here. Not everyone in Japan believes these things I'm mentioning, it's just that I meet so many that do. But just to be clear: There are many many worldly Japanese people around. But also a few people who think that Americans have hamburgers for every meal.

P.S. The thing about the 4 seasons is still really weird, because of all these misconceptions, it is by far the most prevalent. Like, even among people who have traveled extensively. Most people whose bubbles I burst over this thing just act surprised, but there are some people who even argue with me! They literally are trying to tell what the weather is like in my own country, despite never setting foot there. That is definitely a very small minority though.
 

KaosuHamoni

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Apr 7, 2010
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That being gay is disgusting, wrong, and should be illegal.

A girl in my form actually said this in an RS class. *Headdesk*
 

Scarecrow

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Jun 27, 2010
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Anarchist want to kill everybody and destroy the world.

As a anarchist this really makes me angry when people asume that I'm a mad bomber.
 

BanthaFodder

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Jan 17, 2011
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I have a fair few...
1. all gamers are fat, cheeto-fueled, perma-virgins who only emerge from their cave to buy either A. piss or B. buy more cheetos and red bull
2. all people with glasses are neurotic anti social dweebs
3. all intelligent people are neurotic anti social dweebs
4. anyone who likes games like CoD:MW2 or BLOPS is a consumerist idiot
5. anyone who isnt an athiest is a narrow minded sheep
6. anyone who doesnt wish someone a painful death for simply being less intelligent is an idiotic pussy
7. all republicans are racist, homophobic, gun toting nutsacks
8. all americans are overwieght ignorant fucktards
9. all guys have the intelligence and sophistication of baboons
10. girls are better behaved than guys. as boys, we called eachother gay and threw mud and spiders. teenage girls build up a facade of friendship amongst eachother, waiting to catch their prey at their most vulnerable. boys are like the warriors of valhalla, we fight amongst ourselves but we all go home in the end. girls are fucking velociraptors. :p
 

BanthaFodder

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Jan 17, 2011
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I also can't stand fucking hipsters... that's not really a misconception, because just about every conception about them is TRUE. LIKE THE CONCEPTION THAT NO ONE LIKES THEM. I DONT KNOW WHY IM MENTIONING THIS, I JUST DISLIKE HIPSTERS. I ALSO DONT KNOW WHY IM TYPING IN ALL CAPS.
 

john_alexander

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Aug 16, 2008
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Skullkid4187 said:
[...] and that only "high school drop outs and bad graders" join the army. Honestly people EVERY GRADE RANGE joins the Army...
I have a double-minor in tech theatre and philosophy. I spent four university years getting said degree. Having a post-secondary degree, I can be put on the fast-track for officer school.

Then I signed up as an enlisted man. Not even an officer, which would have been easy pickings for me. Becoming an officer is something I'm still considering for the future, but not right now. So yeah, SMRT PPL JOIN ARMY! Sometimes. And I have yet to meet a truly stupid ass who has not yet been kicked out.

My own favorite misconception to pick apart (though it doesn't bother me that people believe this): The misconception of self.

The concept of self is tacked on after the thought has already been formed and sent. You are nothing but a brain, with inputs and outputs. The idea of 'I did this' is built the same way any other thought is. Consciousness is in for a rough ride, if neuroscience continues along the path it seems to be heading. The picture isn't yet complete, but the basics are there, and they aren't pretty.

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. A theatre example (though film would also apply); there are many playwrights who enjoy creating performances that have no meaning, performances that provide no answers and let the audience come to their own conclusions (you've probably seen this before; that pretentious-as-fuck show that 'no one understands').

The problem is that that is literally all brains do; interpret their own meanings from things. Stripping away 'inherent meaning' to let an audience find their own meaning is impossible, because inherent meaning does not exist.

Sorry to get all bullshit-philosophical on you. But hey, I got my degree in philosophy, and where better to use it than a geek-and-nerd community forum?

I like the soapboxes 'round here. Very comfy.
 

Ghostkai

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Jun 14, 2008
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crudus said:
Ghostkai said:
That people who play any MMO instantly have no life...
I know many people who play and who are married, play with their significant other, and met their significant other playing WoW and DDO.
Same, that's why it pisses me off so much, it's a baseless accusation.
 

Steven True

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Jun 5, 2010
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john_alexander said:
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?
 

TeeBs

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Oct 9, 2010
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Gay people can fly and float through walls.

PFFT I wish I would be sooo gay right now.
 

Steven True

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Jun 5, 2010
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Zeeky_Santos said:
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)
 

Gigano

Whose Eyes Are Those Eyes?
Oct 15, 2009
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That anyone, who make a blanket proclaimation that they follow something as a moral guideline, aren't then every bit as responsible for every sentence of it as had they uttered it themselves. This for both religious scriptures, and secular ideology.
 

EeveeElectro

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Aug 3, 2008
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You have The Sun to thank for making people think all Muslims are terrorists. They make you think either, "All Muslims are terrorists" or "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but they still want to bomb you a little."

A lot of people think fat people constantly eat, but I eat less than most skinny people I know and my potions are smaller.
Not all people on benefits are lazy scroungers who are too stupid to get a job. There is people like my house mate who sits on his lazy arse playing the 360 constantly and bragging about getting money for it, but there's people like me and my friends used their time to constantly search for jobs until we finally found one.
 

savandicus

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Jun 5, 2008
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SL33TBL1ND said:
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.