Common Misconceptions

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During the past few days, I read a quote from Yong Sheng's blog.

“Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.” – Mary Kay Ash

And that got me rather irritated, with all due respect to the man. Because in truth, bumblebees, can theoretically fly.

It was one of those common misconceptions that is flying around the world, isn't it? I know that it doesn't usually concern me, but I think its perhaps just the pedagogue part of me that's acting up. Simply because some of these are really, well, as wrong as it can get.

That I was talking to a friend a while ago, and I heard him go. "Its an Internet Me-me." It nevertheless suffices to say that my palm instantly gravitated towards my face.

So, here goes, an attempt to list down some common misconceptions. And making sure someone is one smarter out there.

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There were never records of Viking wearing horns on their helmets and Napoleon wasn't really that short, he was 1.68m tall actually.

Searing meat doesn't lock in the moisture, actually it removes it. Mussels that are closed after cooking might still be safe to eat and cooking wine or liquor does not get rid of the alcohol content. In fact, only 75% of the alcohol disappears after 1 hour of cooking.

Moving on, you can't see the Great Wall of China from the Moon, Meteors might not be necessarily hot when it reaches the earth, and we all knew the Earth was spherical, SPHERICAL, NOT ROUND, since 300BC. WAYYYYYY before most people think.

Duck quacks can echo, goldfishes do not have 3 second memories, DNA is NOT a protein, bats are NOT blind, bulls couldn't care less about the colour red and ostriches DON'T BURY THEIR HEADS IN THE GROUND.

Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker. Hair and fingernails don't continue to grow after a person dies. 8 glasses of water is actually not enough a day, the amount takes into consideration the other sources of moisture in a day, such as fruits.

Sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children, alcohol does not make one warmer, and neither does it kill your brain cells.

Moving to the brain, new neurons can be created in the postnatal brain, and the brain is not separated to left and right hemispheres clear cut. And people who use only 10% of their brains are called MORONS.

Fever does not cause brain damage or death in children if untreated. In fact, fever is normally a signal that the immune system is working well. Eating less than an hour before swimming does not increase the risk of experiencing muscle cramps or drowning.

By definition, the real number, 0.999999..... which has an infinite sequence of nines—is exactly equal to 1.

The Coriolis Effect does not determine the direction that water rotates in a bathtub drain or a flushing toilet and it is not true that air takes the same time to travel above and below an aircraft's wing. Lightning doesn't usually strikes twice. It just hits the Empire State Building in New York City about 100 times per year.

The Bible does not identify what type of fruit the forbidden fruit is. The buddha is not always obese, neither is he a god. Jihad does not mean holy war, it means struggle, and fatwā is a non-binding legal opinion issued by an Islamic scholar under Islamic law, NOT a death penalty.

Thomas Crapper DID NOT invent the flush toliet, Thomas Edision DID NOT invent the light bulb. Finally, Henry Ford DID NOT invent the automobile.

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Well, that took a while, please. From now on, don't make these common misconceptions again? Perhaps I'll make another post about misquotations, but that'll have to wait another day.

Comments (3)

Speaking of misconceptions, it's meme and not me-me.

'Meme' derives from 'gene', and it's pronounced very much like it. Not double syllables.

Cheers mate :)

Yeah, I had to leave the pronunciation that way to show what the guy said.

If I wrote Meme, no one would get the joke.

Alcohol makes your skin temp warmer but lowers your core temperature. Take it from the alcoholic. Altho who knows, I heard this from my alcoholic friend and we don't say the smartest things when drunk...