Common Misconceptions

[yep617]

Some of these are pretty interesting, some i knew others i didnt. Thought I would share.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions

just a few good ones:

- It is a common misconception that sushi is raw fish.[sup]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions#cite_note-34[/sup][sup]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions#cite_note-35[/sup] In fact, the proper Japanese term for that would be sashimi. The term "sushi" actually refers to the way the rice is prepared with a vinegary dressing.[sup]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions#cite_note-36[/sup]Toppings for the rice may traditionally include raw fish but also cooked seafood or vegetarian toppings.


- When a person is arrested in the United States, there is no legal requirement that the police must "read him his rights" (i.e. give a Miranda warning), either at the time of arrest or anytime thereafter. The failure to give the warning will merely preclude the prosecution from using a confession (or other incriminatory statement) against the defendant; it will not preclude the criminal prosecution itself and it is possible that the defendant may be convicted without any introduction of an unwarned confession into evidence


- Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker. This belief is due to the fact that hair that has never been cut has a tapered end, whereas, after cutting, there is no taper. Thus, it appears thicker, and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges.[sup]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions#cite_note-73[/sup] Hair can also appear darker after it grows back because hair that has never been cut is often lighter due to sun exposure.


- The notion that goldfish have a memory of only three seconds is completely false[sup]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions#cite_note-98[/sup]. They have been trained to navigate mazes and can recognize their owners after an exposure of a few months.


- Bats are not blind. While most bat species do use echolocation to augment their vision, all bats have eyes and are capable of sight.


- Biological evolution does not address the origin of life; for that, see abiogenesis. The two are commonly and mistakenly conflated. Evolution describes (and through the theory of evolution, endeavors to explain) the changes in gene frequencies that occur in populations of living organisms over time, and thus, presupposes that life already exists. Evolution likewise says nothing about cosmology, the Big Bang, or the origins of the universe.


- The Inuit do not have an unusually large number of words for snow. In fact, English has many unrelated root words for snow, such as: snow, sleet, powder, flurry, drift, slush, whitewall, avalanche and blizzard. Each Eskimo-Aleut language has a similar number of unrelated root words. Since these languages are polysynthetic, arbitrarily complex thoughts such as "snow with a herring-scale pattern etched into it by rainfall" can be expressed in a single long word each, but this feature of the language is by no means restricted to snow


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions#cite_note-113

 

[biff lawson]

its wiki i believe nothing

 

[al audi]

 

[stick]

• Humans use only 10% or less of their brain. There is no scientific basis for this assertion. Many functional brain imaging studies show activated regions encompassing well over 10% of the brain. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this myth is that nobody has ever been able to pin down its origin. Some possibilities have been discussed by Benjamin Radford[sup][/sup], Eric Chudler, and The Two Percent Company[sup][/sup].
  • This misconception most likely arose from a misunderstanding (or misrepresentation in an advertisement) of neurological research in the late 1800s or early 1900s when researchers either discovered that only about 10% of the neurons in the brain are firing at any given time or announced that they had only mapped the functions of 10% of the brain up to that time (accounts differ on this point).
  • Another possible origin of the misconception is that only 10% of the cells in the brain are neurons; the rest are glial cells that, despite being involved in learning, do not function in the same way that neurons do.
  • Einstein is reported as quipping that people typically only use 10% of their brains. The popular press took this as fact, although the comment was meant only facetiously.
  • Lower level of brain activation does not mean a lower performance of cognitive functions; this variable has confounded scientists, because some 'gifted' individuals showed less activity than the average person. Haier proposed that indeed more gifted individuals might possess more efficient brain circuits.
  • Some New Age proponents propagate this belief by asserting that the "unused" ninety percent of the human brain is capable of exhibiting psychic powers and can be trained to perform psychokinesis and extra-sensory perception. However, there is still no proof of this, and most, if not all, neurologists say that this is not possible.

That's one that I hear often.

 

[atlien seeko]

Common misconception - Race = nationality.

So, Puerto Rican is not your RACE. It may be your Nationality though.

 

[eight2one]

common misconception=bud light= good beer

 

[cucumbercool]

my head hurts.

 

[raptors29]

Didn't know it was a myth that goldfish have a 3 second memory.

 

[diego]

The last two lost me.

 

[sir rob a lot]

Originally Posted by ATLien Seeko

Common misconception - Race = nationality.

So, Puerto Rican is not your RACE. It may be your Nationality though.

So, what is the Puero Rican's race?

 

[kdawg]

It's amazing how people still perpetuate these though - especially the shaving one. Just give it a minute and someone will be in here saying that it'strue that it grows back thicker.

 

[ouch my feet]

Race = Human...We are not any other race unless some of you are alien (which I would believe)

Ethnicity = Your ethnic background

Nationality = Where you are a national/citizen. For example, I am a national of the U.S. and Turkey (dual citizenship)