Wiki: List of common misconceptions

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Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,234
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I saw the daddy long-legs "fact" on a local news broadcast and I was just speechless. How could they possibly be so stupid?

"Daddy long-legs" refers to a few different creatures depending on where you live. Around here, we're talking about the harvestman, which isn't even a "spider."
 
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destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
LOL.

"It is a common misconception, even among adults, that humans and dinosaurs (in the ordinary sense of the term) coexisted: According to the California Academy of Sciences, around 41% of U.S. adults mistakenly believe they co-existed.[98] The last of the dinosaurs died around 65 million years ago, after the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, whereas the earliest Homo genus (humans) evolved between 2.3 and 2.4 million years ago. "

Do you know how retarded you need to be to believe that?!

I guess 41% of Americans are retarded.

My one roommate was a thorough believer in the Old Testament. He thoroughly believes man likely walked the earth during the time some dinosaur was still alive... and while he stated he didn't firmly believe any specific mention of the Earth's age, he said he was more likely to lean toward the 6000 year theory.
What is implied in that statement, makes me weep for his kind. Basically stating he would more readily believe a book with no factual evidence (he'd likely argue that one) over the readily documented, accepted fact, and easily repeatable experiments that revolve around radiometric dating techniques.

I know judging is wrong and all, but... that kind of thing scares the shit out of me to think about... how so many people think this way.

I mean, shit, look at it this way: some people argue these things are little tricks by god to divert people from the truth, to set the non-believers into motion.
So, with that idea... not only is god committing entrapment against his favorite little creation, he's also a supreme dick... because after tricking all these people, he's going to send them to a hell of fire and brimstone, and Satan's gonna rape yo ass day and night for eternity.
Oh, so you say these tricks are actually Satan's work? So, God just let's him have his way, establishing tricks that show no sign of out-of-this-world tampering, so that when man shows signs of logic and reason and applies it to the knowledge gleamed from these tricks, he'll just hand over the souls to Satan.. like what, as an earned gift? "Hey buddy, Satan old pal, these fools fell for all your tricks that promote reason and intelligence. You can have these clowns, you earned it friend!" That God sure is a piece of work - fuck that asshole.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,234
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Black holes, unlike their common image, do not act as "cosmic vacuum cleaners" any more than other stars.[53] The collapse of a star into a black hole is an explosive process, which means, according to Mass–energy equivalence, that the resulting black hole would be of lower mass than its parent object, and actually have a weaker gravitational pull.[54] The source of the confusion comes from the fact that a black hole exists in a space much smaller but orders of magnitude more dense than a star, causing its gravitational pull to be much stronger closer to its surface. But, as an example, were the Sun to be replaced by a black hole of the same mass, the orbits of all the planets surrounding it would be unaffected.
This doesn't mention the fact that black holes are attracted to each other and merge, increasing the mass / gravity. As the mass increases, more matter is pulled in at a faster rate.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,599
19
81
This doesn't mention the fact that black holes are attracted to each other and merge, increasing the mass / gravity. As the mass increases, more matter is pulled in at a faster rate.
But they're attracted to each other no moreso than any other objects in a similar mass class.

Two black holes with a mass of 1 unit each will result in something that's got 2 units of mass.
Same thing if those two objects were stars. So if you've got two far-away black holes colliding, there isn't going to be some abrupt surge in their gravity well, and suddenly everything anywhere around starts getting sucked in.

As it says, if the Sun were to be replaced with a black hole of identical mass, the orbits of the planets wouldn't even hiccup. The only difference is that a black hole's mass is concentrated into a tiny volume.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,234
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But they're attracted to each other no moreso than any other objects in a similar mass class.

Two black holes with a mass of 1 unit each will result in something that's got 2 units of mass.
Same thing if those two objects were stars. So if you've got two far-away black holes colliding, there isn't going to be some abrupt surge in their gravity well, and suddenly everything anywhere around starts getting sucked in.

As it says, if the Sun were to be replaced with a black hole of identical mass, the orbits of the planets wouldn't even hiccup. The only difference is that a black hole's mass is concentrated into a tiny volume.

At the center of almost any galaxy is a "super-massive" black hole...and eventually the entire galaxy will collapse into it. Then, over a much larger scale of time, super-massive black holes from multiple galaxies will collapse into each other.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,234
136
Eating less than an hour before swimming doesn't increase the risk of experiencing muscle cramps or drowning.

Different tastes can be detected on all parts of the tongue by taste buds,[103] with slightly increased sensitivities in different locations depending on the person, contrary to the popular belief that specific tastes only correspond to specific mapped sites on the tongue.[104] The original tongue map was based on a mistranslation of a 1901 German thesis[105] by Boring (an eminent psychologist at Harvard). In addition, there are not 4 but 5 primary tastes. In addition to bitter, sour, salty, and sweet, humans have taste receptors for umami, which is a savory or meaty taste.[106][107][108]

I must have had some terrible textbooks in school.
 
Dec 10, 2005
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At the center of almost any galaxy is a "super-massive" black hole...and eventually the entire galaxy will collapse into it. Then, over a much larger scale of time, super-massive black holes from multiple galaxies will collapse into each other.

Why would the galaxy have to collapse into the super-massive black hole in the center? Everything in the galaxy is rotating around the center, and the same forces that keep Earth from falling into the sun would keep the galaxy from collapsing into the central black hole.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
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Time of day should not effect calorie burn off.

Well it does, because the only calorie burn off while your sleeping is the BMR. When you're awake, you are almost surely burning more than your BMR, because you are more active. Your brain is working more, your muscles are being utilized more, etc etc. Thus, more energy is consumed during waking hours.

If you eat right before you sleep, there are two problems: the energy expenditure to metabolize what has been consumed may disturb your initial sleep cycle, which may lead to a lower quality of sleep, at least for the first few hours.
Second, once the consumed food is broken down to the basic glucose/sugars, lipids and proteins, you are giving your body a load of energy during a period it uses the least amount of energy. What happens to energy that is not used? It gets stored.

Now, if you eat late at night, and then start the day by eating a small meal that is low in carbs, you may end up with zero gain. And one night of this is not likely to have an impact, but if you routinely eat large amounts of food late at night, and don't eat anything for a few hours in the morning, you will likely gain weight. If you counter the late-night eating with early-morning low-carb foods, you will jump-start your body's metabolism, and the smaller the meal and the more time before the next consumed meal, you're body will have a higher chance of dipping into it's energy reserves... of which are well-stocked thanks to your late-night meal.
 
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MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,135
1,594
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Wikipedia is getting more valid as it grows in popularity. Every bit of information published on Wikipedia is open to be disproved by anyone who can cite their reason for doing so.

That doesn't mean everything on Wikipedia is fact, not by a long shot. But what better way to sift the facts from the disinformation than with an open forum like Wikipedia where information is continually reviewed and sources cited?

The problem with Wiki isn't whether it gets it's facts straight, it's how they're reported. Only fools think history is an assemblage of facts.

The relative importance of events is colored by the cultures involved, customs and, time frame in which they are reported. With a relatively small group of editors such as used for printed encyclopedias, their point of view and cultural backgrounds can more easily be determined. Stand alone articles as presented by Wiki are almost impossible to do the same with.

There is no truth with a capital 'T,' only by knowing context can we accurately form opinions and draw conclusions from history. Wiki will never be a good source for anything but quick fact checking.
 

2Xtreme21

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2004
7,045
0
0
1) Wikipedia is a reputable source of information.

My friends, case in point of ignorant fucks who will still cling to what they are fed by someone they politically agree with, even with an overwhelming abundance of evidence to the contrary.

Thanks for proving you are of the 41% of retards in this country!
 

datalink7

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
16,765
6
81
Mathematics
Contrary to a widespread perception, the real number 0.999... is exactly equal to 1. They are two different ways of writing the same real number.

Ruh roh...
 

Patranus

Diamond Member
Apr 15, 2007
9,280
0
0
My friends, case in point of ignorant fucks who will still cling to what they are fed by someone they politically agree with, even with an overwhelming abundance of evidence to the contrary.

Thanks for proving you are of the 41% of retards in this country!

Thanks for proving you have no idea what you are talking about and also proving you never wrote a college level research paper.
 

busydude

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2010
8,793
5
76
Thanks for proving you have no idea what you are talking about and also proving you never wrote a college level research paper.

People who write research papers are in the minority.. and wiki was created for the masses.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Thanks for proving you have no idea what you are talking about and also proving you never wrote a college level research paper.

It's quite the magnificient source for informational sources.

Using an encyclopedia of any type isn't really a good idea for a quality research paper.

As someone who had to write numerous research papers as coursework, wiki was my friend. Did I cite wiki? Hell no, but I used it as a jumping point for research articles about the specific information I wanted. Using the school's journal search tool was a bitch at times, and sometimes some really good information wasn't always available on the journal databases.
 

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,770
347
126
Contrary to a widespread perception, the real number 0.999... is exactly equal to 1. They are two different ways of writing the same real number.
Bullshit!
Just because it's imperceptibly small doesn't mean that it can't be imagined... and numbers are imaginary; therefore .9repeating is NOT the same as 1

Even if, functionally, they are the same thing.
 

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,135
1,594
126
As someone who had to write numerous research papers as coursework, wiki was my friend. Did I cite wiki? Hell no, but I used it as a jumping point for research articles about the specific information I wanted.

I would suggest the topic has a major impact on the utility of Wiki or any internet based search. You do know the majority of recorded human knowledge is not online or, indeed, mentioned anywhere online, correct?
 

2Xtreme21

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2004
7,045
0
0
every wiki article i read has sources...what the fuck else do you want?

It's quite the magnificient source for informational sources.

Using an encyclopedia of any type isn't really a good idea for a quality research paper.

As someone who had to write numerous research papers as coursework, wiki was my friend. Did I cite wiki? Hell no, but I used it as a jumping point for research articles about the specific information I wanted. Using the school's journal search tool was a bitch at times, and sometimes some really good information wasn't always available on the journal databases.

^ Adding to the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Keep on towin' the line, Patranus!
 
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