You've probably been on TV Tropes and seen this marker plenty of places, but there are simply so many examples of writers and commentators making false assumptions and other mistakes about science, philosophy, religion, and general facts that it's an ordeal to try to read them all. So tell me What's your favorite/What's the most egregious example you've seen of someone Not Doing The Research?
I'm sitting in the library of Abilene Christian University right now, so I'll share a few about Christianity:
-A lot of people think there's a line in the Bible that goes something like "better to spill your seed in the belly of a whore than on the ground to be trampled by men." It seems to say that having extramarital sex is still better than masturbation. There is no such verse in the Bible.
-The Bible never says Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. She had seven demons and saw the resurrected Jesus. That's about all we know about her.
-The word "prodigal" in "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" doesn't mean "given to going away and returning" or anything like that. It means "wasteful with money."
I was hoping to have more interesting examples (maybe later), but it's early, I'm sleep-deprived, and I have to go read about a guy who thought Jesus was to literally reign on Earth for 1000 years. He was still a nice guy, though.
So what are the most annoying mistakes writers and other thinkers make about the things you like?
I'm sitting in the library of Abilene Christian University right now, so I'll share a few about Christianity:
-A lot of people think there's a line in the Bible that goes something like "better to spill your seed in the belly of a whore than on the ground to be trampled by men." It seems to say that having extramarital sex is still better than masturbation. There is no such verse in the Bible.
-The Bible never says Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. She had seven demons and saw the resurrected Jesus. That's about all we know about her.
-The word "prodigal" in "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" doesn't mean "given to going away and returning" or anything like that. It means "wasteful with money."
I was hoping to have more interesting examples (maybe later), but it's early, I'm sleep-deprived, and I have to go read about a guy who thought Jesus was to literally reign on Earth for 1000 years. He was still a nice guy, though.
So what are the most annoying mistakes writers and other thinkers make about the things you like?