What are the worst misconceptions you know of?

[Dark Knifer]

That all cartoons are for kids(not including anime)

There are many cartoons that have adult themes in them

Mm, I hear this one a few times to. Also when people say pixar movies are just for kids I get really annoyed and tell them to watch the start of up again and tell me that it's meant for children.

 

[Kyoufuu]

That religion = morality
Everyone that plays WoW has no life
Nintendo is for kids

Conversely, that religion = evil.

 

[Arsen]

United States of America:

- That we actually like the Hollywood culture.
- That Black Americans have it rougher or to a higher degree of less fairness than the rest of the majority/minority population.

- That modern day governments are extensions of past governments and are in essence, the exact same people as the previous rulers, bodies, etc.
- That warfare is immoral, wrong, and has no contributed to humanity in any positive way, shape, or form.
- That John Lennon was a good person and a moral human being.
- That not believing in gay marriage or being opposed to gay marriage and being against gays are the same thing.

 

[Steven True]

All the proteins necessary for life cannot be generated randomly. The presence of oxygen in the atmosphere prohibits any chance of the proteins being created, while the lack of such means the cell dies. And a piece of nonliving (and never was previously) matter cannot be made alive by any means.

You are arguing against abiogenesis, not evolution. Abiogenesis is the theory of how life originated. The theory of evolution only describes how species have changed over time. And it says NOTHING about the origin of life.

Also, your criticism of abiogenesis is wrong in and of itself.
1) When life formed the atmosphere was NOT oxygen rich. It took a few billion years of cynobacteria pumping out O2 to do that.

"And a piece of nonliving (and never was previously) matter cannot be made alive by any means.

2) You do realize that every atom in your body (excluding hydrogen) was formed in the heart of a star, don't you? Was the oxygen in your body part of living being then? What about now? Obviously, the matter in your body was "made alive" by some means.

 

[Steven True]

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)

Why? Their lack of belief and lack of disbelief automatically means disbelief?

Atheism & theism are binary. If you believe that god(s) exist then you are a theist. All others lack that belief and thus are athiests. Lacking a belief in any god(s) is completely separate from having a belief in the nonexistence of any god(s).

Example: Aliens.
If asked, "Do aliens exist?" I would say, "I don't know."
I have no belief in aliens. Therefore I am a "athiest" when it comes to aliens.
This is regardless of whatever my response would be to, "Do aliens not exist?"

 

[Jonluw]

[HEADING=3]"Glass is a liquid!"[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]No, it bloody isn't. *Slap*[/HEADING]

 

[Steven True]

United States of America:

- That Black Americans have it rougher...

I'm sorry, but that is not a misconception. African Americans (on average) have much higher rates of poverty, incarceration, lower educations, lower incomes, and lower life expectancy than the average American.

If being poorer and dying earlier is not having it rougher then what is?

 

[P.Tsunami]

Just at rest you are using about 15% of your brain. Beyond that your sense are going off like crazy.

No, we use about one hundred percent; this is easily proven by putting the average person into an fMRI machine. Just, you know, we don't use all of it at the same time. Kind of like how we don't use all our muscles simultaneously.

 

[Steven True]

Only an atheistic-normative perception results in the default position of 'no god', an objective view has no default position for complete uncertainty to return to.

There is your misconception. The definition of an atheist is not one who beliefs that there is no god, but one who lacks a belief in a god. These are two different things.
Simply put, if you have no position whether or not a god exists then you do not hold a belief in a god. Therefore you are an atheist.

 

[Jonluw]

Just at rest you are using about 15% of your brain. Beyond that your sense are going off like crazy.

No, we use about one hundred percent; this is easily proven by putting the average person into an fMRI machine. Just, you know, we don't use all of it at the same time. Kind of like how we don't use all our muscles simultaneously.

You have to wonder though: Would using your entire brain at once have the same effect as using all your muscles at once? i.e. Cancelling out the effects and just stiffening stuff out.

 

[Purple Shrimp]

That Napoleon was a midget. He was 5' 7", which is hardly a shrimp.

wasn't that actually above average back then, due to lower levels of nutrition?

i only posted this because you said shrimp

 

[CleverCover]

I don't know if this has been mentioned already but...

Any type of animation is for children.
'cue nerd rage'

 

[moretimethansense]

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)

You are wrong there pal,
Agnostisism is the belief that it is impossible to know ehether or not there is a(are) god(s) an agnosic atheist is somone that strongly believes that there is no god but knows thaty they can't know for sure.

 

[moretimethansense]

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.

When did he claim Jesus was black?
Jesus was not white, he would have been an Irealite, ie middle eastern.

 

[crudus]

Just at rest you are using about 15% of your brain. Beyond that your sense are going off like crazy.

No, we use about one hundred percent; this is easily proven by putting the average person into an fMRI machine. Just, you know, we don't use all of it at the same time. Kind of like how we don't use all our muscles simultaneously.

I think you are nitpicking here. The whole argument wasn't "you only use 10% of you brain, period" it was "you only use 10% of your brain at once".

 

[Trildor]

That Napoleon was a midget. He was 5' 7", which is hardly a shrimp.

wasn't that actually above average back then, due to lower levels of nutrition?

i only posted this because you said shrimp

5' 7" was about average height. It isn't anymore because we have better nutrition.

I only reply to this because you acknowledged that I said shrimp.

 

[Silver_Hammer]

That Napoleon was a midget. He was 5' 7", which is hardly a shrimp.

wasn't that actually above average back then, due to lower levels of nutrition?

i only posted this because you said shrimp

5' 7" was about average height. It isn't anymore because we have better nutrition.

I only reply to this because you acknowledged that I said shrimp.

If I recall correctly... It was all down to some good ol' propaganda. It was the English press who often used cartoons depicting Napoleon as vertically challenged, and the image stuck.

 

[Trildor]

That Napoleon was a midget. He was 5' 7", which is hardly a shrimp.

wasn't that actually above average back then, due to lower levels of nutrition?

i only posted this because you said shrimp

5' 7" was about average height. It isn't anymore because we have better nutrition.

I only reply to this because you acknowledged that I said shrimp.

If I recall correctly... It was all down to some good ol' propaganda. It was the English press who often used cartoons depicting Napoleon as vertically challenged, and the image stuck.

I've also heard it was because the doctor doing the autopsy measured him wrong, or he measured it right and the conversion from French to English measurements was screwed up.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Ala Carte' Misconceptions

-That anime is the epitome of entertainment, and if you don't like it, you obviously lack culture or hate Japan.

-Religion/Faith is for the weak-willed, and you clearly are a mindless sheep who is holding back social progress if you believe in any of it.

-FF7 was the best game ever made. (this one is for you, Internet)

-Motorcycles are only for loud, obnoxious meatheads who get drunk and beat women (more of a locally held stereotype than plain misconception, but stereotypes are misconceptions as well)

-Eating fish/seafood will give you mercury poisoning. (depends on the fish and where it came from. Not all seafood is created equal)

 

[Silver_Hammer]

United States of America:

- That we actually like the Hollywood culture.

Fair enough. Could you inform your press please.

- That Black Americans have it rougher or to a higher degree of less fairness than the rest of the majority/minority population.

You're wrong, as others have pointed out, African American's on an average have it much tougher.

- That modern day governments are extensions of past governments and are in essence, the exact same people as the previous rulers, bodies, etc.

Doesn't that depend on how far you go back?

- That warfare is immoral, wrong, and has no contributed to humanity in any positive way, shape, or form.

I could happily debate that warfare is very, very immoral and very wrong. But in our endless endeavour to kill each other, we've certainly had many positive contributions to our way of life.

- That John Lennon was a good person and a moral human being.

He wasn't?? I think this is your personal opinion, not a common misconception.

- That not believing in gay marriage or being opposed to gay marriage and being against gays are the same thing.

Its not?