What are the worst misconceptions you know of?

[Gavmando]

That Koalas are bears. They are not part of the bear family people! They're Koalas. Not Koala bears!

 

[katsumoto03]

White people ruined the world through colonization. I'm of Swiss origin and this really gets at me because what the hell did the Swiss do to Africa? What did the Swiss do to the Native-Americans? Blame the British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and Germans if you really feel like blaming someone. It's like saying brown people caused 9/11 (another stupid misconception).

Also that bisexual people must have sex with both genders at least once in their lives, or that they crave threesomes, or that they're more likely to cheat.

That's not really a generalisation, though. When people say white people ruined Africa/America etc. they don't mean EVERY white person. They mean it in the same way you'd say "Muslims did 9/11" which is true, but obviously they don't mean "All Muslims did 9/11".

Acutally it was al-Qaeda who were behind it. While they are a Muslim extremist group, it is still an extremely unfair generalization.

 

[Barchiel]

Here's one that I personally had until today. All forums devolve quickly into ego attacks, anger, and self-righteousness. This is one of the few times I've ever clicked on the forum posts to the right of my videos. I thought for sure this would devolve quickly with how people differ on their opinions, but everyone's been pretty respectful and even admit graciously when they're wrong. You guys actually made me join up. Rock on. =)

 

[Singularly Datarific]

That all Muslim's or Arab's are ignorant, western hating, terrorists just waiting to blow us up

Indeed we are not, Islam teaches us to be accepting of everyones beliefs. And besides, what everyone fails to realize is that these "terrorists" are not after America, they are after peaceful Muslims like myself and what better way to accomplish this than making the powerful western countries see us as a threat?

OT: That all marriages in Middle Eastern and Indian/Pakistani culture are arranged. That hardly ever happens anymore.

Here's some justice!
http://www.cracked.com/article_18911_5-ridiculous-things-you-probably-believe-about-islam.html

 

[minispike47]

That ALL metal songs are about death or the devil. Yes that is a main theme (just listen to some black metal) but metal bands often sing about rebellion and, at times relationships (listen of Ozzy's Goodbye to Romance)

 

[Blue_vision]

That Socialism isn't inherently flawed, and that Communism works in theory.

And what would your basis be for having these as misconceptions?


EDIT: I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but that hip hop culture invariably revolves around the freedom to wear your pants around your ankles, own women as property, and be gun enthusiasts. I often see this misconception on this very website, for y'all to take careful note.

EDIT2: That y'all refers to everyone rather than just being 2nd person plural.

 

[Protocol95]

Let's see:

Ashley from Mass Effect is 'racist' (this one drives me up the wall)

Being a Halo fan automatically makes me an immature drunk fratboy or screaming eight year old.

That 'behavioral science' tests are actually concrete proof.

That having asperger's symdrome is the same as autism (as a person with asperger's this one really hits home)

That all men think about is sex, while all women think about is purity and marriage

... That's all I can think of for the time being, if I think of anymore I will put them up.

Thanks for that ninja. But you forgot Ashley is a religious zealot. All that happens is that Ashley says, "Hi Sheperd. By the way I believe in god.. I will probably never mention this again."

I've got a few about stuff relating to my personal beliefs but things could get a bit messy to say the least.

 

[Biancaneri]

The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy.

Well despite Tolkien's wishes, they were a commercial trilogy, even though he had wished to release them all together. One large volume would have been interesting though.

OT: That Thomas Edison is to thank for modern electricity.

Just being published in three volumes is not enough to make something a trilogy.

 

[Mikaze]

microwaves emit radiation in the form of ionising radiation (i.e. alpha, beta, gamma radiation etc). tards.

That gamma radiation is ionising. Sorry, had to call you out on that one, gamma is an electromagentic wave, just like visible light, radio and microwaves.

OT: That because I've used a computer most of my life (started gaming at about 1 and a half) I immediately know how to fix all your computer problems.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

That Socialism isn't inherently flawed, and that Communism works in theory.

And what would your basis be for having these as misconceptions?

An economical construct which does not include human nature at all is inherently flawed. If it's to be involved with people, and yet does not assume how people act, then why can it be considered adequate?

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Simple question, what misconceptions do you know of that are just blatantly wrong?

Mine would be that all Muslims are terrorists. If that was the case then there would be, literally, a billion terrorists in the world. I seriously doubt that.

Just had to post this: http://www.cracked.com/article_18911_5-ridiculous-things-you-probably-believe-about-islam.html

OT: That all Tea Partiers are all hicks who want to kill all that aren't white and that can spell. Most of them are just normal people who take the consitution to heart such as myself.

 

[mikespoff]

Every single misconception about sharks, especially the Great Whites.
Give the poor creatures a break.

Absolutely.

 

[Ih8pkmn]

Here's a good one:

"If (x form of media) doesn't sell at least (y number)of copies/make (z number) of (currency a), it's shit."

Example: If this video game didn't even sell a million copies, it can't be very good.

or

This movie didn't even make $300,000 at the box office, it's gotta be shit!


Yeah. I think we all know of at least one person who's guilty of this.

Edit: here's a series of misconceptions put into song:

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

"Post hoc ad propter hoc"

the logical fallacy that implies causation through statistical correlation.

The misconception being that people BELIEVE when things correlate they cause one another. See also: video games cause violence & violent behavior in all.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

"Anime is only for children".

Pff fine. That half the anime you guys watch isn't made for a demographic far younger than yourselves. =p

 

[Blue_vision]

An economical construct which does not include human nature at all is inherently flawed. If it's to be involved with people, and yet does not assume how people act, then why can it be considered adequate?

Well it's obviously not a misconception because it's not a falsified fact, seen as how it can be argued against.
It is not a true fact to say that socialism has no grounding in real life, because the plausibility of a socialist/communist system could (and is) argued with both sides bringing up legitimate points using legitimate logic.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Every single misconception about sharks, especially the Great Whites.
Give the poor creatures a break.

They are killers! What animal could possibly end more human lives?

Oh wait, cows.

Nevermind :/

 

[Marik2]

It's one I don't get, but I think it comes from the other stupid misconception that the only reason people would believe is because they're too stupid to understand how science works. I know a few people that think that.

It's not as widespread as i made out, but several times i've been called over by people i know who say things like "Hey Joe, you do physics. Explain to this person how the big bang disproves God." and then won't accept "It doesn't" as an answer.

Tbh i think it's just because the atheists around me seem to turn it into some sort of self-superior cult who think anyone who doesn't believe what they do is lower than them.

I like how some atheists become as bad as the religious nutjobs they hate so much and dont see the irony.

And a common misconception I get is that since I believe in a God, people assume I believe in the biblical god

Believing in a God=/= believing in the biblical god

Here lies my argument. I've heard people freak out over evolution, saying it's an attempt to disprove God. I'll usually say that maybe evolution is how God wanted it to work, and if there's any higher power, the belief in It can be strengthened by understanding the world you believe It created. This sometimes causes the atheists/agnostics to rip on me because they think I'm stating a newfound belief in God, and my neutrality is destroyed -_-

Its because to a lot of Christians, evolution destroys the idea that their god isnt as all powerful like in genesis (with the whole making Adam out of dust and stuff)

 

[whaleswiththumbs]

*cough*http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/ *cough*

 

[trophykiller]

Warhammers = massive and unwieldy weapons wielded by brutes and berserkers. On the contrary:

http://www.zombiesurvivalwiki.com/page/The+Warhammer%3A+Underrated+and+Misunderstood

On a similar note, that everyone on that site is a loser 14 year old because they prepare for zombies. We use zombies more as a way to prepare for any dsaster.

Moving on, that because I own not only one firearm, but several, I'm going to kill someone. I'm a nice guy and would never hurt an innocent.

Because I have aspergers, I can't get along with others. I do that just fine. Another thing, that I'm destined to fail due to the aspergers. Both Keanu Reeves and Bill Gates have it too, and they're huge successes.

That anyone elses religion is wrong and you need to get on the internet and complain about it, because yours is so much better and has never had a bad person practice it. You know who you are.