Talk:List of common misconceptions/Archive 17

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Evolution

It seems a lot of the evolution misconceptions say XX did not evolve from YY, and then go on to state that they pretty much did, -- Example Humans did not evolve from Monkeys, They evolved from a special ancestor (read monkey) who split into being the common day monkey and humans (note that Im using the term "monkey" extremely liberal here, so dont try to corrupt my argument by saying that I should replace the word "monkey" with ape or chimp or whatever 184.88.37.235 (talk) 12:38, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't see it that way. When we state (correctly) that XX did not evolve from YY, although XX and YY might both have evolved from common parent ZZ, we aren't "pretty much" saying that XX evolved from YY. We are saying that XX evolved from ZZ. --SPhilbrickT 13:12, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

"XX did not evolve from YY" is used accurately, especially against straw man arguments that say "If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?". The correct response is, "Humans did not evolve from apes, apes and humans evolved from a common ancestor"-- MacAddct1984 ^{(talk • contribs)} 19:55, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

common "ape like" ancestor 184.88.37.235 (talk) 20:46, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Sure, a common "human like" ancestor, too. MacAddct1984 ^{(talk • contribs)} 21:16, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

This is a classic example of how shallow this article is. Evolution is complex. To dumb it down to fit here would be totally inappropriate, and just feeding the fringe dwelling creationists. HiLo48 (talk) 21:18, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Yes, this is a problem. When people say that humans evolved from apes, it's hard to tell what they mean. But in any case they are correct in the sense that if a time machine brought one of our common ancestors with apes into our time, we would call it an ape and treat it as one. Any such reader coming across the anti-'misconception' "Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees, monkeys, or any other modern-day primates" may well miss the important word "modern-day" (which basically indicates this shouldn't even be on the list) and get confused.

We should either prune these less helpful 'misconceptions' or start splitting the article, which is getting a bit big anyway. Splitting is where we ultimately need to go anyway, because that way we will finally arrive at articles that can be watched by editors who are knowledgeable about the respective subjects. Hans Adler 23:05, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Another option is article deletion. That's still my preference. HiLo48 (talk) 00:10, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

I prefer that as well, but this 'article' seems condemned to eternal "no consensus". Hans Adler 00:47, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

I concure Mthoodhood (talk) 01:00, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

How about we rephrase the first two sentences to something like this:

"Humans did not evolve from modern-day chimpanzees, modern-day monkeys,[184] or any other modern-day primates. Instead, Humans and monkeys share a common ancestor that lived about 40 million years ago." A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:31, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Well, the thing is humans did evolve from something, a critter who was most certainly an "ape" in all definition of the world. We did not evolve from any modern ape species though (typically the example would be chimpanzee), be share a common ancestor with the chimps some 5 to 7 million years back (estimates vary with methods). That ancestor would to the casual observer look like a small chimpanzee, but would have shorter snouts, longer legs and be a more competent walker than modern chimpanzees. The chimpanzees too have evolved since we split up, becoming better climbers (among other things). And apes as a group too have evolved from something, typically a type of monkey. Petter Bøckman (talk) 11:49, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

The section was badly written (the result of many rewrites). I have given it an overhaul. Petter Bøckman (talk) 19:15, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

In terms of the first bullet point I believe the wording possibly implies the wrong meaning of theory.(also please forgive any format mistakes (first time user))Adamstuhltrager (talk) 15:51, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't see anything obviously wring, but English is not my first language so I may be off. Would you elaborate a bit? Petter Bøckman (talk) 18:04, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Glass may be a liquid

I read through the article that is supposed to support the claim that glass is an amorphous solid, and not a viscous liquid and the article does not really support this claim. The main theme of the article is that glass is somewhere in between being a solid and liquid and that scientists haven't formed a consensus at the present time on how to classify glass. Our understanding of glass seems to be imperfect at best and more research needs to be done for a more complete understanding. The claim that glass doesn't flow does seem supported by the citations however, but a specific classification as liquid or solid isn't. Please read and revise section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.122.234.88 (talk) 07:04, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Though I disagree with the subject line of your comment, I agree that the section merited review. I've expanded, and added a further "not a flowing liquid" definitive source, and cited the "amorphous solid" claim. The scope of the item is "window glass at room temperatures", just to clarify. There seems to be little dispute that it's amorphous (non-crystalline), and mostly solid-like, and not so liquid-like. It is multiply stated in all three sources that glass is unambiguously not a simple liquid and not a simple solid. Window glass possesses the (single) property of liquids of lacking a crystalline structure, and possesses (nearly all) other properties of solids. This is part of the definition of a state of matter called "glass" by material scientists. We don't call plasmas both "solids" and "gases" and argue about which, we simply refer to them as plasmas. Similarly, materials which have formed into the state known as a glass, whether made of silica (window glass), plastic, or ceramic, are just that: glasses, and nothing else. So in my opinion, the section still merits further rewriting, with the colloquial and scientific definitions gently distinguished, better than my clunky prose. Finally it might be best just to copy the section from Glass#Behavior_of_antique_glass and be done with it. --Lexein (talk) 08:56, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Hitler

Hitler was a Catholic, and not an atheist. There's a thousand other examples, but Hitler is the most cited 'Atheist' *cough cough* in modern times. It would be helpful if someone could phrase this succinctly. --76.20.42.178 (talk) 01:04, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

Maybe you could phrase it succinctly yourself if you found a reliable source or sources backing up your claim. HiLo48 (talk) 01:11, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

Hitler rejected the Catholic Church long before he joined the Nazi Party. "Atheist" is not an improper term to describe him. -- LightSpectra (talk) 02:08, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

2003 invasion of Iraq

From 2003 invasion of Iraq:

According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's alleged support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."[22]

Iraq and WDM was a lie, and its belief is a misconception held by millions of Americans dreamed up by a US president with a unilateral erection. The US and CIA did not find any credibility to reports of Iraq trying to acquire uranium from Nigeria in 2002 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/14/AR2005071401735.html), and the CIA's 2005 report did not substantiate the claims (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7634313/). In fact, there's more documented in Niger uranium forgeries.

I'm not saying Saddam Hussein was a nice guy and I would not have wanted him for a neighbor. But Bush and Blair lied and created a misconception among the masses.

Jeffrey Walton 05:15, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Is it a misconception when people choose to believe politicians? I'd just call it stupidity in the face of centuries of proof that we shouldn't trust 'em. HiLo48 (talk) 05:59, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't think that they lied in the way that you say. I'm sure they honestly believed Iraq had WMDs at the time. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:07, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

If politicians lied, it would be a deception. If they really thought the WMD were real, it was a mistake. Neither is a misconception. Cambalachero (talk) 20:18, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Does a misconception depend upon origins? Does it matter if the misconception was born out of {deception|mistake}? If the opinions were kept to the politicians, no one would have known/cared. When the politicians shared the mis-information, it became a misconception among the masses. As Nageh pointed out in the Newsweek poll, a non-trivial amount of folks in the US believed the lies. With 310 million Americans, 30% or 40% make for a lot of errant beliefs. Folks in other parts of the world are probably suffering similar effects. Jeffrey Walton 22:23, 29 December 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Noloader (talk • contribs)

List of Common Misconceptions does not define what a misconception is. But its description is spot on: "This is a list of current, widely held, false ideas and beliefs about notable topics which have been reported by reliable sources from around the world." I believe Iraq and WDM meet the stated criteria. If there is other criteria I am missing, please forgive my ignorance.

Collapsing off topic discussion. If you want to continue this further, feel free to post on my talk page. A Quest For Knowledge (talk)

Speechless by the naivety of this statement. The CIA denied knowledge of Iraq possessing WMDs, the IAEA said that there was no indication, and the politicians knew it very well. Nageh (talk) 20:20, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Nonsense. Nobody is going to stake their reputation on something they know in advance is going to be disproven. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:26, 28 December 2011 (UTC) As a matter of fact, this is exactly what they did. It's a game. All that was needed was an excuse for marching in. Your statement is almost like saying "politicians never lie because they might be disproven". What nonsense is that. Nageh (talk) 20:30, 28 December 2011 (UTC) PS: There are statements by CIA officials and documents that state that there was no indication for WMDs, and the IAEA said it publicly as well. Yet... Nageh (talk) 20:32, 28 December 2011 (UTC) No, it's not like saying that at all. But believe what you want. This isn't a discussion forum anyway. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:40, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Right. It's simply propaganda. Just like this, which eventually led US intervention in the Gulf War. And it's all sourceable. By believe what you want. Nageh (talk) 20:54, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Nobody remembers Nayirah. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 21:35, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Is that supposed to be a counter argument? Nobody remembers? So all is justified? That's exactly the strategy of politicians. People won't remember that WMDs were our official reason for U.S. invasion once the war is over, so it's all ok even if the premise for war is wrong! You really shouldn't be editing political topics if you have such strong beliefs and can't adhere to neutrality. And nobody remembers the case of Nayirah? Speak for yourself, I definitely do remember that piece of propaganda shit. Nageh (talk) 21:59, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Well, Wikipedia certainly has not forgotten: Nayirah (testimony). Petter Bøckman (talk) 22:07, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Wikipedia has lots of articles. Go ask 10 people on the street who Nayirah is. I bet not one will know what you're talking about. Then ask them if they know about Bush/Blair said about Iraq having WMDs. I bet most will know what you're talking about. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 22:24, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Re A Quest For Knowledge "I'm sure [Bush and Blair] honestly believed Iraq had WMDs at the time." Have a look at this summary report published by the National Security Archive upon disclosed U.S. intelligence and government papers. Quoting: "public relations push for war came before the intelligence analysis" ... "evidence that the two nations colluded in the effort to build public support for the invasion of Iraq" ... "Bush and his White House were engaging in a carefully orchestrated campaign to shape and manipulate sources of public approval to our advantage" ... "the Bush administration solicited intelligence then used to “substantiate” its public claims" ... "white paper on Iraqi WMD programs demonstrates that that paper long pre-dated the compilation of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraqi capabilities" ... "timing of the CIA’s draft white paper coincides with a previously available draft of the British Government’s white paper on Iraqi WMD" ... "no evidence of intelligence analysis applied to the information contained" ... "main defense offered—and repeated by media commentators—is that the root cause of the administration’s Iraq hysteria was intelligence failure, not intent to manipulate the American public", but... "Bush administration made its preferences clear" ... "Cheney was especially acerbic on CIA’s rejection of claims that one of the 9/11 terrorists had met with Iraqi intelligence officers in Prague" ... "Bolton [...] pressured both the State Department and the CIA to fire individuals who refused to clear text in his speeches leveling the most extreme charges against other countries" ... "That is the very essence of politicization in intelligence. And the degree to which public statements on Iraq by Cheney, Bush, and others were “substantiated” by the existing intelligence". If you'd like I can also cite sources from the IAEA, which state that there was no convincing evidence for WMDs. Unfortunately, based on your arguments above I'm pretty sure you will deny all the facts. Well, anyway, all the best. Nageh (talk) 22:04, 28 December 2011 (UTC) (edit conflict) Where did I say anything about justification? All I said is that Bush and Blair honestly believed Iraq had WMDs at the time. No, people do remember WMDs and it was a huge deal to a lot of people. You don't see the difference between Nayirah -something no one remembers - and the claim of Iraq having WMDs - something that virtually everyone remembers? Yes, politicians lie, but no one with any degree of sense is going to stake their reputations on something they know in advance is going to be disproven. WMDs was selected as the main justification for the war was because it was the one reason everyone (in the powers that be) could agree on. While it's retroactively convenient to point to IAEA's statements or the yellow cake forgery, the fact is that most people at the time thought Iraq had WMDs. Very, very few people claimed otherwise. The idea that Saddam was telling the truth probably never ocurred to Bush or Blair and they were probably as surprised as anyone when they found out he didn't have any. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 22:19, 28 December 2011 (UTC) No need to cite any sources. I'm already very familiar with the situation. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 22:21, 28 December 2011 (UTC) I was offended by the strong belief you put in the statement that "Bush and Blair honestly believed Iraq had WMDs at the time", which I think is very much unjustified and unqualified. You can say that they claimed that they believed so or that you believe so.You did say so, still I found that naive. Re Nayirah: The First Gulf War is 20 years ago, while the aftermath of the second war has only recently ended with the retraction of the Army from Iraq. That doesn't mean that no one remembers the case of Nayirah, even though it is nowhere as prominent these days. Nageh (talk) 22:34, 28 December 2011 (UTC) Please, This article is not the time or place to discuss about the invasion of Irak. Discuss whenever it fits on this list or not. Cambalachero (talk) 22:39, 28 December 2011 (UTC) You are right, sorry for my digress. Nageh (talk) 22:42, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Concerning the OP's question, I think the fact that many people in the U.S. still believe that there existed Iraqi WMDs or that Saddam was responsible for 9/11 would make justified additions to the list. I would think that it's easily sourcable. Nageh (talk) 22:49, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure either is still a widely believed. But if you can find sources, we'll check them out. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 22:51, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Well, it certainly depends on what is deemed a "common" misconception. This, from 2007, is on the famous Newsweek poll, according to which 41% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein's regime was directly involved in financing, planning or carrying out the terrorist attacks on 9/11. There is a recent study from 2011, with 38% believing that the US has found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with Al Qaeda, and whopping 46% believing that Iraq gave substantial support to Al Qaeda or was directly involved in 9/11. Quoting from the study, "these responses have been fairly stable since late 2004". Nageh (talk) 23:22, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

From 2003 invasion of Iraq: "Americans overwhelmingly believed Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction: 85% said so, even though the inspectors had not uncovered those weapons." It is cited as [26] in the original article, linked to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/23/opinion/polls/main537739.shtml.

Whenever I see figures like that, I ask "Why?" HiLo48 (talk) 22:50, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Several reasons come to mind. 1:People dont like to accept that politicians they voted for have deliberately lied to them on such an important issue, 2:People dont like to accept that there was no acceptable reason to invade Iraq and 3:Because there are very few media sources prepared to clearly admit that the beliefs are misconceptions based on deliberate deception rather than mistakes. Wayne (talk) 01:45, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Intro

Great job botching it, right down to grammar failure. I am too lazy for now to check when, who and why did that. --Echosmoke (talk) 00:47, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Pointless post. Why did you bother posting? HiLo48 (talk) 09:20, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I am not particularly enthusiastic about repairing articles I think have to be deleted. Understandable? --Echosmoke (talk) 15:13, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I agree with you that this article shouldn't exist. Maybe your approach will convince the boasters who like putting stuff here, but I doubt it. It certainly requires constant vigilance to keep it anywhere near acceptable quality. (It will never reach that goal.) HiLo48 (talk) 22:37, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm confused - the name of this section is "Intro" but to which intro, or which edit, are you referring?

I'm also concerned that editors keep making edits to this article while continuing to profess that they think the article should not exist. This is at best, a conflict of interest, and at worst, taints the discussion of improvements to the article which is all this Talk page should be about. It's unseemly, discouraging, and, bluntly, toxic. May I be so bold as to request some positive attitude adjustment on the part of the deletion advocates, if they plan to continue contributing? --Lexein (talk) 04:55, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

The intro of the article.

A quite tolerable conflict of interest - making the best of something bad. My "service and loyalty" are towards Wikipedia as a whole. As such, part of my work is weeding out trash. This list requires frequent weeding out (and is, as a whole, trash IMO). My loyalty requires me to do it. Keeping an eye on articles with the sole purpose of keeping them clean appears rather common to me. Of course I wouldn't do any malicious edits and I think the defects of this list are irreparable (as has been discussed ad nauseam), otherwise I would be obliged to fix them. And finally, I don't do much editing here at all because it gets so aggravating so fast. --Echosmoke (talk) 21:40, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

There have been no major changes to the intro for seven full months, which explains the confusion. Infrequent editor, you, aye. World-weary moaning doesn't improve the article much, but really, we get it, you're tired .

As for the history, the four inclusion criteria were created during the last AfD, and per LIST (lists should include their inclusion criteria), I brazenly copied them into the lead February 4 to indicate the new plan of being discriminate. Editors noted that Wikipedia shouldn't self-reference. The May 27 intro rewrite suggestion, with consensus, replaced the lead May 31. A word was corrected August 22. Now: what grammar failure?

I of course welcome good-faith improvements, but sorta feel that the nattering should just stop. Continuing to try to always assume good faith is acknowledged to be difficult, but it's just part of the job, editor. Taping "AGF" to the Enter key has had some marginal positive effect for me. --Lexein (talk) 13:49, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm with Echosmoke. The reason I edit here is to weed out the frequently added garbage from editors who fail to read or choose to ignore the inclusion criteria. That we have to do this is simply more evidence of the inappropriateness of the existence of this article. It demands the existence of editors who are forced to do nothing but clean it up, far more often than is required for better articles. HiLo48 (talk) 01:15, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

I just read this pointless thread and I want my five minutes back. If you think an AfD has a chance, re-nominate. If not, see Wikipedia:Snowball clause and quit complaining. We get it. You get it. Everyone gets it. Many times, I've been on the losing side of AfDs too and I know it sucks, but at some point you have to let the healing begin. Let it go! Going on about it is redundant. It's also repetitive. As in, we've heard it before and saying it over and over is a waste of your time and mine. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 01:56, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Many times in my life I have been in a minority, and right. On some of those occasions opinion has eventually swung my way. HiLo48 (talk) 08:57, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Here though, the uphill battle is against the fact that common misconceptions exist, as documented both in the large and the small; both en masse as a general topic in books and articles(news, magazines), and individually by specialty(news, books, scientific journals, etc), as object lessons for educators, and irritations for encyclopedists. The existence of this article rests not on individual preference, but on the existence of eminently reliable sources, not only about the individual items, but about the topic of misconceptions itself, and those held commonly. Nobody ever said writing encyclopedia articles was supposed to be easy, but it has been agreed that the difficulty of maintaining an article against well-intentioned (but ex-criteria) entries is not a reason for deletion. If anything, the criteria have made maintenance easier. So again, what's the point of continuing to whinge about it? You might as well complain that the sources exist. Pointless, really. --Lexein (talk) 09:26, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Need a Napoleon citation

We need a citation for saying that Napoleon didn't 'ave a Napoleon complex. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.146.168.206 (talk) 02:29, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Deleted it. Added some better citations for the bit about height. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 07:20, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Technology

Computing I would like to propose in addition to the misconception of Macintosh computers being immune to viruses that it is likely because malware developers generally target the mass market, and as the Windows operating system has around 80-90% of the market share, Macs simply are not worth the effort, as targeting Windows could yeild more victims. 58.169.38.191 (talk) 16:09, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

 Not done We are limited to what reliable sources document, and that statement is not definitively made by the sources we've found which have been deemed acceptable in discussion (see archives). --Lexein (talk) 16:26, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Inventions Whilst debunking the idea that Edison invented the incandescent lightbulb, it seems to erroneously suggest that he did a better job of making a reliable one, something that it also a misconception. Joseph Swan not only invented the bulb, but went on improving it for many years, as is evidenced by Wikipedia's own page on him.[[1]]. I propose that the entry be changed to reflect reality, i.e by merely stating that he did work on improving the filament used in the bulb and was the uncontested holder of a US patent for the device. Nveitch (talk) 01:39, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Politically Motivated Misconceptions?

Would the folks at wiki consider a 'Political' or 'War' related topic. I believe HiLo48, A Quest For Knowledge, and others have been correct in their survey of the landscape regarding politicians. Unfortunately, when politicians weave their lies, its inevitable the the populace will believe. Once the population believes, it appears to meet the criteria for inclusion (presuming the description of the List of Common Misconceptions is accurate):

This is a list of current, widely held, false ideas and beliefs about notable topics which have been reported by reliable sources from around the world....

Another politically motivated misconception is the explosion of the USS Maine in Cuba. I believe Roosevelt (et al) allowed [steered] people to believe it was sabotage by Cuba. The administration then used it to justify a war.

I'm sure there are many other examples of the politicians manipulating public opinions and beliefs to further their agendas. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Noloader (talk • contribs) 18:43, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

• The article on USS Maine (ACR-1) and its sources state "Her sinking remains the subject of speculation" and "was not cited by the William McKinley administration as a casus belli" (not Roosevelt administration btw). The Navy source blames "the Yellow Press" for fomenting outrage (Did Hearst promote the war to sell papers? Or is that another misconception?). This topic is likely too weak for inclusion here.
• Propaganda (from any source), its effects and its repair, have not been discussed yet as suitable for inclusion here - perhaps in a List of propaganda campaigns?
• As an aside, transient misconceptions which are a) documented to be immediately disbelieved by a vocal minority and b) debunked soon afterwards (whether or not it was due to the skeptics), would probably have trouble getting traction here, since they don't persist. IMHO it would therefore be a good idea to add the word "persistent" to the criteria (listed above) and the lead paragraph. --Lexein (talk) 03:53, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Agree, the article should be restricted to persistent or current misconceptions.Sjö (talk) 08:10, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

The 4th item in the criteria already says that the misconception must be current. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 17:17, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I was thinking aloud about including "persistent" as a qualifier, but rather than waffle over cases, I'm fine with just leaving the wording alone. Struckthrough above. --Lexein (talk) 17:59, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 5 January 2012

Regarding misconceptions related to "Words and Phrases", the word "gringo" is not necessarily a pejorative term as the article states.

Sarugato (talk) 16:22, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Our gringo article agrees with you, so I've changed the item by removing the misleading phrase. It would probably be possible to make further improvements to that item, but I'll leave that for somebody else. Looie496 (talk) 16:36, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Evolution

Despite what is said in the article, evolution is in fact a theory. I am not a creationist and do support evolution, but I still believe it is a theory like any other, just one with tons of evidence backing it up and very little evidence against it. Maybe that part could be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.36.130.109 (talk) 21:35, 26 December 2011 (UTC)

Despite what your best intentions for truth evolution is still a theory in scientific terms. By evolution being a "fact" I am assuming you mean "law" ( Not too sure it would go well writing a paper on the "fact of evolution" ) cite - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory " they are principles that can be used to predict the behavior of the natural world" evolution does not claim in trying to accurately predict natural events using the current model, it is rather an explanation based on conjectures of observation. This is by no means a science like mathematics and should be correctly segregated for proper understanding of facts and the differentiation between systematic forms of ideas. Evolution evidence is primarily observational which when put up against the uncertainty principle is fairly weak. Would be nice if evolutionary ideology could predict earthquakes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bukem203 (talk • contribs) 08:21, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

The very first bullet point in the section says that evolution is a theory and it explains the difference between how the words are used in the colloquial and in the scientific sense. That "evolution is just a theory" is IMO clearly a common enough misconception that it deserves mention here.Sjö (talk) 07:46, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I have real trouble listing as a misconception something that is based not on misunderstanding, or something someone hasn't learnt properly yet, but on religious dogma. Almost every time the line "evolution is just a theory" is used it comes from an extremist Christian driven creationist. The real misconception here is that there is any sense to creationism. HiLo48 (talk) 09:18, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

There's quite a few misconceptions about what creationism is, now that you mention it. "Creationism" does not inherently imply "belief that the world is 6000-14000 (depending on the source) years old". That's Christian fundamentalist young earth creationism, which is a distinct subgrouping. There's non-Christian creationism, and there's old earth creationism; the latter of which is totally compatible with macrobiological evolution. -- LightSpectra (talk) 00:40, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

There's only one form of creationism that is constantly trying to impose it's dogmatic belief on poorly educated people today, almost entirely in Bible-belt America. In Wikipedia we lean towards common usage. That works here. HiLo48 (talk) 00:51, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

That's the kind that you hear about the most often, because that's what you as an individual are interested in. Old earth creationism is an important subject in philosophical-theological circles. If you use the word "creationism" when you only intend one subgrouping of it as an idea, you're going to cause confusion. -- LightSpectra (talk) 07:19, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Nautilus shells aren't golden spirals

A very spread mathematical misconception is that Nautiulus shells' spirals follow the golden ratio: http://godplaysdice.blogspot.com/2008/09/nautilus-shells-arent-golden-spirals.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.231.234.10 (talk) 03:07, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

on the nomenclature of Shelley's creature

re: the portion directed at the nomenclature of Shelley's Creature, I think this segment should either be further expanded to or link to resources (such as the wikipedia article on the Creature itself) that discuss how the Creature assumed the name of 'Adam,' how derivative culture has also named the Creature 'Adam Frankenstein,' how critical literary theory examines the nomenclature in respect to pseudo-parentage, and of course documentation from Shelley and her contemporaries referring to the monster colloquially as 'Adam (Frankenstein)'--to deny the Creature an identity in an article meant to dispell urban myths is contrary to the cultural literary history stemming from ad fontes itself.

I am willing and able to provide these details in edits myself, providing the permission to make these amendments, as I am quite passionate about this book, this character and its cultural history.

Illecebrous.abattoir (talk) 22:57, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Images on the left screw up the bullet points

I just noticed that something about images on the left is causing the bullet points not to display. Can someone who's familiar with image markup fix this? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 06:34, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 13 January 2012 King Christian X of Denmark in Modern History

Current Text:

• During World War II, King Christian X of Denmark did not thwart Nazi attempts to identify Jews by wearing a yellow star himself. Jews in Denmark were never forced to wear the Star of David. The Danes did help most Jews flee the country before the end of the war.

Proposed Text:

• During World War II, King Christian X of Denmark did not thwart Nazi attempts to identify Jews by wearing a yellow star himself. Jews in Denmark were never forced to wear the Star of David. The Danes did help most Jews flee the country before the end of the war. The "Yellow Star" story has many, more or less reliable, sources, one being a conversation between the king and his minister of finance, Vilhelm Buhl, during which Christian remarked that if the German administration tried to introduce the symbol of the Star of David in Denmark, "perhaps then we should all wear it."

141.100.10.220 (talk) 15:13, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. — Bility (talk) 17:27, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 13 January 2012

was first introduced into the Sherlock Holmes genera

I want to change this line to

was first introduced into the Sherlock Holmes universe

I want to change this because the word is not only misspelled, but it is also not the right word to use. This sentence can be found in part 8 of this page, the Literature section.

Apanduhbear (talk) 22:37, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Not done: Just like "universe" means something outside of cosmology, "genera" has a common meaning outside of taxonomy. — Bility (talk) 00:53, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 20 January 2012

If someone could read through, and fix the grammer (Such as "An herb") that would be great.

124.181.185.196 (talk) 02:26, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

As an Australian I would certainly never write "An herb...", but many Americans would, because they drop the "H", pronouncing "herb" as if it was spelt "erb". HiLo48 (talk) 02:32, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

 Not done, not a specific request--Jac16888 ^Talk 14:53, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

Myopia

There is a budding edit-war over the misconception that myopia is preventable.

The original reading was:

There is no known way to prevent myopia. Reading or watching television do not cause myopia, and neither does the use of glasses or contact lenses affect the normal progression of myopia

This was then changed to:

Myopia is preventable. While genetics do not cause the condition, they can predispose an individual to develop myopia as a result of the strain caused by excessive near work.

The source cited to justify the change states in its conclusions:

Although myopia was not significantly associated with time spent in near work after adjustment for other factors, there were significant independent associations with close reading distance and continuous reading. These associations may indicate that the intensity rather than the total duration of near work is an important factor [my emphases].

This seems as a weak argument to me. Additionally, if this source should be taken into account, then surely the correct action would be to remove the item altogether? The article originally implied a misconception that "reading or watching television cause myopia". If this is not a misconception, it does not belong on this list.

Then, when I looked at the source used to include the item in the first place, it really does not justify inclusion based on establishing this as a common misconception. One would have to interpret the following sentence as implying the existence of such a misconception:

"There is no way to prevent nearsightedness. Reading and watching television do not cause nearsightedness."

That is stretching it as far as I can see, especiually since this sentence is listed under the heading "PREVENTION".

In my opinion, this gives three options with the same outcome:

1-Trust source 1 but not source 2: Source 1 does not justify that this is a common misconception. Delete item.

2-Trust source 2 but not source 1: The misconception is not a misconception. Delete item.

3-Trusts both sources: Source 1 does not justify that this is a common misconception, while source 2 indicates that the "misconception" may hold some truth. Delete item.

I have deleted the item. Dr bab (talk) 13:22, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Wise move. HiLo48 (talk) 18:26, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Interesting Nontrinitarian references

There are some interesting religious misconceptions on the list, and I'm sure as religious ideas are, they are hotly contested. But I offer the references at the article Nontrinitarian which covers a variety of ideas. Some examples:
♦ Jesus believed he was God incarnate.

A misinterpretation of some Trinity supporting verses. In fact, after his ressurection he was clear that he was going to his own Father and his own God (John 20:17). Also he delieberately emphasised this idea again, repeating "my God" four times at Revelations 3:12.

♦ The God of the bible has no personal name.

Jehovah is not a title, like Almighty or Eternal, of the nearly seven thousand times the Tetragrammeton is used in the Bible, it is referred to in several places as God's name. Exodus 6:3, Exodus 15:3, Psalm 83:18, Isaiah 42:8 and so on. Many translations have substituted the title "Lord" for the name, but in the many instances where the original wording is "Lord Jehovah" (Isaiah 12:2) it is awkward.

24.79.40.48 (talk) 04:58, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

"Jehovah" is a mistransliteration made by a monk in the Middle Ages (as the actual pronunciation of יהוה is unclear), as and saying "my God" is an indication of a personal relationship, not that there are multiple gods or that the Father and Son are not of the same substance. For future reference: something isn't a misconception just because the Jehovah's Witnesses don't teach it. Unless you'd like to posit that the hundreds of failed predictions for the end of the world made by the Watchtower have all actually occurred. -- LightSpectra (talk)

Note: I have reverted a very long response by the OP that included a massive copyright violation. Looie496 (talk) 01:24, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Lies My Teacher Told Me

Everything this book addresses should be in the history section. Also this book cites everything and has hundreds of sources at the back of the book. 184.96.232.128 (talk) 17:13, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Ugh? This random message makes no sense.... I propose that it just be removed.... further its unsigned. Brydustin (talk) 22:37, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Alcohol and Brain damage

The citation regarding "alcohol does not cause brain damage" leads to paragraph long opinion piece referencing some unnamed Italian researcher. comment added by 74.129.102.115 (talk) 05:09, 27 January 2012

The references look in order to me. What am I missing?JoelWhy (talk) 15:33, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Who's Jewish?

I recently wrote a section under the misconceptions of religion. And in less than 5 mins its was removed, wth?! I specifically addressed the misconception that in order to be Jewish your mother must be Jewish, however there are many biblical examples to refute this and scholarly work on this topic. For this reason, the edit should stay. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brydustin (talk • contribs) 21:05, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

I suppose it was removed because there's no source saying it is a common misunderstanding. Petter Bøckman (talk) 21:21, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

I disagree.... consider for example the highly controversial English court decision: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/youre-still-jewish-ndash-even-if-your-mother-isnt-1720003.html Or the original source for being Jewish.... the Hebrew bible, lol! My example was from Ruth, which is the story of a non-Jew who marries a Jew, and eventually David is born from this family line. I reckon this offended someone (most likely Jewish), because I said something like, "According to many modern interpretations, David himself wouldn't be Jewish because Ruth didn't undergoe 'modern requirements' to become Jewish. See Ruth 1:16 to see her "conversion" to Judaism. The truth is, modern Jewish populations don't want the average person to know simple facts like this... that anyone can be Jewish. And it IS a common misconception because people believe otherwise, regardless of the biblical requirements to be Jewish. Brydustin (talk) 22:03, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

I recommend you look at the text very near the top of this page headed "Please read before proposing new entries". It outlines requirements for adding content to the article. HiLo48 (talk) 22:13, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

No problem, I will demonstrate that my edit is in line with the requirements for editing:

1) The common misconception's including topic has an article of its own. Who is a Jew?

   2) The item is reliably sourced, both with respect to the factual contents of the item and the fact that it is a common misconception.

See Ruth 1:16 (its "reliable" in so far as it is accepted by the Jewish community as part of standard divine literature), here a Gentile becomes Jewish but not by any of the common modern day "requirements". Compare this with the citation I have above.

   3) The common misconception is mentioned in its topic article with sources.

See "Who's a Jew?" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F#Contemporary_Judaism), it is clear from this section that there is no clear agreement, so it is clear that there is controversy/disagreement. This still does exclude the fact that there are many Jewish converts in the Hebrew bible which don't fit the modern "requirements".

   4) The common misconception is current, as opposed to ancient or obsolete. 

This is true because of the fact that my post was removed and that this very discussion is existent; in other words, of course its a common misconception otherwise there would not have been opposition to my edit. Brydustin (talk) 22:30, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Sorry, I appreciate the effort, but your addition just doesn't fit here. This is an religious interpretation, not a factual misconception.JoelWhy (talk) 22:44, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Agree with JoelWhy. Also does not meet #2, requiring a reliable source that it is a common misconception. --Lexein (talk) 00:08, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Distilled water

Should add a section to show that it's a *very* commonly held misconception that drinking distilled water leeches minerals away from your body and is unhealthy. The CDC recommends distilled water for immunocompromised people, the FDA says it's safe, and a number of doctors have said this misconception is bunk. I think more research/citation needs to be put together to add this, but assuming I'm right, it should be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.47.224.175 (talk) 23:41, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

I've never heard of it. Do you have a source that says "drinking distilled water leeches minerals away from your body and is unhealthy"? HiLo48 (talk) 00:12, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Lots of sources say that. If you search for "distilled water safe" there's dozens of web pages that cite that and various reasons for it being unsafe and state this as fact. I just found this article since writing my previous post, it goes over the common arguments and the current research out there on the subject. http://www.cyber-nook.com/water/distilledwater.htm But to the point that you haven't heard this, it may not be a common enough misconception to be in this article. (but It's certainly an annoying one) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.47.224.175 (talk) 00:27, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

I've never heard this either, but I found quite a bit of speculative information on a quick google search(http://yourorganicgardeningblog.com/who-says-distilled-water-is-safe-to-drink/). This seems worthy of inclusion if it can debunk some misguided beleifs. However, based on the amount of false information out there, I think it is important that we have very good sources to back up our claim that there is no truth in this. And then we need a good source that demonstrates how common this misconception is. Dr bab (talk) 08:22, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

I have heard of it, but don't consider it reliably sourced as a misconception. For inclusion here, because it's a human health/medical issue, I would advocate requiring two or more sources from peer-reviewed scientific or medical literature. For this item, blogs, standalone personal webpages, and agenda-based books are, IMHO, {{dubious}}, including both sites linked above. --Lexein (talk) 14:21, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Agree with Lexein.Dr bab (talk) 15:28, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

I don't think there's any scholarly source out there that says distilled water is bad to drink. Maybe you can't prove it's safe, but there doesn't seem to be any studies/evidence to claim that it is unsafe either. I think maybe the wording should be something like "there is no evidence that distilled water is unsafe to drink". Distillation is considered a valid method of water purification by the FDA for instance. Distilled water can be labeled "purified water" under FDA regulations. http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm046894.htm I would think this at least insinuates that it is considered safe. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.47.224.175 (talk) 04:33, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Tomato ruling

AFter looking at the point about the bananas above, I thought I should check the state of the tomato=vegetable/fruit misconception. I see there is no mention of a misconception about the tomatoes themselves, but there is the misconception that the supreme court ruled that tomatoes=vegetables. This statement is not sourced. Dr bab (talk) 07:38, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

"People do not become angels upon death"

While this is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, I would rather that this was not placed among the misconceptions due to the belief of some heterodox theologians that this does happen (Clement of Alexandria, for instance). Please see Bucur, Bogdan G. (2006). "The Other Clement of Alexandria: Cosmic Hierarchy and Interiorized Apocalypticism". Vigiliae Christianae. 60 (3): 251–268. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) for verification. --He to Hecuba (talk) 15:53, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Agreed. Too many different interpretations on the Bible to label this a "misconception".JoelWhy (talk) 16:00, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

I can understand why it was there, because in orthodox Catholic theology it would be regarded as a fallacy, but it would be non-neutral to assume doctrinal correctness. --He to Hecuba (talk) 16:06, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Spinach

Spinach does not contain as much iron as is generally thought. The cause is a typo in a study. (10 times as much) http://www.de-fact-o.com/fact_read.php?id=2 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.16.203.97 (talk) 13:39, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Yes. And? If you're proposing new content, please read the section at the top titled "Please read before proposing new entries" HiLo48 (talk) 17:40, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Banana "trees"

This is just like the "vegetable/fruit" bullshit argument, where someone tries to use a scientific definition to discount the usage of a perfectly valid word in a non-scientific context (this is even mentioned explicitly in the same article in regards to the tomato fruit/vegetable debate and the "theory"/"hypothesis" debate for evolution). While a "banana tree" may not be scientifically classified as a "tree," in common usage the word "tree" refers to any plant as tall or taller than a person which has a defined trunk with branches/leaves at the top, rather than having branches grow from the base up to the top, which would commonly be called a "bush." No one in common usage is going to refer to a banana plant as an "herb." (In common usage, an "herb" is a tiny-ass plant.) Therefore it is not a "misconception" to refer to a banana plant as a "tree," it is a completely accurate statement for common English usage of the word "tree." It is only inaccurate when talking to botanists and biologists in a technical or scientific context. 184.88.235.102 (talk) 19:16, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Well, if you have a reliable source for that, please put it here for discussion.Sjö (talk) 21:42, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tree?q=tree There's my fucking source. 184.88.235.102 (talk) 23:57, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Banana trees don't have branches nor are they made of wood.Number36 (talk) 04:08, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

"another type of tall plant, without a wooden trunk" Dr bab (talk) 07:24, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Which would require WP:SYNTH. Also really vague, that definition would apply to Sunflowers. That's not to say I disagree that we can't call banana trees, trees. Hence my calling them banana trees. But then by the same measure a koala bear isn't actually a bear.Number36 (talk) 11:21, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

The source for this misconception does not confirm that the belief that bananas grow on trees is a common misconception. It is just presented as an answer to the question "Is a banana a fruit or an herb?".Dr bab (talk) 07:33, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

It's easy enough to find. A google for 'misconception banana tree' yields these from the first page: [2] [3] [4] And this is a ref from Banana (I didn't check all the refs, only a couple that i thought could mention the tree misconception).Sjö (talk) 06:07, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

The Chiquita (1) and hort.purdue.edu (4)("often erroneously referred to as a "tree") satisfy criteria #2 (Reliably sourced as a misconception), in my opinion. --Lexein (talk) 06:56, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Well done finding the sources. I have added them. Didn't have the time to look yesterday, but just thought I'd point out that they were lacking. Good to see someone else taking responsibility.

To return to the original post: Does s/he have a point? The Cambridge source seems to pretty clearly define the word tree in such a way so that it covers the plant which produces bananas. Do we go with the common-english definition of "tree", or do we go with the botanical one?

If we include the banana≠tree, can we exclude the tomato≠fruit? (And peanuts≠nuts and I am sure other similar botanical misconceptions too). Dr bab (talk) 07:45, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

I agree with the first comment that most people would use the word 'tree' in a way that means the banana plant is a tree. I think the point should be expanded to explain why it is not a tree (ie. a definition of what a tree actually is). I'm not a botanist, but if I don't get it exactly right, please fix it rather than removing it, because it's important for people to understand why it's commonly miconceived.JenLouise (talk) 02:42, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

I added some information from plant stem and slightly re-wrote your edit. I am not sure if your statement about the definition of a tree holds up. I am also not a botanist, but from the WP article on tree it reads: "[A tree is] most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance." From the info I found about "pseudostems", the issue could be that there is neither stem nor trunk. Anyone know a botanist?

I am still inclined to agree with the original poster that maybe this should be removed as a non-scientific use of language rather than a true misconception. I would like to hear other peoples input on the matter..Dr bab (talk) 08:30, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Edit: I have moved the banana-tree to the Biology section rather than Food and cooking. Petter Bøckman (talk) 14:45, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

I think if the article is to include the "Banana is not a tree" misconception. It also ought to include "Tomatoes are both a fruit AND a vegetable" and "Koalas are not bears" misconceptions as these are both of the same type and just as common (if not more!) NinjaKid (talk) 13:34, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't see how most people who really spend time with banana plants would think of them as a tree(even though I still call them banana trees often enough for convenience). Banana plants completely die down each winter, and then grow back, when was the last time you saw a tree do that?(never hopefully) They have no woody stem, they have no secondary branches with leaves on them, rather the "trunk" of the banana tree is actually its leaves wrapped tightly together, overlapping each other.AerobicFox (talk) 01:01, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Disputing

"Drinking milk or consuming other dairy products does not increase mucus production.[273][274] As a result, they do not need to be avoided by those suffering from flu or cold congestion."

I always notice more congestion. Sure, it may not increase mucus production, but it may be something else. Funny how the next sentence isn't cited. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mike44456 (talk • contribs) 22:37, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

I think the claim is flat out wrong. I, too, notice more congestion. Milk allergy (along with wheat gluten allergy) is one of the world's most common food allergies. This is not the same as lactose intolerance. An allergic reaction can manifest itself in a number of ways, including hives, headaches, constipation, anaphylactic shock... and increased mucus production (which may be considered "milk protein intolerance" rather than an allergy reaction). ~Amatulić (talk) 01:59, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 23 February 2012

The plate armor of European soldiers did not effect mobility in any significant manner, in fact soldiers equipped with plate armor were more mobile than those with chain-mail armor.

Jjones1135 (talk) 21:08, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Done — Bility (talk) 22:08, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

The North Star

It's a common misconception that the North Star, Polaris is particularly bright. I've even seen people claim planets were "the North Star" and said planets were not in the direction of north. 184.96.220.184 (talk) 03:30, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Please have a look at the section near the top of this page titled "Please read before proposing new entries". HiLo48 (talk) 03:50, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Here's my source. http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/badpole.html 184.96.220.184 (talk) 14:34, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Misconception about Tourettes syndrome

It's a common misconception that Tourettes results in excessive use of profanity, but this is not the case. I have it, so I should know. It can result in repetitive, uncontrollable actions of any sort, not just profanity. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dinolover45 (talk • contribs) 16:15, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Jesus

There is no evidence that Jesus was born. Period. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.145.56.241 (talk) 11:01, 27 February 2012 (UTC)

Please have a look at the section near the top of this page titled "Please read before proposing new entries". HiLo48 (talk) 05:54, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

dinosaur pic

hi there!

can we please put the trex-pic to the right? it breaks the list layout for me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.47.143.43 (talk) 18:15, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Eidetic/Photographic Memory

The section about photographic memory is in need of revision. The message it sends is that eidetic memory does not exist. The source cited is deplorably not credible. Total perfect recall is probably spurious, but people with hyperthymestic syndrome and autistic savants have memories that rival the fidelity of recording instruments. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.188.101.41 (talk) 20:34, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

You can help improve the article by locating better sources; majority and minority views can both have a place in articles, as covered in reliable independent sources. I have no horse in this race; just saying. --Lexein (talk) 03:14, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Reagan/Casablanca

I have trouble buying this as a common misconception, particularly when Reagan was always known as a B-list actor. Do the refs call it a common misconception, or do they just present a correction? Hairhorn (talk) 01:04, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Just to add, not suggesting in anyway this is anything but anecdotal, but I have heard this one, or rather that he was nearly cast as Rick, from different sources over the years. I've even read a short science fiction story that used it as the basis of the plot; that Reagan was meant to be in Casablanca but because of a mistake in the timeline wasn't, whereby time tried to correct itself, resulting in him ending up in another 'casa' 'blanca' or 'White House', explaining how such an unlikely scenario had eventuated ;-). There's a Robert Heinlein book that makes reference to it as well iirc. Just a question on it though, it says an early press release did have his name on it, -even if by the time it came out they knew he wouldn't be available, surely there must have be some consideration of him for the role for his name to have ended up in the Press release in the first place?Number36 (talk) 01:55, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

It is difficult to determine whether this is sufficiently sourced as a common misconception when the source is an off-line book. I tried google books and found no good quotes, besides "There was never any chance that Reagan could star in Casablanca". I would encourage the orignial poster Daniel Case to provide the relevant quote, otherwise I would say that the item fails Criteria 2. Dr bab (talk) 07:37, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Alright. I consider it a common misconception as I've heard it many times, and our article on the film does make debunking this the first graf of its "Rumors" section, suggesting it must be quite common. Snopes.com has a page on it, another (to me) indicia of commonality. Suffice it to say that I often think things should be in this article when I hear them, look them up, find they're not true and find we have sources explaining this—viz. the entries I've added in the last year and a half on George Smathers and his speech, and "Sympathy for the Devil" and Altamont. I imported the source from the article since it's an FA and it seems we accepted it there (how could we not? Aljean Harmetz is as respected as you can get in film scholarship.)

As I type, I am looking at the Snopes page, which goes into more detail ... could this be a source, especially since it cites Harmetz's book as well? Daniel Case (talk) 16:51, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

I'd say it would be an excellent additional source for this, explains it fully, including the answer to my above question, and its description of it as ubiquitous fufills criteria two in regard to it's commonality. Also, as I said I've heard this one quite a bit as well, so thanks for its addition to the article, I found it very elucidating.Number36 (talk) 22:08, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

 Done It has been added. Daniel Case (talk) 02:38, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

No reason not to have the snopes page as a source for extra information, but I disagree that the existense of a snopes.com page is a sufficient measure of what are common misconceptions. While describing anything related to this page as "concensus" would be a stretch, snopes.com has commonly NOT been accepted as a source by itself (should we import everything at snopes.com?), but often their secondary sources are useful. In this case, they use the same book by Harmetz. I am not suggesting that Harmetz is not respectable or reliable, but it is not clear that she states that this is a common misconception. This is why I requested a direct quote. Dr bab (talk) 06:32, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Just to add, it wasn't merely the existence of the Snopes page that I think shows it is a common misconception, but its description of it as ubiquitous. I quite agree that the mere existence of a Snopes page wouldn't be enough, some of that stuff is very obscure, but then by the same merit isn't described by them as common or some equivalent.Number36 (talk) 07:58, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Hymen, or virgin bleeding

Specifically, "only 43% of women reported bleeding the first time they had intercourse". It might also be worth mentioning (separately) how the cervix recedes a great deal on arousal, so there is, hmm, not much space available without foreplay, but I don't have a source for that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.243.154.178 (talk) 16:17, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't quite see how that is connected to the myth about virgin bleeding?Sjö (talk) 17:33, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

It doesn't, but I wasn't sure if it would be bad form to create two new suggestions (on similar topics, too) at the same time — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.243.154.178 (talk) 18:01, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Trendelenburg Position (Disease heading)

The last segment under the disease heading misassociates the Trendelenburg Position with the verifiably useful treatment of raising a shock victim's legs, which increases blood flow to the heart. Check the linked articles on shock and hypotension. I nearly removed the parenthetical statement myself, because such misinformation is extremely dangerous, but I'm not interested in an edit war from an anonymous IP. Someone please verify and fix this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.190.160.58 (talk) 09:33, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Human sexuality

So, The list matter-of-factly claims that sex before a sporting event being detrimental to performance is a "myth." Maybe there is no physiological basis for this statement, but aren't there other factors? What about sex having a psychological impact? Common sense and years of sports fandom tells me that athlete's psychological state is just as important as the state of their body, if not more so. We're not robots, after all. I mean, the statement is sourced, but that doesn't make it true. I would remove such speculation as this from a list meant to be factual and informative. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.190.160.58 (talk) 09:15, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Instead of deletion, the language should be modified to place the claim as coming straight from the sources, rather than being flatly matter-of-fact. Example: studies conducted at __ and __ have concluded that __. It is now widely believed among __ scientists that __.<ref> --Lexein (talk) 19:00, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Good thought, and I'm not trying to be picky, but stating something like this as a universal "fact" seems a little past our grade. It's silly and reductionist, and kind of insulting, to talk about athletes in this way. I.e. "It is a common misconception that praying before a match enhances a team's chance for success. However, etc. etc." Maybe a rephrasing would be helpful, but really I think the subject is too arbitrary, not to mention based in superstition, to include on a list like this. Sex could, and would, affect different people differently, just as anything assigned significance would; any real effects, or lack thereof, would be purely speculative, and based on the individual. Just my thought, I'm no expert. 67.190.160.58 (talk) 09:21, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Carthage

Suggest adding this to Ancient to early modern history. After ancient Rome conquered Carthage, it did not poison the soil with salt in order to prevent future farming. It would have been completely impractical to deliver so much salt. See Salting the earth. Roger (talk) 23:46, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Biology misconceptions

The biology misconceptions read like a defense of evolution - many of the misconceptions that it refutes are held by anti evolutionists but I would not necessarily class them as "common" misconceptions. The world is not your average bible belt anti evolution propgandist, those are rather the minority. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.96.117.126 (talk) 10:20, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I recall reading a study somewhere where students were asked questions before and after a class on evolution. Before the class answers to a question like "How did cheetas evolve to be fast?" were about cheetas needing or wanting to be fast, but after the class the answers were more about natural selection. IMO at least some of those misconceptions are commonly held event among those that accept evolution or have really thought about the controversy. The only one that is clearly a creationist one is the thermodynamics one.Sjö (talk) 07:50, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

I found several articles that discussed misconceptions about evolution, here are two that seemed relevant: T. Ryan Gregory:Understanding Natural Selection: Essential Concepts and Common Misconceptions (especially p 163-) and Brian J Alters and Craig E Nelson: Perspective: Teaching Evolution in Higher Education. I didn't double-check them against the list in the article but they support the idea that misconceptions about evolution are common outside the creationist group.Sjö (talk) 08:00, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Nutrition, food and drink: Point 1

"Eight glasses of water a day are not needed to maintain health.[239][240] The amount of water needed varies by person (weight), activity level, clothing, and environment (heat and humidity). Moreover, consuming things that contain water, such as juice, tea, milk, fruits, and vegetables, also keeps a person hydrated, and can supply more than half of the needed water.[240]" < While I know the actual amount of water varies, surely the second part about other liquids is taking the statement a bit more literally than anyone actually takes it. Is it really a misconception that it must be strictly water and not just fluids in general? 74.14.147.249 (talk) 17:03, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

No, just a sign of how stupid this whole page gets at times. Yes, the entry is garbage, and so are many others. HiLo48 (talk) 18:39, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

It's reliably sourced and yes, people really do believe this. In fact, just the other day I overhead a discussion where this came up. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 18:52, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

That's not a misconception. It's a complete absence of common sense. (Maybe we need an article on that too.) HiLo48 (talk) 18:56, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

This is extremely common, yes, and it is in fact a misconception. As far as I can tell it usually arises from a distortion of a recommendation that one get eight (or some other number) cups of water a day, "cup" being the spectacularly ill-defined measuring unit, and hearing that as meaning that many glasses of water a day. (And then passing that along.) The original recommendation probably has some validity, and definitely encompasses water ingested in food; it's the imprecise-language distortion of it that makes it a misconception. —chaos5023 (talk) 19:00, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

I agree that this item is stupid. I have never heard anyone doubt that water needs vary by person, and that non-water fluid intake can meet water needs. I have never heard anyone say, "I am going to get another glass of water before I goto bed because I only drank 7 today." I say the whole entry should be dropped. Roger (talk) 23:46, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Just a reminder to all to use independent representative reliable sources for both majority and minority viewpoints, and base inclusion decisions on those sources, not personal knowledge or opinion. --Lexein (talk) 03:55, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

• Me and HiLo agree on something? This entry is a joke. Hot Stop 15:31, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

:-) HiLo48 (talk) 00:19, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

In the German language area there is the common misconception that one needs to drink 2 to 3 litres of water per day (see [5] and [6]). Even I was told that when I was a kid. Nageh (talk) 00:50, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Well, for what it's worth, I have added these two refs. Nageh (talk) 01:03, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Missing common misconceptions

In physics, many textbooks quite iron-56 (or 58) to be the most efficiently bound nucleus. This is in fact incorrect. The 'most bound' nucleus is nickel-62.

"Common within a particular group" is not the same as "common"; this entry is supposed to be about the latter. Hairhorn (talk) 18:52, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

May meet the inclusion criteria. Nickel-62 has its own article describing the misconception. Rracecarr (talk) 19:43, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

And within which particular demographic is this a concern? I studied physics and chemistry as far as first year university, and it's never bothered me. HiLo48 (talk) 05:05, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

I have heard many times that iron is the "most stable" element. However, neither of our personal experiences are relevant. Rracecarr (talk) 20:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

I agree. Hence my question. HiLo48 (talk) 03:41, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Well, to steal the reference from the Nickel-62 article, the abstract of this American Journal of Physics article begins: "It seems to be widely believed that 56Fe is the most tightly bound atomic nuclide." Rracecarr (talk) 19:03, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

The size of solid rocket boosters (SRBs) used on the space shuttle were determined by a horse ass?

I've been hearing this anecdote for the last few years. The size of solid rocket boosters (SRBs) used on the space shuttle were determined by the size of a horse's ass . Maybe an explanation should be made to explain that it is part truth, part fiction. Sources: snopes.com and Horse's Pass. Thanks for reading this and congratulations on this fantastic list. 85.50.128.116 (talk) 14:16, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

• I don't see how this is common enough. Hot Stop^UTC 14:52, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

I guess so. I wonder if there is any article that could accommodate a comment on this. Anyway, thanks for the answer.85.50.128.116 (talk) 15:22, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I've heard the story, but I concur it is unlikely to be widespread enough to be termed "common".--SPhilbrick(Talk) 16:33, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Monty Hall

It is important to note that the Monty hall problem is dependent on whether or not the host of the "game show" knows which door holds the prize. If the host chooses a door to eliminate at random, the probability will not change regardless of whether the contestant switches doors. If the host knows which door holds the prize, and will never eliminate that one, then the contestant should switch doors.

I think, much like the plane on the treadmill, the failure to include vital information such as this often leads to misunderstanding.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem#Sources_of_confusion

In paragraph 3:

" If the car is initially placed behind the doors with equal probability and the host chooses uniformly at random between doors hiding a goat (as is the case in the standard interpretation) this probability indeed remains unchanged, but if the host can choose non-randomly between such doors then the specific door that the host opens reveals additional information. "

I would request that a note explaining this be added to the section.

Cburke91 (talk) 20:00, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

While it's probably worthwhile to note that in the Monty Hall problem the person selecting the doors knows which one holds a prize, but there is no version of the Monty Hall problem where someone randomly opens another door, because that eliminates the interesting point of the problem. I think the fact that the article explicitly states that the door is not opened at random obviates the need for any further information on this point.

That said, I'd like to register my objection to this problem being on the list of common misconceptions anyway. While it is true that most people, when posed the problem, will intuitively come to the wrong answer, given that the problem is a thought experiment based on Let's Make a Deal, but never actually used as part of gameplay, most people are introduced to the idea by someone who knows the solution. It seems very unlikely that there is a widespread misconception about the solution to the Monty Hall problem. If anything, I would guess that there is a contingent of people who refused to believe the solution, but have no misconceptions about the proof.0x0077BE (talk) 01:29, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Just searched the archive, found that this has actually been significantly discussed but no action was taken. I would read the contents of Archive 15's discussion as being broadly opposed to its inclusion. That may be my bias. I'm going to remove it now, if there's significant opposition to its removal, I would recommend a vote. 0x0077BE (talk) 01:34, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Oh please, not a vote. That never helps here. But I agree that this isn't a real misconception. It's a trick, with one person deliberately deceiving others. I'm happy with its deletion. HiLo48 (talk) 05:36, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

I think CWenger said it best in the archived discussion: "a misconception is something that people know, but is actually incorrect—not something they answer incorrectly when it is presented to them." I totally agree with that definition. Sjö (talk) 09:25, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that is a very good criterion. Based on that, I actually think we should remove everything that's currently in the Mathematics section. 0.999... = 1 fits more like a paradox, but it's not like someone has ever said, "Did you know that 0.999... doesn't equal 1?" It's a factoid, but not one that people hear in its improper form. The gambler's fallacy also fits into the same category. People believe these things because they are common mental traps, not because they've been told the wrong answer. I think gambler's fallacy has the strongest claim to being in this article, because it is something that people say as if it's self-evident that it's true. 0x0077BE (talk) 15:22, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

I confess I'm conflicted. On the one hand, we have a Reliable Source, unequivocally stating that it is a common misconception. Not only that, it is backed up by a scientific study supporting the claim. On the other hand, the study didn't attempt to ascertain what the respondents thought about the question prior to it being posed. I suggest it is useful to distinguish between situations where the respondent believes they know the answer to a question, where that answer is something they've "known" for some time, versus answers to questions they think they can answer, but have never considered before. For example, if you walked up to people at random and asked what they knew about the false teeth of George Washington, I think many would answer that they heard they were wooden. In contrast, if you asked them what they knew about the repeated decimal 0.999…, I suspect the most common answer (by far) would be that they've never considered it before. If pressed to consider it, they might well come up with the wrong answer, but getting the wrong answer when asked, is not the same as holding the common misconception in their heads prior to being asked.

On the other hand, while I think it may be true that it doesn't meet the criteria to be a common misconception, we aren't about truth, we are about verifiability. And it can be verified that a reliable source claims it is a common misconception.--SPhilbrick(Talk) 16:29, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

True, but I don't know if there's really any policy that says that if something has a verifiable source stating that it is a common misconception that we must include it in this list. Additionally, I think it's reasonable to say that due to the subjective and vague nature of "common" and "misconception", it's entirely possible to have citations which use those words but don't mean the same thing. I think it's reasonable to require that sources establish that people have a conception about something at all before we can say it's a misconception. This will not affect any items on the list related to purely factual matters (e.g. Washington's teeth), because those items are things where you can't reason about them - you've either heard something or you haven't. Things which are simply counter-intuitive results to puzzles or math proofs would require the additional step of showing that people had some false ideas about the results rather than they come up with the wrong answer when asked to try and solve the problem.

I think there are certainly some things which are not purely factual in nature which would pass this test. For example, popular conceptions of relativity, quantum mechanics, etc, might fall into that category. The "gambler's fallacy" is a good edge case for this. 0x0077BE (talk) 17:02, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

I think that many people have the idea that the gambler's fallacy is actually true, without having been asked about probabilities. Many people have gambled, or watched sports or observed repetitions of some random event and have formed some sort of intuitive opinion about how those things work; it's just part of our human tendency to try to make sense of the world around us. I'm not a reliable source in the Wikipedia sense but I think that the gambler's fallacy is a misconception according to CWengers definition that I quoted above. 21:00, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I would tend to agree with that, but it's still an edge case. I think that's in a whole other class of things where people think it's true if they don't think about it, but when it comes up they intuitively get it wrong. It's not quite in the class of things like "Napoleon was abnormally short", where it's always the result of having been told the wrong thing, but it's probably well within the realm of common misconceptions, unlike 0.999... = 1 or Monty Hall. 0x0077BE (talk) 04:28, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

I support the Cwenger definition of a misconception, it fits very well with my own concept of "misconception". I also see the issues raised by Sphilbric that 1-We have a source naming the Monty Hall problem as a common misconception, and 2-That reliable sources will use the phrase "common misconception" with various definitions of both "common" and "misconception". I did a quick search on Science Direct and came up with some examples:

Sixteen common misconceptions about the evolution of cooperation in humans, Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 32, Issue 4, July 2011, Pages 231-262

The examination of several common misconceptions in nasal reconstruction, Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, Volume 22, Issue 4, December 2003, Pages 281-294

A survey of common misconceptions about cerebrovascular accidents and recovery, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Volume 7, Issue 4, 1992, Pages 368-369

These are all scientific studies that will undoubtedly make claims about various common misconceptions. The first on the list is even a review article, so it can not be dismissed as a primary source.

I think it would be very difficult to include a criterion of the sort that "if you asked people when you walked up to them on the street". How the smeg would we verify something like that? To "require that sources establish that people have a conception about something at all" would, I think, also be difficult. I think it would lead to debates on how to interpret statements like "Many people believe". We are now picking at many of the issues that have led to, and been discussed in, the Afd debates of the past. Anyone have a good suggestion on how to define a criterion equivalent to "walk up to on the street" that would be easily verifiable (in most cases)? Dr bab (talk) 07:36, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that does seem like a valid concern. I think we can probably reasonably say that anything that's a historical or scientific observational fact, rather than the solution to a problem obviously does not fit into the category of "you would get it wrong if you were asked about it, but you've probably never heard of it." E.G. If it's something (observationally) fact-based like Richard Nixon's middle name or how many moons Jupiter has, no need for the further test because that's the only way you could have that answer. If it's the solution to a problem or a proof or something of that nature, then you would need sources that indicate that the answer is commonly misrepresented (this is a hallmark of a misconception, because it means that people are not just getting it wrong in response to questioning, they're actually telling other people the wrong answer because they believe that answer to be true). I don't think it's impossible to find sources of that sort, and given that proof/solution-based misconceptions are much, much less likely to actually belong on this list, I hardly think it's onerous.

In any case, it seems like we've got a consensus for removing 0.999... = 1 as well, so I'm going to remove that as well, but leave gambler's fallacy in place. 0x0077BE (talk) 14:22, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Use of the "Ye" as "The" in early modern English

Many people mistakenly say "ye" when mimicking early modern English, but this is incorrect. They used "th" as well. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_(pronoun). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Svchost26 (talk • contribs) 01:08, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

Sushi

Avocado in as traditional ingredient? Think again! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.60.140.194 (talk) 11:57, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

What's your reasoning for saying that avocado is not a traditional sushi ingredient? Or are we just supposed to "think again"? Avocado has been an ingredient in sushi since the 1940s in the United States, so I'd say that's probably long enough to qualify as "traditional", especially since more sushi is eaten in the United States than any other country. If you go to Japan now, you can get spam in your sushi if you want. The point is that if you don't think avocado is "traditional" in sushi it would help if you said why you believe that. Primium mobile (talk) 16:25, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

I'm not the person that made the above comment, but I too believe that avocado is not a "traditional" sushi ingredient. It is my understanding that avocado was first added to sushi by westerners, as avocado is not an ingredient that was even available in Japan until relatively recently. There is even a sentence in the Wikipedia article for Sushi that says "The same may not be said categorically of Western-style sushi, which increasingly features non-traditional ingredients such as mayonnaise, avocado, and cream cheese." --99.137.210.45 (talk) 04:58, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Define "traditional". HiLo48 (talk) 05:21, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

traditional: of or pertaining to tradition. In the context of food, I'd say that 'traditional' means the original form, or the way it has been made for a very long time. For example, traditional feta cheese is made of sheep's milk, but similar cheese made of cow's milk is also called feta. Traditional burgers are made from ground beef, but can also be made from ground turkey or can even be vegetarian. Avocados were not adopted into Japanese cuisine until hundreds of years after sushi was invented. Compared to other ingredients, avocado has not been used in sushi for nearly as long. --99.137.210.45 (talk) 07:02, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

So, what's "a very long time" and how long has avocado been used in sushi? Try for an objective response, not just an opinion. How would these ideas apply to pineapple in pizza? HiLo48 (talk) 08:06, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

My proposal : replace "traditionally" by "generally" (like in sushi article). El Comandante (talk) 08:07, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

List of Misquotes link

May I suggest that the two links to the "List of Misquotes" topic be updated to redirects to the actual topic under Wikiquotes, instead of pointing to the "this page has been deleted" record? As the page is protected, I can't seem to make this correction myself... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rdplanglois (talk • contribs) 20:02, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Well spotted. I've done it. There was no specific section for "fictional people" though, so I pointed both links to the main misquotations page. Dr bab (talk) 06:29, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Bullfighting misconception in the correction of the bullfighting misconception

The final sentence of the bullfighting misconception itself contains a misconception. Right now it reads "It is not the color of the cape but its movement that irritates the bull and incites it to charge." I propose taking it out entirely or replacing it with something like this: "It is not the color of the cape, but the perceived threat by the matador that incites it to charge."

Reasoning: -The three sources given speak about the color-blindedness issue and not the movement issue. -In bullfights, the matador does not move the cape prior to the charge; it just hangs there. -If simple movement enraged bulls, then they would be completely intractable, which they are not. -Bulls run at the matador, the cape's purpose is to hide the fact that the matador moved while the bull was charging. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andrewrlong (talk • contribs) 00:54, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Quite. I'll edit it. Petter Bøckman (talk) 07:06, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Materials Science

An overview of published papers about the subject summarizes that glass is an "amorphous solid",[203] though the exact nature of the glass transition is not considered settled among theorists and scientists.

Perhaps I'm being petty here, but this does give the impression that there's a meaningful distinction in this context between "theorists" and "scientists", which is potentially misleading. Either word alone would be better. Sergeirichard (talk) 13:11, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

That's not petty. I actually meant theoretical and applied scientists. Neither camp is seriously considering circlons, more's the pity. (;) --Lexein (talk) 11:52, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Mac Malware

"It has been widely believed that Macintosh computers are immune to malware, such as viruses..."

Widely believed by whom? Fanboys? This is an unverifiable generalization and should be removed. I have never seen any reputable technical source nor a true layman that ever believed Macs to be immune to malware or viruses, only that most 'in the wild' were written specifically to attack the Windows platform due to the fact that the overwhelming majority of computers were running some form of Windows, not MacOS. The references listed also cannot account for the usage of 'widely believed' as if most of the populace actually thought this was the truth. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.32.101.62 (talk) 21:09, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

Please read the multitudes of reliable sources (magazines, books, etc) before flaming. Also, the edit history will show that "immune" is a disputed word. I favor "believed that Macs are far less vulnerable than PCs" over "immune" - that is very definitely a widely held belief, and is better supported by the sources. However some extremists keep changing the language, and then claiming it's not supported by sources. --Lexein (talk) 11:58, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Fanboys, magazines, books. Why does the validity of the "misconception" rest on who holds the misconception? It is most definitely a misconception held by many people. Nzshred (talk) 15:20, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Spinach

How about the myth about iron in spinach?

"The cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man is portrayed as having a strong affinity for spinach, becoming physically stronger after consuming it. The commonly accepted version of events states that this portrayal was based on faulty calculations of the iron content.[21] In the version, German scientist Emil von Wolff misplaced a decimal point in an 1870 measurement of spinach's iron content, leading to an iron value 10 times higher than it should have been, and this faulty measurement was not noticed until the 1930s. This caused the popular misconception that spinach is high in iron that makes the body stronger."

from the spinach article — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.204.138.100 (talk) 06:55, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Satan

I don't think that it is a common misconception within any religion that Satan is residing in Hell. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all believe that Satan walks the Earth attempting to lure people from God through temptation. I don't even think that many believe he would reign in Hell. Primium mobile (talk) 21:25, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

It is a very common misconception that Satan lives in Hell. Satan is often depicted as living in a fiery, red, cave-like hell on television, for example, The Simpsons. Another, much older example is Dante's Inferno, in which Satan resides in the deepest circle of hell. --99.137.210.45 (talk) 05:20, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Satan as depicted in the Ninth Circle of Hell in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, illustrated by Gustave Doré.

We have no idea if Satan exists at all, and if he does, where he lives or if he even need to "live" (in the human sense) at all. The eventual residence of Satan is a matter of faith, not facts. The nature of Satan, or any other figure from religion is well beyond the scope of this article. Petter Bøckman (talk) 06:51, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

I'm not going to argue the above point because it really has nothing to do with my comment. I have no opinion as to whether or not this should be in the article. I've been watching this article for years and I think the entire thing should be deleted because it is almost entirely subjective. But that's been hashed out a million times and I don't think the article is going anywhere so I won't worry about it.

The issue is whether or not a majority of believers in Satan believe that he lives in Hell. Pop culture depictions of Satan, like those in The Simpsons or South Park, are usually comical in nature and have no basis in any mythology. South Park also depicts Jesus as a man living on earth who has his own talk show. I don't think any adherents of the Abrahamic religions have any kind of misconception about that.

Works like those of Dante or Milton do depict Satan in Hell. But I think the anon editor above is overstating the emphasis that those works have on modern beliefs. I would guess that while most people have heard of these works, relatively few have actually read them. I was raised in a Christian home, and from an early age we were taught that Satan is of the earth and that he tempts us daily. I know of no branch of any ABrahamic religion that teaches that Satan resides in or rules over Hell.

This is exactly why I hate this page. Absent surveys of every specific entry, we have no way to verify what is "common", but I digress. Primium mobile (talk) 15:35, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Jews don't generally spend much time or effort thinking or talking about Satan and certainly don't care much about his abode. He's a fleeting and extremely minor character in the religion. Unlike the Yetzer Hara - which is a thing, not a person. --Dweller (talk) 21:33, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

This is a tricky one. As Bøckman says, we have no verifiable information about Satan or where he lives, so we cannot have any misconceptions related to "the real" satan, as it where. So it actually wouldn't matter if 99% of people believe that satan exists and lives in hell, because we have no way of disproving that belief. What we could have, are misconceptions about specific depictions of satan. The misconception as written, is :

Nowhere in the Old Testament (or the New Testament) is Satan described as dwelling in or ruling over hell.

This seems to imply that there is a misconception that: "The old testament describes satan as dwelling in or ruling over hell". However, the sources point to cultural references as being wrong according to the bible. As I read them, these sources say: "There is a conception in the (pop-cultural) world that satan lives in hell. However, the bible says otherwise. Thus, this is a misconception."

However, the bible is not a reliable source about the nature of satan.

I propose deletion of this entry unless we can source it to an actual misconception about depictions of satan, rather than about the nature of satan; since the former is verifiable, while the latter is not. Dr bab (talk) 06:46, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

Dr. bab is on the right track in my view. We can not really say much about Satan as such, but we can say what the Bible is saying. If we can prove that it is a widespread belief that the Bible says Satan reside in Hell, then we have a point. Petter Bøckman (talk) 18:27, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

There's no point saying what the Bible says. It's NOT regarded as a reliable source on the matter. Most people with strong views on Satan learnt them from fire and brimstone preachers. But that's difficult to source. HiLo48 (talk) 20:55, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

I think you might have misunderstood us. No one claims that the bible is a reliable source on satan. But it is a reliable source about "what the bible says about satan". So we could conceivably have an item on this list that there is a "misconception about what the bible says about satan", if we can source it.

We can NOT have any item on here about any sort of "misconception about satan", since there are no reliable sources on satan. Likewise, it does not matter what people think about satan, only about what they think the bible says. If we have a source that says that "many" people believe that, according to the bible, satan lives in hell, then we have a misconception. Where this misconception arose, whether from fire and brimstone preachers or elsewhere, is irelevant and unecessary to source.

PS:In this debate, whenever I have used the word "bible", it should probably be substituted with "bible (or any other book)".Dr bab (talk) 06:06, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

I think you missed my point about the preachers. If people believe something wrong about what the Bible says because someone in a position of power and authority told them the wrong thing, it's not a real misconception. They have been lied to by someone they trusted. It's a very different thing. HiLo48 (talk) 10:38, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

I disagree, almost every point in this article is a common misconception because a number of people have been lied to (or told the wrong thing) by people they trusted. If that was a criterion for exclusion very little would remain of this article.Sjö (talk) 10:58, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

...and that would be an excellent thing, IMHO. No, deliberate deceit by religious zealots is NOT a misconception. HiLo48 (talk) 11:00, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

...HiLo48: Your misunderstanding might have been a misunderstanding on my part... But I disagree about your statement:

"it's not a real misconception. They have been lied to by someone they trusted. It's a very different thing."

We have tried to define "misconception" a couple of times before, most recently (that I am aware of) in yet another discussion on the Monty Hall problem. My own opinion is that a misconception is a "wrongly held belief", which would exclude things like logical fallacies. I would also exclude "wrongly held beliefs retained despite evidence to the contrary", such as the "misconception that the Moon landing never took place". When it comes to the origin of a wrongly held belief, I don't think that has any relevance. It is still a belief, and it is still wrong, and it is still held. It might not have been a misconception among the firebrands, but it IS a misconception among the flock.

I am curious about how you would define misconception so that it excludes "lies from persons of authority", and this could be a very good discussion to hold about this article.

Regardles of any definition of a misconception however: Can we aggree that this item on satan is removed? Either for not being sourced as a misconception about the bible, or for not being a misconception at all? Dr bab (talk) 12:57, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

I was going to cut this, as there had been no objections for a week. But now I see that several of the other items in the Religion-section are suffering from the same problems as this one: The misconceptions are presented as "public perception" of a religious subject, and is then rejected as misconceptions based on what the religious text in question has to say on the matter. I'd say we should reconsider "The three magi", the "Date of Jesus' birth" and "The forbidden apple".Dr bab (talk) 06:02, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

Linguistics

I think the misconception regarding the number of words Eskimo's have for snow should be listed on this page. The common misconception is that "Eskimo" have many more (the amount varies) words for snow than speakers of other languages and that this is somehow interesting or indicative of their culture. The misconception appears in various newspaper articles spanning the past 50 years or so. The actual facts ("Eskimo" could describe many many language families, none of which have more quantifiable ways to describe snow than English or any other language spoken by peoples who encounter snow) are not disputed by any linguists. For a full history of the misconception, read The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax. Joshuamlee (talk) 18:19, 23 May 2012 (UTC)joshuamlee 5/23/12

Seems like a good one. If you are a linguist or know a linguist, I think there are many strong linguistic myths. There's a The Great Courses course by John McWhorter called "Myths, Lies and Half-Truths about Language Usage" that covers some of them, though they are a bit more broad-strokes than most of the stuff in here. The Eskimo thing is a strong one.

This may be controversial, but it sounds to me like most of what Benjamin Lee Whorf said about language has turned into pervasive myths. The Eskimo thing, the idea that Hopi does not have any way of marking tense or time, and, the most pervasive myth of all, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which despite being thoroughly debunked and basically persona non-grata in the linguistics community is to this day in many basic textbooks (especially in Anthropology). Good call. 0x0077BE (talk) 21:29, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

How did they start??

Reading this article, one thing that remains unclear for the most part is how these misconceptions got started (if they are all indeed false.) can this be included?--Coin945 (talk) 17:29, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

I would be happy to see this in the article if you can find solid citations. I think for many things that won't be possible. 0x0077BE (talk) 21:29, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Regarding the immaculate conception

The confusion stems from a misunderstanding of the term "immaculate," which means "without stain" (i.e. sinless) and is not a synonym for "miraculous" or "inexplicable" as commonly believed.

Is this really a common belief? I've never seen "immaculate" used to mean "miraculous" or "inexplicable", which one would expect if this were a widespread belief. I suspect the misunderstanding actually usually hinges on the idea that sex is 'dirty', and so conception without sex would be 'not dirty', i.e., immaculate. It sounds reasonable even though it's wrong, which could quite naturally result in a widespread misconception. I'm going to remove this sentence unless it can be shown that this really is a widely held belief. - furrykef (Talk at me) 01:11, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

That may be true, but poeple grow up associating the collective term/phrase "immaculate conception" with the miraculous birth of baby Jesus from Mary. As the conception part is self-explanatory, it is only natural for people to extrapolate and assume that immaculate means miraculous or unexplainable or something like that. Any vox-pop interview should confirm this.--Coin945 (talk) 01:40, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

Hebrew Bible and Satan

Can the Satan comment please be moved to Christianity or some other section, or rename this section? The Hebrew Bible doesn't contain the New Testament (mentioned in the "misconception") and Jews don't really care very much about who Satan is, where he lives, or even if he exists. --Dweller (talk) 11:06, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

As no-one seems to dissent, I'll move it to Christianity. --Dweller (talk) 12:13, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

"Sleep tight"

I don't see in the sources presented evidence that this misconception is widely held. --Dweller (talk) 11:10, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

If no-one has a source, I'll remove it. --Dweller (talk) 12:12, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Entropy

Would it be appropriate for someone to add a section about the misconception that entropy is energy somehow "leaking out" of the universe, or is that just my own personal misconception (that was only recently corrected)? Also, apologies for not making a real account, I have one, I just haven't used it in years, so I don't remember anything about it. 67.119.192.220 (talk) 20:19, 20 June 2012 (UTC)

Empire State Building Penny Misconception

Another fact that shows the fallacy of a penny dropped from the Empire State Building being able to crack concrete or kill someone is the fact that a penny and a raindrop weigh about the same amount and the raindrop falls from quite a bit higher than the penny would and you don't hear about raindrops smashing holes in concrete when they land or killing anyone. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Crich70 (talk • contribs) 06:39, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

A penny weighs 2.5 grams. Using numbers from our drop (liquid) article, the largest raindrops weigh about 0.2 grams. Looie496 (talk) 19:48, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

Moon phases

It seems to be a very usual misconception that lunar phases are caused by The Earth's shadow. Should this be added here? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.113.124.190 (talk) 23:15, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Most people I've spoken to know that it is not the Sun's shadow. Maybe this misconception isn't common? 20:39, 20 June 2012 (UTC)

I agree, not very usual. (Even less likely to be the sun's shadow :)--SPhilbrick(Talk) 17:54, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

It is much more common than you might think. It used to be in the article, but was removed. Rracecarr (talk) 20:32, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Here's the diff Rracecarr (talk) 20:48, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

The North Star

There are many misconceptions that the North Star Polaris is particularly bright or that it's located in any other direction than north. http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/badpole.html 71.212.234.183 (talk) 19:18, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Dr. Plait has a lot of misconceptions about misconceptions. He also thinks that most people believe that there is sound in space. Everyone knows that there is no sound in space. But most people would agree that movies would be pretty boring without sound. Movies aren't made to be scientifically accurate, they're made to be entertaining.

Getting back to your point... I'm an astronomy buff, I talk to a lot of people about astronomy, and I don't know anyone who believes that the stars are fixed or that Polaris is the brightest star in the sky. Dr. Plait bases his assumption that "a lot" of people believe that from some ambiguous song lyrics and a conversation with one friend. Primium mobile (talk) 19:13, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

You're giving "most people" way too much credit. 71.212.234.183 (talk) 20:42, 24 June 2012 (UTC)

You're giving most people not enough credit. Most people learn in third grade science class that the stars are not fixed. And I know no one who thinks that Polaris is the brightest star in the sky. You want to add something that one person said based on a conversation with one person. I know that we don't have an agreed-upon definition of what is "common" on this article, but you need more than this to establish that this is a common misconception. Primium mobile (talk) 13:45, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

This source claims that many people don't know that the moon is visible during the day because they've never looked up.Dr bab (talk) 06:36, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

I asked a few random people, and was surprised that one thought Polaris was the brightest star. Needless to say, they didn't call it Polaris. And it was more of a tentative guess than something they "knew". However, my admittedly limited sample supports the notion that it is NOT a common misconception. --SPhilbrick(Talk) 17:50, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

This entry was removed, even though it was referenced as a common misconception. Here's the diff.Rracecarr (talk) 20:53, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Mthoodhood a sockpuppet

See Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Allenroyboy/Archive. Dougweller (talk) 09:14, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Most "wasabi" isn't wasabi.

It's horseradish colored green. 76.120.17.197 (talk) 06:20, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

Reliable independent source? --Lexein (talk) 14:54, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

New York Times ok? [7]. This book? Dougweller (talk) 12:53, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

DW - The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice. Trevor Corson, p. 160 is good. A better source than the NYT wordplay column would be On Food And Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Harold McGee. pg 417., and even Sushi For Dummies. pg. 15.

However, I'm having trouble finding a source that unambiguously states that it's a common misconception, or words to that effect. These sources imply it, but it needs to be stated (per arduous prior discussion in the archives).

Also, (as soon as the above is satisfied) the common misconception needs to be discussed, and reliably sourced, in the Wasabi article. See Please read before proposing new entries box at top of page. --Lexein (talk) 15:21, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

The fact that these products portray themselves as "wasabi", use the word "wasabi" on their labeling, and people colloquially use the term to refer to these green-colored horseradish products, that alone shows it's a common misconception. 76.120.17.197 (talk) 16:19, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Because we're not citing "facts so obvious as to be instantly apparent" in this article, we rely on reliable independent sources. As soon as an RS states "common misconception" or words to that effect, and as soon as this item is also presented in the Wasabi article, this item will be quite welcome in this List (per the inclusion criteria above, at article top and in article edit mode). You can help by locating reliable independent sources on the subject. Nobody is fighting the inclusion of this, we're actually rooting for it, and to make its inclusion safe from deletion. That's why it's being discussed. --Lexein (talk) 16:29, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Slippery Pasta

The citation on the pasta entry in the food section seems to imply that the source backs up the entire thing, falling as it does at the very end of the entry. In fact, the source backs up only the very narrow claim that oil on pasta will make it harder for sauces to adhere, and contradicts the more general claim that oil cannot make pasta clump less. The reasoning in the entry (could not possibly have an effect because oil and water don't mix) overlooks that the pasta may be exposed to oil on entry. The myth may well still be incorrect, but I think this is presently unsupported in the article. At a minimum, add a citation-needed tag somewhere appropriate to indicate that the citation only applies to the last claim.

67.207.113.90 (talk) 21:51, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

Agreed - feel free. The syntax is {{citation needed}}. Also, you're very welcome to WP:register a username; there are multiple benefits. --Lexein (talk) 07:25, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I think this entry is weak, anyway. It is true that oil is not soluble in water. But most people stir pasta as it is cooking so it doesn't stick to the pan. While stirring, the pasta would be coated in oil. There needs to be a source that says the oil does not adhere to the pasta after being stirred. If it does adhere to the pasta, then the source needs to say why that wouldn't keep pasta from sticking together. Freshly cooked pasta is very sticky after the water evaporates from it, especially if the pasta is well-cooked. Unless someone has actually proven that adding oil to pasta keeps it from sticking then I think this entry should be deleted. Primium mobile (talk) 21:11, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

The Corriher reference actually says that oil may prevent the pasta from sticking together. Also, in my experience briskly boiling water will mix water and oil so taht very little oil will be floating on the surface. Sjö (talk) 09:54, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Almost every single item is wrong: these are corrections to misconceptions, not misconceptions

A misconception is a commonly held false belief. But this is a mostly a list of true things that are corrections to common misconceptions. I say mostly because at least the Mathematics section has correctly stated misconception followed by an explanation of why it is false (this is unsurprising, probably this entry was written by a mathematician, and mathematicians tend to understand and be careful about logic). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Omaranto (talk • contribs) 03:32, 2 July 2012‎

See the talk page archives, where this is discussed ad nauseam. Hairhorn (talk) 03:38, 2 July 2012 (UTC)

I'm not very good at that apparently since I did search a little bit for discussion of this. If the consensus is to leave the list incorrect in this way (which is easy for any reader to correct herself as she reads), so be it. Could you please point to me some discussion about this? I'm curious to see what people have said. Maybe you suggest some terms to search for, I think I was stupid and uncreative when I searched earlier. --Omaranto (talk) 04:59, 2 July 2012 (UTC)

It's in the Talk archives, way back - don't worry about it. We couldn't decide on the relatively minor detail of linguistic logic while the article was under extreme continuous pressure to be deleted. As with most deletion discussions, it was arduous and exhausting, and produced the 4 inclusion criteria, and a few deleted entries for lack of sourcing. The way I see it,

• the main problem is that most misconceptions are corrected by a simple logical negation, somewhere in the sentence. So it seemed verbose to exhaustively, and repetitively state the misconception, then state the correction, then tediously explain the reasoning.
• we did not want to positively state the misconception, because it is false, and opens Wikipedia up to "Wikipedia said (misconception)", taken out of context.

Not the strongest reasoning, but there it is. Others may disagree. --Lexein (talk) 05:52, 2 July 2012 (UTC)

Bee picture caption is wrong

"a widespread misconception holds that bumblebees should be incapable of flight." should be changed to "a widespread misconception holds that bumblebees should *NOT* be incapable of flight." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.22.9 (talk • contribs)

Since bumblebees are in fact not incapable of flight, it's hard to see how that would be a misconception. (I strongly suggest staying away from double negatives, they are nothing but trouble.) Looie496 (talk) 05:28, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Another sense in "6 senses"

• Specialized erotogenous sensory tissue. Example in penis. Many coiled fine-touch receptors (Specialized sensory tissue. thousands of coiled fine-touch receptors (Vater-Pacini corpuscles) are the most important sensory component of the penis. The foreskin contains branches of the dorsal nerve and many specialized erotogenic nerve endings of several types, which are capable of sensing slight motion and stretch, subtle changes in temperature, and fine gradations in texture, http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/winkelmann/.

What is the misconception relating to that? Looie496 (talk) 05:29, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Misconseption is that there are far more senses then six. This is another one. jmak (talk) 05:34, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 11 july 2012

The term "black belt" does not refer to a white belt that has never been washed, as per Wikipedia article asserting the same. Wiki "black belt" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.115.214.200 (talk) 01:58, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

• I am rejecting this request as facetious. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 04:38, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

I removed the section, the alleged misconceptions were unsourced since 2008 and 2009.Sjö (talk) 11:06, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 9 July 2012

Evolution, at this day in age, does not search for "one common ancestor" for all lifeforms. In fact, the newest theories believe that life evolved a handful of different times (5-7), thus the term "one common ancestor" couldn't be more wrong. Thanks for taking this into consideration.

24.7.112.60 (talk) 03:53, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

No, the newest theories don't believe that. If you claim otherwise, you will need to point to a reputable source that says so. Looie496 (talk) 04:06, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

To elaborate, there are valid multiple-origin hypotheses that compete with the one-common-ancestor idea, but the most recent study about this[8][9] supports a single common ancestor. If you know of more recent studies that say otherwise, please let us know where to find them. ~Amatulić (talk) 19:53, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

Question about lightning strikes

ABC World News with Diane Sawyer reported on July 19th, 2012 that lightning struck the Empire State Building 25 times a year. This article says 100 times. The only source that claims this is http://weather.weatherbug.com/weather-news/weather-reports.html?story=6571 but I question the validity of this source. Does anyone have another source for either of the two numbers? FalseAxiom (talk) 23:52, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Do you happen to have a link? I tried looking for it and instead I found this video which shows the Empire State Building being struck by lightning 3 times is less than 30 seconds.[10] A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 13:58, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

Volcanos

It's a misconception that most volcano fatalities are a result of the lava, when in actuality most casualties are due to pyroclastic flows, ash clouds, and mudflows. 76.120.17.197 (talk) 19:01, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

Steve Jobs As Important to the History of Computing

Steve Jobs's role in computing is usually much overstated. You can attribute him popularizing the personal computer but not much else. He was largely just the CEO of Apple (and NeXT). Most accomplishments attributed to him are more properly attributed to Steve Wozniak and other Apple technical employees. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.49.106.110 (talk) 00:50, 28 July 2012 (UTC)

Jobs lead both the Macintosh and iPhone projects (Wozniak was already out of the business by then).... as for the Apple II, Woz would have just handed out plans to his friends for free at the Homebrew Computer Club if he'd had his way. So I don't see how Jobs having a significant role is overstated. Jobs wasn't a programmer or an engineer, so what? Hairhorn (talk) 00:57, 28 July 2012 (UTC)

I guess the bigger common misconceptions is that CEOs are important, influential people when its usually the engineers that actually do things. Jobs is just one of the most egregious examples of this misconception. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.49.106.110 (talk) 01:05, 28 July 2012 (UTC)

In fact Jobs notoriously pushed many of his engineers to do things they thought were not possible (something most CEOs do not bother with, and Jobs was not CEO for much of his time at Apple.). Wozniak and others have said this sort of thing many times. You also forgot founding CEO of one of the most successful movie studios of all time. Hairhorn (talk) 01:21, 28 July 2012 (UTC)

Steve Jobs's role in computing is usually much overstated.

This is opinion. I happen to agree with this opinion, but wikipedia is supposed to deal in verifiable facts, not the opinions of its editors. This article in particular and wikipedia in general are not the venue for resolving this issue. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 01:37, 28 July 2012 (UTC)

Wow, just wow. I know the jealousy of Apple's success is pretty extreme, but no person who knows about the history of computing and isn't blinded by bias could claim that Jobs was not extremely influential. Most of today's hardware and software, and the interaction between the two, came about because he was pushing things forward while naysayers kept trying to alternatively ignore or attack him while competitors shameless copied nearly everything he did. Even if you somehow missed all that, the claim "You can attribute [sic] him popularizing the personal computer but not much else." alone would be enough to make him one of the most important people in the history of technology.

Why is water blue

I followed the cited sources and they do not support the text of the article. In particular, http://inside.mines.edu/fs_home/dwu/classes/CH353/study/Why%20is%20Water%20Blue.pdf directly contradicts the claim of the article:

"...any simple answer is bound to mislead. It turns out that contributions to the observed color are made both by reflected skylight and by the intrinsic absorption..."

The text of the article is over simple and misleading. I'll try to correct that. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 14:20, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

I've corrected the article as per above. Upon further reading, it appears that the "controversy" can be boiled down to this:

Why does water in a lake or ocean appear blue?

A)Because it reflects the blue sky.

B)Because it has an intrinsic blue color due to absorption & scattering

C)The combination of A & B

The scientific literature says C. Both A and B are correct but incomplete answers. I'm not sure that it is fair to label either as a "misconception" unless the person giving the explanation asserts that A or B is the full and complete explanation. I'm not seeing anyone making this assertion, and although I haven't looked everywhere it's up to the article to provide a cite. Since the item contains no citation supporting that this is a common misconception I'm going to remove the section as not meeting the criteria for this article. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 14:05, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

Seconded.Dr bab (talk) 06:03, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Big Bang

To use the word "evolution" would be in error. The correct term should be "expansion". This is moreso an important distinction due to the prevalence of scientific illiteracy within certain religions and agenda-driven groups. It should be changed since so many zealots think biological evolution started with the cosmic event. To have the word remain in the article regarding the big bang, it would confuse the confused even more. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.70.80.179 (talk) 17:17, 29 July 2012 (UTC)

It should be made clear that no scientific theory claims that the universe came into being from nothing. The main model is that it started as a gravitational singularity that expanded in the Big Bang. The origin of the singularity is unknown. NavnUkjent (talk) 18:14, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

The BB Model does not say the universe started as a gravitational singularity. We don't know what it was at zero time because we don't have a physical law to describe that condition. We don't know if it was a singularity or not, nor do we know what was before that, or even if it is meaningful to talk about time before the universe began. Primium mobile (talk) 18:07, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Stephen Hawking maintains that the universe sprang from nothing, and that as time is a function of space, there was no "before". I also agree with 115.70.80.179, that the word "evolution" and "evolve" are unfortunate to use in this context. Petter Bøckman (talk) 07:05, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

The definition of evolve is "to develop gradually". What did the universe do, if not that? Did it just spring into being exactly as it is now? The answer is that it did not. It went through several distinct stages with each stage leading to the next, as it continues to do to this day. Just because some people may have an agenda doesn't mean that we should change the factual meaning of words to suit those people. Primium mobile (talk) 12:50, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

No-one here claim it is wrong, just that it is an unfortunate choice of words when there are other alternatives. The question of choosing words is not about "suiting them", rather to suit scientific consensus. Petter Bøckman (talk) 06:45, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

That's fine, if that's the reason you think it should be changed. That's not the reason the original post on this topic gave. The original post said, "To use the word "evolution" would be in error. The correct term should be "expansion". This is moreso an important distinction due to the prevalence of scientific illiteracy within certain religions and agenda-driven groups."

That not only says the use of the word is an error, but says that we should change our terminology because of what someone else doesn't understand. I'm all for teaching the proper science to those who don't grasp it, but you don't do that by changing words. Either they want to learn or they don't. On the other hand, if it is as you say, that the consensus is that it is not called evolution, it should be changed. But the correct term would not be "expansion". It's done a lot more than just expand. Primium mobile (talk) 11:59, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Human Sexuality

Since it was reverted after I removed it the first time, I wanted to justify in here why the following statement was removed from the "Human sexuality" section:

However, having sex immediately before a sporting event could, in theory, reduce performance; the human body releases a wave of oxytocin and other hormones that induce drowsiness after orgasm.

Serge Stoléru, Véronique Fonteille, Christel Cornélis, Christian Joyal, Virginie Moulier (11 June 2011). Functional neuroimaging studies of sexual arousal and orgasm in healthy men and women: A review and meta-analysis. Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews. Retrieved July 23, 2012.

The reason is that the reference does not specifically say anything like this - it doesn't mention oxytocin and it doesn't say anything about the effect on sports (neither in the abstract NOR in the full article, which I downloaded through my university). It might be worth including if this were a study on this specific topic, but even if this weren't uncited or original research, I still wouldn't favor the inclusion of this specific statement, as these sort of "it may be *theoretically* possible..." statements are the antithesis of this sort of list, as this kind of baseless speculation is one mechanism by which these kinds of myths can start. If you'd like to make a claim contrary to other evidence on the topic, I think you should provide some legitimate evidence for it. 0x0077BE (talk) 15:24, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Agreed, this is speculation at best, if a kind of informed speculation. What's worse, in some sporting events (sport shooting is just one example) relaxing helps your performance rather than hindering it. Hairhorn (talk) 16:02, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

One problem with the section on the black hole

It is true that the planets would not be sucked in by a black hole, but if the sun suddenly turned into a black hole then it would (assuming it maintains the mass) greatly decrease in radius. This decrease in radius would change the gravitational force applied by this black hole and completely change the orbits of all of the planets, and then possibly (sorry I did not have time to work out any math) affect some of the orbits enough that, given the current force vectors of the planets as of now (with the sun) the planets may eventually get pulled into the black hole (most likely not, it would require allot of simulation). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.141.151.177 (talk) 06:36, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Children Bodybuilding/Weightlifting does not stunt growth

It's still a pretty common misconception that children and early teenagers shouldn't engage in heavy weightlifting, lest they risk not fully growing. However, such idea is wrong. It may happen only when under very heavy weight pressure during squats, for instance, but otherwise, it is regarded mostly as a healthy exercise for children and teens, as long as it is done under proper supervision and with the right weights. Also, given that regular exercises increase the concentration of Growth Hormone, it could be said that bodybuilding exercises could in fact help with growth in early years. Sources: http://www.livestrong.com/article/255755-does-lifting-weights-stunt-childrens-growth/ http://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/BodyBuilding_And_Teenagers__Does_Weight_Lifting_Stunt_Growth__a2159.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.159.10.24 (talk) 14:26, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Citation needed

The entry that explains the meaning of the term "sushi" has [citiation needed] tags. This is a link to a comprehensive online Japanese/English dictionary that confirms the definition supplied. Could someone with permissions update the page to include this? --Chrisjander (talk) 12:15, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

Done. Thanks. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:42, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

Legislation and crime

Police are not legally required to give you one phone call upon arrest. They are only required to give you access if required to communicate with your attorney. The one phone call rule is purely a Hollywood invention. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Charlze71 (talk • contribs) 14:51, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

You are not immune from all prosecution if you are not read your Miranda Rights. Miranda Warnings only serve as a protection if you are about to be interrogated. If police fail to read you your Miranda Rights, they can still use any evidence they collected outside the interrogation.

Refusing to talk to police is not Obstruction of Justice. You are protected by your Fifth Amendment rights to not bare witness against yourself. At the moment a cop approaches you, you are not sure if you are a suspect or not and hence you are not in violation of the law for refusing to talk to them without due process. You can be arrested for Obstruction of Justice if you intentionally lie to, mislead police, destroy evidence, or otherwise intentionally screw up their investigation . Also, in many states you do have to identify yourself if asked, and you have to answer honestly (see Nebraska vs Heywood Jablome) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Charlze71 (talk • contribs) 15:05, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

Paul Revere did not yell "The British are coming!"

It is a common misconception that Paul Revere, a patriot to the American Revolution, yelled "the British are coming!" to warn the colonists of the approaching British ships. This is a misquotation. He actually said, "the regulars are coming" because colonists still considered themselves British, not American. 'Regulars' were loyalist British.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere

Glados123 (talk) 01:20, 9 August 2012 (UTC)glados123

Mac virus rates

The occurrence of Mac based viruses is not new, as the current entry suggests. (Source: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/10/03/mac-malware-history/ )

It is also not more common than Windows based viruses, if you compare numbers adjusted to the marketshare of the platform. 24.126.67.232 (talk) 13:02, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Update link to the main article about the origins of baseball

​

Apparently the heading in the original article that references this misconception changed to "Abner Doubleday myth", so the link should be updated from Origins of baseball to Origins of baseball (pointing to Origins of baseball#Abner Doubleday myth instead of Origins of baseball#Abner Doubleday misconception).

Flavioamieiro (talk) 20:53, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

I've updated the link. Thanks for noticing this. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 21:00, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Jesse Owens

There are many easily refutable myths and misconceptions surrounding Jesse Owens (and other black athletes) in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and Hitler supposedly "walking out" on their award ceremony. I believe this belongs in this article. When the sad reality is the black athletes were treated better in Nazi Germany than in the United States at the time. 76.120.17.197 (talk) 16:03, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Do you have reliable sources that demonstrate that these are "myths and misconceptions"?--ukexpat (talk) 16:25, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

German as official language of the USA

Can we have a section that informs about the fact that German was never clode to becoming the offical language of the United States of America (same goes for Dutch). This misconception is based on the Muhlenberg legens ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhlenberg_legend ). 62.169.4.90 (talk) 07:42, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

I have never in my life, in 18 years of school and 38 years of being alive, heard that German was close to becoming the official language of the US. In what way is this a common misconception? The United States doesn't even have an official language, although English is the de facto official language that has been used by the government for its entire existence. Primium mobile (talk) 12:38, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

I've never heard that before either. That said, just because two wikipedia editors haven't heard of it before doesn't mean it is not "common". But the onus is on the editor(s) to provide citations that it is "common". Absent those, it doesn't belong in the article. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:58, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Why was the Dark Ages section removed?

It was well sourced. But alas, anti-Catholicism prevails. 184.96.219.51 (talk) 17:43, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

When was it removed? Did the editor write an Edit summary? HiLo48 (talk) 19:50, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

I'm restoring it. Thanks for pointing it out -- LightSpectra (talk) 05:17, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, but... I didn't remove it or anything, but I dunno. Not an expert, but I always thought that "Dark Ages" only applied to the early Middle Ages. However, I'll grant that it's quite possibly true that the average man in the street Dark Ages == Middle Ages, so yeah, I suppose it's OK on that basis. Herostratus (talk) 05:52, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

It is only meant to mean the early middle ages, but that's still a misconception. Modern scholars almost universally reject that notion. -- LightSpectra (talk) 09:50, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

There is a lack of sourcing for the claim that "It is also erroneously claimed that the Roman Catholic Church suppressed scientific advancement during this era" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.220.55.210 (talk) 16:06, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

This is stupid. That the Roman Catholic Church has been blamed for suppressed scientific advancement is very' commonly stated. Heck, I even learned that at school. As long as we have a source for the opposite, we should be fine. Petter Bøckman (talk) 16:25, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

And the source for claiming that the church 'didn't' supress some forms of scientific knowledge is? Don't even think of using Tim O'Neill or James Hamaan either.......And yes, although the consensus is now that the term Dark Ages are something of a misnomer, you will note that the list of Roman Catholic Cleric Scientists does not contain a single person dating from before the 12th century, so how this disproves any notion of a demise in the scentific method after the fall of the Western Roman Empire is anybodys guess. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.43.227.18 (talk) 03:04, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

The Dark Ages have several related meanings. As far as I know, the original term was coined in British history to cover the time from the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain until the Norman conquest. The "dark" par refer to the lack of written sources from the period (i.e. "Historical darkness"). In my own language, the similar term mørke middelalder refer to the later medieval period, from about 1350 and onward, a period where the plague depopulated the already thinly inhabited Scandinavian peninsula. The use of the term "dark ages" to cover the whole of the medieval period (c 6th to 16th century) seems to be an American use. The three sources in the text all use the Dark Ages as in British scholarship, i.e for the early part. I think a revision and some more sources is in order. Petter Bøckman (talk) 10:27, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

I might have been the one deleting this and I will happily do it again. The reasons given are still valid (search for the edit summaries). Among them are: mostly unsourced, sources do not back "by most". It is in fact just the claim of one author. No source for a common misconception at all (criteria, bullet 2). Strictly speaking, from the wording, the common misconception would have to be "most modern historians classify the European era between the decline of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance as the "Dark Ages". This of course is not true. The intended common misconception/truth is probably "the dark ages were (not) dark and the church is (not) nice" but we are not even near that with sources and wording. And for those who are willing to do some further research: The dark ages article uses the same bad sources that are being used here, added by the same POV warrior, but the wording there is much more careful since experts on the topic are more likely to come by and object. And to add some of my own POV: claiming "significant advances" compared to ancient roman and greek times after the wilfull destruction of this ancient knowledge is detestable. Even the catholic church can only go up from zero. --Echosmoke (talk) 00:19, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I have to agree about the current wording and the lack of a source identifying a clearly defined proposition as a 'common misconception' or some equivilent.Number36 (talk) 01:23, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Anything further to add on this? As it stands I think the above tends to support removal.Number36 (talk) 20:16, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Removing the current Dark Ages entry? Sorry, I'm a bit confused. What we have there now is clearly not anti-Catholic; it appears this discussion morphed from a previous version. Am I missing something here?JoelWhy (talk) 20:23, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the anti-Catholic aspect was, I'm not concerned with it for any reason relating to it in any case. I'm referring to the reasons Echosmoke gives above. At present the wording seems to assert that the common misconception is that; Modern historians generally classify the European era between the decline of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance as the Dark Ages.Number36 (talk) 20:47, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes, the section has been restored and then edited. I think, as it stands now it is okay. The church is no longer mentioned and I would suggest that it should get its own bullet IF suitable sources come with it. --92.202.7.41 (talk) 17:46, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Music: Earth Wind and Fire

The chorus of the popular "Earth Wind and Fire" song "September" says "ba de ya" as contrary to "party on" as many people believe. I think this should be included in the article. Should it be? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jodapop (talk • contribs) 01:19, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Do you have reliable sources that demonstrate that this is a misconception?--ukexpat (talk) 04:24, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

The following paragraph comes from http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=12918 . "Although many people hear the first words in the chorus as "Party On," it's really "Bada-Ya." Willis explains: "I absolutely could not deal with lyrics that were nonsensical, or lines that weren't complete sentences. And I'm exceedingly happy that I lost that attitude. I went, 'You cannot leave bada-ya in the chorus, that has to mean something.' Maurice said, 'No, that feels great. That's what people are going to remember. We're leaving it.' We did try other stuff, and it always sounded clunky - thank God."

Does that work? Jodapop (talk) 05:09, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

songfacts.com is not a reliable source, so no. And even if this was reliably sourced, there are thousands of songs with misunderstood lyrics; were we to include all of them here the article would be way too long. Perhaps such a list would make a good separate article, although any entries would have to cite reliable sources Mr. Swordfish (talk) 16:06, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Naming of America

I understand that a number of historians disagree with the idea that America was named after Amerigo Vespucio. They cite the facts that only Kings got places named after their first names as the primary reason to doubt the story. Can we get a citation for the claim? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.31.72.202 (talk) 22:56, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Look at our Amerigo Vespucci article, specifically note 2. Looie496 (talk) 16:18, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Black holes

The Aug. 3 Science magazine says, "The popular conception of black holes reflects the behavior of the massive black holes found by astronomers and described by classical general relativity. These objects swallow up whatever comes near and emit nothing." [11] This seems to contradict the article. Is the popular conception right or wrong? Roger (talk) 04:03, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

I realize that this language has been tweaked a few times, but I suggest removing the item. Even the source says that the vacuum cleaner concept has merit, and the second source is a dead link. Roger (talk) 19:20, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

The common misconception is that black holes have this super-sucking ability, but in reality it's no different from any other source of gravity. That's what the misconception is about. The reference to 'merit' has to do with something escaping the black hole which isn't a misconception. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 19:39, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Also, there are other sources.[12][13][14] A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:44, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Evolution

Charles Darwin did not "discover" evolution, he postulated Natural Selection as a possible mechanism to explain adaptation. Previous attempts at explaining evolution and specifically adaptation famously include the Lamarckian theory. Similarly, as postulated by Kimura, the majority of inheritable changes at both the genotype and phenotype levels is neutral (i.e., it does not lead to adaptation), so most of evolution is actually non-Darwinian. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sojovictor (talk • contribs)

True. The fact that plants and animals had changed through the aeons were already know, having been discovered when increased mining, channel excavation and tunnelling at the onset of the industrial revolution brought numerous fossils to light at the beginning of the century. It had been suspected even longer, Darwin's grandfather Erasmus hinting at it in his Zoonomia. Young Charles was really only the first to come up with a reasonable and testable (hence scientific) theory explaining how. Petter Bøckman (talk) 22:12, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

Is there some proposed change to the article? If not,this discussion is off-topic. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 02:08, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Isn't the OP suggesting these misconceptions: 1)Darwin discovered evolution 2)Evolution's only cause is natural selection, and possibly 3) The theory of evolution hasn't changed since Darwin's time? As always, we need a source that says that the misconception is a common one. IMO, however, none of these are really common.Sjö (talk) 06:23, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the misconception that Darwin invented the concept of evolution is common, but I don't know a source to cite. Looie496 (talk) 16:21, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Junk DNA no longer consider junk

Per here [15]. Wondering if this should be added here. The nature article [16] Doc James (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 12:56, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Are you suggesting there's a common misconception about non-coding DNA? Seems unlikely. Hairhorn (talk) 16:38, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

There are certainly lots of misconceptions about non-coding DNA, but they are too diverse to summarize cleanly. Also there are many in the scientific community who think that the accounts we have seen recently are not entirely accurate. People interested in this issue might want to look at some of the recent discussion at Talk:ENCODE. Looie496 (talk) 18:08, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

The junk DNA is not junk. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 18:38, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

That's not so clear. A large fraction of our DNA consists of transposons, virus fragments, and methylated relicts of no-longer-used genes. The fact that much of that has some level of biological activity doesn't necessarily mean that the word "junk" is inappropriate. For a well-written discussion of this issue, see Reports of Junk DNA's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated. Looie496 (talk) 18:47, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Hum so he disagrees with the nature piece. I guess we need to wait until things clear up more first. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 19:04, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

There's a bit of a dilemma here in adding scientific misconceptions: how common a misconception is tends to vary inversely with the amount of scientific knowledge needed to acquire the misconception in the first place. (If you've never heard of junk DNA, you can hardly have mistaken ideas about it.) So entries that have passed the bar of being "common" enough are pretty elementary: "Bulls aren't angered by the colour red", "Lemmings do not commit mass suicide", "Humans and dinosaurs did not live together", etc. (Arguably, some of the evolution entries currently on the page aren't common, but I'll leave that to someone else.) There is already a link on the page to the more focused Common misunderstandings of genetics where the status of junk DNA is discussed. Hairhorn (talk) 19:25, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Okay should reasonable. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 06:10, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

Maillard reaction.

It is questionable whether the Maillard reaction has anything to do with searing or browning, since the reaction requires amino acids (present in meat, obviously) but also reducing sugars which beef doesn't really have any. Most sources on the subject talk about it without realizing that beef has no sugar, they just mention it en passant.

186.205.222.105 (talk) 01:40, 17 September 2012 (UTC)Carlos Daniel Llosa

Coca-Cola

It's a misconception that the original Coca-Cola created by John Pemberton contained cocaine. The Coca-Cola Company denies this. 76.120.17.197 (talk) 21:10, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

The history of cocaine in Coca Cola is well sourced in the Coca Cola article. You would need to provide a reliable source that proves this is a misconception. ~Amatulić (talk) 21:49, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Irregardless

I don't think there's any misconception around the (non-?)word "irregardless". For one thing, the source cited as saying there is doesn't seem to be anything special, and is certainly nowhere near as authoritative as the OED, which is the source given for the received view! But more importantly, I don't think the two "sides" described in this article disagree about any concrete facts, only about how best to characterize them; it's more of a dispute between descriptive and prescriptive theories of grammar than a factual matter one side is wrong about. 50.72.196.97 (talk) 04:00, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

This listing, as written, had me confused. The misconception, if there is any, seems to be that "Irregardless is not a word". The source we have that this is a misconception is a typical blog-source, "Top Ten Grammar Myths". With the statement in the OED that "it is regarded as incorrect in standard English", I think there might be enough doubt surrounding this one that it might drop. I still did a quick rephrasing however. Dr bab (talk) 05:44, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

There is a lot of more sources over at Irregardless i now see. But it seems as if the last statement of the original poster is valid: This is more of a debate between grammar bunks than a clear cut case of misconception vs. fact. I lean towards dropping this unless we have some better sources that this is indeed a misconception. From Irregardless it also seems as this is an American phenomenon, this information could be added if we decide to keep it. Dr bab (talk) 05:49, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Give me a break, the source for this misconception, "Grammar Girl", lists " “I.e.” and “e.g.” mean the same thing. " as #5 on her top-ten grammar myths list. Dr bab (talk) 05:51, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

I think the section is very good as it stands, and Dr bab's recent edit is an improvement over what was there before. I find Mignon Fogarty a credible source as an expert in the field, although since her blog is self-published it is on the weak side by wiki source standards. I'll add some cites to more reliable sources.

I'm not sure what the beef is about e.g. vs. i.e. - the two abbreviations mean different things, but are often used interchangably by writers who don't know the difference. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 14:33, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

My beef is that incorrect language is not a misconception. Dr bab (talk) 07:39, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

The misconception is that there is some magical body authorizing what is and isn't a word. Utterances with accepted meanings are words, which is why dictionary makers are largely not prescriptivists. ¦ Reisio (talk) 04:14, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

I restored this section after someone deleted it. It clearly meets the 5 criteria for inclusion. If you have any doubt that many people currently think irregardless is not a word, try this google search https://www.google.com/search?q=%22irregardless+there+is+no+such+word%22&num=30 which returns some 14000 hits. So clearly many people currently believe it. The other question is whether it's untrue, i.e. whether it's a word or not. Since irregardless appears in just about every dictionary it must be a word. For instance it appeears in:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/irregardless, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/irregardless http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/irregardless http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/irregardless http://www.yourdictionary.com/irregardless http://www.beedictionary.com/definition/irregardless http://www.scrabblefinder.com/word/irregardless/ http://www.allwords.com/word-irregardless.html http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/irregardless http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/irregardless http://www.lexic.us/definition-of/irregardless

Plus the two paper dictionaries here on my desk (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary and Webster's New World Dictionary).

"Krunflemon", "Spruntex", and "Obeigint" are examples of things that are not words. (I just made them up). "Irregardless" while considered non-standard or incorrect is in every dictionary of the English language I've consulted.

I agree with Resio above that the real mis-conception is that there are some gatekeepers who decide whether to bar certain utterances as unworthy to qualify as words, but I'm not sure how to put that into this article. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 15:32, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Mr swordfish, your idea that "irregardless" must be a word because it appears in the dictionary is a fallacy. In order to stay in business, a common trend is for "dictionaries of English" to expand their scope to become "dictionaries of English and English slang". In fact, one of the sources you just mentioned, [17], says that "irregardless is an erroneous word". Read it. Your use of google is also less than convincing. "Pwnz" has just as many hits... is that a word? A more relevant statistic IMO is the Corpus of Contemporary American English. In this search, "regardless" is 300 times more common than "irregardless".

If you think the "irregardless myth" has a strong case, I would suggest arguing for it in Talk:Common English usage misconceptions. With that article mentioning "English usage" in the title, it is at least clear to the reader going in that some of the misconceptions listed are going to be vague and debatable. When it comes to this article, the most it should say is something like "Misconception: English has definite criteria for determining which words are part of the language". Connor Behan (talk) 18:52, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

I'm trying to figure out what you are objecting to. Are you questioning whether the belief is sufficiently common to warrant entry here, or are you challenging that the claim is actually incorrect? Both are supported by reliable sources, so I fail to understand your objection. To address your comments:

> your idea that "irregardless" must be a word because it appears in the dictionary is a fallacy.

Really? How so? Care to elaborate on what the criteria for being a word is?

Dictionaries are written by professional linguists (i.e. experts in their field), the term "dictionary" means a "list of words", so an entry in a dictionary means that the compiler of that dictionary thinks that that entry is a word. Now, not all dictionary writers agree on every word (and sometimes words are omitted for space reasons rather than because they are not words), but in this case the verdict appears to be unanimous.

a common trend is for "dictionaries of English" to expand their scope to become "dictionaries of English and English slang"

This is not a "trend" it's what dictionaries have always been.

Your use of google is also less than convincing. "Pwnz" has just as many hits

The search I gave is for the exact phrase "irregardless there is no such word" and used to demonstrate the large number of people have recently made that statement. A search for just the word "irregardless" would bring back many many more results.

"Pwnz" has just as many hits... is that a word?

I don't know. Perhaps. If the editors of dictionaries start including it, then it is. Admittedly, there's a gray area for emerging words like this. For irregardless, which has been around for over a century and is included in every dictionary of English I've ever checked it's not at all gray.

one of the sources you just mentioned, [18], says that "irregardless is an erroneous word". Read it.

Please do not insinuate that I don't read my own citations. To address the issue at hand, an erroneous word is still a word. Whether you call it "erroneous" or "non-standard" or "irregular" or "highly informal, if not flat-out wrong", it's still a word.

A more relevant statistic IMO is the Corpus of Contemporary American English. In this search, "regardless" is 300 times more common than "irregardless".

I fail to see any relevance here at all. Sure, "regardless", which is the standard accepted form of the term will be more common, but what does that have to do with anything? Should we argue that "reify" of "epibenthos" are not words because they fail to achieve some minimum CCAE score?

"Misconception: English has definite criteria for determining which words are part of the language".

It's not as simple as you make it sound. Is "the" a word? I doubt you'd find anyone saying it isn't. Are we to say that we can't be sure whether "the" is a word because there's no criteria for determining whether it is or not? If we go down this road, we might as well give up because then there's no way of knowing anything. Our job as Wikipedia editors is to research what's presented in reliably sourced publications and share that with our readers. In this case, there are reliable sources stating very clearly that irregardless is a word, and also reliably sourced citations of people with the misconception that it isn't. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 20:12, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Fair enough. I try to avoid relativism on Wikipedia, but here I don't see any other option. Word-ness in English is undefined and as soon as we try to state a misconception around it, we oursevles fall victim to the misconception that Fogarty, Brians or the author of some dictionary is a an authoritative gatekeeper on what becomes a word. If there were a faction of people out there who said that "the" is not a word and instead used the word that historically preceded "the", I do not think that they would be under a misconception. I'm sure there are many who feel comfortable saying that "the" is absolutely a word and hold my views to be radical. That is fine... but I want to make it clear that even within this mindset, there is still doubt as to whether "irregardless" is common enough.

I was under the false impression that you searched for "irregardless" on its own. Sorry for not reading carefully. But I searched for "irregardless" and for "pwnz" and they both came up with ~1.5 million results. Not only that, but many uses of "irregardless" (we are adding to the total with every post in this talk page) are pejorative. Some things that are words like "reify" and "epibenthos" that you mention have fallen into disuse. But even the people who have commonality as the only word criterion consider them to be words for reasons of historical posterity. If they were always as uncommon as they are now, then I would argue that they are just as questionable as "irregardless". This discussion is getting pedantic, but that is one of my points. In order to list "irregardless" as a misconception here in an unbiased way, its inclusion would have to be endlessly qualified. Common English usage misconceptions is a better venue for doing this.

Basically my point is this: It is not safe to say that something is a word unless it is almost unanimously accepted. By definition this means that any misconceptions about it are not allowed to be common misconceptions. Connor Behan (talk) 21:29, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Eating and Swimming

"Eating less than an hour before swimming does not increase the risk of experiencing muscle cramps or drowning. One study shows a correlation between alcohol consumption and drowning, but there is no evidence cited regarding stomach cramps or the consumption of food."

It is actually true that swimming shortly after eating can cause muscle cramps or vomit. It happens due to the lack of the necessary blood in the muscles since it is being used by the muscles of the stomach. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.23.101.81 (talk) 22:56, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Do you have a reliable source for your assertion? --Dweller (talk) 15:41, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Astronomy

"Seasons are not caused by the Earth being closer to the Sun in the summer than in the winter." I find it difficult to accept that anyone actually believes this. Anyone above the age of 10, that is. (Even if one doesn't know the cause of seasons, surely the fact that the two hemispheres experience opposite seasons simultaneously would indicate that this cannot be true). Can someone either show a source that indicates that this is a "common misconception," or rather remove it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kmasters0 (talk • contribs) 10:04, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

The fact that this is a common misconception is supported by the cite http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach/sunearthmiscons.html which says: "This is by far the most common misconception about the relationship between Sun and Earth..." Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:46, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Should be added. Petter Bøckman (talk) 07:01, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

It's already there. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:19, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Well, I never... I apologise and, very sadly, stand corrected. (Not sad to be corrected, but sad that this really is a misconception). I wonder how these people explain the fact that, when it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere (June/July), it's winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Kmasters0 (talk) 15:50, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

What gives you the idea that these people know that when it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it's winter in the Southern Hemisphere? Mr. Swordfish (talk) 19:31, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

When the earth is closer to the sun, both hemispheres are closer to the sun. So, if Summer is caused by the earth being closer to the sun, then, both hemispheres have to experience Summer at the same time. (And, when the earth is further way from the sun, both hemispheres have to experience Winter at the same time. It's the very fact that the two hemispheres experience opposite seasons that alerts us to the fact Summer can't be caused by the earth being closer to the sun during Summer than during Winter. ) Kmasters0 (talk) 09:56, 30 September 2012 (UTC)

Ah, sorry, I mis-read your question, and thought you were asking "What gives you the idea that these people DON'T know that when..." Looking again at your question, I realise that you're right - I made the assumption that they knew that there were opposite seasons. And we know what assumptions is the mother of :-) Kmasters0 (talk) 12:18, 30 September 2012 (UTC)

Mantis Conservation Status

Mantis#Conservation_status states that "There is a long-standing American urban legend that killing a praying mantis is illegal and subject to a fine. The origin of this myth is unknown but may have originated due to the low number of sightings of mantis and because of how beneficial they are to gardens in which they live.[18]" This is cited to Snopes.com. I believe that this misconception should be added to the article, but I would like a second opinion.Max Stardust (talk) 07:06, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I like this question - it opens the can of worms that is this article. Is something that is an urban legend in America a "common" misconception? What if it was an urban legend in a less populous country, like, say, Mongolia? What about Panama? Luxembourg? Milton Keynes? Some kid's school? --Dweller (talk) 15:57, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

This has been discussed before, and was an argument in Afd-debates. I don't think a conclusion was reached, although I tink consensus was probably leaning towards misconceptions from any geographic region being legit (see Korean Ceiling Fans), as long as they are sourceable as "common" in that geographic region. The region should be specified in the text. On the other hand, it seems as if consensus is strongly against misconceptions common among groups of among people defined by "non-geographic properties", such as particle physicists or chemistry students.

For this specific case though, is snopes.com a Reliable Source? Perhaps look to the snopes-article in question and see what it cites, if it is only blogs and the like, or whether there are any with more substance. Dr bab (talk) 07:12, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

I like this question - it opens no can of worms whatsoever, and is straightforwardly worked out. First, I argued that only the sources (not we editors) state "common" or words to that effect; they should if possible state locale. Second, during the AfD discussions, there was agreement that strong sourcing was critical to this article's credibility. The inclusion criteria emphasize sourcing here and in the main topic article ("with sources" - plural). The main Mantis article cites only Snopes, which can be okay if they cite multiple sources, but in this case, Snopes cites one popular-press (not scholarly) book. Conclusion: I'd exclude this for now as insufficiently sourced, as a common misconception.

As an aside, Straight Dope [19] cites no sources. Interestingly, the mantis is state insect [20] in two states, Connecticut [21] and South Carolina [22][23][24]. No mention of a penalty for killing a mantis, beyond dirty looks from gardeners and farmers. Oh, wait, the Praying Mantis Police Department will nab you and rough you up but good [25]. --Lexein (talk) 15:51, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

Manhattan Island was not purchased for $24.

According to tradition, Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from Native Americans on May 24, 1626 for goods to the value of 60 Dutch guilders, which in the 19th century was estimated to be the equivalent of $1000 USD. 76.120.17.197 (talk) 15:33, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

Gyroscopic forces, bicycles, and "look, Ma, no hands."

However the gyroscopic tendency of the front (steering) wheel to respond to a lean to the left with by steering left (and vice-versa) is essential to riding with no hands. I might go into the problems of riding a bicycle backwards, but that would be original research. But try it. 71.175.133.100 (talk) 00:37, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Misconceptions about ovulation

A lot of people have a misconception about how ovulation works. While it's true that once an egg is released, it survives for about 24 hours, they fail to consider that sperm can stay active inside the female body for up to 5 days or so. The figures may not be static, but the point is, people are getting it wrong. It's a common misconception that people have that a woman can only get pregnant for one or two days a month. Is there written proof of this as a misconception, and if so, can we include the truth in this article?StrangeApparition2011 (talk) 23:06, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Viruses on Macs

I believe the entry should be edited to include something along the lines of, "This misconception started because Macintosh computers, like Linux computers, were so rare that nefarious programmers would never bother writing viruses for them, instead focusing on the far more popular Windows OS. Now that Macintosh computers are becoming commonplace, viruses are being written for them." This wording is a little lengthy, but I believe the point needs to be made. Don't just state the misconception... explain WHY it's wrong. 71.203.170.181 (talk) 03:36, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

0.99999.... (again)

An addition was just made to this about infinitesimals:

This notwithstanding, the two different ways of expressing the same number can have unique uses, such as when dealing with infinitesimal numbers. (Take, for instance, the example of the asymptotes of the equation xy = c, where c is any positive real number. The value of y where x = (1−0.̅9̅), a positive infinitesimal, is positive infinity, whereas the value of y where x = (0.̅9̅−1), a negative infinitesimal, is negative infinity.) Infinitesimal and infinite quantities, however, are not considered real numbers.

I feel this goes beyond simply explaining the misconception, and is unwarranted in this list. I propose replacing the above with

(But see also infinitesimals).

where the wiki-link could perhaps point to the infinitesimals section of the 0.999... article. Or simply remove it. Dr bab (talk) 06:48, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

I would go farther and snip the entry to say only

Contrary to a widespread perception, the real number 0.̅9̅—where the decimal point is followed by an infinite sequence of nines is exactly equal to 1. They are two different ways of writing the same real number. To help understand that it is the case, consider that 1/3 (or .333...) + 1/3 (.333...) + 1/3 (.333...) equals 1 as well as .999... (repeating).

With the rest of it in the cites/footnotes (Weller's study etc.). These entries are supposed to have an article of their own, and that's the place to elaborate; this article is best when the entries are short synopses rather than the definitive exposition on the subject. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 16:18, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

This has been discussed at length, and with much gnashing of teeth, it was left out. The four criteria at top and shown in edit mode should all be met. --Lexein (talk) 17:04, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean by this comment. Agree that this entry has generated a lot of discussion, but I'm not seeing this particular issue having been discussed. Do you agree or disagree with either of the proposed abridgments? Do you think the recent addition of the material on infinitesimals improves the article? Mr. Swordfish (talk) 19:06, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

I would like to know which criteria Lexein believes is not being met. To my understanding, the only ones who refuse to believe this to be true are those who can't really wrap their head around the concept of "infinity." In fact, I believe that to be a worthy addition to this page: "Through misunderstanding, some people believe 'infinity' to be an incredibly large number - the largest possible. In truth it is not a number at all, but rather a concept; the idea that something can never end and continue forever." 71.203.170.181 (talk) 03:34, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

Through misunderstanding, some people believe 'infinity' to be an incredibly large number - the largest possible. In truth it is not a number at all, but rather a concept; the idea that something can never end and continue forever.

I would not put that in the article. Transfinite numbers are most certainly numbers, and the length of the expression .99999... is the smallest possible transfinite number, .

I have some qualms about this entry; I see it more as a question that most people get wrong when asked rather than a wrong idea that a lot of people carry around and repeat. That said, it seems that there are enough people who when given the correct answer stubbornly refuse to accept it that it may meet the criteria for common misconception. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 12:15, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

Frankly, I'd like to re-iterate my position from Archive 17 (didn't use a standard pipelink because I guess those break for talk pages in old archives), that the 0.999... section be removed entirely. It was actually removed for about 5 months and restored last month with a note erroneously interpreting a comment I made about Archive 15 as my justification for removing the 0.999... section, when in fact I had removed the section based on the discussion we had there in Archive 17.

Unless there's a strong and reasoned objection, I'm going to remove it again. It really doesn't fit in with the definition of "common misconception" that we've been using, because the only people who believe that it's not true are doing so in defiance of a mathematical proof. To quote the CWenger definition we were using, "a misconception is something that people know, but is actually incorrect—not something they answer incorrectly when it is presented to them." 0.999... is very clearly an example of the latter, with the only minor exception that sometimes they refuse to believe the answer even when it has been proven. 0x0077BE (talk) 03:11, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

I agree with 0x007BE. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 03:37, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

I agree completely with CWengers definition, and with Mr. Swordfish's application of it in this case. Dr bab (talk) 06:41, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

Xmas

Another supporting piece of evidence: The name of Oslo, Norway was Christiania from 1624 to 1924 (since ca 1877 also written as Kristiania). In the latter part of the 19 century a common abbreviation for the city's name seems to have been "Xania". In the public herbarium of the Botanical museum in Oslo (now: Naturhistorisk museum) there are plenty of herbarium sheets with labels stating "Xania" as the city name. The abbreviation is also mentioned in the Norwegian Wikipedia article about Oslo (). This supports the idea that "X-" has been a common way to represent "Christ-".

79.161.198.9 (talk) 12:29, 18 October 2012 (UTC) Jan Wesenberg, Oslo

I like how Mr.Swordfish put it regarding the 0.999... entry above:

"These entries are supposed to have an article of their own, and that's the place to elaborate; this article is best when the entries are short synopses rather than the definitive exposition on the subject."

From that point of view I would encourage you to take this to the Xmas page and try and get it included there, and leave this entry in its current form for brevity. Dr bab (talk) 13:14, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

Golden Age

Should Golden age be added to the article? Many people think they actually refer to concrete periods in history - actual things with descrete start and end points, when in reality they are just arbitrary terms invented by historians to help them out when discussing the rise and fall of cultures, or by other people when retrospectively looking at history to compare it to the modern day. It can also refer to a myriad of different things, and hence as a metaphor for "period of luxuriousness", is very vague in its definition.--Coin945 (talk) 04:50, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Have a look at the section at the top of this page titled Please read before proposing new entries. See if your suggestion fits those criteria. HiLo48 (talk) 05:54, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Sorry about that. I got a bit ahead of myself.--Coin945 (talk) 16:54, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

Source for misconception:

• "A golden age is a time in a specific culture when cultural advancements are at their highest point. For example, many refer to the Golden Age of Classical Greece as a time in the 5th century BCE when literature, drama, philosophy, art and politics were most inspired. These ages are often followed by a decline, where new cultural products are derivative and less inspired and where politics begin to veer off from their initial course. If golden ages could be graphed, they would be the high point, the top of the bell on a bell curve, or the apex of a society." [26] <-- and other sources like it.

Sources for fact:

• "In a sense using the term golden age is often nostalgic and overly romanticized, particularly in history. For example, not all people benefited during the Golden Age of Classical Greece. In particular, slaves and women had few personal or political rights. However, generally, these time periods are simply a sort of cultural explosion occurs where new developments, and new ideas that benefit society as a whole happen with great rapidity."[27]
• "Pimlott believes that when historians commentate on the past, it is consequently a commentary of the present and, ‘thus the account of a past golden age of harmony is a way of underlining a sense of insecurity about the political debate today.’" [28]
• "Feminists have invented a “golden age,” a utopian narrative fantasizing a time when women were free." [29]
• "Historians are called upon to rediscover and reconstruct a past, often a golden age, which frequently does not respond with reality".[30]
• "By referring to its golden age, the nationalist intellectuals tend to rediscover the glorious past of their nation 'for which they wished to secure political recognition'"[31] (same source as above)
• "both nations highlighted collective by referring to their golden age in order to shape powerful concepts and myths of the common (ethnic) past which would capture the imaginations of the members of their nations". [32] (same source as above... and there are many more great pieces of evidence in that source).
• "Myth of the golden age etc...." [33]

This really doesn't feel like a sufficiently specific myth to me. It sounds like a lot of the opposition to the term is because it wasn't a utopia for everyone, but that the periods are indeed called that by historians for specific reasons. I think this can be distinguished from the corresponding myth about the "Dark Ages" because the conception of the "Dark Ages" is so very different from the reality of the situation. I could see it being included if you were to, say, refute a common misconception like, "People think that there was less crime/prostitution/etc in the past but in fact there was more per capita" or something like that where it's pretty clear, but this just seems like a concept that's under debate in the relevant field to me. 0x0077BE (talk) 22:07, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

The term "Golden Age" has a number of related meanings (much like "Dark Age"), so that the problem with the term is not that it isn't a period as such, rather that is is loosely applied to a number of periods, usually some period in the past where things are perceived as having been better. My personal favourite is "The Gloden Age of Science", which by all measures is now. I agree it is not specific enough to warrant a listing as a misconception, unless the technical criteria for inclusion in this article is met. The "things are only going downhill" or "everything was better before" misconception could be included though, we have some very good sources by Pinker (e.g, The Better Angels of Our Nature) for this being a common idea and also it being wrong. Petter Bøckman (talk) 07:37, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

Agree with 0x0077BE. A misconception should have a clear distinction between the "wrong" of the misconception and the "right" of reality. The examples cited above for "fact" does not seem to refute the concept of the "misconception": That at a period in time "literature, drama, philosophy, art and politics were most inspired". Instead, they seem to be opposed to the use of "Golden Age" to describe such a period, because to them there are far too many other problems with the period that it justifies the term "golden".

Furthermore, there is no mention at Golden age (metaphor) about a misconception or a misapplication of the term (criteria #3), nor does any of the sources actually establish that this is a common misconception (criteria #2). I am sure that in specific fields, the application of the term "Golden Age" be more clearly a misnomer than in others, but in such a case that specific misconception would have to be the topic of its own entry (in which case it could be hard to argue that it is "common"). In general, this looks more like a difference in opinion about what exactly one means by the term "Golden Age". (I.e., is it the high water mark of a civilisation/art movement/sport, or is it a utopia?)

However, I'd like to commend the original poster with providing so many sources, and almost feel bad about my negativity here, but this really doesn't belong here. If you wish to include anything about this on Wikipedia, Golden age (metaphor) could be the place to start.Dr bab (talk) 07:55, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

I have elaborated Golden age (metaphor) a bit, I hope this addresses some of the topics brought up by Coin945. Petter Bøckman (talk) 10:21, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

I trust your judgement wholeheartedly, although it still seems to me like there is a bit=g difference between a defined period in history with essential "golden" elements (meaning the period in history is by definition golden), and whether it is just a way to retrospectively interpret the past in an ideological manner in order to make some sort of statement about the present. I.e. , a period is only a "golden age" once we have moved onto something worse, rather than people at the time realising that they were witnissing the "golden age" of ___. Well at least that's my take on it anyway...--Coin945 (talk) 15:23, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

I don't think even something being in the past is a necessary requirement. We are apparently living in the "Golden Age of Science" right now. Petter Bøckman (talk) 13:17, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Notice of RFC

Talk:Common_English_usage_misconceptions#RfC:_Hyphens.2FDashes_misconception From Wikipedia:RFC:

To get more input, you may publicize the RfC by posting a notice at one or more of the following locations:

• Talk pages of closely related articles or policies

Please help improve this related article. Comments should be placed at that Talk page rather than here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr swordfish (talk • contribs) 21:43, 30 October 2012

Since it's a notice, I've boldly tidied. --Lexein (talk) 18:06, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Sushi

You may consider adding that, while the kanji 鮓 does mean "vinegared rice," 鮨, meaning "delicious rice," is the most common character used in kanji compounds, such as in 鮨屋 "sushi shop." Furthermore, 寿司, roughly meaning "bureaucratic longevity," is by far the most common and popular noun form of the word sushi. The reason for this is the auspicity of the kanji 寿 "long, happy life." 司 is simply added as a common kanji representing the sound "shi."--Dustin Asby (talk) 18:05, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

This article is about misconceptions. What misconception are you attempting to address here? Primium mobile (talk) 14:55, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Spaghetti bolognese

Several popular misconceptions here:

• that so-called Spaghetti alla Bolognese comes from Bologna;
• that ragù is commonly eaten with spaghetti in Bologna;
• that bolognese sauce is tomato (rather than meat) based.

—MistyMorn (talk) 21:50, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

I think I am a fairly well-read person, and I have never in my life heard of anything that you are talking about. I don't think that any misconceptions about Bologna are common in the English-speaking world. For something to be a misconception you need to have knowledge of it in the first place. For something to be common you need a sizeable percentage of the population taking part. These have neither. Primium mobile (talk) 15:00, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Primium mobile, you clearly have a rather high opinion of your own general knowledge. I too think I am a "fairly well-read person", but I am in absolutely no doubt at all that there is a vast amount of reliable information on Wikipedia of which I am completely ignorant. May I gently suggest that you peruse the page Bolognese sauce and perhaps reexamine some of your preconceptions in the light of WP:WORLDVIEW? Although I have no sure way of telling, I think I can safely assume that you have indeed heard of a dish commonly known as spaghetti bolognese (or spaghetti alla bolognese, or something similar) [34]. If you haven't I would suggest you are in a minority in the English-speaking world, outside Asia at least. I also rather doubt that you know many non-Italians (or people who haven't travelled in Italy) who don't think so-called spaghetti bolognese comes from Bologna; who don't think that ragù is commonly eaten with spaghetti in Bologna; and, perhaps, who are not under the false impression [35] that genuine bolognese sauce can be tomato-based rather than meat-based. I look forward to your considered response. —MistyMorn (talk) 16:59, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

As Primum mobile points out, there are no sources cited for this "misconception". Please see the criteria at the top of the talk page. In addition, if we're going to include an entry for every ethnic dish that is prepared in an inauthentic manner outside of its country of origin, this will be a very long article. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 18:00, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

This may be another case of equating "common misconception" with "common misconception about x"; these are not the same thing at all. (There are common misconceptions about multivariable calculus, no one would suggest they are common misconceptions). Hairhorn (talk) 18:11, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Fwiw, I did actually read the criteria:

• The common misconception's main topic has an article of its own.
  See Bolognese sauce / Spaghetti bolognese
• The item is reliably sourced, both with respect to the factual contents of the item and the fact that it is a common misconception.
  For the actual word "misconception, I'm not sure whether a Slow Food webpage [36] meets WP:RS. Also, this [37][38] from WineCountry.it.
• The common misconception is mentioned in its topic article with sources.
  Yes
• The common misconception is current, as opposed to ancient or obsolete.
  Yes

While the pragmatic concern about page length is understandable, the question has to be asked how a judgement can be fairly called that an entry on one internationally known food (sushi [39], say) is noteworthy while an entry on another (eg Spaghetti alla Bolognese) is not. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the spaghetti bolognese misconception has been listed in the past [40] for several months. It was eventually removed with a somewhat complex edit summary [41].

—MistyMorn (talk) 19:24, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

MistyMorn... to begin with, I really don't care what you think about my opinion of my own knowledge. I read the pages you linked to before I first commented. If you want to talk about my knowledge do it on my own talk page. Otherwise, stick to the subject at hand.

The issue here is what is common. Adding stuff like this just opens a whole can of worms where this page can be added to forever any time there is any kind of a confusion over an ethnic dish. These types of misconceptions aren't common. A common misconception is that Napoleon was short. Most people know who Napoleon was. Most people think that Napoleon was short. What you are doing is presenting trivia that most people don't even think about. Primium mobile (talk) 19:33, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

ETA: look, I'm not trying to start something with you, nor am I trying to make light of your suggestions. When I say I am "fairly" well-read you should take that "fairly" exactly as it is written. "Fair" is between "poor" and "good". It doesn't mean that I am trying to toot my own horn. I've watched this page for a very long time, and you can see by the 17 archived talk pages that this issue has been discussed again and again.

Sushi, at least in the United States, is a generic name for a classification of food. Everyone has heard of it. Spaghetti Bolognese is a specific dish. As near as I can tell, it is what everyone I know calls spaghetti with meat sauce. Adding things like it being a common misconception that the sauce is tomato based instead of meat base is just, in my opinion, a little too nitpicky for this article. It has tomato in it. Primium mobile (talk) 19:45, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

My reply that I too think I am a "fairly well-read person", but I am in absolutely no doubt at all that there is a vast amount of reliable information on Wikipedia of which I am completely ignorant addressed your argument directly, which, as written appeared to ignore the page and section/redirect(s) under discussion. I still have no idea why the misconception about sushi is more common than the one about what everyone I know (my emphasis) calls spaghetti with meat sauce. As you seem to admit in your response, it comes down to a matter of opinion. I happen to know that several hundred thousand people from Bologna, along with many other native Italians, find the idea of ragù of any sort going with spaghetti to be a culinary abomination at all "nitpicky" (though I suppose one could argue that an even larger number of Japanese people may feel in rather the same way about their sushi). That was why I proposed this common misconception about an extremely popular dish worldwide. —MistyMorn (talk) 20:14, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Because sushi is a generic term for many different dishes. Spaghetti Bolognese is not. It is very specific. Several hundred thousand Italians probably rarely visit the English Wikipedia, so their opinions have no sway over what is common in the English-speaking world. Ditto for the Japanese. And I didn't say anything about what does and does not go with spaghetti is nitpicky. I said that saying that Bolognese sauce is meat based instead of tomato based is, in my opinion, too nitpicky. There isn't anything wrong with being nitpicky. But you can nitpick stuff to death in this article and it will do nothing but make it longer and longer.

I'm of the opinion that over half the entries in this article shouldn't be there. Most of it for one of two reasons:

1) The entry is too specific. Part of yours falls into that category. (imho)

2) The entry is too nitpicky. Again, that's where the meat vs tomato based thing is. I truly do not think people give it much thought. By definition, that makes it -not- common. A good example of too nitpicky is the whole "Dark Ages" thing you see discussed above.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do, so please don't take it that way. If you think this stuff should be added to the article then please do it. I'm just telling you that someone is going to remove it. For the record, I've never removed anything from this article. It always becomes to contentious. I just put my two cents in from time to time. Primium mobile (talk) 20:35, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

OK, thank you. I certainly agree that the page is rather arbitrary (and that arbitrariness has given me the uncomfortable feeling of wasting my energies over a matter I feel to be of some relevance and far from "nitpicky"). For instance, if pressed to respond to the objection raised above by User:Hairhorn I would have cited a listed misconception I happen to know a bit about, the one regarding the MMR vaccine controversy [42]: much more important than any dish of pasta, but again about "x" (and "y"). I won't press the point, but I am unable to see any substantial difference between misconceptions surrounding the most common (I believe) usage of Italian pasta worldwide and the way Japanese sushi is construed worldwide. And yes, the lack of eligibility criteria is a real issue on this page. Judgements like "too specific" and "too nitpicky" are frankly subjective, and also open to perceptions based on one's own cultural background (cf WP:WORLDVIEW. Fwiw, the Wikipedia lists I have contributed to, such as lists of composers (example) have had clear eligibility criteria (eg no red links allowed). Obviously the present page is more tricky and, yes, it does serve a purpose I think. But the issue subsists, imo. —MistyMorn (talk) 21:42, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

A few points:

-I would guess that many westerners assume that Spaghetti Bolognese has something to do with Bologna, but we obviously need sources. In my opinion a blog isn't sufficient.

-We have after some debate "agreed" (for a certain definition of the word) that region-specific misconceptions are OK. The example often being listed is the Korean electric fan. One of the better arguments for such a practice is that if region-specific misconceptions are not tolerated, where do you put the line? Should it be common everywhere? Nothing is, so nothing could be included.

-Misconceptions about food recipies are a bit sketchy I think, as there are so many variations between cooks. So a claim about meat/tomato being the base of the sauce is probably a worse candidate than an origin-misconception imo. Who's the authority of what goes in a Bolognese?

-Returning to the origin-misconception however: The food blog made a big deal about how Bolognese sauce was never served with spaghetti in Bologna, but rather with Tagliatelle. That is in my mind nitpicking. For what it's worth, I am guessing that this is because Spaghetti was the first pasta that spread outside Italy, so it would naturally be the pasta chosen to go with bolognese sauce (This is all assumptions and guesswork).

Dr bab (talk) 07:30, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

Dark Ages

Can someone substantiate this? I just read a book on the Islamic Golden era and European Renaissance by George Saliba and have done various other research that confirms that there was indeed a "dark ages" that followed the Roman Empire and ended with the the early Renaissance. Do historians in general, nevertheless, deny the occurrence of the Dark Ages? For example, *what* lost knowledge was recovered in the "Carolingian Renaissance"? Qed (talk) 19:27, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

The problem with that question is that it presumes that the term "Dark Ages" has a definite and specific meaning. The point of the item in our article is that it doesn't. In Europe, the fifty years from 550 AD to 600 AD were extremely "dark", in the sense that literacy almost disappeared and technology regressed to a very primitive state. But that was only in Europe, and afterward the transition from "dark" to "light" was so gradual that it is impossible to pick a specific date as the end of the dark period -- many historians have somewhat arbitrarily used 1000 AD or 1100 AD. Looie496 (talk) 20:26, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

But Petrarch gave it a meaning. If the meaning has changed over time, that's still just a way to escape the original diagnosis, which is an important historical analysis. The Dark Ages specifically refers to the non-Arabic European culture between 550 and 1240. During that era, that culture remained Dark. I don't see how this qualifies as a misconception -- there is no credible contradicting narrative, and even by your own admission is at best a debate about definitions. Qed (talk) 18:51, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

The current version states it quite well. It is not that there never was a "Dark Age", more that the term has various definitions over the years and is currently not "fashionable" in historical science. Petter Bøckman (talk) 20:06, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Then I am still confused ... just because historians don't like it, or have been vacillating with a definition for a concept that was originally quite well defined, how does this make it a misconception? Perhaps it should be changed to "modern ideas about the Dark Ages" contain misconceptions that did not exist originally, and do not exist among more empirical scholars. Otherwise, I don't know what the actual misconception is. Qed (talk) 19:52, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Frankly, the piece is mostly in there to prevent catholic apologists and similar nutjobs from putting in something that denies that there was anything like a dark age and what role the church played in it instead. (What is written is factually true of course) --Echosmoke (talk) 02:48, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

The meaning Petrarch gave it is nonsense. There was no demonstrable "slowdown" of scientific/cultural advancements; rather, all available evidence we have suggests there was plenty of discoveries from AD 500 - 1000. Also, what nutjobs would that be Echo? Like Dr. James Hannam, a professed atheist, who has stated that the Dark Ages is a ridiculous failure in historiography? -- LightSpectra (talk) 09:01, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

This is absolutely a false statement. Before 500, Diophantus was on the very teetering edge, the very cusp of algebra. He was just so achingly close to the discovery of algebra. He had everything he needed short of a the general method. It is almost shocking that he didn't invent algebra by himself, he need so little more. But between 500 and 1250 not one single person from Europe could make this teeny weeny tiny pathetically small trivial little step to invent algebra. A muslim scholar, instead, proceeded from a different direction, without the help of Diophantus' large contributions, and just invented Algebra with the aid of Indian mathematics (which did not include Diophantus' material). The Antikythera device is an obvious precursor to the computer (way beyond the abacus). The Aeolipile shows that the Greeks had a first understanding of steam power. For 700+ years, the Europeans ignored these tremendous advances and did absolutely *NOTHING* with them. What progress? What discoveries are you talking about? Steam power, the first analog computers and pure algebra should have been fully mastered easily by say, about 700 CE. Also the first attempts to reach Antipodes (now known as 'America') should have also happened by then. Instead we have nothing but pure darkness in Europe, *exactly* how Petrarch described it. The Muslims made reasonable progress only because they obtained *partial* material from the Greeks societies, and also incorporated Chinese, Indian and their own Babylonian cultures. But alas, even the Muslims could not have built upon the culture that the Dark Ages Europeans had destroyed. Qed (talk) 20:03, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

What does Dr. Hannam's religious views have to do with it? Petter Bøckman (talk) 10:17, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

Echo's proposition that only "catholic apologists and similar nutjobs" deny that "there was anything like a dark age". Actually, plenty of historians, including atheists that would have no agenda in favor of the Catholic Church, disagree. -- LightSpectra (talk) 22:25, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

Agree. Although there was a slow down (or stoppage?) of major discoveries in the West, this was not the same in the East - especially Arabian/Muslem and Chinese. So calling this time period "The Dark Ages" is certainly a Euro-Centric definition, but hardly the end of the world and certainly doesn't warrant some of the angst above... Ckruschke (talk) 14:53, 31 October 2012 (UTC)Ckruschke

Was there really a "slowdown"? Even that I do not believe. I can name four times as many innovations and discoveries made by the medievals over the Romans. -- LightSpectra (talk) 03:22, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Let me see: The Romans built aquaducts, had sewers, a functioning monetary system, street numbers, made concrete, ate hamburgers and built a road network allowing for a Europe-wide trade an information exchange. Even if non of the knowledge was ever fully lost (actually, concrete was), the most superficial look at the European archaeological record would tell you there was a "Dark Age" following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Pretending otherwise is really not being honest. Petter Bøckman (talk) 13:13, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Archimedes screw, Archimedes buoyancy principle, Euclid and Diophantus level of mathematics, had a concept of cartography that projected maps correctly, used astronomy to measure equinoxes correctly, Aristotle's logic (and cosmology), The Dialectic, astrlabes/antikythera device, the Aeolipile, armillary spheres, Democratus' theory of atoms, Caesar's calendar, etc., etc. In fact I challenge *anyone* to name a real development of a comparable nature from the early (570 CE - 1240 CE) medieval Europeans. Qed (talk) 20:09, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

As the entry is currently written; it is implied that there is a misconception about what classification modern historians use for the period between the roman empire and the renaissance. Do the sources really substantiate such a misconception? Is it common? This seems to me to be another entry where there is not a clear "wrong vs. right". Dr bab (talk) 21:09, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Pretty sure the medieval Europeans still had money, roads and concrete. Among other medieval inventions/discoveries/things that they had that the Romans did not, we have the spinning wheel, the codex, the autobiography, liquor, crop rotation, the heavy plough, glasses, tidal mills, hourglass, the blast furnace, hospitals, the university, gunpowder, the sawmill, seismology, and archaeology. Ironic that I have to debunk myths on the talk page for an article about debunking myths. The lack of aqueducts is a fair point, but it's not unique for the only good thing that was 'lost' in a period of transition. -- LightSpectra (talk) 01:46, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

The spinning wheel is an Asian invention, not European. The codex was developed by the Romans (the ones who had shifted to parchment) before the advent of the Dark Ages. Autobiographies appear to have been invented by the medieval Arabs, not Europeans. The liquor distilling process comes from the ancient Greeks. Crop rotation was discovered in the middle east far earlier than even Greek Antiquity. Pre-Dark Ages heavy ploughs were developed by the Romans. Eyeglasses were based on optics which was not developed in Europe until after the Dark Ages had ended. The first concrete evidence of Water Mills already predates the very start of the Dark Ages and there is tentative evidence for much earlier Roman development. Evidence for the hour glass existing prior to the 14th century (long after the Dark Ages had ended) is no better for a Dark Ages origin than it is for a Greek/Roman origin. Blast Furnaces far predated the Dark Ages and were at the very latest developed by the Ancient Greeks. Hospitals are not an invention, they are just a renaming of temples for healing the sick. Universities were just a renaming of the word "Academy" which far predates the Dark Ages. Gunpowder was developed by the Chinese. The Sawmill is a Roman invention from the 3rd century at the latest. Seismology: Citation?? I don't understand how one could possibly develop this field without a theory of plate tectonics which is only a few centuries old. Archaeology appears to have its origins in the 15th century. You have been completely exposed as a Dark Ages apologist. Good day sir. Qed (talk) 17:08, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Actually, the art of concrete was lost with the Romans, not to reappear until the 17th century. The Europeans still had roads, mostly the Roman ones. Money was minted, but in such small quantity most trade had returned to bartering. It was not as things like writing died away, but literacy dropped enormously. The dearth of written sources after the fall of Rome is what triggered the term "Dark Ages" in the first place. Petter Bøckman (talk) 21:28, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Talking about Asian origins of medieval technologies is disingenuous when talking about the European "Dark Ages". The term implies the epoch was worse than it was before (else the Roman period would be the "darker ages", no?). So let's again go over what the early medievals had but the Romans did not: the spinning wheel. The codex (technically invented before the fall of the Western Empire but did not achieve any notable widespread usage until Benedictine monasteries began preserving Roman texts in codex form). The first autobiography ever was St. Augustine's Confessions, written before Islam existed. Heavy ploughs were not used by the Romans. Optics did in fact reach the Europeans; look up Robert Grosseteste (there's also reason to believe that Alhazen's works were in Europe before the middle of the Italian Renaissance). If water mills were used during the Roman era, it was on such a small scale that it would be dishonest to say that the medieval Europeans were not the one to spread this technology. The hour glass was introduced in 8th century France by a monk named Luitprand* (not entirely sure about this one, going by the Wikipedia page; I can check an accredited source if you will dispute this). Blast furnaces may have been invented by the ancient Greeks but it was not used by the Romans and thus can be called an early medieval technology. Universities were indeed invented during the "Dark Ages"; Byzantine academies were the first form of higher education, but actual universities like Balogna were invented in the early medieval period. Gunpowder reached the Europeans in the middle ages and thus the Romans did not have it or use it significantly. Sawmills were like the blastfurnace used only on a wide scale in the middle ages. Seismology as developed in the 17th century was based on the proto-mechanics as described by John Philoponus and Jean Buridan in the Middle Ages; I'll admit that maybe "seismology" was the wrong word, but I still hold this point since it refutes the myth that the early medieval Europeans were imbeciles that repressed science wherever they could find it. Anyway, in regards to calling me a "Dark Ages apologist" (which is hilarious), how about you tell me if the following historians are also "apologists", since they absolutely reject that term for its inaccuracy: Ronald Numbers, James Hannam, Edward Grant, Chris Wickham? It really doesn't matter how much we debate, since Wikipedia exists to represent mainstream academic views, which overwhelmingly reject the notion that the early medieval Europeans lived in an age of darkness and stupidity. -- LightSpectra (talk) 23:26, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

You completely misunderstand the Dark Ages. First of all, in a very few rare cases it is possible that the Europeans could pick up a technology by importing it from another culture. But that is irrelevant. The point was that they were unable to produce culture of their own, and lost so much culture due to a general severe drop in intellectual capability. You reveal your apologetic polemical stance when you say "medieval" instead of *early* medieval. The term Medieval continues to a time period past the end of the Dark Ages. The critical period here is 570 to 1240 CE and the critical geographical region is Europe, excluding the Islamic territories. Your continued obfuscation here is willful and very obviously revealing of your apologetic bias. The spinning wheel was not documented in Europe until 1280, which is past the end of the Dark Ages, and is fully expected as this critical period saw a flood of technology and scientific ideas coming from the Islamic cultures and being embraced by the Medieval Europeans. The codex is not a fucking invention, for crying out loud. Its just something you do to collections of parchment when you have a lot of it! And you admit that it was just comes from the earlier culture. St. Augustine predates the Dark Ages (this was during the decline, however, the Greek Pagan culture still had significant existing influence at this time; especially on Augustine), and therefore so does his autobiography. Robert Grosseteste indeed did learn something about optics, in exactly the same way that I learn about quantum physics (i.e., I am interested in it, but have no capability to contribute to it). The real European contributions to optics do not happen until Theodoric of Freiberg which is, again, after the end of the Dark Ages. Yes, the Islamic works (including Alhazen and many others) did make it into Europe before the end of the Dark Ages. But this just served to the prove the point that the inept, cognitively disfunctional Europeans could not do anything with it until they could spend a few centuries digesting it. Spreading a technology that has been handed to you from an earlier time is not evidence of any cognitive ability. The North Koreans are currently using televisions and trying to make nuclear weapons -- what do you think the chances are that they will make key contributions to the field of cosmology, or help with new insights into fundamental particle physics? Zero. And that's a very generous estimate of where the Dark Ages Europeans were. To cling to the idea that some guy introduced the hour glass in the 8th century CE (an advance that would have been quite significant for the time) is nonsensical ... how could clocks have been so much weaker until the 14th century? Gunpowder shows up in Europe after 1241, which again is after the Dark Ages are over. And your list of historians is irrelevant (especially since I have never heard of them); I can find a list of religious apologists just as long. The general notion of the Dark Ages itself is far more mainstream. To be a misconception, it first has to meet the standard of being an actual misconception (which in this case, there is none, except among the Dark Ages Apologists themselves) then you can measure how important or relevant it is. Qed (talk) 21:37, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

So, you define the Dark Ages in a way nobody else does, reject respectable historians off-hand who think it's a misconception, and write off anybody who disagrees with you as an apologist, then delete a sourced part of the article even though it was written with a broad consensus. Yep. Nothing much to see here. -- LightSpectra (talk) 01:06, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

I define it in exactly the same way everyone else defines it: An era of intellectual depravity that enveloped Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Your problem is that you buy into marginal historians who are equivocating on this definition precisely for the purpose of undermining it (people who I call "Dark Ages Apologists"), rather than just going with the mainstream view that everyone has about what the Dark Ages are. I don't have any special definition, I only follow the implications of what the definition, as first explained by Petrarch, lead to. That means you have to answer the question on Diophantus (why did pre-algebra developments in Europe stop with him?), and you have to ask where Magnus and Oresme got their ideas from (Alhazen, and the Arabs in general). As soon as you understand that, you will understand that there is no misconception at all. The mainstream view is the correct view. Your characterization that I am merely dismissing your point of view is nonsense. I've analyzed everything sentence and everything claimed to support the nonsensical notion of a misconception about the Dark Ages, and systematically debunked each false claim one by one, by doing a little basic research. The record on this is plain enough for everyone to see. The only one being dismissive here is you. You have not answered the question on Diophantus, and you have not answered the charge that there was a total lack of original inventive thought. Because you don't think that's important. Because you haven't the first clue of what it means to be in an intellectually enlightened society. Qed (talk) 17:52, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

To Bockman: may I see some sources that the medieval Europeans did not have concrete, and their literacy rate dropped? Less written sources is something that varied by region. England did in fact have scant surviving written sources until Bede, but the same wasn't true for Italy, France and Byzantium. -- LightSpectra (talk) 23:32, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Gladly mate: Conventionally concrete was discovered (or rather, deciphered chemically) in the late 18th century, see Idorn (1997): Concrete: Progress from Aniquity to the Third Millennium. Thomas Telford publ. or Mehta (1993): Concrete: Structure, Properties, and Materials, Prentice-Hall publ. The use of pozzolana (fine-grained volcanic ash) to make cement that set underwater was however used as far back as the 17th century, see Konvitz (1978): Cities and the Sea. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, discussing the Canal du Midi in France. This is the oldest documented post-Roman use of concrete. One could argue that the knowledge that adding pozzolana to the mix would allow it for setting while wet remained with a small cadre of engineers after the fall of the Roman Empire (an argument forwarded by Chandra (2005): The Politics of Rediscovery in the History of Science: Tacit Knowledge of Concrete before its Discovery, American Sociological Association). If so, it was not used, which means it was for all practical purposes lost.

Literacy: Asking for a source for this is a bit like asking for a source saying the sky is blue. After the fall of Rome, population dropped, central governments dissolved, the Latin language split into regional variants, an open school system available to non-nobles disappeared. These should all be known facts, and the conclusion should be fairly obvious. Remember, in Roman times a public education actually existed, the Roman military was depending on their soldiers being able to read, even a number of slaves were literate. I would like to see some sources saying that the average European Dark Age (i.e 476 - 1066 AD) soldier could read and write, let alone serfs. Even under the Carolingian Renaissance literacy was mainly confined to the administrative elite, see Treadgold (ed), 1984: Renaissances before the Renaissance: cultural revivals of late antiquity and the Middle Ages, Stanford University Press. It didn't help that the administration and church used Latin, while the commoners spoke Francian, Saxon, Germanic or whatever local language was used. Sorry mate, the burden of proof lies on those with extraordinary claims.

All this is however massive derailing. The misconception here is that the Dark Ages is universal and in use by historians. The text (which for some reason was edited out) says as much. The discussion about how "dark" the Dark Ages was is largely irrelevant. Petter Bøckman (talk) 08:26, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Bockman here. This is distinct from the "Golden Age" misconceptions in that I think that there really are strong misconceptions about the nature and duration of it. I've seen sources cited that put the dark ages as starting after Aristotle and ending with Francis Bacon. I think the article as it stands is fine, but I might weakly support a wording which more clearly emphasizes true facts that underlie the concept of a dark age. Maybe front-loading the paragraph with concrete examples of beliefs that are not true, or something to the effect of, "While there was a significant decline in literacy in Europe during the 5th/6th centuries, most of the lost knowledge was regained by the beginning of the Carolignian empire". To the extent that anything belongs here, it really should be about specific beliefs people hold or were taught, not really about whether historians have changed their mind about what to call a period. Again, I think that's more or less covered by the article as-is, but the "keep" faction would probably have an easier time of it in the future by shifting to a wording that is more fact-intensive. --0x0077BE (talk) 20:36, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

I agree that a more "fact based" presentation would improve the entry. As currently written, it appears that the "misconception" is that some people continue to use a term that has fallen out of fashion with historians, not that they believe something that is factually incorrect. That's not a misconception in my book, and I would advocate a re-casting of the entry to focus on what, exactly, is being erroneously claimed. Or just remove the entry, since I'm not seeing clear citations indicating it meets the criteria for inclusion in this article. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 02:12, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

You will not find any facts. This was my whole point of challenging this. There is no defense for this supposed "misconception" that has any intersection with any empirical reality. Its an pure invented idea of people with a certain agenda. That's why there's no credible responses to my very simple challenges on the issue. You aren't going to find people using the concept of the Dark Ages incorrectly, otherwise you would be able to easily expose simple contradiction between facts and public perception on the issue. But there is in fact no such thing in this case. Qed (talk) 18:02, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

>You will not find any facts.

Perhaps. I can't state that with any certainty. What I can say is that the section as currently written is devoid of factual assertions with supporting citations and therefore fails to meet the criteria for inclusion in this article. I understand that the term "Dark Ages" is controversial, may be interpreted differently by different people, and has fallen out of fashion among modern historians, but that doesn't mean using the term amounts to a misconception. I support removal of the section. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 19:42, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm still opposed to outright removal. I think that a case with factual assertions can be made. We should give a bit of time for citations of factual claims to be found. This sort of thing is one of the first misconceptions addressed in many treatments on the middle ages. I know I've seen inaccurate claims about the duration of what has been called the "Dark Ages" before. I think there are likely others to be found. I also don't think we have to be hasty about removing this either, as right now I don't think it says anything that's actually false, it's just not written in such a way that makes it clear what the misconception is. I think it should remain until at least the editors who have been supporting it weigh in on whether or not they're willing to make the appropriate re-wording.

As an aside to QED - I find that sort of dismissive and often combative style to be a bit counter-productive here. Either we'll find facts or we won't. If you think we won't, then no big deal, so far the consensus is that they're a pre-requisite for inclusion in the article, so if you don't think we'll find them then you'll get your way and the section will be removed. If you're worried that we'll spend all our time waiting around for the facts, propose a timeline or a criterion or something.--0x0077BE (talk) 20:01, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

These are reasonable points. I don't know enough about the subject to be able to say whether a case with factual assertions can be made, but if it can then that's what the entry should do. If it can't (or if nobody does) then the entry should go. I'm fine with waiting some reasonable amount of time (a few weeks?) for a re-wording to be proposed. Agree that there appears to be nothing factually incorrect about the entry, but, as you say it's not at all clear what the misconception is. From a stylistic standpoint, it sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the entries on the page. That's my beef. Perhaps a re-wording can correct this. As for the controversy itself, I don't have a dog in that fight. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 21:12, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Yes, its an extremely poor quality entry, not meeting the standards set for this page, and not meeting Wikipedias standards in general. That's why I tried to delete it. But obviously someone reinstated with the idea that we should discuss it further here. Fine. So I have some questions: 1) What minimum bar needs to be met to keep this entry alive in long term? 2) What criteria shall we set to make a decision to delete this entry? This, should set our course for further action on this. I would say that for 1) if sources can be cited that show that the mainstream perception (the Dark Ages was a time period of intellectual backwardness in Europe following the fall of the Roman Empire) is in contradiction with a concrete fact (some European made some important scientific or philosophic contribution X during this period) then such a thing should be stated explicitly, cited, and we can keep the entry. Failing that, in support of 2) we should come up with some crucial criteria that backs up the mainstream view. For example: The Ancient Greeks were developing X, Y, Z with the follow-up being very straight forward A, B, and C -- however, the early Medieval Europeans made no such progress, even though other societies (specifically: Islamic, Indian or Chinese) made those same progressive steps at the same time that the Europeans were failing to do so. If X, Y, and Z are important (I am going to say, X->A: symbolic-arithmetic(Greek:Diophantus)->algebra (Al Khwarizmi), Y->B: Dialectic&Logic(Soctrates,Aristotle)->Scientific Method (Alhazen), Z->C: Cartography(Ptolemy)->Perspective Correct Art(Renaissance, various)) then we should agree that the mainstream view, that there was an intellectual backwardness at this time should be considered generally correct and not a misconception. So I've made the case for 2) and I claim the case for 1) cannot be made. I think all other attempts to support this entry have been met and refuted. I move for deletion of this entry. Qed (talk) 20:07, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

I'd say your criteria 2 would amount to original research, were we interpret certain scientific discoveries and the time-span among them to mean intellectul backwardness in a given historic period. We would need to find a source that draws those conclusions for us. We'd need, for example, a source that says: The Dark ages are often erroneously thought to mean ____, but in fact [example]. We should also have more than one source. I'd say that a reasonable entry could read something like:

There exist several misconceptions about the historic period often described as the Dark Ages in Europe (X00-Y00 CE):

-Literacy rates have been claimed to decline, but in fact____ [A]

-The use of concrete is often described as lost after the romans [B], while in fact _____[C].

- ....

and so on. If we try to make a general entry, I think we will have big problems meeting the 4 standard criteria for entries on this list.Dr bab (talk) 07:36, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

How is it satisfying 2) original research? You just have to cite examples of each (they are readily attested to from Wikipedia itself, alone). Then it is clear that there is no misconception because what Petrarch is talking about is substantiated, and corresponds to the general notion. To be a misconception, they would have to be something wrong about criteria 2), or one could only support 2) is some false or superficial way. But I mean "Algebra", "Scientific method" and "Perspective Drawing" are NOT superficial. We already have a source which draws this conclusion; his name is Petrarch. He named the idea of the Dark Ages in the first place, and he gave us an X->A example, namely "Literature" (because, of course, the Dark Ages that he perceived to have occurred did not educate him on even the existence of the examples I cite). The argument used in 2) is exactly Petrarch's argument. I think you may have the sense of my criteria messed up. Ok, furthermore, literacy rates did drop; in the context of this article, the onus is not on the claimants to provide a source here, it is on the people who think there is a misconception (and of course, no source given). The use of concrete is entirely irrelevant -- since the Romans had it, the Europeans either inherited or did not -- but this does not support whether or not they were intellectually capable of anything more than following instructions (remember North Koreans are making Nuclear Weapons right now, but have utterly no chance of contributing to the field of particle physics.) The point of my two criteria is that it resolves the issue based on existing arguments, and doesn't need to leave the confines of available articles on Wikipedia itself. Qed (talk) 02:53, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Let me try this again. Here is a plain critique of this entry:

• "Modern historians generally do not classify the European era between the decline of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance as the "Dark Ages". In the past, usage of the term has varied in different countries and disciplines. It could refer to anything from the widespread loss of literacy in early medieval Britain and the consequent absence of any sources for that period (roughly 5th/6th century) to the entire Migration Period or Early Middle Ages."

But even if historians are equivocating or changing definitions or nomenclature, how is this a misconception? To be a misconception a significant general public has to think something wrong about a certain topic. I don't think the general public has an opinion about how historians define the Dark Ages.

• "In contrast, as early as the Carolingian Renaissance lost knowledge was regained and educational efforts were made."

What knowledge was regained, and why does regaining some knowledge prevent a culture from being considered in an age of darkness? Vibrant cultures such as the ancient Greeks, the Islamic Empire during its "golden era", the Chinese, the Indians and Europe during the Renaissance are not noted for having been "enlightened" primarily because they obtained knowledge (lost or otherwise) from other cultures. What matters is that a culture can engage in discovery, not that they can retread over what was previously known.

• "Among the main reasons why modern scholars tend to avoid the term are its generalized negative connotations stemming from popular culture that expanded on it as a vehicle to depict the Middle Ages as a time of backwardness."

And so what do negative connotations have to do with misconceptions? This is just a pure argument by conflation.

As such, I don't think this entry just has some problems with it. I think it is simply dead wrong. The four criteria given as a guideline is a good start, but it sidesteps the real issue. To be a misconception, you have to, in some sense, be able to create a "contradiction". That is to say "many people think X but that's not true because of Y" (For example: "Proctor and Gamble were pushing the idea misconception that Red Hair was in decline because its genes are recessive. However, that's not the way genes work: the core alleles retain statistically stable representation, which is the underlying source of red hair"). I would say that the four criteria are just a means to avoid original research, which is fine, but I think its implied then that the articles should contain such a constructed contradiction within them, or the "Y" could simply be supplied here so long as it had citations. The point of this is that a misconception should not be hard to illustrate at all. Especially given the mantra here to avoid original research. That is to say "Y" should just be well known, in the topic page article itself, and cited without controversy. Qed (talk) 00:27, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

At this point, the ball is in the court of those who favor keeping the section. As 0x0077BE says "I think it should remain until at least the editors who have been supporting it weigh in on whether or not they're willing to make the appropriate re-wording." So far, nobody has, and if we don't hear from anyone in a week or so then we should be on solid ground in removing the section. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 14:39, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Well, that's it. The week is up and the defenders of this "idea" have run away. I am deleting this entry immediately. Qed (talk) 16:54, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

I liked the points about the term "Dark Ages" being used for different periods by different authors, but I suppose that is a minor point and not worth having an entry for. Petter Bøckman (talk) 07:50, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Well ok, but that isn't a misconception. It's just inside baseball for historians. For example, there's no entry on the fact that Pluto is not a planet, even though once it was. Astrophysicists redefined the much older definition of "planet". The reason why there's no entry for Pluto is quite simply because there's no misconception there. Same thing with the Dark Ages. Qed (talk) 22:24, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

• Comment: Maybe the misconception should be about whether Dark Ages should be included in List of common misconceptions - "While many people naturally assume it is a misconception because _____, in actuality it is not considered a misconception because of ____". :P--Coin945 (talk) 07:52, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Well, I am not fan of being meta. I would rather say "There is a misconception that the Dark Ages was not an period of intellectual depravity for Christian Europe. Some historians make the false argument that the Carolingian Renaissance was some sort of revival of an intellectual culture without noting the almost immediate collapse of this attempted revival and complete lack of culture that followed it. Others make unsubstantiated claims that the intellectuals foundations for the Renaissance came from the the Dark Ages by ignoring the fact that those foundations were laid in the Islamic Empire, not Christian Europe. Another common erroneous argument is to claim that the Dark Ages is poorly defined or has some vacillating meaning, by simply themselves presenting an incorrect definition." But its not clear to me that this is widespread. I think this view is held by a small number of activists with a particular agenda. Qed (talk) 15:54, 15 November 2012 (UTC)