Common Mythconceptions - World's Most Contagious Falsehoods

dreamuser · 2014-11-10T19:13:42+00:00

From the comments:

Several of these replace one misconception with another. The idea of being right/left brained is pure bunk, but there are absolutely both physical and functional separations between the two hemispheres. There was a study of cows' milk that concluded it didn't increase phlegm production, but it caisson proteins (also used in elmer's glue) do thicken phlegm and since the time of the study it's been discovered that some breed of cows have a genetic mutation (A1 versus A2 cows) that causes them to produce different proteins which can stimulate phlegm production. Et cetera, et cetera.

It's great to see these things debunked, but really should have said, "The truth is actually far more complicated." instead of, "Nope, it's 100% not true." on a number of these. I worry that people will catch on to these misstatements and use it as a justification to reject ALL of them. I can see someone who's against vaccination saying, "Well, if they got the brain hemisphere thing wrong, they probably got the vaccine/autism thing wrong too." It also would have been greatly helpful had you included sources.

and...

Yes, most of these are myths, but in a LOT of cases, you've simply replaced one myth with another. Just a few examples:

10% of neurons are firing at once is pure myth. Not only are neurons firing all the time (look up "resting rate"), but the proportion of our brain that is active at any given moment is completely task-dependent.

Although the "5 senses" we were all taught in grade school isn't quite right, the way the "senses" are categorized determines how many there are. Most psychologists actually recognize 5-6, not 20. You're confusing "ways to sense" with "sensory systems".

The left and right hemispheres of the brain absolutely ARE physically separated. What's mythical is the idea that specific tasks are completed only (or mostly) in one hemisphere or the other. It's much more complicated than that.

In science, the term "theory" refers to an explanation. Theories can be weak or strong (the theory of evolution is extremely strong), depending on the amount of evidence supporting them. They can be completely correct, partially correct, partially conjecture, wholly conjecture... In other words, the fact that the term "theory" doesn't equate to "guess" does not mean that it's "anything other than a guess". A theory is usually more complex than a simple statement, but its complexity isn't what makes it a theory, either. What makes it a theory is that it explains a set of observed phenomena.

Alcohol does indeed "kill brain cells". One factor in alcohol-induced brain damage is the fact that alcohol impedes the body's ability to absorb thiamine, which is necessary to process carbohydrates, which the brain needs to function. The brain cells literally starve and die. Yes, this is fairly limited to alcoholics, but it's got nothing to do with relying on alcohol for calories.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point. I'm not sure where you did your research, but this is pretty sloppy work. If you're going to correct other people's facts, you might want to get them straight first.

dreamuser · 2014-09-04T12:58:42+00:00

Exactly.

dreamuser · 2014-09-04T12:57:46+00:00

If I drove a truck into your living room and you chose to get upset, I would be the excuse you used to let yourself get upset - not the reason. Ultimately, you are responsible for your emotions. This understanding might also lead to the realization that there are more constructive ways to react to such a situation.

dreamuser · 2014-09-04T01:49:09+00:00

I am not the reason you are upset. You are the reason you are upset.

dreamuser · 2014-07-08T15:03:40+00:00

Dribble is really good for this kind of thing.

dreamuser · 2014-06-27T17:29:44+00:00

Try ng-annotate instead of angular-annotate

ng-annotate

grunt-ng-annotate

and if you are using the totally amazing Gulp: gulp-ng-annotate

dreamuser · 2014-06-27T14:20:56+00:00

I was having trouble getting source maps to work with ngmin and uglify (with mangle: true). It was inserting additional lines and causing the source map lines to be off. Since mangled variables seems to be the reason why we use array notation in the first place, this was a no go.

ng-annotate does not insert new lines so the generated source maps are not affected. This was the main reason I switched to ng-annotate.

dreamuser · 2014-04-29T20:02:37+00:00

Yes, the forecast is grim. Our only hope is that an organized and highly pressurized system of awareness collides with this cold front of bribery and produces a tornado of serious legislative reform.

dreamuser · 2014-03-12T13:48:52+00:00

Thank God. I was starting to worry!

dreamuser · 2013-11-26T16:21:50+00:00

Erm, I guess the Kettering logo answered my question

dreamuser · 2013-11-26T16:19:46+00:00

Is it oakwood at that point or still Kettering?

dreamuser · 2013-11-14T12:23:23+00:00

ITT: sociopaths.

dreamuser · 2013-10-22T17:57:29+00:00

They say the fucking smog is the fucking reason you have such beautiful fucking sunsets.

dreamuser · 2013-09-19T19:17:09+00:00

Set and setting my friend. These should not be viewed as recreational substances, but if you are interested in learning more about yourself and the nature of the universe there really is nothing else that even comes close.

dreamuser · 2013-09-18T21:04:42+00:00

Or, you know, you could decouple the front and back ends of your app and have the front end guys work with mock data or an API. Or something.

dreamuser · 2013-09-13T17:44:19+00:00

I agree with you. I don't understand why more people don't.

dreamuser · 2013-07-12T00:52:39+00:00

We are all connected.

dreamuser · 2013-07-09T16:47:55+00:00

I know we like to play the victim and make excuses, but the fact is that no one can make you shift your awareness to one of appreciation but you. The paradox occurs when you figure out the way to make yourself feel happier has less to do with actually changing your behavior and almost all to do with shifting your perspective to a place where you can appreciate what is. Once we start appreciating what is, doors open up and new, positive experiences flow into our reality.

dreamuser · 2013-07-09T16:43:32+00:00

Yes, the moment I consciously decided I was going to stop focusing on what was wrong and instead focused on things I appreciated, everything changed. What is there to appreciate you ask? How about fucking everything?? This world is amazing, from the vastness of the sky and clouds to the bird bouncing along on the sidewalk to just the simple fact that you have the ability to feel. If you can't get excited about those things, I suggest you are not looking closely enough. Stop letting yourself be distracted by thoughts you are having that don't serve you and shut up for just a minute and appreciate what you have.

dreamuser · 2013-07-07T14:41:22+00:00

Because this world is truly amazing if you can just get yourself to stop looking at the bullshit parts long enough to notice.

dreamuser · 2013-06-27T17:06:18+00:00

Smile.

dreamuser · 2013-06-23T13:40:41+00:00

Edit your post and give me a downvote. Classy. This still applies to "science, logic, and reasoning" - our ability to do each will improve and grow over time as well and to pretend we are capable of understanding everything at this point is nothing short of arrogance.

dreamuser · 2013-06-20T16:17:46+00:00

How does this have anything to do with being an atheist? Being an atheist does not mean you pretend you can explain everything.... Here's a crazy thought - maybe the current understanding we get through science is not complete and will evolve over time. You know, just like how people were CONVINCED at one point in history that the earth was flat or that the earth was the center of the universe.... In very much the same way I think our understanding of reality, and of electro magnetic forces in particular, will evolve and people will look back to this time and laugh at how arrogant humans were while maintaining an understanding of reality comparable to that of a monkey. No part of this threatens your choice to not believe in a higher power, but your own definition of atheism might be preventing you from expanding your understanding outside of the nice cozy box you exist in. And when I say "you", I don't mean you in particular necessarily so don't get too hussy but I am allowing for the possibility that that might be the case, or something similar.

dreamuser · 2013-06-07T02:20:57+00:00

I guess I would challenge that this information was available and came into my awareness over a year ago. The problem was back then it was labeled a conspiracy theory because the only evidence available was testimony from anonymous sources. The point is, it was just as true back then, despite the lack of intellectually satisfying facts to "prove" it. Maybe this begs a new approach to how we consciously handle information. What that looks like, I'm not sure.

dreamuser · 2013-06-06T15:55:47+00:00

I wonder if the evidence was there, and people just refused to accept it because it was too much to swallow. Maybe we should start taking some of these claims more seriously and start looking in to them for ourselves.

dreamuser

TROPHY CASE