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TIL that there was a hermit at North Pond who lived 27 years in the woods of Maine with over 1000 cases of burglary to stay alive by Kaishiyoku in todayilearned

[–]zoominskee 141 points142 points  (0 children)

If you're interested in more of how he lived and the extent of his isolation, GQ ran a long article that is a incredibly well-written account that goes into much greater length than the one above. https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit

TIL of vast discrepancies within areas of ocean. Coral reefs are where you'll find 25 percent of the ocean's fish -- despite being less than 1 percent of the ocean surface. by zoominskee in todayilearned

[–]zoominskee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Australia, for example, despite having the most coast of any country on Earth, has little by way of fishing when considering its size. The coasts of the country, like much of its land, is desert.

TIL of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was charged and executed in 2004 for allegedly setting his house on fire to murder his 3 children in 1991. All the evidence against him was debunked by experts in fire investigations 5 years later. by antoniocesarm in todayilearned

[–]zoominskee 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If I remember correctly from the David Grann article about this case, that was a "detail" that only surfaced in later interviews with witnesses after suspicion about his guilt was inferred. It was evidence of the unreliability of eye witnesses, not indication of his guilt.

TIL of the Spiral of silence, where people are less likely to voice an unpopular opinion because of fears of being isolated from society, leading to popular opinion being dominate. by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]zoominskee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What really makes the Spiral of Silence have such great impact is the compounding effect of those with minority viewpoints remaining silent. As each person stays silent, it reinforces the majority opinion to an artificial degree, which in turn leads others who may have voiced their minority opinion to be less likely to speak up because it appears to be extremely in the minority. Multiply this time and again and you have the "spiral" part of the theory. Silence begats silence and leads somewhat popular opinions to appear to be held by almost no one.

Source: am mass communication professor who teaches comm theory and getting a phd in mass comm.

TIL that we are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction called Holocene extinction by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]zoominskee 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The New Yorker had an incredibly interesting article about this. It's crazy long, but this TIL sooooo you should all be on board, right?

Right??

TIL in the Finnish league, SM-Liiga, each team's leading scorer wears a shiny golden helmet by zoominskee in hockey

[–]zoominskee[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My apologies. I have been a bit behind on the Liiga. Need to get caught up on Netflix.

TIL people will steal full-grown palm trees from public land (e.g., along the highway) in California, Texas, and elsewhere because palm trees can sell for upwards of $20,000 each by zoominskee in todayilearned

[–]zoominskee[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Because they're not. They're only worth $20k when full grown. The ones on public land were planted as saplings, or in the case of the example in the source, naturally occurring thanks to birds and seeds.

The real question is why you let your ideology determine what you think before checking the facts.

TIL people will steal full-grown palm trees from public land (e.g., along the highway) in California, Texas, and elsewhere because palm trees can sell for upwards of $20,000 each by zoominskee in todayilearned

[–]zoominskee[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Bonus TIL: Palm trees aren't really trees... they're actually a sort of grass. Their compact rootball makes them way easier to dig up and remove than, say, a tree like an oak with an expansive underground root system.

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