Scientific falsehoods heard from adults during my childhood

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Argus Skyhawk, Nov 20, 2009.

  1. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    Sounds like someone else is making a diagnosis based on too little information.:(
     
  2. Nerys Ghemor

    Nerys Ghemor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I never assigned blame. That could go anywhere, and not being there, I DON'T know who's to blame--one, the other, or both. That's anybody's guess.
     
  3. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    I beg to differ:

    You assigned blame on both sides. But then again, I never mentioned blaming anyone. I merely stated that you have very little information to base your comments on.
     
  4. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    The relatives in question have mostly gone to meet their maker in any case. Anyway, it isn't a case of arguing. How can you argue with people who brook no deviation from their fixed worldview, and can't accept that anyone should have a different perspective on things?
     
  5. Hatchet2k4

    Hatchet2k4 Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Heh with the way this discussion is going and based on the original topic I'm surprised evolution hasn't been brought up yet. That's been sure to cause some lively school debates..
     
  6. Argus Skyhawk

    Argus Skyhawk Commodore Commodore

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    That reminds me of a conversation I overheard during a partial solar eclipse years ago. Someone in an apartment below mine was saying that the sun was getting darker because a planet was passing in front of it. He said he wasn't sure if it was Venus or Mars or whatever but it was probably one of those.
     
  7. Myasishchev

    Myasishchev Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    God, can you imagine how monstrously huge Venus would have to be to eclipse the sun if it were in the same orbit?:cardie:
     
  8. ITL

    ITL Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^ That gets me thinking...I wonder if there's anyone who thinks that the Sun and Moon appear to be the same size because they are the same size?

    :D
     
  9. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    Probably - certainly people exist who believe in a flat Earth. Even the ancient Greeks had worked that one out.
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    The idea that the Moon only comes out at night seems to be strangely pervasive in society -- strange because you can actually look up and see the Moon in the daytime sky for two weeks out of every four. But I guess a lot of people these days just never bother to look at the sky. I remember once when I was on a bus going in to the university in the morning, and there was a really gorgeous cloudscape in the sky that I was admiring the whole trip... and then I realized that not one of the other two dozen or so people on the bus was even aware of the sky at all. I guess a lot of people just never bother to look up.
     
  11. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    At least we should be grateful that we don't have to put up with what Galileo had to put up with.
     
  12. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    I've had similar experiences. It does amaze me how few people take time to appreciate their surroundings. The particular variety of inattention that comes to mind for me is observing animals. I'll spend ages simply watching birds or rodents or whathaveyou, only to realize no-one else is paying them the slightest bit of attention, no matter how unusual they are. It's...odd. Perhaps the wildlife I see is all imaginary?
     
  13. John Picard

    John Picard Vice Admiral Admiral

    Yep. Too tied to their damned electronic leashes "LOLing" with their "BFFs" rather than unplugging/ignoring and looking at the beauty of nature.
     
  14. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    It's a combo of the distance and the axial tilt. See the wikipedia entry on seasons and the wikiAnswers entry on the distance between the Earth and the Sun for reference.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2009
  15. Alpha_Geek

    Alpha_Geek Commodore Commodore

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    The moon came out?

    It's GAY???? :guffaw:
     
  16. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    It's closer during Northern Hemisphere winter, apparently.
     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    That's not it. The incident I'm talking about happened a fair number of years ago, before ubiquitous cell-phoning and text-messaging had caught on. The people on the bus were just listening to their headphones or reading their papers or just sitting there in their own little worlds. People were isolated from noticing the beauty of nature long before the age of the Blackberry.


    You're surprised? She's been cohabiting with Gaia for four and a half billion years.
     
  18. Myasishchev

    Myasishchev Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^How often do you look at the sky? I mean, I look from time to time, but odds are you're not going to catch me, because 1)the sky is pretty generally the same; 2)like a painting, I can pretty much capture it in a few seconds, so I don't have to stare at it and possibly get hit by a bus; 3)there are a large number of things on ground level which I find more interesting than a pretty but sterile sky--the aforementioned buses, neat cars, business establishments and cool buildings, women...

    Now, airplanes, I always make sure to look at any passing airplanes.
     
  19. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I've looked at the sky often enough to know that the Moon is often visible during the day. I mean, you'd almost have to avoid ever looking up at the daytime sky in order to be unaware of something so screamingly self-evident.

    And if you actually think the sky is generally the same, you clearly don't look at it often enough.
     
  20. John Picard

    John Picard Vice Admiral Admiral

    Since I drive on the Interstate a lot for my normal routes, I have the convenience to look at the sky often and to appreciate it. Sometimes, even when I take a break from walking about, I always look upward and around.