Famous Lies In Science

[Heero]

What is your favorite "common sense" notions about science, technology, etc that are absolutely incorrect by scientific standards? List as many as you can think of, get out the hate, pull an infy! Keep it civil please, if you disagree with someone don't cause a ruckus, just let it go, people can be wrong (and so can science) but this is just for bitching. If you, however, have a scientific basis for disagreeing, please cite it and call it good. This is -A THREAD FOR BITCHING-. No crap about "but but but but I disagree cause old sayings are good :[". If you disagree it's cool, science isn't always right, but once again, this thread is for SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND COMPLAINTS!

Alright, now for mine.

Colds - They aren't caused by cold temperatures, I'm not going to get a cold by going outside during the winter. Could people PLEASE stop telling me "oh, you'll get a cold"! -NO- I won't!

Shutting Down - There is no difference between rebooting and shutting down and then starting back up as far as software goes. Yes, there are hardware problems this can fix, but it has -NOTHING TO DO- with whether or not windows works. It re-executes the BIOS initialization code, it RESTARTS regardless of which you do! Stop being idioths (yes, that is supposed to be spelled that way).

That's all for now, I'm sure infy will infuse more of his hate into me later, for he is the fount of all hatred, from which it comes and to whom it returns. Now, let loose your own hate so that it may float back to the infy!

 

[cafe]

Sitting close to the TV or reading in dim lighting will damage your eyes.

 

[Aven]

Omg, I only came in here for the infy.

Cause it's all that matters.
That and physics.

 

[Aven]

Sitting close to the TV or reading in dim lighting will damage your eyes.

Are you serious?! They all told me that was why I needed glasses! Wow...this is an epic moment for me...:|

 

[Totenkindly]

Sitting close to the TV or reading in dim lighting will damage your eyes.

Preach it, sister!

How about, "Drinking alcohol out in the snow makes you warmer"?

 

[Varelse]

Sitting close to the TV or reading in dim lighting will damage your eyes.

I've heard that way too often.

 

[Randomnity]

On a related note, eating carrots making you see better.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

"People only use 10% of their brains."

Nope, that's not true at all. Urban Legends Reference Pages: Ten Percent of our Brains

 

[Metamorphosis]

Does wearing glasses or contacts make your eyesight worse?

 

[Dark Razor]

Does wearing glasses or contacts make your eyesight worse?

I have no idea Well, as far as I am aware of the underlying scientific principles, it does not.

 

[Athenian200]

There was also something about swimming immediately after eating, wasn't there? I don't think that one makes sense.

 

[Dark Razor]

There was also something about swimming immediately after eating, wasn't there? I don't think that one makes sense.

Actually it does, after eating your blood flows to your digestive trackt and so there is less blood in your limbs and your brain, which may cause you to become unconcious or get cramps, which is not so good when swimming (this is excaserbated if the water is cold, because that will cause the blood vessels to constrict and will cause the body to draw the warm blood to the vital organs.

 

[Zergling]

"Entropy makes evolution impossible". I really, really hate it when people say this.

"The second law of thermodynamics makes perpetual motion machines impossible". Technically, it doesn't, though combining the second law of thermodynamics with how other physical processes work does end up making them impossible. (I don't have too much a problem with this one, since the perpetual motion machines that are possible would only work in theory.)

 

[Falcarius]

All dust, germs, and bacteria are bad for you.

Seriously, our doctor used to always ask my dad why none of his children did not have asthma, as our family is reasonably large. My dad used to tell him it was because neither him or his wife drive, he taught his children rolling around in mud was good for his children, and he used to take them for long walks in the countryside from an early age.

 

[wildcat]

Nonsense. You are all wrong. Apart from Falcarius of course.

Again, you are letting yourselves to be deceived.
The old sayings do have a point. They are usually right.

This is why they are old and lasting.
Science is not about who wrote the last chapter.

We all think "our age" is enlightened.
Age dependence is field dependence.
Not science.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

I'm bothered by any variation of the "I don't trust doctors because no one knows my own precious child better than I do" school of healthcare, but to be specific I'll pick the anti-vaccination movement.

 

[Totenkindly]

Actually it does, after eating your blood flows to your digestive trackt and so there is less blood in your limbs and your brain, which may cause you to become unconcious or get cramps, which is not so good when swimming (this is excaserbated if the water is cold, because that will cause the blood vessels to constrict and will cause the body to draw the warm blood to the vital organs.

Snopes comments.

"Entropy makes evolution impossible". I really, really hate it when people say this.

yes, that one always irked me too. It's like comparing apples to the proverbial oranges. (And is usually uttered by people who don't even know what the word "entropy" means.)

 

[wildcat]

I'm bothered by any variation of the "I don't trust doctors because no one knows my own precious child better than I do" school of healthcare, but to be specific I'll pick the anti-vaccination movement.

Jesus.

 

[Heero]

Actually it does, after eating your blood flows to your digestive trackt and so there is less blood in your limbs and your brain, which may cause you to become unconcious or get cramps, which is not so good when swimming (this is excaserbated if the water is cold, because that will cause the blood vessels to constrict and will cause the body to draw the warm blood to the vital organs.

Wrong. The cold water part is right, otherwise totally incorrect. The worst that will do is it will cause you to get runner's lung or feel tired faster, it isn't wise to exercise in general after eating, if you're out of shape you can have a heart attack. This being said, it has nothing to do with "cramps" and drowning. Even if you were to get a cramp, you won't die, as cramps are not something that paralyzes you and makes you unable to swim. Check snopes, wikipedia, etc.

Sorry, didn't see you'd already posted something about this Jennifer !

 

[Heero]

Nonsense. You are all wrong. Apart from Falcarius of course.

Again, you are letting yourselves to be deceived.
The old sayings do have a point. They are usually right.

This is why they are old and lasting.
Science is not about who wrote the last chapter.

We all think "our age" is enlightened.
Age dependence is field dependence.
Not science.

I think I made it clear, the point of this thread isn't to argue about why you disagree with other people unless you have a scientific basis, it's for bitching, kthx :}

Oh, and regarding the evolution thing, totally agree. The fun part is they never quote the entire second law, it's -VERY- precise about where it applies, only in closed systems must the entropy count rise. The earth's not a closed system, it has energy input from the sun. I talked to someone about that once, and she told me the sun's energy wasn't productive, so I asked her how plants exist