# Another "Common Knowledge or Fascinating Anecdotes... that unfortunately aren't true" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225 "2009-11-11T20:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/61 "2009-11-12T18:10:58Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Actually, analyzing, typing, and identifying the various factors in various venoms is a very useful field of study. I don’t know of any medicines that come from spider venom, specifically, but several snake venoms have been the source for medicines, treating a number of conditions. My favourite are those scientists who _allow venemous creatures to sting or bite them_ in order to rate how painful their attacks are. > **[Schmidt sting pain index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index)** > > The Schmidt sting pain index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, who was an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona. > Schmidt's original 1983 paper was a way to systematize and compare the hemolytic properties of insect venoms. A table in the paper included a column that rated sting pain, starting from 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressing through 2 f... > [@](#): > > 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm. > 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch. > 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek. > 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door. > 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue. > 2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin. > 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail. > 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut. > 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath. > 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel Reads like a description of a particularly hellish sort of fine wine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/62 "2009-11-12T18:11:29Z")
Ah okay. Didn’t realize. No harm. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/63 "2009-11-12T18:41:27Z")
Benjamin Franklin did not really want the national bird to be the turkey. He mentioned it one time, jokingly, in a letter to his daughter, when he was making fun of the Society of the Cincinnati. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/64 "2009-11-12T19:11:35Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I keep having to dispell the “Eskimos have X number of words for snow” one in psych class. The response I got was along the lines of “Okay, it may not be literally true, but the concept illustrates our theory that…” As I pointed out in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=282165), Eskimos may not have all these words for snow, but skiers do! ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/65 "2009-11-12T19:57:18Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > This is my favorite example, in part because it can pretty much be disproved with logic if you know the approximate dimensions of the Great Wall. During my brief visit to China about six years ago, this story was told to me with evident pride by several of my Chinese hosts. Even though I knew better, I would never have contradicted them. I was also told that the paddlefish lived only in the Yangtze river; in fact, it is found in stretches of the Missouri river. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/66 "2009-11-12T20:16:18Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The teenager in 1969 that, had AIDS is false. This black teen has been consistantly listed as a “pre-80s” HIV case. The problem his tests were contaminated and no one has been able to replicate any further proof he had it. Are there any good cites regarding this? I mean _good, reliable_ cites not associated with crazy people. > [@](#): > > I’ve even quoted sources and put it on Wikipedia only to consistantly to have it removed because it’s considered “AIDS denialism” which is taboo. Wrong. It’s removed because your cite is Edward Hooper, a nutcase who thinks AIDS came from the oral polio vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/67 "2009-11-12T20:21:11Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Slight nitpick – that was [the Skylab 4 crew](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab_4). I’ll see your nitpick and raise you one. According to the book I mentioned in my post, “Homesteading Space”, they never really got the Skylab missions numbered correctly. You’re right that it was the fourth Skylab launch, which was the third manned crew. But their mission patches had a big 3 on them because they had ordered the patches when that was their mission designation. It got changed later, but too late to change the patches. In the book, they said that the numbering really depends on how you look at it. But yes, I was referring to Skylab 4, crew #3. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/68 "2009-11-12T20:26:12Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm. > 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch. > 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek. > 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door. > 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue. > 2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin. > 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail. > 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut. > 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath. > 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel I pity the guy who had the rusty nail inserted and then walked across charcoal. I mean, they have to know how bad that is to compare the bite to it, right? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/69 "2009-11-12T20:28:29Z")
Anyway, I actually have one: **The Internet was not originally invented to survive nuclear war.** The nuclear-resistant communication system was a different project involving hardened voice lines that was also being pursued in the late 1960s. The ARPANet project, which the Internet came from, was _not_ the same thing, and it was not allowed to act as if it were. The Internet _was_ designed to be reliable in the face of the flaky hardware that was available back then and it _was_ designed to be easy to add and remove machines without rebuilding the whole system, but those qualities are a long way from being designed explicitly to survive a nuclear war. Also, one I’ve actually heard here: The Internet was invented in America, not the UK, and it was invented by Vint Cerf and Leonard Kleinrock and others, not Tim Berners-Lee. Sir TimBL invented the World Wide Web in the late 1980s, which was, at the time, one of a few competing hypertext systems that all used the pre-existing Internet as their common low-level communications protocol. (I can give citations for all of this on request.) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/70 "2009-11-12T20:37:25Z")
* * * ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/71 "2009-11-12T20:43:10Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The teenager in 1969 that, had AIDS is false. This black teen has been consistantly listed as a “pre-80s” HIV case. The problem his tests were contaminated and no one has been able to replicate any further proof he had it. > > So basically you had black teen who tested positive with a contaminated sample and never tested again. So did he have HIV? Most likely not. But it is all over the Internet and it’s too powerful to be erased. I am not sure what your overall point is on this one but you may be more nuanced than I am reading it to be. There is nothing special about a case of AIDS in 1969. It existed way before that, most likely around or before the turn of the 20th century. There are a number of confirmed cases from the 1950’s as well. I have no idea if this particular sample was contaminated but it doesn’t strike me as being very relevant even if it was. [http://www.aegis.com/news/SFE/1998/SE980201.html](http://www.aegis.com/news/SFE/1998/SE980201.html) > **[Origin of HIV and AIDS | History of HIV](https://www.beintheknow.org/understanding-hiv-epidemic/context/origin-hiv-and-aids)** > > HIV is thought to have occurred when people ate chimps that carried the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV). Find out the history of the HIV & AIDS pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/72 "2009-11-12T20:50:32Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I pity the guy who had the rusty nail inserted and then walked across charcoal. I mean, they have to know how bad that is to compare the bite to it, right? I’m just glad the scale doesn’t go to 5. That has to be like having your leg gnawed off by rabid voles or something. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/73 "2009-11-12T21:07:57Z")
I just remembered a new variation on an old chestnut that I heard a couple weeks ago: you know how “[a duck’s quack doesn’t echo](http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_info/duck/)”? Well, according to one of the employees at a wolf sanctuary I visited, neither does a wolf’s howl. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/74 "2009-11-12T21:49:53Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > I’m just glad the scale doesn’t go to 5. That has to be like having your leg gnawed off by rabid voles or something. I knew a guy who was stung by a bullet ant - allegedly, no scale is really high enough. Ouch. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/75 "2009-11-12T22:21:45Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I just remembered a new variation on an old chestnut that I heard a couple weeks ago: you know how “[a duck’s quack doesn’t echo](http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_info/duck/)”? Well, according to one of the employees at a wolf sanctuary I visited, neither does a wolf’s howl. I hate that one, especially when phrased like this: “A ducks quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/76 "2009-11-12T22:27:45Z")
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be” is someplace is Shakespeare, maybe in Poloius’ speech in Hamlet. “God helps those who help themselves” is someplace in the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/77 "2009-11-12T22:30:59Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” is someplace is Shakespeare, maybe in Poloius’ speech in Hamlet. True. > [@](#): > > “God helps those who help themselves” is someplace in the Bible. False. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/78 "2009-11-12T22:31:35Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” is someplace is Shakespeare, maybe in Poloius’ speech in Hamlet. . What’s not true about that? It is in Hamlet–are people saying it’s not? > [@](#): > > Neither a borrower nor a lender be; > For loan oft loses both itself and friend, > And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. > This above all: to thine own self be true, > And it must follow, as the night the day, > Thou canst not then be false to any man. ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/79 "2009-11-12T23:13:02Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No idea but I have to mention that I have been innoculated against rabies if I have to go in for an animal bite, because now I titre out to a false positive. > > And it is well within reason to me that they could have picked up a subclinical dose from blood contact in skinning out an infected animal and been able to fight it off - if the animal in question themselves was still in the very early stages and the bacterial load was minimal … perhaps. Maybe the people in question somehow picked up enough in random contact with infected peltrie to make them titre out after triggering the antibody production? Not that it significantly changes your theory, but rabies is a viral infection, just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225/80 "2009-11-13T00:29:52Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > Not that it significantly changes your theory, but rabies is a viral infection, just so you know. should I add IANAD? 😃 Viral load, bacterial load, you still get shots if you pop positive. Frankly, what I have read about human rabies, I don’t care if I am protected, I am getting the damned shots anyway if I get bitten … that is one fucking nasty way to die:eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-common-knowledge-or-fascinating-anecdotes-that-unfortunately-arent-true-thread/517225.md?page=5)