# Common Misconceptions Many Reasonably Intelligent People Have and Your Corrections **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226 "2011-05-09T02:24:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/201 "2011-05-11T22:57:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Most of the stuff that needs doing and needs fixing are the same things as always. Sparkplugs, filters, oil changes, water pumps, U joint’s or CV joints, ball joints, Wheel bearings…none of that stuff has changed. Most of the stuff you can no longer do doesn’t need done. Fuel injection systems are probably 100 times more reliable than a carburetor, good riddance to points and rotary distributers. This must be one of the reasons that my son-in-law’s auto repair shop makes so much money from DIY jobs that have gone horribly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/202 "2011-05-11T23:57:09Z")
One I’ll mention because it’s surprising how many people don’t realize it: Misconception: It doesn’t get cold in the southeast U.S. like it gets in the north and it doesn’t get hot in the northern U.S. like it gets in the south. Truth: The average daily temperature in Alabama or Georgia or Florida is probably going to be higher in winter than in New York or Vermont or Wyoming just as the average is going to be lower in the northern/western states than it is in the south during summer, and it’s true the south gets very little snow and it rarely lasts more than a day, BUT It does get very cold in the south by anybody’s standards and it’s not at all uncommon for a particularly week to be colder here than in the north or midwest. In addition the humidity makes it seem colder. At the same time, I’ve been in New York and New Hampshire and Massachusetts on summer dies that were hotter than Alabama had at that same time and humidity/shmumidity, 100 degrees is damned hot wherever you are. So while in general the south is warmer in winter and the north is cooler in summer, both have experienced the bad parts (I won’t say the worst parts) of the other’s climate. Related misconception by northerners who move south: wearing an undershirt will make you too hot on a hot day. Truth: It doesn’t make you any hotter but it will prolong the life of your clothes by guarding them from your sweat. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/203 "2011-05-12T00:08:44Z")
Regarding the hot/cold, it’s not that it doesn’t get hot up here, nor cold down there. It’s that our hot spells don’t last as long as yours, nor do your cold spells last as long as ours. Agree wholeheartedly on the t-shirt thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/204 "2011-05-12T00:11:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > One I’ll mention because it’s surprising how many people don’t realize it: > > Misconception: It doesn’t get cold in the southeast U.S. like it gets in the north and it doesn’t get hot in the northern U.S. like it gets in the south. > > Truth: The average daily temperature in Alabama or Georgia or Florida is probably going to be higher in winter than in New York or Vermont or Wyoming just as the average is going to be lower in the northern/western states than it is in the south during summer, and it’s true the south gets very little snow and it rarely lasts more than a day, BUT > > It does get very cold in the south by anybody’s standards and it’s not at all uncommon for a particularly week to be colder here than in the north or midwest. In addition the humidity makes it seem colder. > At the same time, I’ve been in New York and New Hampshire and Massachusetts on summer dies that were hotter than Alabama had at that same time and humidity/shmumidity, 100 degrees is damned hot wherever you are. > So while in general the south is warmer in winter and the north is cooler in summer, both have experienced the bad parts (I won’t say the worst parts) of the other’s climate. > > Related misconception by northerners who move south: wearing an undershirt will make you too hot on a hot day. > Truth: It doesn’t make you any hotter but it will prolong the life of your clothes by guarding them from your sweat. That is basically true except you need to make some major caveats. I am from Louisiana and live in the Boston area now. It rarely gets truly cold here like it does in Minnesota. It isn’t uncommon for my family in Northern Arkansas to call me during the winter and report they are colder than we are. It is simply too close to the Atlantic Ocean for it to get super cold for long. Northern New Hampshire and Vermont are a different story. It just stays sort of cold, irritating really, for a really long part of the year here. In July and August, it gets truly hot and muggy though. However, the North does not have the equivalent of New Orleans or Houston. Those are truly hot cities even by world standards due to the heat and humidity. They are at the same latitude as parts of Libya and stuck among huge bodies of water. You don’t get that anywhere else in the North or most of rest of the U.S. I have frozen my ass off in Louisiana in the late fall and winter before though. That’s why I hate hunting. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/205 "2011-05-12T00:17:44Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It does get very cold in the south by anybody’s standards and it’s not at all uncommon for a particularly week to be colder here than in the north or midwest. In addition the humidity makes it seem colder. If you’re worried about humidity, it’s not that cold. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/206 "2011-05-12T00:45:04Z")
That Fred Phelps is in any way represenative of American Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/207 "2011-05-12T01:01:00Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > That Fred Phelps is in any way represenative of American Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christians. Some people may think that but I don’t think most do. There are plenty of fundamentalist Christians that would beat him to a pulp him based on his actions at military funerals given half a chance. The key part of this thread is your corrections on these misperceptions however. You need to state that part as well based on facts rather than just throw out vague ideas. That is for everyone, not just you. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/208 "2011-05-12T01:08:09Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That is basically true except you need to make some major caveats. I am from Louisiana and live in the Boston area now. It rarely gets truly cold here like it does in Minnesota. It isn’t uncommon for my family in Northern Arkansas to call me during the winter and report they are colder than we are. It is simply too close to the Atlantic Ocean for it to get super cold for long. Northern New Hampshire and Vermont are a different story. It just stays sort of cold, irritating really, for a really long part of the year here. In July and August, it gets truly hot and muggy though. > > However, the North does not have the equivalent of New Orleans or Houston. Those are truly hot cities even by world standards due to the heat and humidity. They are at the same latitude as parts of Libya and stuck among huge bodies of water. You don’t get that anywhere else in the North or most of rest of the U.S. I have frozen my ass off in Louisiana in the late fall and winter before though. That’s why I hate hunting. Another climate/geography thing: People who have never been to Los Angeles are often surprised to find out that the city is surrounded by quite high mountains which receive a lot of snow in the winter. It’s not all a flat desert. That’s Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/209 "2011-05-12T02:47:08Z")
It’s been mentioned in other threads but bears repeating for some may read this that didn’t the others: Regarding Gay Relationships: they are as varied as Straight Relationships. Some are monogamous, some are open, some are supposed to be monogamous but one or more partner cheats (as in straight relationships), some are bliss and some are awful and most are in between. Whether male or female, the gender roles are different than in straight relationships. Forget _Birdcage_ and other movies: there’s not a husband and a wife. One man in a gay relationship might be more effeminate than his partner or one woman in a lesbian relationship might be more masculine than her partner but this doesn’t really equate in any real way to the “head of the family” “woman of the house” paradigm as a general rule. Most gay relationships are egalitarian in the spousal roles, and if there’s a power differential then who earns more money is probably a much bigger difference than who’s more masculine or feminine. On a related but more blunt note, in gay male relationships the fact one partner is more effeminate has nothing to do with his role in anal sex. He might be the bottom always, he might be the top always, he might be versatile, or he might not engage in anal sex at all. From what their sex partners have said in books written after the stars were dead, Liberace preferred to top in his relationships and Rock Hudson preferred to bottom, the opposite of what some would assume. Not all male gay couples have anal sex. No way of knowing the statistics, but more than a few gay males don’t. (The vast majority do oral.) I don’t know for sure how it works in lesbian couples as to who’s passive and who’s assertive/insertive but I would guess it’s much the same: whatever works for them with relatively little to do with how their roles are perceived elsewhere. And you wouldn’t think this would be a misconception but I swear I’ve known people you’d think would have sense to know it who apparently don’t: IT’S INCREDIBLY RUDE TO ASK GAY MEN ABOUT THEIR SEX LIFE, PARTICULARLY ABOUT THEIR PREFERENCE IN BOTTOMING OR TOPPING. This is an incredibly intimate question- generally you would only ask a gay man about the specifics of his sex life if you know him just as well as a woman you’d ask. In spite of what you’ve seen in film and TV not all gay men are dying to talk about their sex lives to straight women friends any more than they all care about fashion or showtunes or working out. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/210 "2011-05-12T02:51:39Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > “The home mechanic can’t work on a modern car.” > > Most of the stuff that needs doing and needs fixing are the same things as always. Sparkplugs, filters, oil changes, water pumps, U joint’s or CV joints, ball joints, Wheel bearings…none of that stuff has changed. Most of the stuff you can no longer do doesn’t need done. Fuel injection systems are probably 100 times more reliable than a carburetor, good riddance to points and rotary distributers. > > AND if the computerized stuff goes wrong you can buy scan tools for $20 for a cheap one to maybe $300 for a nice one that will often tell you exactly what the trouble is. > > “My time is too valuable to work on my own car” > > Every time I have taken my car to a dealer has required 2-5 hours of my time by the time I picked it up and dropped it off. I can usually do the work at home in about 1-1.5X the book time, and I can’t earn a shop’s hourly rate. I am money ahead even if I take unpaid leave from work to do the job…even if I have to buy tools. Unless, like me, you wind up in the ER with rust flakes in your eye. Or you throw out you back getting rusted parts apart and wind up missing work. Or, , ,😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/211 "2011-05-12T02:53:33Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > That Fred Phelps is in any way represenative of American Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christians. Shades of grey? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/212 "2011-05-12T03:27:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It does get very cold in the south by anybody’s standards and it’s not at all uncommon for a particularly week to be colder here than in the north or midwest. Right. Except, of course, when Alabama gets down to -20°F it’s the end of Western Civilization, but when eastern Montana gets that cold it’s probably January. (There’s also something to be said for the change in attitudes once you get to The North. For example, the white stuff falling from the sky is not going to kill you and take your guns. It is snow. It is, therefore, not required that you stock up on toilet paper and creamed corn down at the local grocery store. Also, if you can’t drive on ice get off the fucking road before I shove you off the road.) > [@](#): > > At the same time, I’ve been in New York and New Hampshire and Massachusetts on summer dies that were hotter than Alabama had at that same time and humidity/shmumidity, 100 degrees is damned hot wherever you are. This is true. It certainly gets well up into the 90s in the High Plains and occasionally as high as 100 or so, and if you don’t take steps to deal with it you will die. However, I have to say that there are more options effective for dealing with dry heat compared to humid heat. Evaporative cooling only works if the water has somewhere to evaporate _to_, which also makes the strategy of finding a shady spot to stand in the breeze a more reasonable solution. (And, yes, in the High Plains there’s _always_ a breeze. It gets so it feels _weird_ when the air is still.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/213 "2011-05-12T05:32:39Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > One I’ll mention because it’s surprising how many people don’t realize it: > > Misconception: It doesn’t get cold in the southeast U.S. like it gets in the north and it doesn’t get hot in the northern U.S. like it gets in the south. > > Truth: The average daily temperature in Alabama or Georgia or Florida is probably going to be higher in winter than in New York or Vermont or Wyoming just as the average is going to be lower in the northern/western states than it is in the south during summer, and it’s true the south gets very little snow and it rarely lasts more than a day, BUT > > It does get very cold in the south by anybody’s standards and it’s not at all uncommon for a particularly week to be colder here than in the north or midwest. In addition the humidity makes it seem colder. > At the same time, I’ve been in New York and New Hampshire and Massachusetts on summer dies that were hotter than Alabama had at that same time and humidity/shmumidity, 100 degrees is damned hot wherever you are. > So while in general the south is warmer in winter and the north is cooler in summer, both have experienced the bad parts (I won’t say the worst parts) of the other’s climate. > > Related misconception by northerners who move south: wearing an undershirt will make you too hot on a hot day. > Truth: It doesn’t make you any hotter but it will prolong the life of your clothes by guarding them from your sweat. Related misconception; Canada actually does get a very nice summer. When else would we do all of our road construction? > [@sitchensis](#): > > If you’re worried about humidity, it’s not that cold. I’m not sure what you mean by this - when it’s cold, it’s miserable, but when it’s cold with high humidity, it’s REALLY miserable. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/214 "2011-05-12T08:23:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m not sure what you mean by this - when it’s cold, it’s miserable, but when it’s cold with high humidity, it’s REALLY miserable. When it’s _cold_, the air can’t hold _any_ humidity: It’s all frozen into ice. (When it isn’t quite that cold, you see ice crystals forming and flashing in the air and it looks like you’re encased in diamond.) ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/215 "2011-05-12T16:53:00Z")
The extremely low average life expectancies from the past are not an indicator that most people died at 30, they are a reflection of much, much higher childhood mortality, which drags the average down. The reality is that if you lived through the dangers of childhood you had a decent shot at getting old. (50/60/70/80) ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/216 "2011-05-12T17:00:58Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > How is this untrue? Above the arctic circle at the solstice, the sun touches the horizon to the north at midnight, then circles around to the east getting higher, then at noon the sun is overhead but towards the south, then it circles around to the west getting lower, and finally scoots across the horizon to the north at midnight again. Sorry, I used a slightly different format and it looks like I was unclear. People have many misconceptions about the so-called Midnight Sun and how the Sun moves in the sky. The reality is that it makes a circle - not a perfect circle, but close enough. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/217 "2011-05-12T17:04:00Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > When it’s _cold_, the air can’t hold _any_ humidity: It’s all frozen into ice. > > (When it isn’t quite that cold, you see ice crystals forming and flashing in the air and it looks like you’re encased in diamond.) On a semi-related note, it’s possibly a common misconception that there have to be clouds for it to snow. Snow on a perfectly clear day is rare, but I saw it a few times this year. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/218 "2011-05-12T17:06:23Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > The extremely low average life expectancies from the past are not an indicator that most people died at 30, they are a reflection of much, much higher childhood mortality, which drags the average down. The reality is that if you lived through the dangers of childhood you had a decent shot at getting old. (50/60/70/80) So mortality followed a [bathtub curve?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/219 "2011-05-12T17:45:37Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > The extremely low average life expectancies from the past are not an indicator that most people died at 30, they are a reflection of much, much higher childhood mortality, which drags the average down. The reality is that if you lived through the dangers of childhood you had a decent shot at getting old. (50/60/70/80) Yep. And what’s also interesting, but seldom noted, is that the maximum human lifespan doesn’t seem to have changed much at all. In ancient times there was the occasional person who lived to be over 100, but not much more, and it’s the same today. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/220 "2011-05-12T18:02:59Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > If you’re worried about humidity, it’s not that cold. Never been to San Francisco, I see. The humidity there makes it feel even chillier than it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226.md?page=12)