# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/301 "2011-05-17T08:36:32Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > That white Australians are the descendants of British convicts. No, only approx 1.5% of living Australians can claim convict descent; there were always plenty of free settlers during the convict era, the gold rushes after 1851 brought ten times more people to this country than convict transportation ever did, and huge waves of post WW2 immigrants increased the population by around a third. I don’t think your math works there. Whatever the convicts’ proportion among the original settlers, the share of the overall population which claims descent from them should _increase_ over time, unless all the convicts’ children were only breeding with other convicts’ children, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/302 "2011-05-17T09:28:52Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I don’t think your math works there. Whatever the convicts’ proportion among the original settlers, the share of the overall population which claims descent from them should _increase_ over time, unless all the convicts’ children were only breeding with other convicts’ children, and so on. The point is that the convict contribution to the modern Australian gene pool is very small. “Around 1.5% of living Australians” is the accepted number here by people who _did_ do the maths in recent times. Anecdotally that seems correct: I’ve known a couple of people who have proven convict ancestry, and hundreds whose ancestors got here in different ways, mostly gold-rush era immigrants (like mine) or from post-WW2 immigration. I’ve no idea how many living Americans can genuinely claim descent from the Puritans of the Mayflower era, but I’d guess it’d be a similar figure, maybe less than 1%. The founding population was swamped by later migrants in both countries. So it’s a misconception to say that Australia was populated by British convicts in the same way it would be to say that America was populated by British Puritans. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/303 "2011-05-17T18:37:30Z")
Kennedy never called himself a jelly doughnut. from [http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk\_berliner.htm](http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk_berliner.htm) > [@](#): > > This is truly The Gaffe That Never Was, notwithstanding reports to the contrary in venues as prestigious as the New York Times and Newsweek magazine. Experts say Kennedy’s grammar was flawless when he uttered those words in German near the Berlin Wall on June 26, 1963. The phrase had been translated for him by a professional interpreter. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/304 "2013-03-15T11:00:05Z")
This old thread came to mind based on two misconceptions I’ve recently encountered (and not for the first time): 1. An exchange rate does not in and of itself tell you anything about the relative strength of two economies, nor how expensive things will be in either country. If it takes two American dollars to buy one Ruritanian mark, that means neither that the American economy is twice as strong nor half as strong as Ruritania’s (you’ll see people go back and forth on that). Before the Euro when one dollar bought a thousand-odd Italian lira, no one thought the American economy was a _thousand_ times stronger than Italy’s, but people don’t reach the same obvious conclusion when exchange rates with other currencies happen to be a lot closer. 2. A lot of people don’t realize that diet sodas have no calories, and will chide you to quit drinking them if you’re on a diet. Yes, I know that diet sodas have other chemicals that may be harmful, but you’ll often hear people talking explicitly about the calories and sugar you’re taking in drinking a Diet Coke, and will be incredulous when you tell them that you’re not, in fact, taking in either one. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/305 "2013-03-15T17:45:34Z")
Diet Coke is liquid plutonium. I read it on a blog. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/306 "2013-03-15T20:54:49Z")
Well, since you brought it up, let’s have some fun. > [@Kiber](#): > > That they are called Canadian Geese. They’re not. Actually, yes they are. More specifically, they’re “canadensis”, which can be translated to “Canada geese” or, as more people say, “Canadian geese”. What’s the most accurate? I’m not sure, and it hardly matters. But they indeed “are called Canadian geese.” > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The allusion is to a fairly famous quote by H.L. Mencken:There’s also the common meaning of “Puritanical” as morally strict, stern, and forbidding, especially as regards sex and/or pleasure. > > The historical Puritans’ reputation for such strictness is partially deserved, but only partially. [Here’s Wikipedia’s take](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan#Restrictions_and_pleasures) (with the caveat that Wikipedia is not an infallible source) explaining that the Puritans were not averse to drinking in moderation nor to sexual pleasure within marriage. No doubt Hawthorne had something to do with it: > [@](#): > > … the Puritans compressed whatever mirth and public joy they deemed allowable to human infirmity; thereby so far dispelling the customary cloud, that, for the space of a single holiday, they appeared scarcely more grave than most other communities at a period of general affliction. > [@Rogers01](#): > > 1. A lot of people don’t realize that diet sodas have no calories, and will chide you to quit drinking them if you’re on a diet. Yes, I know that diet sodas have other chemicals that may be harmful, but you’ll often hear people talking explicitly about the calories and sugar you’re taking in drinking a Diet Coke, and will be incredulous when you tell them that you’re not, in fact, taking in either one. Seems to me that a lot more think that since diet drinks have few or no calories, they can consume huge amounts with no adverse effects. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/307 "2013-03-15T21:34:16Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > Actually, yes they are. More specifically, they’re “canadensis”, which can be translated to “Canada geese” or, as more people say, “Canadian geese”. What’s the most accurate? I’m not sure, and it hardly matters. But they indeed “are called Canadian geese.” No, they’re not, unless you have seen their visas and know for a fact their country of origin is Canada. They are no more “Canadian” than a Virginia Rail is “Virginian”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/308 "2013-03-15T23:25:39Z")
> [@I\_Know\_Nothing](#): > > Kennedy never called himself a jelly doughnut. > > from > > [http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk\_berliner.htm](http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk_berliner.htm) Thanks for linking to this; that’s a good explanation, if it’s accurate (and I assume it is). We still wouldn’t have been able to keep from snickering about it if Kennedy had visited Hamburg, Frankfurt, or Vienna instead of Berlin, though. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/309 "2013-03-16T00:45:41Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > No, they’re not, unless you have seen their visas and know for a fact their country of origin is Canada. They are no more “Canadian” than a Virginia Rail is “Virginian”. That argument won’t work, or else you’d have England muffins and France fries. And you don’t. QED. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/310 "2013-03-16T01:13:15Z")
Not sure if its a common misconception but I certainly found it an odd question, a couple of months ago a colleague at work approached me and asked if I could settle something she’d been discussing with a friend. Namely she was under the impression that the only aircraft that could fly at supersonic speed was the Concorde, a little further questioning determined that she believed that the Concorde was the only aircraft _ever_ to fly faster than sound. I’m not making fun of her, we all have gaps in our knowledge, and I imagine it went from “Concorde is the only supersonic civilian aircraft” to “Concorde is the only supersonic aircraft” but it was certainly a little eyebrow-raising! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/311 "2013-03-16T01:46:35Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Not sure if its a common misconception but I certainly found it an odd question, a couple of months ago a colleague at work approached me and asked if I could settle something she’d been discussing with a friend. Namely she was under the impression that the only aircraft that could fly at supersonic speed was the Concorde, a little further questioning determined that she believed that the Concorde was the only aircraft _ever_ to fly faster than sound. > > I’m not making fun of her, we all have gaps in our knowledge, and I imagine it went from “Concorde is the only supersonic civilian aircraft” to “Concorde is the only supersonic aircraft” but it was certainly a little eyebrow-raising! That is a little odd. It indicates that she knows nothing about military aircraft. I am not sure why someone would think an airliner could fly supersonic but military planes like an SR-71 Blackbird could not. Even jet fighters can do it on afterburner routinely. Has she never heard of Chuck Yeager and the Bell X1 plus all the ones that flew several times the speed of sound after that? The Concorde is out of service probably forever now as are all plans for supersonic airliners but there are a whole lot of military planes that can break the sound barrier at will. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/312 "2013-03-16T02:46:53Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > That argument won’t work, or else you’d have England muffins and France fries. > > And you don’t. QED. Not to mention that we don’t have America bald eagles, Africa lions, Asia and India elephants etc. All the other animals take the same names as the people, so why should geese from Canada be a special case? ---
**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:** [March 16, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/313 "2013-03-16T03:00:11Z")
[Canada Goose](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Goose) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/314 "2013-03-16T04:22:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [Canada Goose](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Goose) From which cite: The Canada Goose is often incorrectly referred to as the “Canadian Goose”. With a link to the Encyclopedia Britannica article saying “the term _Canadian geese_ is incorrect.” Seems pretty authoritative to me. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/315 "2013-03-16T04:44:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > From which cite: The Canada Goose is often incorrectly referred to as the “Canadian Goose”. With a link to the Encyclopedia Britannica article saying “the term _Canadian geese_ is incorrect.” **Seems pretty authoritative to me.** Until now. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/316 "2013-03-16T04:52:20Z")
That a healthy person can get diabetes from consuming too much sugar. This is flat out wrong, sugar consumption is unrelated to acquiring diabetes unless we’re talking about decades long lifestyle factors leading to type 2. That asthma is psychosomatic/caused by high emotions, this one is REALLY annoying. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/317 "2013-03-16T09:44:17Z")
OK this is probably just Irish-American stuff transplanted back onto Ireland but wearing green for St. Patrick’s Day isn’t a thing in Ireland. That is, plenty of people wear green, but if you don’t nobody would notice, there’s no forfeit. Also, wearing orange wouldn’t make anyone bat an eye lid. The flag has both colours but even still, nobody gives a flying fuck. There’s also the notion that St. Patrick’s Day isn’t a big thing in Ireland. It very much is. We even get a day off on Monday 'cos of it. 🙂 I think this idea stems from the fact that Irish festivities weren’t exactly amazing by comparison with our cousins across the water and only in recent decades have we caught up with American St. Patrick’s Day parades in pomp, expense, etc. Then the old corned beef and cabbage etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/318 "2013-03-16T09:47:07Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That is a little odd. It indicates that she knows nothing about military aircraft. I am not sure why someone would think an airliner could fly supersonic but military planes like an SR-71 Blackbird could not. Even jet fighters can do it on afterburner routinely. Has she never heard of Chuck Yeager and the Bell X1 plus all the ones that flew several times the speed of sound after that? > > The Concorde is out of service probably forever now as are all plans for supersonic airliners but there are a whole lot of military planes that can break the sound barrier at will. I know, I found it really strange but then I personally know nothing at all about, for example, economics beyond the very basics _(its one subject I just can’t grok)_. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/319 "2013-03-16T10:18:34Z")
That artificial sweeteners cause all manner of disease. Or, as my neighbour said to me yesterday, that we have “no idea at all what they do to the body”. Also that natural alternatives to sugar are somehow better. So for example using honey instead of sugar is better, when actually honey is pretty much the same thing as sugar. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226/320 "2013-03-16T12:57:07Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > There’s also the notion that St. Patrick’s Day isn’t a big thing in Ireland. It very much is. We even get a day off on Monday 'cos of it. 🙂 I think this idea stems from the fact that Irish festivities weren’t exactly amazing by comparison with our cousins across the water and only in recent decades have we caught up with American St. Patrick’s Day parades in pomp, expense, etc. You can borrow some green dye for your rivers if you like. [We’ve got plenty.](http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com/river-dye.html) That should help! > [@](#): > > Then the old corned beef and cabbage etc. etc. Ooooh! I have a (silly) conundrum with this one. The Irish themed “pub” near my mom’s house has really excellent corned beef and cabbage. Some of the best I’ve ever had. So do I stick to my hipster disdain for the lack of authenticity, or do enjoy the noms? Decisions, decisions… 😃 Happy St. Patricks Day! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-misconceptions-many-reasonably-intelligent-people-have-and-your-corrections/581226.md?page=17)