# Do you correct a casual real life friend when she/he makes an agree just scientific error? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418 "2018-06-04T16:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/41 "2018-06-05T12:01:00Z")
- sigh \* Sometimes I miss that little chimp. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/42 "2018-06-05T14:01:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Careful, there, **kenobi**. You got off easy with the Elvish education line. Next, he’s liable to accuse you of coming from Etruscan stock. The Etruscans were known for their unkempt lawns, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/43 "2018-06-05T15:16:10Z")
I used to correct people in my younger days. It just got me branded as a know-it-all and probably changed 0 minds about their erroneous beliefs. Now I just silently think to myself, “thank you for letting me know you’re an idiot, that saved me having to find out on my own.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/44 "2018-06-05T15:20:50Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > I used to correct people in my younger days. It just got me branded as a know-it-all and probably changed 0 minds about their erroneous beliefs. > Now I just silently think to myself, “thank you for letting me know you’re an idiot, that saved me having to find out on my own.” Yeah, the hard part for me is finding the way to do it with being perceived as offensive. I don’t know why, but people don’t react well when I start an explanation by saying “You are an idiot.”. Some people know how to do correct someone without triggering a negative emotional response, I’m just not good at it. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/45 "2018-06-05T16:15:18Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Jason replied to this in a fashion that would have gotten him excoriated on the dope: he said “If man evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” I think at this point I would have asked him if he wanted my opinion or if he wanted to change my opinion, because that’s what really what would guide the rest of the conversation. Realistically though, it sounds as if he has a lot invested in not believing in evolution. I’d probably just prefer to drop it. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/46 "2018-06-05T19:08:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > His ability to ever get certified for such a job depends on an ability to understand a simple concept like evolution and understanding why there are still monkeys. So there’s some sort of “loyalty test” for people in jobs such as that? I can understand why many people would think that believing in evolution is important for a biologist or a geologist– But an X-ray tech??? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/47 "2018-06-05T19:26:56Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > So there’s some sort of “loyalty test” for people in jobs such as that? > > I can understand why many people would think that believing in evolution is important for a biologist or a geologist– > But an X-ray tech??? I don’t think it’s even about belief – that question about monkeys from the OP shows a gross misunderstanding of very basic science. Whether he believes or not is much less concerning than this sort of gross misunderstanding of very basic science in a field in which scientific principles are very important. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418/48 "2018-06-05T19:35:42Z")
It’s not so much a ‘loyalty test’ as a ‘not a complete idiot test’. I’ll go as far as to say there are may be some smart creationists who make clever arguments against evolution. “why are there still monkeys?” certainly is not one of those. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-correct-a-casual-real-life-friend-when-she-he-makes-an-agree-just-scientific-error/815418.md?page=2)