# Ever been shocked at what some people don't know? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416 "2012-03-10T22:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/721 "2012-05-14T01:13:52Z")
I ran into a fine, young, well educated gentleman last summer. We were exploring at the side of a river. I pointed out some fossils in the rocks. He asked what kind of rocks there were. I replied limestone. He didn’t seem to know that much of America was once a huge inland sea and and left beds of limestone in many places. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/722 "2012-05-14T01:38:05Z")
You inferred that he was ignorant on that point because he didn’t know that the rock you were pointing at was limestone? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/723 "2012-05-14T08:20:00Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > He didn’t seem to know that much of America was once a huge inland sea and and left beds of limestone in many places. That’s not exactly shocking ignorance. I didn’t know it, for instance. My guess is that not one person in 5 would know that. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/724 "2012-05-14T10:56:41Z")
An American lady asked me if we had colour tv in the U.K. Another American lady thought I was being a pig when eating because I used cutlery the way the whole world uses it apart from Americans, ie. using knife and fork at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/725 "2012-05-14T11:12:45Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > An American lady asked me if we had colour tv in the U.K. I was complimented for being able to speak English so well, by an American lady (I’m from the U.K.) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/726 "2012-05-14T11:31:52Z")
> [@hermette](#): > > I was complimented for being able to speak English so well, by an American lady (I’m from the U.K.) Blimey! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/727 "2012-05-14T11:35:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I heard on the radio this morning (CBC) that someone has located the engines from the Apollo 11, Saturn V rocket on the floor of the Atlantic ocean. > > The announcer then said “Four days after liftoff Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon.” > > Anyone even vaguely familiar with the moon landings can see the problem with that statement. Even if it was prepared for her, I don’t know how you could even read that without correcting the glaring error. Ok, maybe I’m an idiot, but I have no idea what the “glaring error” is. At first, I thought the error was the name “Michael Collins,” because of the Irish revolutionary with that name, but a quick google showed that that there was an astronaut with the same name. Then I thought it was the “four days”. But again, it looks like that is right. (16 July - 20 July 1969). So…I’m lost. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/728 "2012-05-14T11:38:13Z")
All three didn’t “land on the moon.” Collins orbited the moon while the other two landed in the LEM. So, yeah, to say that all three landed on the moon is an error, but I don’t know that I’d say it was glaring. Certainly, all three went to the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/729 "2012-05-14T11:40:37Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > So…I’m lost. 😕 Michael Collins never landed on the moon. He remained in the command module while Armstrong and Aldrin went down to the surface of the moon. ETA I should have typed faster. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/730 "2012-05-14T14:24:53Z")
> [@hermette](#): > > I was complimented for being able to speak English so well, by an American lady (I’m from the U.K.) I almost made a similar error several years ago while hanging out on a forum where most of the members were Asian (I’d been pointed to the board by a Korean-American online friend). I was just about to compliment one of the posters, who was ethnically Chinese, on her excellent command of English (indeed, her English was perfect), before remembering that she was from Singapore, and English is one of [Singapore’s official languages](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Singapore). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/731 "2012-05-14T15:00:58Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I thought that back in 8th grade or so. I thought, from the health teacher’s description, that the hymen covered the vaginal opening 100%, which makes 0% sense in retrospect. So I didn’t get how a virgin could use a tampon. I just kept that shit to myself though, of course. > > ETA: I know the 100% or imperforate does exist as an anomaly. > [@Nava](#): > > My own hymen took some serious work to get broken by a hard-on; my grandmother’s needed a bunched-up hand. Most women are easier virgins, but… I’m not an expert in this area, nor even a gifted amateur, but I read a lot. And I had a case once involving a hymen, and what information might be gleaned from the medical examination of it. What I learned was: there is great variety in the world of hymens. It’s possible to be born without one. It’s possible to lose it, perforate it, notch it, wear it thin, or tear it with a tampon applicator or by physical exercise or other causes that do not imply sexual activity. On the other hand, it’s possible that sexual penetration with inanimate objects, fingers, or penises can cause those same symptoms. In short, a damaged or non-existent hymen doesn’t prove anything about sexual activity, although in conjunction with other evidence it may be suggestive, and the presence of a hyman does not rule out sexual abuse. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/732 "2012-05-14T16:35:28Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > That’s not exactly shocking ignorance. I didn’t know it, for instance. My guess is that not one person in 5 would know that. Yeah, i agree. I knew it, but only because at one time i took a casual interest in reading about the prehistoric world. Some people in this thread seem to think the title is, “Ever been shocked that not everyone in the world knows as much as you about some arcane area of study?” ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/733 "2012-05-14T16:53:44Z")
> [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > I once knew a girl who worked at a fast-food place and her manager(an adult) didn’t understand that 2.5 hours was two and a half hours. She thought 2.3 hours was two and a half hours. I work for the state of Missouri, and our “Time/Leave System” requires that you enter the following time units into the computer system for requesting paid time off: 2.30 for two and one-half hours, 2.45 for two hours and forty-five minutes, etc. Every time I use the system, I forget to do it that way and put 2.5 for two and a half hours, getting an error message every time. I think that if you were allowed to use a colon instead of a period between the hours and minutes, I wouldn’t be so confused. 2:30 _is_ two and a half hours. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/734 "2012-05-14T16:56:43Z")
> [@hermette](#): > > I was complimented for being able to speak English so well, by an American lady (I’m from the U.K.) I had a mate, who was also previously a colleague (dead now bless him) who was black as the ace of spades, he left our outfit and went to work for the locals in the M.E. At a later date a bunch of us flew out there and was met by him and his employers, after they’d got us settled in, one of the soldiers who weren’t from our particular mob said" that Ali bloke spaks really good English ". I said "Yes, people from Hampshire can be really bright sometimes ". But the boot on the other foot. One of my mates is married to a Taiwanese girl whos an old friend of mine, we were all sitting round a table at a wedding reception discussing her home city, when to include another Chinese lady in the conversation I asked her what part of China she was from . Liverpool was the reply . ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/735 "2012-05-14T17:18:35Z")
During a recent thunderstorm, I was explaining to my daughter that thunder was the sound caused by lightning. An adult relative was shocked to hear me say that, and asked me to verify it; it took some convincing before she believed me. This relative is brilliant, just not especially science-minded. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/736 "2012-05-14T17:26:12Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What I learned was: there is great variety in the world of hymens. It’s possible to be born without one. It’s possible to lose it, perforate it, notch it, wear it thin, or tear it with a tampon applicator or by physical exercise or other causes that do not imply sexual activity. That would imply that the Lord God Jehovah is shockingly ignorant, since he made a rule that a new bride who can’t provide a bloody sheet as a “token of her virginity” is to be stoned. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/737 "2012-05-14T17:28:50Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > During a recent thunderstorm, I was explaining to my daughter that thunder was the sound caused by lightning. An adult relative was shocked to hear me say that, and asked me to verify it; it took some convincing before she believed me. This relative is brilliant, just not especially science-minded. What did she think caused it, and why did she think it only happened during lightning storms? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/738 "2012-05-14T21:59:08Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > What did she think caused it, and why did she think it only happened during lightning storms? I’ve heard thunder with no discernible lightning about. I’ve even heard thunder during a snow storm. I did, however, know what causes thunder. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/739 "2012-05-14T23:15:01Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Yeah, i agree. I knew it, but only because at one time i took a casual interest in reading about the prehistoric world. > > Some people in this thread seem to think the title is, “Ever been shocked that not everyone in the world knows as much as you about some arcane area of study?” I’m not entirely sure he was referring to not knowing the specific details – I mean, I couldn’t have told you that there was, specifically, an inland sea covering North America, but I certainly knew that 1\> we got a whole bunch of limestone, because 2\> lots of it was underwater at some point in the distant past. I wouldn’t know if it was fresh or saltwater, but I knew there was _water._ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/740 "2012-05-15T08:22:57Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I’ve heard thunder with no discernible lightning about. I’ve even heard thunder during a snow storm. I did, however, know what causes thunder. Do you? I was under the impression it was a scientific mystery with no consensus. Please explain what causes thunder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=38)