# Myths you were taught in school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952 "2005-10-12T20:15:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![WVBrady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/74df32/32.png) [@WVBrady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WVBrady)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/161 "2005-10-15T04:49:54Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > I had a substitute teacher in 3rd grade who told us Hawaii was located in the Carribean. I believe it! I once mentioned to a friend of mine that a lot of people thought that WVa was still part of the same state as Va. He told me: “If you think that is bad, a lot of people think Hawaii is somewhere down in the Caribbean”. I still don’t how to pronounce it, though. I asked another friend if he pronounced it “Havaee”. He said “sure, doesn’t everyvone?”. 😉 WVBrady ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/162 "2005-10-15T05:09:46Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > The Spanish misions were kind and benevolent, and “saved” the heathens - saved them for forced labor that is. Eh, to be fair, some of them were-ever hear of Bartolome de las Casas? Unfortunately, he wasn’t very successful. ---
**Author:** ![WVBrady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/74df32/32.png) [@WVBrady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WVBrady)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/163 "2005-10-15T05:30:20Z")
Quote: Originally posted by BobLibDem: I was taught that the bomb was dropped on Japan because they would never surrender. In truth, they were trying to negotiate a surrender via the Soviets. Holy shit, I didn’t know that!" True, but the Russians weren’t interested. They only declared war on Japan after we had them defeated. They were just interested in gobbling up as much territory and influence as they could. Some people speculate that a major reason for dropping the atom bomb was to impress the Russians that we were not to be trifled with. This was especially important after Roosevelt and Churchill gave away the farm in Europe. Also, according to the History Channel, the Japanese deliberately dragged their feet in their reply after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, replying in an ambiguous manner. (I used to know the actual word that they used; maybe someone else can provide it.) They did this in an attempt to try and negotiate a more favorable peace treaty. It was as a result of this delaying tactic that the decision was made to drop the second bomb on Nagasaki. Also reported on the History Channel was an unsuccessful attempt by some of the younger military officers to kidnap the emperor and to prevent the broadcast of the pre-recorded tape of the emperor telling the Japanese people that they should surrender without any further resistance. Only the bravery of a few people refusing under threat of death to disclose the location of the tapes and at the radio station prevented this from happening. There was a movie produced about this and it appeared to be very accurate in the historical details. Often overlooked is the fact that more people were killed in the firebombing of Tokoyo than were killed by the atom bombs. It is just that the atom bomb was so powerful a weapon that the emperor could “save face” by “thinking the unthinkable” and surrender in view of such a weapon. Again, according to the History Channel, the fanaticism of the kamikaze pilots convinced our military leaders that unless the atom bomb was used, the japanese population as a whole would fight unto the death and many more lives would be lost on both sides. I think if you compare the lives of eastern europeans and the Japanese since WWII, it is obvious which group was treated better. A Japanese man who was just a boy at the end of the war said that he was concerned that his generation was the last one that would remember how well they were treated by the US soldiers. He said that the Japanese soldiers told them that the American soldiers were cannibals and would eat them. He said that they found out just the opposite; the American soldiers were nice to them and gave them candy and gum. A woman (from Okinawa?) told of how the Japanese soldiers would arrange them seated in a circle on the ground and would then drop a hand grenade into the circle. She cried as she reported that the only reason that she was alive was that her grenade did not go off. The Japanese soldiers also either forced or induced Okinawans to jump off of the cliffs into the sea (many times holding their children) instead of being captured by the Americans. The History Channel did show a black and white film someone had taken of a woman jumping from a high cliff, surely to her death. I can only imagine the rage US veterans must have felt when they heard of the exhibit in the Smithsonian that apparently put much of the blame for the war on the US and that dropping of the atom bomb was not necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/164 "2005-10-15T05:35:05Z")
> [@WVBrady](#): > > I saw a program on (I think) the History Channel on the subject of the procurement of slaves from the west coast of Africa. I missed the first part, so I am not sure of which country it was, but the African woman leading the tour was speaking French. I’d guess the program was set on [Goree Island](http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1519/Goree_Island_home_of_The_Door_of_No_Return), which is part of the former French colony of Senegal. Your post about folks who believe Hawaii is in the Caribbean reminded me of the fact that too many people are unaware of the fact that[New Mexico](http://www.nmmagazine.com/FEATURES/50missing.html) is part of the United States of America. So much ignorance exists that license plates from the Land of Enchantment are now emblazoned with the slogan [NEW MEXICO USA](http://www.worldlicenceplates.com/usa/US_NMXX.html). ---
**Author:** ![WVBrady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/74df32/32.png) [@WVBrady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WVBrady)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/165 "2005-10-15T05:36:40Z")
Quote: Originally posted by BobLibDem: I was taught that the bomb was dropped on Japan because they would never surrender. In truth, they were trying to negotiate a surrender via the Soviets. Holy shit, I didn’t know that!" True, but the Russians weren’t interested. They only declared war on Japan after we had them defeated. They were just interested in gobbling up as much territory and influence as they could. Some people speculate that a major reason for dropping the atom bomb was to impress the Russians that we were not to be trifled with. This was especially important after Roosevelt and Churchill gave away the farm in Europe. Also, according to the History Channel, the Japanese deliberately dragged their feet in their reply after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, replying in an ambiguous manner. (I used to know the actual word that they used; maybe someone else can provide it.) They did this in an attempt to try and negotiate a more favorable peace treaty. It was as a result of this delaying tactic that the decision was made to drop the second bomb on Nagasaki. Also reported on the History Channel was an unsuccessful attempt by some of the younger military officers to kidnap the emperor and to prevent the broadcast of the pre-recorded tape of the emperor telling the Japanese people that they should surrender without any further resistance. Only the bravery of a few people refusing under threat of death to disclose the location of the tapes and at the radio station prevented this from happening. There was a movie produced about this and it appeared to be very accurate in the historical details. Often overlooked is the fact that more people were killed in the firebombing of Tokoyo than were killed by the atom bombs. It is just that the atom bomb was so powerful a weapon that the emperor could “save face” by “thinking the unthinkable” and surrender in view of such a weapon. Again, according to the History Channel, the fanaticism of the kamikaze pilots convinced our military leaders that unless the atom bomb was used, the japanese population as a whole would fight unto the death and many more lives would be lost on both sides. I think if you compare the lives of eastern europeans and the Japanese since WWII, it is obvious which group was treated better. Also, our leaders suspected, correctly as it turned out, that the American POW’s would be killed by the Japanese if and when Japan was invaded. I know a man whose brother was in a Japanese POW camp when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The Japanese soldiers murdered all 2500 POW’s at that camp the same day. A Japanese man who was just a boy at the end of the war said that he was concerned that his generation was the last one that would remember how well they were treated by the US soldiers. He said that the Japanese soldiers told them that the American soldiers were cannibals and would eat them. He said that they found out just the opposite; the American soldiers were nice to them and gave them candy and gum. A woman (from Okinawa?) told of how the Japanese soldiers would arrange them seated in a circle on the ground and would then drop a hand grenade into the circle. She cried as she reported that the only reason that she was alive was that her grenade did not go off. The Japanese soldiers also either forced or induced Okinawans to jump off of the cliffs into the sea (many times holding their children) instead of being captured by the Americans. The History Channel did show a black and white film someone had taken of a woman jumping from a high cliff, surely to her death. I can only imagine the rage US veterans must have felt when they heard of the exhibit in the Smithsonian that apparently put much of the blame for the war on the US and that dropping of the atom bomb was not necessary. ---
**Author:** ![WVBrady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/74df32/32.png) [@WVBrady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WVBrady)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/166 "2005-10-15T05:53:55Z")
"James Loewen spent two years at the Smithsonian Institute surveying twelve leading high school textbooks of American History. " > [@Foaming Cleanser](#): > > So much for fighting ignorance:After two years, you’d think he’d know the name of the place, or at least have the blurb corrected. Maybe he had the same tour guide that my brother had. The guide even made a joke about not wanting to be in an institution (for the criminally insane, perhaps?). Brady ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/167 "2005-10-15T13:09:07Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > “Politics” is etymologically derived from the Latin for “many tickets”. But now we know better. Poly = many Ticks= blood sucking parasites Polyticks = politics = many blood sucking parasites 😃 > [@NinjaChick](#): > > Not exactly a myth, but a teacher once told me in fourth grade that asking questions wasn’t a good way to learn: you should just sit and listen to your teacher, accept what they tell you, and assume that that’s all you need to know. :rolleyes: Now that sounds like a pretty arrogant and ignorant teacher. The most important discoveries and inventions and social improvements and medical advances and and and came because someone DID ask questions. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/168 "2005-10-15T13:15:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Eh, to be fair, some of them were-ever hear of Bartolome de las Casas? Unfortunately, he wasn’t very successful. It figures the nice guy would be the one who fades into obscurity. My point was that we were taught that ALL of them were good guys, witnout exception. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/169 "2005-10-15T16:30:05Z")
> [@jsmith](#): > > Which leads to the argument I hear from Christians all the time: if we evolved from apes how come there are still apes? > > Whatever. Why do we still have apes? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/170 "2005-10-15T16:51:42Z")
> [@tofergregg](#): > > I was taught that Rosa Parks just got fed up one day and decided she was going to stay put on that bus. I was pretty surprised to learn (many years later, in grad school) that she was planted. That’s not to say that she wasn’t brave, courageous, and worthy of the fame she got from taking her stand (or rather, not taking a stand…), but at the same time I felt let down by the idea that the whole affair wasn’t as spontaneous as I was led to believe. > > -Tofer I doubt my parents would want to hear that ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/171 "2005-10-15T16:53:40Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > There is also the not enormously implausible possibility he was slowly poisoned. There was certainly motive and opportunity, the methods of doing so in wine were reasonably well known and the semi-vague symptoms we know of could certainly have fit. > > - Tamerlane There is a very good chance Alexander was being poisoned. We have to consider that as a valid idea, just as we have to consider the possibility that he did it to himself. He had dragged his army from Greece to India. There had been years of constant battle, and there was no end in sight. I can easily believe his people were getting tired of the wars, tired of being away from home, and tired of him. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/172 "2005-10-15T16:55:51Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Up through my senior year of high school, we were being taught that Columbus “helped popularize” the idea that the Earth was round. :rolleyes: > > . I hear about this but wouldn’t an illeterate uneducated person assume the earth is flat? Weren’t most Europeans in Colombus own time uneducated? ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/173 "2005-10-15T17:38:35Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > There is a very good chance Alexander was being poisoned. We have to consider that as a valid idea, just as we have to consider the possibility that he did it to himself. He had dragged his army from Greece to India. There had been years of constant battle, and there was no end in sight. I can easily believe his people were getting tired of the wars, tired of being away from home, and tired of him. I don’t really see that. It’s not borne out in any of the primary sources I’ve read. Obviously it’s not impossible, but I don’t think it’s historical, either. Also: > [@"Stranger on a Train](#): > > a political (not just cultural) schism exists even today between the South and the rest of the nation in a way that was never true of any other region. Care to rephrase? Because I sort of disagree with that statement. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/174 "2005-10-15T19:09:07Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > Why do we still have apes? Just curious. We didn’t evolve from apes. Humans and apes have a common ancestor. > [@BluePitbull](#): > > I hear about this but wouldn’t an illeterate uneducated person assume the earth is flat? Weren’t most Europeans in Colombus own time uneducated? I have no idea what everyone else would assume. But Columbus couldn’t “popularize” the truth when most people had no clue he existed, and when most people who were interested in the issue knew the truth - in fact, knew it better than he did. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/175 "2005-10-15T19:24:15Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > I hear about this but wouldn’t an illeterate uneducated person assume the earth is flat? Weren’t most Europeans in Colombus own time uneducated? Nope. For one, the idea that the Earth was round had been kicking around for a _long_ time before Columbus: Ptolemy published _The Almagest_ sometime around 150 CE, and his idea that the Earth was spherical was pretty well accepted by his contemporaries. Astronomers seem to have acknowledged the roundness of the planet pretty much since astronomy became its own field of study. Even without that, there are plenty of easily-observable things pointing towards the earth’s spherical nature. I believe it was Aristotle who cited the Earth’s shadow on the moon during an eclipse as evidence of it (earth) being round. Also: Imagine you’re in a region that has both high hills and a coast. Stand on the shore, and you’ll be able to see a ship leaving port, and it will eventually look as if it’s sinking, rather than just getting smaller. If you go up on the hill behind you, you’ll be able to watch it ‘sink’ further away. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_earth) article, if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/176 "2005-10-15T19:49:54Z")
> [@jsmith](#): > > Which leads to the argument I hear from Christians all the time: if we evolved from apes how come there are still apes? In 3rd grade, I memorized this poem and stood up and recited it to the class: _Children, behold the Chimpanzee: He sits upon the ancestral tree From which we sprang in ages gone. I’m glad we sprang; had we held on, We might, for aught that I can say, Be horrid Chimpanzees today._ ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/177 "2005-10-15T20:06:35Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Columbus discovered America - so what about Norsemen, hunters from Asia crossing a land bridge, and who know who else? Columbus discovered America only in the sense that he made Europe realize there was something there, withen sailing distance to the west. So replace it with “Columbus opened up the Americas to Europe”. > [@SteveG1](#): > > People in Columbus’ time thought the earth was flat - not so, that idea was invented much later, as any decent sailor already knew better. Maybe peasents believed it was flat, but educated people didn’t. > [@SteveG1](#): > > Hiding under the desk will protect you from a nuclear strike - uh sure I suspect the real idea is the same reason you stand in a doorframe or get under a table during an eartquake, to protect you from falling debris(at more then standing in the open would. > [@SteveG1](#): > > Two nukes were dropped on Japan because they refused to surrender (too evil to quit I suppose?). That was one of the reasons. No doubt the Soviet thing played into it, and the fact that a lot of people would have likely been pissed if the war dragged on for a few more months and killed thousands more when a couple bombs could have ended it quickly, particulary since millions had just been spent developing those bombs. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/178 "2005-10-15T20:16:59Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Columbus discovered America only in the sense that he made Europe realize there was something there, withen sailing distance to the west. > > So replace it with “Columbus opened up the Americas to Europe”. The Columbus thing was even worse than that. He never saw nor set foot on mainland North America. That is what people usually think of when you say “America” so it is terribly misleading. He mainly took a series of Carribean Island adventures and then landed once on South America. Did he even know that where he landed in South America was even a continent instead of a Carribean Island (that is a question from me)? In any case, Columbus had little to do with North America except that most of the Carribean is assigned to North America because they had to give it a continent. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/179 "2005-10-15T20:49:37Z")
> [@WVBrady](#): > > Maybe not the Germans, but when my sister lived in Alaska, they had some sort of dinner for visiting Russian pilots (her husband is a pilot). Corn on the cob is expensive in Alaska, because it has to shipped in, and my sister was proud of the fact that she was able to get some. The Russians were very impressed with the size of the houses and the fact that they had steak to eat, but remarked that “corn is what we feed the horses”. > > Brady \>\>\>\> I asked my boyfriend, who was married to a German and lived in Baumberg (sp?) for three years. He said the comment that Germans might not eat corn because of it being what pigs eat was not surprising to him. That it would be considered (apparently in his ex-wife’s family at least) as “poor” people food along with pasta & rice. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952/180 "2005-10-15T21:41:56Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Eh, to be fair, some of them were-ever hear of Bartolome de las Casas? Unfortunately, he wasn’t very successful. Plus, he attempted to save the Indians by suggesting that Africans be used as slaves instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-you-were-taught-in-school/325952.md?page=10)