# Questions people are convinced of the answer, but are wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2022, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721 "2022-11-11T00:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/41 "2022-11-11T15:36:17Z")
Let’s just hope there are enough fools around. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/42 "2022-11-11T15:44:24Z")
So you’re saying, at least with respect to car-buying, it truly is the fool, and not the fool who follows him, who’s the more foolish? If only Old Ben had known, he might not have gotten his head lopped off. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/43 "2022-11-11T16:36:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > One of my favorites is that so many think it’s daylight _ **savings** _ time. Not sure if you said this without irony, but the first two Google hits for “daylight savings time” are the Wiki entry, which has it as “saving” but states that “savings” is an accepted variation, and a Reuters article that uses the term. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/44 "2022-11-11T17:06:08Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > Let’s just hope there are enough fools around. I’m convinced there is an endless supply of fools. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/45 "2022-11-11T17:46:12Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Only fools buy a new car. Always buy used. Is this the wrong answer to the question “should I buy a new car?" ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/46 "2022-11-11T18:15:15Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > In baseball (and presumably softball), the tie does not go to the runner. This is an interesting one. I looked it up, and Rule 5.09a10 says an out occurs “after a third strike or after he hits a fair ball, he or first base is tagged before he touches first base”. To me that suggests a tie goes to the runner, since the ball didn’t get there before the runner. But in Wiki’s article on the subject, an MLB ump reads it backwards (“a runner either beats the ball or not”) - so there’s certainly general confusion on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/47 "2022-11-11T18:18:38Z")
So is that ties are impossible for the sake of baseball but the trend is for very close calls to go to the runner? ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/48 "2022-11-11T18:21:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > DEFCON-5 is not the tensest alert state, its the most relaxed. I think it was Penny on Big Bang Theory who said something like, “we’re at DEFCON-5. Or DEFCON-1, whichever’s the bad one.” ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/49 "2022-11-11T18:25:50Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Rule 5.09a10 says an out occurs “after a third strike or after he hits a fair ball, he or first base is tagged before he touches first base”. Hang on here! Rule 7.08e says a runner is out if “he fails to reach the next base before a fielder tags him or the base”. Inconsistencies! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/50 "2022-11-11T18:49:14Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > One of my favorites is that so many think it’s daylight _ **savings** _ time. > > Not sure if you said this without irony, but the first two Google hits for “daylight savings time” are the Wiki entry, which has it as “saving” but states that “savings” is an accepted variation, and a Reuters article that uses the term. Interesting. Maybe it is now ok, sort of like how the meaning of “literally” is changing. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/51 "2022-11-11T18:55:06Z")
Similarly, many people think that anything the Pope announces is infallible. Technically, there have been only two generally accepted ex cathedra announcements. That of the Immaculate Conception itself, in 1854, and the Assumption of Mary in 1950. Whether other statements were is contested. I bet some of these people were also very surprised to learn that a Pope could retire, instead of needing to stay in office until death. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/52 "2022-11-11T18:57:39Z")
I certainly hope so. [Masters Degree or Master's Degree? | Grammarly](https://www.grammarly.com/blog/masters-degree/#:~:text=The%20correct%20way%20to%20spell,apply%20to%20a%20bachelor's%20degree). > You don’t have to be a bachelor to get a bachelor’s degree, but you do need to demonstrate mastery to get a master’s degree. Either way, you should know how to correctly spell the degree you have; avoid misspelling them as _masters degree_ and _bachelors degree_ . > > - The correct way to spell **master’s degree** is with the [apostrophe](https://www.grammarly.com/blog/apostrophe/). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/53 "2022-11-11T19:00:12Z")
NFW! And I have one. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/54 "2022-11-11T19:19:29Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > Standard A: Yes, as Galileo demonstrated. > > Correct A: No; unless this is done in a vacuum, the more massive one reaches the ground first. (And Galileo probably didn’t attempt this - it was a thought experiment.) The more massive one does not always reach the ground first. It has nothing to do with mass, and everything to do with shape. Drop a 200 lbs glider and a 2oz pebble. Which one do you think will hit the ground first? It’s all about aerodynamics and air resistance. A more massive object has more inertia, so that just cancels out and is why all things fall at the same rate in a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/55 "2022-11-11T19:24:40Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > So you’re saying, at least with respect to car-buying, it truly is the fool, and not the fool who follows him, who’s the more foolish? If only Old Ben had known, he might not have gotten his head lopped off. Only that the logic behind _Only fools buy a new car. It’s smarter to buy a used_ depends on someone buying a new car, since car makers aren’t churning out used cars from their assembly lines\*. It’s the same kind of logic people use when they say: _You should buy second hand clothes, as it helps cut down on carbon emissions_. Well, as compared to buying new, but the equation still needs someone to buy the new shirt, since second hand clothes are in limited supply (albeit enormous). - Although ISTM that some makers are trying their best to achieve that, when it comes to QA. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/56 "2022-11-11T19:44:29Z")
I haven’t been able to convince my nephew that South America is not directly south of North America. Honestly even I’m not sure how far to the east it is. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/57 "2022-11-11T19:56:51Z")
To be fair to him most of South America is south of some part of North America, but most of North America has no South America south of it. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/58 "2022-11-11T20:28:42Z")
Hmmm, yes. When sailing (term of art, the ship was nuclear powered) from San Diego to Norfolk by way of the Strait of Magellan (with port visits along the way), I do recall being somewhat perplexed by the time zone shifts. I was like “Wait. We’re in the eastern time zone? But we just sailed south to Peru!" Well, not _due_ south, it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/59 "2022-11-11T21:02:51Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Even people with Masters Degrees think that they have Master’s Degrees. They do. The lack of an apostrophe does not make someone wrong. In fact since common usage has gotten rid of the useless punctuation mark, we should just let it go and not be pedantic. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Similarly, many people think that anything the Pope announces is infallible. Technically, there have been only two generally accepted ex cathedra announcements. That of the Immaculate Conception itself, in 1854, and the Assumption of Mary in 1950. Yep. The Pope can speak infallibly, but very rarely does. Cleopatra was Egyptian. Well, some would say, no she wasn’t- she was Macedonian-Greek. But that would be a pedantic and false answer. She was born in Egypt, her parents were born there, her grandparents, etc (altho a couple of GGP were born in Syria or Thrace)- you have to go back about 300 years to get to the Macedonian ancestor. To say Cleo was Greek, you would have to also concede that most Americans are not Americans (few can trace American linage back 300 years, unless you are Indigenous of course) . I would call myself an American, even tho 300 years ago, none of my ancestors were born here. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721/60 "2022-11-11T21:18:36Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > > [@Velocity](#): > > > > DEFCON-5 is not the tensest alert state, its the most relaxed. > > I think it was Penny on Big Bang Theory who said something like, “we’re at DEFCON-5. Or DEFCON-1, whichever’s the bad one.” That was Leonard relaying a telephoned plea for help from Howard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-are-convinced-of-the-answer-but-are-wrong/974721.md?page=4)