# What are we all wrong about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308 "2009-06-10T05:51:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/21 "2009-06-11T01:55:09Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > There is something that we are all wrong about, no doubt, and it’s a bloody nuisance. Any idea what it could be? It will seem to you to be right, no doubt, but it will perhaps be good if you guess 😕 Yeah , that mary lou was going to get biblical with me on sunday night. Declan ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralCrunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@AdmiralCrunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralCrunch)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/22 "2009-06-11T04:23:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > What are we wrong about? > > The belief that the Earth is something more than a tiny speck of dust in a near-infinite universe. Mankind has an overinflated sense of its own importance - it’s the only think that keeps us sane. Congratulations! You’re the billionth person to say this little nugget of tired nonsense. If anything can be said to have importance, we’re by far the most important collection of stardust on the most interesting planet in the corner of the Milky Way that we inhabit. And it’s gonna stay that way until you’re dead, your kids are dead, and on and on and on until _ **we** _ invent a warp drive. We may be a tiny speck of dust, but the rest of the universe doesn’t really have a direct effect on us on a timescale that matters more than, say, new iPhone versions. And it’s not like we can do anything about those rare events from outside the solar system that affect us. As for what we’re all wrong about? Free Will. Plenty of people acknowledge determinism intellectually, but I think deep down in our meat-brains we all still feel like we’re in the captain’s seat. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/23 "2009-06-11T04:44:29Z")
**Time Keeping** has always bothered me. We all agree that there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour, but it’s just made up bullshit that _everyone_ buys into. Borrowed from an old post on the subject: > **[How Time Works](https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/time2.htm)** > > Ever wonder why we start our year on the first of January? Or why we have January and the other 11 months in the first place? Find out all about time. “That’s a pretty bizarre way to divide a day up. We divide it in half, then divide the halves by twelfths, then divide the twelfths into sixtieths, then divide by 60 again, and then convert to a decimal system for the smallest increments. It’s no wonder children have trouble learning how to tell time.” ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/24 "2009-06-11T04:49:48Z")
We’ve said everything there is to say. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/25 "2009-06-11T04:59:08Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] If there is something we are ALL wrong about, by definition no one will post in this thread to say so, because if they did, we wouldn’t ALL be wrong. So it’s a question that literally can’t be answered, because if an answer is provided it invalidates itself. [/QUOTE] Yes, I most certainly agree! No, never mind…I totally disagree! Er…I’m not sure. Maybe… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/26 "2009-06-11T05:16:31Z")
We’re all mistaken that we exist. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/27 "2009-06-11T06:08:19Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > We’re all mistaken that we exist. Not if you include all the non-existent people who \*\*\*know \*\*\*they don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/28 "2009-06-11T06:17:51Z")
Martin Luther King Jr. was a plagiarizer who didn’t deserve the Ph D he had, because his doctoral thesis was almost entirely lifted. Not to mention a _ **lot** _ of his work was plagiarized, both in college and his speeches. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/29 "2009-06-11T11:15:18Z")
No, actually it doesn’t count. There have been a number of people who have accused King of plagiarism. That’s not something that everybody has been wrong about. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/30 "2009-06-11T11:21:38Z")
Peanut Gallery writes: \> We all agree that there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour, \> but it’s just made up bullshit that everyone buys into. That’s not an incorrect belief. Saying that there are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in an hour is a definition. It may be a bad definition that should have been done differently long ago, but it’s not an incorrect definition. Any consistent, generally accepted definition can’t be called incorrect. We could all decide to change the definition to something more useful, but that wouldn’t make the new definition any more correct. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/31 "2009-06-11T11:27:06Z")
Home field advantage in sports. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/32 "2009-06-11T15:27:02Z")
> [@AdmiralCrunch](#): > > As for what we’re all wrong about? Free Will. Plenty of people acknowledge determinism intellectually, but I think deep down in our meat-brains we all still feel like we’re in the captain’s seat. It’s even a bit more subtle than that. I don’t think anyone really knows what free will even means, especially as it relates to moral responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/33 "2009-06-11T18:09:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > What are we wrong about? > > The belief that the Earth is something more than a tiny speck of dust in a near-infinite universe. Mankind has an overinflated sense of its own importance - it’s the only think that keeps us sane. Tell that to Zap Brangigan. Although that was only a pocket universe. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/34 "2009-06-11T18:38:22Z")
That the universe exists. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/35 "2009-06-11T18:49:44Z")
Everyone believes that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Everyone is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/36 "2009-06-11T19:35:05Z")
We all think we are above average drivers ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/37 "2009-06-11T19:50:31Z")
It actually IS turtles all the way down. Well, I don’t believe it either! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/38 "2009-06-11T20:12:01Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > The world is overpopulated. No it’s not. The world is _too small_. (It’s a design flaw.) I think that in 150 years, possibly less, our descendants will be living in igloos and reprogramming terriers and Pekingeses to pull sleds from what’s now Miami all the way through Death Valley and when they think of our generation they’ll say “Global warming they said! Hah!” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/39 "2009-06-11T20:39:01Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Martin Luther King Jr. was a plagiarizer who didn’t deserve the Ph D he had, because his doctoral thesis was almost entirely lifted. Not to mention a _ **lot** _ of his work was plagiarized, both in college and his speeches. > > Does that count? It’s true he was a plagiarist, as was Helen Keller and as (per some accounts) was Einstein ([Cecil on the topic](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2576/was-einstein-a-plagiarist)) and many other renowned intellects. An irony in the case of MLK is that one writer he was accused of plagiarizing was one of the readers of his dissertation (L.H. DeWolf). As for whether he deserved the Ph.D. or not, that’s Boston University’s call and they said [he did](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._authorship_issues); whether they’d have said that had he been M.L. King, an applicant for a theology professorship, rather than MLK, the late and beloved Nobel Laureate American secular saint, is up for debate, but it’s not likely to be debated as for one thing there’s been a ruling already and for another few people really care since MLK wasn’t an academic researcher and thus his dissertation really wasn’t that vital to the positions he held (it wasn’t necessary for a Baptist minister to have finished high school, let alone have a doctorate, plus he had many honorary doctorates eventually so the term ‘Dr. King’ is still valid). In any case though, I can’t see how this would make everybody wrong since his plagiarism is well documented and, more importantly, as with Einstein and Keller, he had significant “value added” outside of his degree. Since King wasn’t an academic but a preacher and later a civil rights leader this is how he should be judged by history. Now admittedly there’s a lot of room for debate in what that judgment should be- he has many harsh critics among blacks, whites, conservatives, liberals, Americans and non-Americans, as well as many champions as well as a huge mass who just know “he was a great man and you can buy flat screens cheaper on his birthday”. So it’s a scandal in his past. Lincoln may or may not have been a bisexual, an atheist (there’s evidence for all, none of it conclusive), a periodic sufferer from clinical and suicidal depression (there the evidence is about as conclusive as it can possibly be for a 19th century figure) who may or may not have loved his wife and whose views on race were considered benighted even by 19th century intellectuals (e.g. believed initially that blacks should not be allowed to serve in the army and at the end of the war should be resettled in Africa and South America). He also suspended habeus corpus and even had at least one native born American deported, and stated many times he did not see blacks as equal, think that they should vote, or have any desire to end slavery. Yet, he’s seen as the man who saved the USA, freed the slaves, and enabled blacks to vote and be equal under the law (to the extent that they were in the 19th century). The odd thing is that there’s an excellent argument for “Great Emancipator” AND for “racist enemy of the Constitution”, and all while possibly checking out guy’s butts and saying "If I weren’t an atheist I’d say ‘I KNOW THERE’S A GOD!’ then feeling really depressed about it. So, with MLK, there’s no real argument over whether he plagiarized- he did. Period. (I don’t really understand the furor over the fact that some of his speeches contained cut and paste portions: pretty much _ALL_ ministers do this [they even swap sermons] and every president from George Washington to Barack Obama had help writing speeches as do most other important public figures.) The only people who are wrong are those who say he didn’t, and so far as I know nobody who’s studied it has said that. His legacy is a much more plastic area, but so is everybody else’s. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308/40 "2009-06-11T21:15:52Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > That the universe exists. No, solipsists doubt even that. However, even solipsists don’t doubt that _they_ themselves, exist. Which is blatantly wrong, considering I’m the only one who really exists. Y’all are just figments of my imagination, and if you think you exist, you’re sorely mistaken. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-we-all-wrong-about/499308.md?page=3)