# When good adults believe bad science (share your stories) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738 "2005-12-30T16:52:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/1 "2005-12-30T16:52:57Z")
A few years back someone posted a Pit rant in which his coworker explained that planes stayed aloft “because we believe they can.” Truly a moment of dumb. I’m not sure if it was in the same thread, but the ubiquitousness of “All rivers flow south” was also mentioned. So what gems have you heard? My latest: Recently we had a big snowstorm where we actually got thunder. I was standing in a semi-enclosed space when a big thunder-boomer sounded off. A woman near me said “Ooh, wow, pretty soon we’re going to see the lightning from that!” ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/2 "2005-12-30T16:59:26Z")
A science teacher in grade school agreed with a student that water is a form of energy because it can drive hydroelectric power plants. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/3 "2005-12-30T17:04:12Z")
That water drains in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise) in the southern hemisphere. That a jet on a treadmill wouldn’t be able to take off. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/4 "2005-12-30T17:23:51Z")
I had a geography teacher who used to try and fool us with his “Continental Drip” theory. He explained that because the earth is round, all the continents are drifting southwards to the southpole. He used to fool quite a few kids before he’d 'fess up. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/5 "2005-12-30T17:30:04Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That a jet on a treadmill wouldn’t be able to take off. Of course it can’t. We don’t have to discuss it here though. I will start a thred about it elsewhere. That planes fly because of Bernoulli’s principle. That one isn’t out of shear ignorance. It is because of a conspiracy to teach school kids false or at least misleading and incomplete information. Intuition gets them closer to correct than that. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/6 "2005-12-30T17:32:34Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I will start a thred about it elsewhere. It’s been done. To death. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/7 "2005-12-30T17:35:01Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That water drains in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise) in the southern hemisphere. You beat me to it. I was amazed when a very intelligent friend of mine, who holds a degree in science from a prestigious university, vociferously asserted this and berated me for not believing it. I finally dragged him into the kitchen, filled up the sink, pulled the plug, and made him watch it swirl back and forth, hither and yon, with no rhyme or reason. Then I told him there was nothing worse than a person who was assertive, willfully ignorant, and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Plinth\_percher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@Plinth\_percher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plinth_percher)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/8 "2005-12-30T17:36:12Z")
When I was a kid my dad told me that thunder was “the echo of lightning”. Sounded good to me, so I raised my hand in class and was humiliated by that heat expansion implosion thing. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/9 "2005-12-30T17:43:00Z")
Perusing my nephew’s highschool science textbook, I came across a photo of a Shuttle astronaut doing a spacewalk. The caption was: “As you get further from the center of the earth, gravity decreases until, in outer space, you’re weightless!” The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![Plinth\_percher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@Plinth\_percher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plinth_percher)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/10 "2005-12-30T17:46:22Z")
**Shagnasty** and **tdn** A jet doesn’t use it’s wheels for propulsion except to taxi. When flying they are limp and drag behind the plane. So whatever they are in contact with, solid or moving is irrelevant. A jet is just a rocket with an external air supply. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/11 "2005-12-30T17:49:39Z")
Well let’s see. Mom always said “animals can smell fear.” Oh great, I guess I’m fucked then. We lived in the UP of Michigan, and encountering wolves & bears was fairly common. OK, I get it. You’re not supposed to scream and run away. But how are you supposed to not give off the “fear smell?” “Don’t eat the Bay leaf, it’s poison!” What the hell was she thinking?? It’s not poisonous to cook it into your soup, it’s only poison if you take it out and eat it? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/12 "2005-12-30T17:54:25Z")
> [@Plinth percher](#): > > **Shagnasty** and **tdn** > A jet doesn’t use it’s wheels for propulsion except to taxi. Yeah, I get it. I never argued that a plane on a treadmill would never fly. Although I’m wondering about the whole “Bernouli was wrong” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/13 "2005-12-30T18:01:17Z")
> [@Plinth percher](#): > > **Shagnasty** and **tdn** > A jet doesn’t use it’s wheels for propulsion except to taxi. When flying they are limp and drag behind the plane. So whatever they are in contact with, solid or moving is irrelevant. > A jet is just a rocket with an external air supply. How soon we forget… [destined to be a classic, I think.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348452) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/14 "2005-12-30T18:01:55Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > . A woman near me said “Ooh, wow, pretty soon we’re going to see the lightning from that!” Are you sure she meant “lighting from the thunder”, or just “lighting from the storm generally”? In my limited experience of thunderstorms I’ve often heard thunder before seeing any lightning, especially if I didn’t happen to be near a window. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/15 "2005-12-30T18:06:24Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Are you sure she meant “lighting from the thunder”, or just “lighting from the storm generally”? Coulda been either, but my impression was that she was talking about the lightning that was to come from that particular thunderclap. The way she phrased it made it sound that way. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/16 "2005-12-30T18:13:08Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > How soon we forget… [destined to be a classic, I think.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348452) Good God man, don’t link to it! It finally died! Let it stay dead! ---
**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:** [December 30, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/17 "2005-12-30T18:18:52Z")
I was with a friend at Dante’s View, overlooking Death Valley. He turned to me and said “I wonder where it drains to?”. In his defense, he’s an engineer and immediately knew it was stupid question. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/18 "2005-12-30T18:25:08Z")
My friends K&J have a great dog; sheperd lab. Another set of friends, L&G, have kids. L’s mom is old North Shore money and breeds and shows little yappy dogs. Grandma won’t speak to K&J at any function, even though they’re seriously best friends–even talked about adopting each others’ kids (long story)–because they own a mutt. She thinks mutts are some kind of abberration of nature, and are “unpredictable,” as individuals, and are dangerous to children. I want to shake her like a polaroid picture. ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/19 "2005-12-30T18:26:19Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Perusing my nephew’s highschool science textbook, I came across a photo of a Shuttle astronaut doing a spacewalk. The caption was: “As you get further from the center of the earth, gravity decreases until, in outer space, you’re weightless!” :eek: I hope that book wasn’t published by the company I work for. I had a high school biology teacher who insisted that the sun is powered by nook-yoo-ler fission. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/20 "2005-12-30T18:44:05Z")
I know a few otherwise intelligent (and more importantly, skeptical) people who beleive in astrology and that the full moon leads to odd behavior. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738.md?page=2)