# Wrong teachings when I was young **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673 "2012-11-21T02:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/101 "2012-11-25T01:20:26Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I think this another one where science changed its mind. It’s not the fault of the teachers (or your memory). . . . Actually it changed its mind twice. Originally the panda bear was called the particolor bear. Then, after a little research indicated some physiological similarities to a raccoonish critter simply called “panda,” they were both renamed. The particolor bear became the giant panda, and the panda became the lesser panda (but that mostly gave way to “red” panda over time). I think it was within the last 20 years or so that scientists decided that “Oops! We were right the first time!” And so far as the discussion on “nuts,” the nitpickery there is that “true nuts” are a subset of “nuts,” so saying that [whatever ‘nut’] is not a nut is just. . . nuts. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/102 "2012-11-25T04:23:56Z")
When I was in primary (early 70s) there were only 3 life kingdoms (animals, plants, and protists.) There are 6 now, based on wiki. I used to find out about new additions by reading the Guiness book. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/103 "2012-11-25T17:30:16Z")
Third grade. On a quick homework assignment meant to show us how any multiple of 10 could be done by just counting up the zeros. Easy stuff, but after I finished it, I saw some printouts my father (the astrophysicist) had brought home and saw my big mistake. So I fixed it, and got an F for “crossing out all the zeros”. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/104 "2012-11-25T17:35:57Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Third grade. On a quick homework assignment meant to show us how any multiple of 10 could be done by just counting up the zeros. Easy stuff, but after I finished it, I saw some printouts my father (the astrophysicist) had brought home and saw my big mistake. So I fixed it, and got an F for “crossing out all the zeros”. I don’t get it ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/105 "2012-11-25T17:39:06Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Third grade. On a quick homework assignment meant to show us how any multiple of 10 could be done by just counting up the zeros. Easy stuff, but after I finished it, I saw some printouts my father (the astrophysicist) had brought home and saw my big mistake. So I fixed it, and got an F for “crossing out all the zeros”. Is that because the teacher was referring to terrestrial math, as opposed to the inverted math that holds true in outer space? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/106 "2012-11-25T17:47:24Z")
Used to be, with all-uppercase terminals and dot-matrix printers was that an “O” meant the letter so “Ø” was used to eliminate confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/107 "2012-11-25T18:09:48Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Is that because the teacher was referring to terrestrial math, as opposed to the inverted math that holds true in outer space? (sigh) I’m not sure what you are doing here. An example: [Terminal (typeface) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_(typeface)) I don’t know if you are playing, a jerk, or sadly ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/108 "2012-11-25T18:14:40Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > (sigh) > > I’m not sure what you are doing here. An example: [Terminal (typeface) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_(typeface)) > > I don’t know if you are playing, a jerk, or sadly ignorant. I’d tell you what i’m doing there, but then you might think I’m a jerk for making [your brain asplode](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=672144). ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/109 "2012-11-25T18:55:34Z")
Wow. My apologies. Also, (orange smoke) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/110 "2012-11-25T19:38:24Z")
It’s ok to use small amounts of aluminum foil in a microwave oven. I still don’t know if this is true or not; I’ve never been brave enough to test it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/111 "2012-11-25T20:24:02Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Used to be, with all-uppercase terminals and dot-matrix printers was that an “O” meant the letter so “Ø” was used to eliminate confusion. Actually, there was no genuine standard, with various impact printers using slightly different fonts. Then data centers established their own standards for hand-written documentation. It was always such a delight to get documentation from a software vendor that used the opposite convention from the data center. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/112 "2012-11-25T21:13:50Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > It’s ok to use small amounts of aluminum foil in a microwave oven. > I still don’t know if this is true or not; I’ve never been brave enough to test it. It’s true, so long as you put a container of water in along with it so you don’t burn out your microwave (magnetron?). Also colorful and exciting, depending on what the aluminum foil is in contact with when it ignites. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/113 "2012-11-26T14:46:48Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > It would seem angle of attack is pretty important. Isn’t that the only thing that makes [this airplane fly?](http://www.amazon.com/Guillows-Sky-Launcher-Balsa-Airplane/dp/B000BQ59LS) NASA Aerospace Engineer here. Short answer on the whole lift thing is that Bernoulli does accurately describe life. In that, if you get the velocity around the wing right, Bernoulli will tell you how much lift you have. Of course, that still leaves the question of how fast the air moves around the top and bottom. The wrong thing they told you as a kid, as mentioned earlier, is the equal transit time myth, but that does not invalidate Bernoulli. The little plane above produces lift mostly due to angle-of-attack, but there is likely a little camber in the wing too. There usually is for those kinds of planes. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/114 "2012-11-26T19:57:32Z")
> [@digs](#): > > My HS chemistry teacher called glass a liquid, and cited old windows thicker at the bottom. > > The other (older, more crotchety) chemistry teacher snuck in behind him as he was explaining this… and dropped a pane of glass. As it shattered, he yelled “So THAT’S a liquid?” Well, you could also drop and shatter a thin piece of ice. * * * Daddy longlegs can be dangerous in at least one regard. Years ago we had two young and apparently bored cats. They killed and shared the eating of a daddy longlegs one evening. About 15 minutes later my wife and I were busy cleaning up after two puking cats. * * * On glass formerly being known as a super cooled liquid. Wouldn’t that logic imply lava rocks and cast iron are also super cooled liquids? * * * This thread hasn’t touched on food “knowledge” yet. Remember when oleo margarine was considered a healthy oil and people avoided olive oil? Now it’s deemed about the worst fat imaginable and olive oil is “in”. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/115 "2012-11-26T20:15:05Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Used to be, with all-uppercase terminals and dot-matrix printers was that an “O” meant the letter so “Ø” was used to eliminate confusion. And I was instructed never to ever do that to eliminate confusion in hand-written work. Ø was to refer only to the empty set. I was also docked points for colouring in Greenland as part of North America. Because Greenland is part of Denmark, and Denmark is part of Europe, so Greenland is part of Europe. (This was in a physical geography class). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/116 "2012-11-26T20:22:53Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > And I was instructed never to ever do that to eliminate confusion in hand-written work. Ø was to refer only to the empty set. > > I was also docked points for colouring in Greenland as part of North America. Because Greenland is part of Denmark, and Denmark is part of Europe, so Greenland is part of Europe. (This was in a physical geography class). How’d you do in emotional geography? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/117 "2012-11-26T20:55:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > How’d you do in emotional geography? Not as good as in chemical geography. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/118 "2012-11-26T22:57:14Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > The short answer is that training takes less time with a musket, and fatigue doesn’t slow down a Musketeer as much. > > The phrase used with regards to the longbow was: “If you want to train a longbowman, start with the grandfather”. You needed strength, years of training, and archers on full rations for a longbowman to be effective. > > A crossbowman needs much less training, but still a substantial amount. The crossbowman does need decent rations as the reloading is an effort. The reloading was still slow, and in fact most crossbowman worked in pairs, one loading, one firing. > > Musketeers needed minimal training. You could train a decent one in an afternoon. Muskets (or calivers, or arquebuses) use resources like gunpowder, but a half-starved Musketeer fires not much worse than a fully fed one. While Musketeers can work in pairs, they get more firepower if they all load and fire. > > There’s also the fact that musket balls have more stopping power. They kill by crushing the opponent’s bones and internal organs. Crossbow bolts and arrows kill by bleeding you out, and that takes time. Hollywood likes to imply that a hit with an arrow is an instant kill if it hits anywhere in the chest, but that really isn’t the case. The enemy will probably eventually die, but he can still do damage while he is bleeding out. By comparison, a soldier even hit (solidly) in a limb with a musket ball is pretty much incapacitated. I’ll again harp once more on the point I made about bows – muskets, also, particularly as they improve from matchlocks to flintlocks and beyond, permit a commander to pack more men into a length of line that crossbows do. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/119 "2012-11-27T00:15:49Z")
x-bowmen can terrace, you know: half shooting at knee-height, the other half shooting while standing. That’ll form a denser clump than a straight line. Only bows can’t do that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673/120 "2012-11-27T00:17:45Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > This thread hasn’t touched on food “knowledge” yet. Remember when oleo margarine was considered a healthy oil and people avoided olive oil? Now it’s deemed about the worst fat imaginable and olive oil is “in”. I’ve a feeling the good 'ol balanced diet using the food pyramid (back in kinder) is still the best way to roll. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-teachings-when-i-was-young/641673.md?page=7)