What else did your teachers tell you. 4

[JCreamerII]

Taking a thought from the a post I just read, what did a teacher tell you as fact, that was wrong?

I had a Biology teacher tell my class that lobsters were red. We started a new club, LAG "Lobsters are Green". He obviously never saw one in a tank. Again this goes back over 40 years. But he was totally convinced that they were red.

Jim C.

 

[BadBigBen]

Sleipnir214,

I remember something similar, in my High School we did a test like that as well, and I was diagnosed as a scientist or engineer...

well in college I took courses to become an Astronomer (Astrophysics was my major with computer science being my minor) and now I am working in IT...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[hjgoldstein]

My careers teacher said I would never make anything of myself - and he was right!

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

 

[1DMF]

For me , the ones I can remember are...

Britian lost the Boer war.
People used to think the world was flat.
Sydney is the capital of Australia.
Columbus discovered America.
Gravity is a force of attraction.
Nothing can go faster than the speed of light (though Tacheons are theorhetical!)
Jesus was white and a christian!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[djj55]

I had forgot about gravity. Early education "force of attraction" later education explained it correctly.

I cannot remember if we were first taught that Columbus discovered America or not...

What about pilgrims (to the US) wanted religious freedom. While what they really wanted was their way or no way.

djj
The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23) - I need someone to lead me!

 

[IPGuru]

Dom Perignon Invented Champagne, like heck
The English were adding sugar & molasses to wine (al be it imported from the champagne region) to make it fizz before he was even born.

What he did invent was the cage to retain the cork.


I do not Have A.D.D. im just easily, Hey look a Squirrel!

 

[Stella740pl]

My English teacher told us that a big motor vehicle used for carrying heavy loads is called "lorry" in English, and the place where they sell merchandise is called "shop", and the hue of things is spelled "colour", and many other such nonsensical things. Then, years later, I came to live in USA, and it turns out, she was wrong all along; they are actually called and spelled "truck", "store", and "color" respectively, and so on. ;-)

On a serious note, though, she was a great teacher I will always remember fondly and be grateful to. RIP.

 

[SamBones]

Hmmm ... localized truths.

 

[Stella740pl]

SamBones,

Localized - to a point.
I was born in neither UK nor USA (or any other English-speaking country, for that matter), so while I was in school and studying English as foreign language, that first truth the teacher was telling me was not exactly local (but, indeed, much closer geographically than the second one I learned later).

 

[1DMF]

djj55 - yup , taught the same thing about the pilgrims, left due to religious persecution and being tarred and feathered.

On the subject of wild west, another myth is the Red Indians (Native Americans) invented scalping!

IPGuru - another QI 'truth' eh!



"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[strongm]

>Nothing can go faster than the speed of light

To be fair, I suspect that when you (and I) were taught this no-one beyond a few specialist physicists had heard of tachyons. And they still don't exist in the standard model of particle physics (they vanish due to tachyon condensation), which even today few schools teach. And even with the theoretical existence of tachyons current theory suggests that information cannot be transmitted faster than the speed of light, which is the important thing.

And if they do start teaching quantum theory and general relativity to my 7 year old - well, I'm not going to help him with his homework ...

 

[1DMF]

I'm already dreading my kids comming home with algebra homework, so if they do start doing quantum theory they are on their own for sure.

Though Star Trek does scare you with the idea that quantum mechanics, dilithium matrix and warp drive technology will be standard curriculum in the future!

But it does go to show the point I think you , CC and others made about it anything actually only ever being a 'temporary truth'.

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[N1GHTEYES]

A recent New Scientist article intimated that reformulation of theories in holographic forms may, in the future, become the norm - or at least, a standard part of the theoretical "toolbox". I imagine a similar scenario to the way in which Fourier transforms have come to permeate so much of maths processing nowadays since the widespread use of FFTs.

So the ST school curriculum might not be so wide of the mark after all.

Tony

 

[Annihilannic]

Ah... fourier transforms... I remember them fondly... if only for the fact that they made me drop electronic engineering and focus on IT, which was my true calling.

Annihilannic.

 

[IPGuru]

IDMF, Another QI truth indeed, but verified up by independent research, well I checked on the Internet a bit anyway ;-)

(good job this thread is not things the internet told me that are not true or we would be swamped )

I do not Have A.D.D. im just easily, Hey look a Squirrel!

 

[1DMF]

IPG - you know that!

I'm beginning to think it's not actually worth knowing anything, at least you then cant be wrong!

I also wonder why the internet has suposedly heralded in a new era of knowledge and enlightenment when apparently most of the infomation is wrong?

If ignorace is bliss then I'm a pig in muck!


"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[djj55]

I have had trouble explaining to people that the internet is a pointer not the source. If you read something on the internet you need to check your facts as it may be wrong.
Even when looking for code help I make sure I know what the code snippet does before I execute on a test machine as it is a pain to restore the machine (where did I put the disc?).

djj
The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23) - I need someone to lead me!

 

[2ffat]

If you read something on the internet you need to check your facts as it may be wrong.[quiote]
Maybe we should start a thread, "What I read on the Internet."


James P. Cottingham
[sup]I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229![/sup]

 

[1DMF]

That's rather ironic, as what ever it says will be on the internet, and so we should not beleive it

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[mscallisto]

What I read on the Internet

Shouldn't that be

What I read on the World Wide Web or Web

Sam

 

[strongm]