1. We've had very few donations over the year. I'm going to be short soon as some personal things are keeping me from putting up the money. If you have something small to contribute it's greatly appreciated. Please put your screen name as well so that I can give you credit. Click here: Donations
    Dismiss Notice

Upholding or rejecting conventional wisdom

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Street Pattern, Nov 21, 2013.

  1. Street Pattern

    Street Pattern Very Tilted

    Location:
    The American Midwest
    (On second thought, that title should be "Upholding or rejecting conventional wisdom".)

    There are all sorts of things that most people believe about the world, but just aren't true.

    Or, even if partially true, they are ripe for challenge.

    Are there items of received or conventional wisdom that particularly frustrate you?

    Are you a contrarian who tends to be critical of what "everybody knows"?

    Has experience taught you not to accept assumptions uncritically, even if widespread?

    Or do you see reality as something that is settled conclusively by majority rule?

    Share your thoughts here.
     
    Street Pattern, Nov 21, 2013
    #1
  2. Street Pattern

    Street Pattern Very Tilted

    Location:
    The American Midwest
    Okay, here are some examples. Every one of the following assertions is false.

    (1) Dogs are smarter than cats.

    (2) Most politicians are corrupt.

    (3) Mussolini made the trains run on time.

    (4) Each new generation is dumber than the last.

    (5) Air travel is dangerous; driving a car is much safer.

    (6) Nuclear power is dangerous; burning coal is much safer.

    (7) The world is constantly getting more violent and dangerous.

    (8) German civilians lost the right to keep and bear arms under Nazi rule.

    (9) Public toilets used by men are generally dirtier than public toilets used by women.

    (10) If you're running for office, you win by having more money to spend than your opponent.

    (11) A seller who can price-discriminate charges higher prices for the poor, and lower prices for the rich.

    (12) Drug and sex scandals involving evangelical Christian clergy disprove evangelical Christian articles of faith.

    (13) The indigenous peoples of North America lost the continent to European settlers, mainly because the Europeans had technological advantages like guns and wheeled vehicles.

    (14) If the legal minimum wage is raised, an equivalent number of minimum wage jobs are eliminated, so that the total wages of minimum wage workers stays roughly constant.
    --- merged: Nov 21, 2013 at 10:46 AM ---
    Many thanks to whoever fixed the title!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 28, 2013
    Street Pattern, Nov 21, 2013
    #2
  3. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    1. Depends on your definition
    2. Depends on when you catch them
    3. Agreed, false
    4. Depends on your skill, newer have more access, but older can do better "hands-on"
    5. Agreed, false
    6. Depends on your definition
    7. Agreed, it's getting better...we're just reported more, 24/7 globally
    8. Agreed, false
    9. Agreed, at times women's toilets are just plain nasty
    10. Depends, it doesn't hurt
    11. Depends.
    12. Agreed, false...just because you have bad seeds, doesn't mean everything is bad.
    13. Depends, certainly one of the many factors
    14. Agreed, false...but not the best wording.

    Basically, I object to blanket statements.
    And the ones you noted above are just as blanket as the ones you're disproving.
    Most things are situational.

    I tend to be not a contrarian, but an observer and analyst.
    And the categories that most put things in...usually end up being arbitary.
    They are applying their bias to the subject.

    Many people have a difficult times absorbing multiple aspects of a topic. (not just one or two...black & white)
    Even more so, if it is ambiguous...or something they can't see or have experienced.
    Sometimes, they'd rather kill you than change their mind.

    Many scientists & doctors are included in the this sub-group.
    And it's dependent on the subject...or even their mood.

    The one phrase I don't like is, "Ignorance is bliss"
    No, Ignorance is not bliss...because if you don't know it...doesn't mean it still can't hurt you or impact you...or it could help you...or become a factor.
    All information is valuable...if you determine it isn't...set it aside.
    But never throw it away...why, because it MAY become valuable as your perception or situation changes.

    I'd rather deal with the info, than be caught with my pants down.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2013
    rogue49, Nov 21, 2013
    #3
  4. Street Pattern

    Street Pattern Very Tilted

    Location:
    The American Midwest
    Dogs have superior human-language abilities, but cats (generally) have more neurons, and can entertain more complex thoughts.

    Dogs have also been affected by more than 10,000 years of human-directed selective breeding, with intelligence low on the list of valued traits.

    Unless it's a very obscure office, money by itself is never enough. If both candidates spend enough money to be competitive, adding more money has almost no effect on the outcome.

    Rich people have more money, so a profit-maximizing price-discriminator will charge them more.

    Why didn't Asia and Africa become overrun with white people? The most important factor in North America is that some 99% of the indigenous population was wiped out by European diseases, leaving a largely unpopulated continent, before most of the Europeans even got here.

    But some blanket statements are overwhelmingly true or overwhelmingly false, e.g., "Day is brighter than night."

    I do not understand what you mean here.

    No kidding.

    What sub-group is that?

    Strongly agreed.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2013
    Street Pattern, Nov 21, 2013
    #4