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I'm not writing, here, about masses of people being duped. After all, that happens all the time. (It's called politics.) I'm referring to those "generally held truths" about anything in particular which are 125% inaccurate.

For instance, the tale about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree then admitting it to his father, in spite of the threat of a beating, has been taught in US schools since before the turn of the 20th century. As you might guess, it's a myth, created by a 19th century schoolteacher who thought that the heroes of any nation should do more than take up burial space in large tombs at the public expense.

But the most interesting one I can recall is the belief that was almost universal in the early Puritan colonies, that the tomato was poisonous. I don't know how it got it started, but there are herbal books and diaries of the period that all refer to that mainstay of the pizza, that loadstone of lasagna, pithy garnish to the hamburger, as a venomous weed. (Sorry. Was getting carried away.) Somewhere around the turn of the 18th century someone actually ate a tomato in public at at town square in order to prove the story false, and survived. After that, the legend waned.

Come on, let's live it up! Post your favorite fallacies, here!

My first thought goes to my own field and the persistant ideas that:

1. We only use a minor part of our brains, and thus there is a lot of unused capacity.
2. The misconception of how lateralisation of the brain works. Media still claims you can "learn to think with your right brain hemispere". Well, try not to!

1. That we in North America live in anything like a democracy; that our vote counts for anything other than blotting paper; that NA government is a protector of the populace.

2. That lived religion is anything like textual religion.

3. That anyone outside of safe, peaceful surroundings is able to live by a moral code.

4. That feudalism has been eliminated- it's becoming stronger and stronger, in its new form as corporate feudalism (W*l-M*rt employees have to sing a freakin' anthem).

Originally posted by fable:
<STRONG>Come on, let's live it up! Post your favorite fallacies, here! </STRONG>

Sorry, Fable. As much as I like you, I'm not touching any of your fallacies, public or not.

Real answer: That Bogart said "Play it again, Sam"

Originally posted by Gwalchmai:
<STRONG>Real answer: That Bogart said "Play it again, Sam"</STRONG>

Or that Hamlet said "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well"

I enjoy fallacies I think it's highly enjoyable, and I don't see how anyone could object to getting one.

Originally posted by Gwalchmai:
<STRONG>Sorry, Fable. As much as I like you, I'm not touching any of your fallacies, public or not. </STRONG>

Originally posted by Waverly:
<STRONG>I enjoy fallacies I think it's highly enjoyable, and I don't see how anyone could object to getting one.</STRONG>

<commentator voice> That's right folks, you saw it here first... somebody beat Waverly to the innuendo!! </commentator voice>

Originally posted by Georgi:
<STRONG>Or that Hamlet said "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well" </STRONG>

In Sweden, most people belive Hamlet holds the "To be or not to be" soliloquy (sp?) while holding the skull.

LOL@CE You mean he doesn't carry the skull around with him during the entire play, and speak every soliloquy to it?

@Georgi: Honestly, doesn't he? I always thought he kept it in his pocket, ready to draw at each and every occation

I have no idea where this common misconseption has sprung from, I suppose it might be as simple as the "To be" monologue is very famous and the skull scene is very famous, and people join them together.

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen?

@Gwally smartarse

BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!
Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged

exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.
Dihydrogen monoxide:
 is also known as hydroxl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
 contributes to the "greenhouse effect."
 may cause severe burns.
 contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
 accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
 may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
 has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
Contamination is reaching epidemic proportions!
Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage in the midwest, and recently California.
Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
as an industrial solvent and coolant. in nuclear power plants. in the production of styrofoam. as a fire retardant. in many forms of cruel animal research. in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical. as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The impact on wildlife is extreme, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer!
The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.

Originally posted by Gwalchmai:
<STRONG>Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio <snip></STRONG>

You couldn't resist, could you? Neither can I, this is from the 1604 quarto version:

Alas poore Yoricke, I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinite iest, of most excellent fancie, hee hath borne me on his backe a thousand times, and now how abhorred my imagination is: my gorge rises at it. Heere hung those lyppes that I haue kist I know not howe oft, where be your gibes now? your gamboles, your songs, your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roare, not one now to mocke your owne grinning, quite chopfalne. Now get you to my Ladies Chamber, & tell her, let her paint an inch thicke, to this fauour she must come, make her laugh at that.

@CE: LOL, you super-smartarse!

Anatres, that one must have circulated the world three times over already. I heard about it in Chemistry back in year 12 and again in Uni last year.

For those not chemically minded, di-hidrogen monoxide is also commonly known as H20... ie Water. Di-hydrogen meaning two parts hydrogen and monoxide meaning 1 water.

What! You must have flunked that chemistry class! I know the chemical compound he's talking about, it is viscious stuff! It was a major component in the destruction caused by the early atomic weapons, among other things.

Vehemence's explanation is a lot funnier.

Originally posted by Witch King:
<STRONG>What! You must have flunked that chemistry class! I know the chemical compound he's talking about, it is viscious stuff! It was a major component in the destruction caused by the early atomic weapons, among other things.</STRONG>

LMAO! I did flunk that chemistry class actually!!

Wait a minute... I remember you! You were that fat kid with glasses that use to sit up the front!

[ 06-29-2001: Message edited by: Vehemence ]

Glwhmchai: I don't remember addressing you.

V: No, no, I was the really skinny kid with the HUGE black glasses that you sat behind. I believe we got to know each other after that bunsen-burner experiement (remember? you wanted to see if it was hot enough to light my shirt on fire, and it was, and I ran down the hall screaming like a girl, and I was the one who got detention....