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Thread: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

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    Default Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    The "Private vs. Public School" thread veered into this related topic before the thread was shut down for getting too "political ". Which it was btw. Too bad because for the most part it was lively and meaningful discussion for most of us and most posters stuck to the practical "pros and cons" and left policy discussion for another time and place.

    So just from personal recollection and keeping it strictly factual what was the biggest "lie" you were taught in school ? Afaic the biggest whoppers I was taught were in history : Columbus discovered America ; Franklin discovered electricity ; Paul Revere said " the British are coming "; Mussolini made the trains run on time in Italy etc. Let's be extra careful with the economic history ( e.g. FDR ended the Great Depression ) to avoid unnecessary squabbling and differing interpretations that have evolved over time don't count. Just post something you were taught that you later found out was totally and completely factually wrong or so incomplete and biased that it's factual delinquency was blatant.

    No need to limit ourselves to history. I can think of a few from economics , science and health class that were just plain wrong.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    I like this idea!

    1) That electrons "jump" from valence ring to valence ring. Wrong: they "teleport" by appearing and reappearing. Blew my mind.
    2) That feminism had achieved equality already and for all purposes men and women were already equal citizens.
    3) That we live in a "democracy".
    4) That knowledge/intelligence is more important than money.
    5) That capitalism "is the system that benefits the most people worldwide".
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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    I hate to get into this one, but in my 8th grade history class we were taught that all Democrats were good and all Republicans were bad. I grew up in a very heavy Democratic area (Cook County)where finding a Republican official was harder than finding a Leprechaun riding an unicorn so the classes were very biased. I wish they had been more honest and discussed that it's more complicated than that, perhaps mention the official platforms of both parties.

    Also, that the Civil War was strictly based on slavery. It wasn't, it was more economic than anything else.

    The founding father were all about equality for all. Yeah, that's why most had slaves.

    Russia was going to kill us and they wanted a war.

    That Europe envied Americans for their lifestyle. I got in trouble for questioning this because I had relatives in England who told me this was a flat out lie.

    Free trade was great because it helped the economy and produced more jobs.

    Eric, I was taught most of those as well.

    A friend of mine was taught what was perhaps the most heinous thing possible and that is if you can't get pregnant if you have sex in a hot tub.
    Last edited by Kellydancer; 09-09-2013 at 12:03 PM.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Odette View Post
    I like this idea!

    1) That electrons "jump" from valence ring to valence ring. Wrong: they "teleport" by appearing and reappearing. Blew my mind.
    2) That feminism had achieved equality already and for all purposes men and women were already equal citizens.
    3) That we live in a "democracy".
    4) That knowledge/intelligence is more important than money.
    5) That capitalism "is the system that benefits the most people worldwide".
    You get an "F" on 2, 4 and 5 lol.

    I'm sorry but those three are opinion based and I can easily defend the opposing view. More importantly they are blatantly "political" and contrary to the intent and spirit of my OP.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Kellydancer View Post
    I hate to get into this one, but in my 8th grade history class we were taught that all Democrats were good and all Republicans were bad. I grew up in a very heavy Democratic area (Cook County)where finding a Republican official was harder than finding a Leprechaun riding an unicorn so the classes were very biased. I wish they had been more honest and discussed that it's more complicated than that, perhaps mention the official platforms of both parties.

    Also, that the Civil War was strictly based on slavery. It wasn't, it was more economic than anything else.

    The founding father were all about equality for all. Yeah, that's why most had slaves.

    Russia was going to kill us and they wanted a war.

    That Europe envied Americans for their lifestyle. I got in trouble for questioning this because I had relatives in England who told me this was a flat out lie.

    Free trade was great because it helped the economy and produced more jobs.

    Eric, I was taught most of those as well.

    A friend of mine was taught what was perhaps the most heinous thing possible and that is if you can't get pregnant if you have sex in a hot tub.
    I like all of yours except maybe for the "free trade" one. I especially like the first two. Both are exactly what I was trying to elicit and I request that other posters follow your lead and go in that direction to avoid running afoul of the rules and their enforcers.

    You're right about the last one. I was taught that excessive heat killed sperm so hot baths and hot tubs could be effective forms of birth control , wannabe fathers should wear boxers etc. If it were true then not too many babies would be born in February, March and April , would they ?

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    That I would have to write everything in cursive after third grade!

    How do schools get away with manipulating kids by flat out lying to them?!?

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Seeing as how I went to a Christian school in Oklahoma, the biggest lies they taught me was that God is real and that Jesus loves me.
    Last edited by Tsepmet1; 09-09-2013 at 04:26 PM. Reason: accuracy.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by GlamourRouge View Post
    That I would have to write everything in cursive after third grade!

    How do schools get away with manipulating kids by flat out lying to them?!?
    That's a whole another topic : How texting and e-mail killed letter writing. The only people that still send me hand written stuff are my European friends and relatives.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Tsepmet1 View Post
    Seeing as how I went to a Christian school in Oklahoma, the biggest lie they taught me was that Jesus was/is real.
    Hmmm. There is a lot of secular research that a man name Jesus did exist and was executed by the Romans for sedition. You may want to read Reza Aslan's latest book "Zealot". As for whether he is "real", exactly who and what he was or wasn't, let's leave that for the theologians.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Not really a "factual" one, though I'm sure I'll think of some later, but I remember being constantly lectured that in college I was going to have many more expectations of me, and couldn't just leave class if I wasn't feeling well (I got this from the school nurse when I asked to go home with bad cramps once), and just basically that college was going to be a worse lockdown than high school.

    When in reality, I guess there are technically higher "expectations" in terms of the caliber of academic work, but really, you are not monitored at all. And can skip a class or go home pretty much whenever you damn well please if you can handle the consequences.
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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Great idea for a thread!

    Quote Originally Posted by GlamourRouge View Post
    That I would have to write everything in cursive after third grade!

    How do schools get away with manipulating kids by flat out lying to them?!?
    ^I forgot about this, but yes! Also that all checks must be written entirely in cursive. Not necessary!

    I will just add:

    Christopher Columbus thought the world was flat and was setting out to prove that it was round.

    No. Most ship navigators and educated Europeans of that era already knew this - it had been proven like 2,000 years ago, thanks to the Ancient Greeks.

    I may have a few more but I'm worried Eric might find them unsuitable or off topic, so I'll withold.
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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Aurora_Sunset View Post
    Not really a "factual" one, though I'm sure I'll think of some later, but I remember being constantly lectured that in college I was going to have many more expectations of me, and couldn't just leave class if I wasn't feeling well (I got this from the school nurse when I asked to go home with bad cramps once), and just basically that college was going to be a worse lockdown than high school.

    When in reality, I guess there are technically higher "expectations" in terms of the caliber of academic work, but really, you are not monitored at all. And can skip a class or go home pretty much whenever you damn well please if you can handle the consequences.
    YES. That. I took a college english course in high school and the professor drilled us with MLA format and citations, saying it was half our grade in college... nope. You get docked maybe 5 points even if you totally blow the citations and format.
    Same with the "expectations of adult behavior"... I think I've ditched more classes in college than I've attended. But then again, I don't think they expected Blackboard to be invented and every lecture to be posted online and papers submitted via email... it's really not necessary to go to class.

    I'm gonna go with "You have to go to college to be successful and you're a loser if you don't" as a pretty huge lie.
    "People jack off with the left hand and point with the right."

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Stoner View Post
    That's a whole another topic : How texting and e-mail killed letter writing. The only people that still send me hand written stuff are my European friends and relatives.
    But like... this was before the internet got big! All my teachers after third grade were like DO NOT WRITE IN CURSIVE, WRITE IN PRINT!! I CANNOT READ ANYONE'S CURSIVE!!! I was like uhhh okay...

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Selina M View Post
    I'm gonna go with "You have to go to college to be successful and you're a loser if you don't" as a pretty huge lie.
    YEP!!! That was probably the biggest one. Every single one of our parents told us that.

    I cannot believe, even to THIS day, a lot of people still believe that!!! Like they think a self-employed job isn't nearly as stable as one where... you have an EMPLOYER. How does that even make sense?? Companies are cutting down and laying off people left and right. Cutting hours. Seriously, a company could find a way to fire you for no reason and without warning! Yet if you're self-employed and good at your craft, you can always find work. What in the backwards logic.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Stoner View Post
    I like all of yours except maybe for the "free trade" one. I especially like the first two. Both are exactly what I was trying to elicit and I request that other posters follow your lead and go in that direction to avoid running afoul of the rules and their enforcers.

    You're right about the last one. I was taught that excessive heat killed sperm so hot baths and hot tubs could be effective forms of birth control , wannabe fathers should wear boxers etc. If it were true then not too many babies would be born in February, March and April , would they ?
    That's the one thing I resented about attending public schools in Cook County, so much of it was slanted a certain political way. I don't want to turn it into a more political rant but yep the bias was so obvious that only years later did I pick up the slant.

    Oh another one was the whole "your file will follow you forever". Schools used to tell us everything we did ended up in a file and went everywhere with us, from grade school to jr high, high school, college, grad school, and the workforce. This was a lie to get everyone to behave.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by GlamourRouge View Post
    YEP!!! That was probably the biggest one. Every single one of our parents told us that.

    I cannot believe, even to THIS day, a lot of people still believe that!!! Like they think a self-employed job isn't nearly as stable as one where... you have an EMPLOYER. How does that even make sense?? Companies are cutting down and laying off people left and right. Cutting hours. Seriously, a company could find a way to fire you for no reason and without warning! Yet if you're self-employed and good at your craft, you can always find work. What in the backwards logic.
    Agreed. While I know many self employed people suffering the ones suffering the most by far are those who work for others. We were taught that if you had a degree you would automatically find a job and it would be a good one. I know so many with degrees either unemployed or underemployed.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Here's some lies on the Revolutionary War documented:
    http://www.cracked.com/article_20306...-believes.html

    I posted this in the other thread, but it's relevant to this topic too.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Go to school so you can be 'smart'
    while i was book smart. I seriously failed at street smarts and emotional smarts which is just as important in my opinion.

    Work hard, go to school and you'll get a good job

    riiiiight, what i discovered was more like = work hard, go to school, spend months applying and getting rejected for jobs, finally get hired slaving away for benefits and "stability", stuffed in a cubicle with a hateful boss, lose your creativity and beg for time off, 5% raises, promotions, and work hard (50+ hr weeks) for less than you're worth while the ceo is off on his yacht

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    My god, I feel like almost everything I was taught in school was wrong or a blatant lie. It seemed like every year, they'd go back on what they said before. "I know you spent that week studying apples and Indians when we learned about Columbus, but that's all a crock of shit! Here's what really happened..." But then the following year, it was the same story. It was such a frustrating waste of time. My schooling was basically useless to me--tax-funded compulsory babysitting.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Eh, biased I know: but a majority of stuff I "learned" in school pertaining to Native Americans was either complete bullshit or unforgivably vague. It caused many kaneption fits amongst my mom's side of the family, lol.

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    This covers it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...misconceptions


    I read a biography of Washington. Interesting dichotomy in his character. Yes, he owned a lot of slaves. He often wrote in his journals about how much he hated the system of slavery, but he didn't know how to end it or what to do about it. Partly because he found the idea morally wrong, and partly because he found in some years that he spent more of their care than their work made for him. If you judge him by modern morality, he's a bad guy. If you judge him based on 1750s morality, he was quite progressive...

    Other slave owners did not do the following, while he did: Washington recognized marriage among slaves, and would never buy/sell if it meant splitting up a family. He provided them the same health care he gave his family (one could argue he was merely protecting his investment). They didn't work Sundays. They could tend their own garden, fish, and hunt on his property (trusted slaves were given muskets with which to hunt). That food was their property, and they could sell it to him or sell it in town and keep the money.

    That being said, the dude had ~350+ slaves in the end and he was a brutal taskmaster. And yet, his will stipulated that they be freed upon the death of him and his wife. I think however you wish to see Washington, you'll find plenty of evidence either way to back up that opinion.

    All of this being a lot more interesting, to me, than the lies about wooden teeth (he was rich and had either real human teeth put in, or ivory / lead / gold) and cherry trees.
    Last edited by lestat1; 09-09-2013 at 06:05 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by _Avery_ View Post
    omg, why is it so huge?!! lol lol

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Stoner View Post
    You get an "F" on 2, 4 and 5 lol.

    I'm sorry but those three are opinion based and I can easily defend the opposing view. More importantly they are blatantly "political" and contrary to the intent and spirit of my OP.
    Well 4 is the only one that I can't immediately think of multiple sources to back it up as fact, but since it is I guess a tiny bit debatable, screw it. The others though, are infact lies: all you have to do is look beyond north america, they're two of the most obvious lies that most north american school systems perpetuate, which is pretty much exactly the point of the thread. It is no different to teach children that capitalism benefits people in the developing world and omit the part about the prior destruction to the developing world than it is to teach children that columbus discovered america and to omit the native americans and the vikings...

    6) That pluto was a planet
    7) That modern humans killed off the neanderthals
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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Oh! That you must never, under any circumstances, lest you undergo smiting by the deities of the APA & MLA, start a sentence with the word "and."

    Which, of course, taking the rules and conventions of grammar as end-all-be-all, I was always confused whenever I saw it in a book. It took me many years before I realize that the things my teachers taught me weren't always right. I'm lucky I wasn't born into a cult or an Amish family. I was a gullible, obedient and submissive child. I would've been screwed.
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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Ain't is not a word.
    “Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

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    Default Re: Biggest Lie You Were Taught in School

    Quote Originally Posted by lestat1 View Post
    This covers it:


    I read a biography of Washington. Interesting dichotomy in his character. Yes, he owned a lot of slaves. He often wrote in his journals about how much he hated the system of slavery, but he didn't know how to end it or what to do about it. Partly because he found the idea morally wrong, and partly because he found in some years that he spent more of their care than their work made for him. If you judge him by modern morality, he's a bad guy. If you judge him based on 1750s morality, he was quite progressive...

    Other slave owners did not do the following, while he did: Washington recognized marriage among slaves, and would never buy/sell if it meant splitting up a family. He provided them the same health care he gave his family (one could argue he was merely protecting his investment). They didn't work Sundays. They could tend their own garden, fish, and hunt on his property (trusted slaves were given muskets with which to hunt). That food was their property, and they could sell it to him or sell it in town and keep the money.

    That being said, the dude had ~350+ slaves in the end and he was a brutal taskmaster. And yet, his will stipulated that they be freed upon the death of him and his wife. I think however you wish to see Washington, you'll find plenty of evidence either way to back up that opinion.

    All of this being a lot more interesting, to me, than the lies about wooden teeth (he was rich and had either real human teeth put in, or ivory / lead / gold) and cherry trees.
    Another founding father that interests me slave wise is Jefferson. His affair with Sally Hemings (who was actually 3/4 white)aside, he was said to have been a fair slave owner as well. Granted slavery was morally wrong we would all agree (I hope)but there were different levels of slavery. If I was a slave I would rather be somewhere where I knew I wouldn't be attacked compared to one where I was always whipped.

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