*** Dispelling the Myths thread ***

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Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
57,355
19,537
146


<< Myth:
Most people voted for GWB.
>>



Myth:
That makes the election any less legal, Constitutional, or legitimate.
 

coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76


<< you can watch TV an inch away from it all day and your vision won't get diminished or degrade. >>


This is SO STUPID!!!!
Of course it causes your eyesight to degrade over time!
The muscles in your eyes that deform your eye-lens to bring things into focus aren't used and thus slacken and get out of shape!
=> YOUR EYESIGHT DETORIATES!!!!
 

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
Myth: people give a rats arse about your political beliefs

Truth: noone gives a rats arse about yout political beliefs
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86


<< Myth:
Most people voted for GWB.
>>



Myth: Most people voted
 

TheKidd

Senior member
Aug 21, 2000
582
0
0


<< GWB is a moron. Graduated from Harvard with honors...I wouldn't call him a &quot;moron&quot;...

/edit: Okay, I mispoke, hmmm, seems he graduated from somewhere with honors , yale? Masters degree at harvard.
>>



Well, he certainly didn't graduate from Yale undergrad with academic honors. He acknowledged during his commencement address that he was a &quot;C&quot; student at Yale! I'm not sure of his performance at Harvard, but I doubt it was much better. In any case, its not as though he got into Yale or Harvard on his own merits anyway. He has spent his entire life riding daddy's coattails. You are right that he is not a moron though. He is simply average. The problem is that I personally don't think that the president of the United States should be average.
 

Elledan

Banned
Jul 24, 2000
8,880
0
0


<<

<< you can watch TV an inch away from it all day and your vision won't get diminished or degrade. >>


This is SO STUPID!!!!
Of course it causes your eyesight to degrade over time!
The muscles in your eyes that deform your eye-lens to bring things into focus aren't used and thus slacken and get out of shape!
=> YOUR EYESIGHT DETORIATES!!!!
>>


Maybe if you watch TV this way for a few days without every taking your eyes off the screen, then this might happen.

That's why it's being advised that you don't sit behind a screen (TV or monitor) for more than two hours straight without taking a break.
 

C'DaleRider

Guest
Jan 13, 2000
3,048
0
0


<< Cracking your knuckles and fingers will NOT cause arthiritis in the future. The cracking is a sound of cardondioxide being relieved from the joint. It is not harmful. >>



Odd...everything I've ever read says the opposite....like this...



<< When you &quot;crack&quot; your knuckles, you are actually pushing the joint either back into or out of its normal position. In either case, when you do this, gas(es), primarily nitrogen, is displaced and escapes from the joint space. This displacement of gas causes the characteristic &quot;popping&quot; and &quot;cracking&quot; sound of knuckles, and a few other joints. Not all joint &quot;popping&quot; sounds are caused by escaping gases. In some joints, most notably the hip, the sound is made by ligaments moving over the bone.

On the other hand, escaping gas seems pretty innocuous, right? Wrong. Mom wasn't too far off when she told you that cracking your knuckles would make them big. By cracking your knuckles, what you are doing is pushing the joint beyond its physiological stop sign, or further than its range of motion would normally allow for. This puts undue stress on the ligaments and tendons that hold the joint together and in place. Ligaments behave a little like rubber bands---you can pull and stretch them a lot; but, eventually they won't return to their original shape and length.

After years of pushing your joint past its normal range of motion, it may become &quot;hypermobile.&quot; If the joint is very mobile (as in the hand), the joint surfaces might wear out. If this happens, the body responds by laying down more bone. Although this sounds like the body healing itself, in reality, matters are made worse. Usually, the bone is not laid down smoothly and the joint surfaces become rough. Worst case scenario - spurring or sharp spots will develop in the bone of the joint in question. Eventually, you may have rough surfaces moving against each other, to which the body might respond by swelling, increasing the amount of fluid and blood in the area. Talk about unpleasant friction! In the end, you could have a joint (&quot;arthro&quot;) that is inflamed (&quot;-itis&quot;).

Of course, little research has been carried out in this area, so it's difficult to say with a high degree of certainty that knuckle and other joint cracking will lead to arthritis or other joint diseases. But it's fairly safe to say that repeatedly pushing a joint beyond its normal physical range is not a good thing to do. And years down the road, you could possibly end up with big problems, not just big knuckles like mom said!
>>

Columbia University, Go Ask Alice.
HERE.


Or this one....



<< Most knuckle cracking is from fluid in the joint gathering. The spinning created by the movement is much like when one pops his/her tongue against the roof of the mouth. The results could possibly cause early arthritis. >>

(Fred Corley, M.D., Department. of Orthopaedics, UTHSCSA.)

While not the cause of imminent arthritis, why tempt fate? Like smoking, just a dumb thing to do consistently.
 

C'DaleRider

Guest
Jan 13, 2000
3,048
0
0
About too close to the TV....





<< Can you go blind sitting too close to TV?


&quot;No way!&quot; says Dr. Byron Demorest, a pediatric ophthalmologist (eye doctor specializing in young people). Sitting too close to TV will not damage your eyesight. But it can cut short your TV viewing time. Your eyes may get so tired, you'll have to send yourself to bed.

&quot;Think of running,&quot; Demorest explains. &quot;If you run too much, your legs tire.&quot; Same with your eyes! Six muscles around each eye control eye movements, and a ciliary muscle located behind each iris (the colored eye membrane) controls eye focus. When you sit too close to the screen, eye muscles work extra hard to help you focus. The ideal distance from a TV set is five times the screen's width. (So if the screen is 10 inches wide, you should sit 50 inches away.)

When your eye muscles are strained, you get eye fatigue. Symptoms include double vision, headache, blurring, and sharp or dull eye pain. Time to take a break.
>>

Found here.
 

geno

Lifer
Dec 26, 1999
25,074
4
0
More expensive gasoline isn't any cleaner than the cheaper stuff - and it doesn't burn slower for better milage... And buying the more expensive gas isn't a way to give your car a &quot;treat&quot; unless the engine was made to run on that kind of gas.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,142
1,792
126
&quot;My new diet will take pounds off me with no effort at all!&quot;

The best way to get into shape is eat a well-balanced diet in moderation, and get plenty of exercise. Stop reading all those stupid all-the-meat-you-want diet books, or eating those noxious herbs just because some Buddhist monks have been eating it for the last 2000 years.
 

syzygy

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2001
3,038
0
76
1- chocolate and other sweets cause acne.
2- non-fat foods are not fattening
3- left handed people are satanically oriented (sinistral or sinister in latin means 'on the left'). this folk belief had more currency in olden days.
4- 'money is the root of all evil'
5- wearing a hat or using hair products (i.e. mousse, gels, alcohol sprays) contribute to or
cause baldness.
 

Tauren

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2001
3,880
1
0
Myth: real blondes are airheads.

Truth: women with huge fake boobs and any hair color are airheads.
 

Optimus

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2000
3,618
0
0


<< 3- left handed people are satanically oriented (sinistral or sinister in latin means 'on the left'). this folk belief had more currency in olden days. >>



LOL! I don't think anyone has believed that one in a loooooooong time...
 

unrequited

Member
Jun 13, 2000
103
0
0
You'd be surprised what people believe. Especially when someone they absolutely trust happens to be the person who told it to them (ie, their priest).
 

Looney

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
21,938
5
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An answer in response to the first post by mOoGotMilk on eyesight (don't be so sure on that... if it was all genetics, why is it that myopia has increased?).

[L]http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_105.html[/L]