Useless Fact of the Day

15859616364100

Replies

  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    If you cut off your left arm then your right arm would be left.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    If you cut off your left arm then your right arm would be left.

    yeah but at least you will be alright
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Ouji boards rely on the fact that at least one of your friends wants to *kitten* with the group.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Are useless facts also incorrect facts? For example, if I said 2+2=5, that would be a useless fact because it's incorrect.
  • This content has been removed.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    Are useless facts also incorrect facts? For example, if I said 2+2=5, that would be a useless fact because it's incorrect.

    It would be useless but not a fact.

    That's what I'm asking. Aren't incorrect answers or supposed facts, also useless?

    For example, what if I actually thought the Moon was the back of the sun. That would be a useless fact because what I thought was a fact was in fact not a fact and therefor useless.
  • This content has been removed.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    Are useless facts also incorrect facts? For example, if I said 2+2=5, that would be a useless fact because it's incorrect.

    It would be useless but not a fact.

    That's what I'm asking. Aren't incorrect answers or supposed facts, also useless?

    For example, what if I actually thought the Moon was the back of the sun. That would be a useless fact because what I thought was a fact was in fact not a fact and therefor useless.

    But it wouldn't be a useless fact just because you thought it was a fact. It has to be an actual fact.
    Incorrect answers are useless, but not facts. By definition a fact cannot be incorrect.

    Pluto is a planet. Fact or fake fact?
  • Unknown
    edited December 2017
    This content has been removed.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    Are useless facts also incorrect facts? For example, if I said 2+2=5, that would be a useless fact because it's incorrect.

    It would be useless but not a fact.

    That's what I'm asking. Aren't incorrect answers or supposed facts, also useless?

    For example, what if I actually thought the Moon was the back of the sun. That would be a useless fact because what I thought was a fact was in fact not a fact and therefor useless.

    But it wouldn't be a useless fact just because you thought it was a fact. It has to be an actual fact.
    Incorrect answers are useless, but not facts. By definition a fact cannot be incorrect.

    Pluto is a planet. Fact or fake fact?

    Neither. Pluto is a dwarf planet which is a different category than Planet.

    ETA: according to the International Astronomical Union

    But growing up we thought it was a planet, I would of told you before 2000 that we have 9 planets and that is a fact. Then we find out it's not. But people wanted it added back as a planet even though it may not be.

    My point is some facts we think are true but aren't. If you look in the TIL thread you'll see why I started thinking this way.

    So are incorrect facts also useless facts since they are not facts?

    This essay may explain what I'm trying to say better then I am.

    Fact, Opinion, False Claim, or Untested Claim?
    http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/Fact-opinion.html
    Fact

    Most people only count statements proven by observation as facts. Any other statement is written off as opinion. By implication, only science has facts. But dictionaries define fact more generally as something that can be shown to be true, to exist, or to have happened. Is that a fact? It is. Can you verify this claim by observation? No. Therefore, at least one kind of fact can't be observed. The definition of fact is a fact because that's how knowledgeable English speakers agree to use the term. Definitions are analytical facts, verified by linguistic usage, not by observation.

    We need an enlarged view of fact as any statement about the real world that can be shown to be true, i.e., that is supported by converging evidence. In the enlarged view, there are at least four kinds of facts: empirical, analytical, evaluative, and metaphysical.

    Kinds of facts, with false factual claims, and untested claims

    Empirical facts

    Empirical facts are verified by observation, e.g., The Pacific is the largest ocean. Geographers have measured the oceans, and their convergent conclusion is that the Pacific Ocean is largest. When we think of facts, we think first of empirical facts, the conclusions of convergent scientific observation.

    Historical facts, though not available for observation today, are also empirically verifiable through the convergent observations of the past as recorded in primary sources. Thus, the claim that George Washington presided at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 is empirical fact.
  • This content has been removed.
  • This content has been removed.
  • This content has been removed.
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
    FACT: Reading all of this is starting to give me a headache.

    cee134 wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    Are useless facts also incorrect facts? For example, if I said 2+2=5, that would be a useless fact because it's incorrect.

    It would be useless but not a fact.

    That's what I'm asking. Aren't incorrect answers or supposed facts, also useless?

    For example, what if I actually thought the Moon was the back of the sun. That would be a useless fact because what I thought was a fact was in fact not a fact and therefor useless.

    But it wouldn't be a useless fact just because you thought it was a fact. It has to be an actual fact.
    Incorrect answers are useless, but not facts. By definition a fact cannot be incorrect.

    Pluto is a planet. Fact or fake fact?

    Neither. Pluto is a dwarf planet which is a different category than Planet.

    ETA: according to the International Astronomical Union

    But growing up we thought it was a planet, I would of told you before 2000 that we have 9 planets and that is a fact. Then we find out it's not. But people wanted it added back as a planet even though it may not be.

    My point is some facts we think are true but aren't. If you look in the TIL thread you'll see why I started thinking this way.

    So are incorrect facts also useless facts since they are not facts?

    This essay may explain what I'm trying to say better then I am.

    Fact, Opinion, False Claim, or Untested Claim?
    http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/Fact-opinion.html
    Fact

    Most people only count statements proven by observation as facts. Any other statement is written off as opinion. By implication, only science has facts. But dictionaries define fact more generally as something that can be shown to be true, to exist, or to have happened. Is that a fact? It is. Can you verify this claim by observation? No. Therefore, at least one kind of fact can't be observed. The definition of fact is a fact because that's how knowledgeable English speakers agree to use the term. Definitions are analytical facts, verified by linguistic usage, not by observation.

    We need an enlarged view of fact as any statement about the real world that can be shown to be true, i.e., that is supported by converging evidence. In the enlarged view, there are at least four kinds of facts: empirical, analytical, evaluative, and metaphysical.

    Kinds of facts, with false factual claims, and untested claims

    Empirical facts

    Empirical facts are verified by observation, e.g., The Pacific is the largest ocean. Geographers have measured the oceans, and their convergent conclusion is that the Pacific Ocean is largest. When we think of facts, we think first of empirical facts, the conclusions of convergent scientific observation.

    Historical facts, though not available for observation today, are also empirically verifiable through the convergent observations of the past as recorded in primary sources. Thus, the claim that George Washington presided at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 is empirical fact.
  • TheHawk007
    TheHawk007 Posts: 270 Member
    47% of all statistics are b*llsh*t...
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    TheHawk007 wrote: »
    47% of all statistics are b*llsh*t...

    I read a study which supports this fact.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Rooms with round doorknobs are good for trapping raptors and people who just moisturized their hands.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    If you hear someone say "Hey, Miss" it sounds normal, but if you hear "Hey, Mister" you expect to see a young boy from 1940 selling you newspapers.
  • This content has been removed.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    If you hear someone say "Hey, Miss" it sounds normal, but if you hear "Hey, Mister" you expect to see a young boy from 1940 selling you newspapers.

    What if you hear "Hey, Miss" and you turn around and there is an orthodox Jewish man standing behinds you? And then you realize his name is Heamish

    I always turn around no matter what is said because I want to see who is talking.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    The phrase "hold your horses" is telling you to be stable.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Sleeping in is considered lazy, but going to bed early is not.
  • GraemeMcC
    GraemeMcC Posts: 44 Member
    The Christmas alphabet is unusual, because it has no 'L'
  • jruch23
    jruch23 Posts: 1,069 Member
    I heard this the other day...if you have a staring contest with a cat, you'll win. The cat will look away first. Lol
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    For Pluto, it was fact that it was categorized as a planet until it wasn't. Now "Pluto is a planet" is no longer a fact, not an "incorrect fact", just not a fact anymore.

    Speaking of Pluto

    https://youtu.be/xmqDpuDLVYw
  • This content has been removed.
  • honeybee__12
    honeybee__12 Posts: 15,688 Member
    The term “jay walking” was invented as an insult to get people to cross at crosswalks.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Statistically, the moon is the safest place anyone has ever been.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    Statistically, the moon is the safest place anyone has ever been.

    does that include people who have died en route?
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Merkavar wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    Statistically, the moon is the safest place anyone has ever been.

    does that include people who have died en route?

    No. Only people that have touched the moon.