tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post3928000035310412786..comments2024-02-14T14:47:58.061-08:00Comments on Word Salad: Do People Really Not Know This?Coleslawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813319585807128092noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-89907295156367974352013-01-11T00:50:00.266-08:002013-01-11T00:50:00.266-08:00What is it with urban legends reappearing? Someone...What is it with urban legends reappearing? Someone in my circle was just saying to everyone "Have you heard the news that now you've gotta check your toilet seat for this itty bitty poisonous spider, seriously, some woman got bit in an Olive Garden restroom and..." I suggested checking that on out on Snopes, but she protested, "No, this was really recent news!" Really? What newspaper published the article? "I forget. Someone posted it to Facebook, though."<br /><br />If you do a search on "Olive Garden" at Snopes.com, the fifth hit is <a href="http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/telamonia.asp" rel="nofollow">"Two-Striped Telamonia Spider"</a>, collected via email, circa 1999.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-10155601084821690082013-01-07T22:40:41.825-08:002013-01-07T22:40:41.825-08:00It seems to me that one of the reasons these kinds...It seems to me that one of the reasons these kinds of urban legends continue to be welcomed is because they show "the common man" having more sense, better methods, better outcomes than the urbanized and technologically sophisticated "Doctors." It is part of the American anti-intellectualism. We see it rampant in much of our political debate. In the last election it went so far as to argue that the polling showing the President leading MUST be wrong because our common sense told us that Mitt Romney was more popular.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00767955391250634319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-62383209960610095582013-01-07T07:25:31.028-08:002013-01-07T07:25:31.028-08:00Sounds like the miasma theory of flu is making a c...Sounds like the miasma theory of flu is making a comeback!Catherinehttp://www.catescates.com.aunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-9724552981670266982013-01-06T19:29:17.614-08:002013-01-06T19:29:17.614-08:00Rule of thumb: when a surprising, counterintuitive...Rule of thumb: when a surprising, counterintuitive story like this one does not contain any specific information such as names, dates, and locations, it's false. If it *does* contain names, dates, and locations, the most likely reason is that it was fabricated by a slightly less lazy liar than the one who originated this bit of nonsense.Alex Harmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18081758930952296822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-23468734666337386532013-01-06T16:47:38.956-08:002013-01-06T16:47:38.956-08:00Hi, Evan, that sounds like it was a great idea for...Hi, Evan, that sounds like it was a great idea for a computer simulation. I hope you got a good grade. <br /><br />Jamha, that was a good point, although maybe people who believe urban legends like this don't realize that in 1919 people weren't keeping their onions in the crisper drawer of a refrigerator. I think the rule was you needed an onion in each room, though. Either way, it's not like an onion is some exotic piece of vegetation, so you're right.<br /><br />Aaron, the version of the rumor my cousin posted (not the one I linked to, but the one I quoted from) <i>did</i> go on to say that you must never used chopped onions that are more than a few hours old because they will be full of germs, and that onions, not mayonnaise, are to blame when potato salad goes bad. See link here:<br /><br />http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/cutonions.aspColeslawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06813319585807128092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-15188356882157849682013-01-06T14:44:03.811-08:002013-01-06T14:44:03.811-08:00Hi, I'm dropping after following a link from S...Hi, I'm dropping after following a link from Slacktivist.<br /><br />And speaking of urban legends and epidemiology... a long, long time ago, as the final project in a course on computer simulation theory, I wrote a program to simulate the spread of false rumors through a population. It was basically an epidemiological analysis, but instead of variables for virulence and incubation period and herd immunity, values could be set for things like "probability that a person hearing this rumor will believe it", "probability that a person who believes it will share it with others", and "probability that a person will bother setting a believer straight when told a rumor they know to be false".<br /><br />That last one turned out to be a surprisingly sensitive variable. I ran simulations in which increasing the population of debunkers by a tiny fraction of one percent made the difference between a lie being universally accepted or eventually dying out.<br /><br />Which is why I'm usually willing to be the jerk who posts the know-it-all corrections when people have been misinformed. A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on, as Mark Twain didn't actually say, and helping the truth with its laces can actually make a difference.Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16267818728905991672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-83577931484175489662013-01-06T12:46:46.216-08:002013-01-06T12:46:46.216-08:00Also, you should never eat an onion you left in t...Also, you should never eat an onion you left in the fridge for a couple of days. Who knows what kind of crap it's been absorbing. In fact, why don't more people die of onion poisoning if onions are such effective germ traps?Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13238548635539620285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5877872196122597956.post-85879992366235439622013-01-06T12:05:00.781-08:002013-01-06T12:05:00.781-08:00You don't need to know anything about electron...You don't need to know anything about electron microscopes or the flu virus though. Since having even one unpeeled onion in your house is enough to trap all of the flu virus, how could the flu ever become an epidemic? I would assume that most farmers have at least one onion nearby, at least around flu season. Why didn't those onions save anyone else?Jamhahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11823727007768063913noreply@blogger.com