What's the stupidest space-related thing you've ever heard someone say?

[DMSP]

We went over Mars One for a week in Current Events, and a senior girl asked, "Does Mars have gravity?"

I nearly lost faith in our generation in that moment.

I look at Yahoo Answers sometimes.

I have this friend, and we lose so much faith everyday by observing around us that sometimes we face-palm in sync.

[GreenWolf]

Here's a quick list of misconceptions about space that I've run into:

• No gravity in space
  
• Friction in space
  
• Space is cold/Why do space ships need radiators?
  
• Nuclear Thermal Rockets have radioactive exhaust
  
• Underestimating the distances between other planets and stars
  
• Overestimating the distances between other planets and stars
  
• Blackholes are magical vacuum cleaners
  
• All stars explode in supernovae
  
• Greatly overestimating NASA's budget
  
• Underestimating the cost of spaceflight
  

What I've really noticed is that most people have difficulty in understanding the scale of space. The distances, speeds, sizes, and costs involved are just so large that the average person can't really grasp them. It can be fun to watch the reactions people have when they learn that the ISS is actually closer than San Diego but is traveling at over 17000 mph.

[DMSP]

I also remember the time when I was looking at space.com and a high-school-er saw me.

I clicked on a page about Alpha Centari.

He said:

"When Voyager 3 arrives there I can't wait to see what Pandora looks like."

I gave him this look.

Voyager 3? Pandora?

People!

Also:

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[MGCJerry]

Not so much saying something stupid, but just outdated information: My grade 7 teacher said Mercury was the hottest planet for the obvious reason of being closest to the sun. He was shocked when I showed him a university-level textbook explaining that Venus was hotter due to the greenhouse effect of its thick atmosphere

I had something similar happen to me, but took a worse turn. A teacher believed that Pluto was always the farthest away. I shown the teach proof otherwise (the internet wasn't what it is now) and I got scolded for it. I was then told "not to bring it up again" or I "would be sent to another school for abusive youth" (Joke was on you pal, I had a clean record so that wouldn't happen) and that I'm to adhere to what he said. "Come back and prove me wrong when you have a PhD in your name." He said a lot of other absurd crap as well where I could probably write a book. "Uranus is blue because of oxygen", "Mercury is the hottest planet", "Granite is the hardest mineral", "Iron rusts in space due to the water vapor in space"... Plenty of other idioms too.

Despite always being ahead in science, I barely passed (Earth Sciences) and I think it was because I didn't dumb down my work to his level. Thankfully the following year I had a biology teacher who was more knowledgeable and we would get into some really great conversations about space, some physics, to the point in which it would eat into class time. The great thing, when I took chemistry the following year, I had the same guy and found out the idiot in my first paragraph was no longer teaching at the school due to "complaints & disputes with his techniques". I did lodge a complaint to the dean & to the school board. However, I was not able to complete his class because I ended up moving and had to change schools.

Edit

"When Voyager 3 arrives there I can't wait to see what Pandora looks like."

I gave him this look.

Voyager 3? Pandora?

Avatar movie (with the blue cat/smurf people) reference.

[Random Tank]

Education works when the person you seek to educate is curious about the subject and willing to learn. If they don't care, or if they stick to their plainly irrational view and refuse to even accept that the facts you present have merit, you might as well give up. It is almost impossible to reason somebody out of a position they were not reasoned into. They have to want to believe facts. In my view, it is better to prevent people from getting false ideas ingrained on them from the start, than to try to do attempt to cure it later in life.

Usually I've found that it's how you say it to them; if you calmly explain where they've made the mistake using simple, understandable terms, even using their story as basis then changing the details so it's now correct, they will listen. You just have to make it seem like you're expanding their knowledge, not correcting them. If you directly state to them "No, you're wrong", they're immediately gonna go on the defensive and fight against what you're saying, and then you're going no-where.

This approach doesn't always work, especially when you encounter the truly dumb person:

I once got the good ol' "there's no gravity in space" comment.

I tried to correct her, but she immediately angered in response because "there's no gravity in space "

This short exchange therefore automatically defaulted into an argument. Unfortunatley, she held onto this curious concept where "I never argue, unless I'm 100% sure that I'm correct."

Take this for example; while yes, she's not right, she's not exactly wrong either, she's just got her terms mixed up. While yes, there is definitely gravity in space, she's likely thinking because all the Astronauts/Cosmonauts on the ISS are floating, that there must not be. In-fact (as you know) it's because they're in constant free-fall due to being in orbit which means they "float" about, not because a lack of gravity. If you word it right, it won't seem like you're "proving her wrong", more proving her right, just with the correct terminology. Saying "that's wrong" means she won't believe you, no matter how right you are...

If you turn it into an argument, you've failed, give up now...

[DMSP]

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Avatar movie (with the blue cat/smurf people) reference.

IKR.

But really people. REALLY?

[OhioBob]

Here's a quick list of misconceptions about space that I've run into:

• No gravity in space
  
• Friction in space
  
• Space is cold/Why do space ships need radiators?
  
• Nuclear Thermal Rockets have radioactive exhaust
  
• Underestimating the distances between other planets and stars
  
• Overestimating the distances between other planets and stars
  
• Blackholes are magical vacuum cleaners
  
• All stars explode in supernovae
  
• Greatly overestimating NASA's budget
  
• Underestimating the cost of spaceflight
  

Another goodie it that rockets work by pushing against the air. Some in the conspiracy arena have used this one to deny the existence of spaceflight altogether (rockets obviously don't work in a vacuum). I wonder how they think their cell phones, GPS, and satellite TV work.

[MGCJerry]

IKR.

But really people. REALLY?

Unfortunately I was a member of an avatar fansite and many of those people are umm... hardcore fans and they're stuck in their little world. I was always interested in the technical side of the technology used in creating & filming. I'm the kind of person who prefers watching "behind the scenes", than the actual product.

[SlabGizor117]

I was going to rant a bit about how ridiculing others for not knowing something/making a mistake/asking "dumb" questions is wrong (especially when the topic is out of their area of expertise), but now I don't have to - thank you. I completely agree with everything you wrote there.

Shhhh! It's more fun to make fun of them D:

[jman508]

this is kinda funny. this tread was started today and already has 6 pages. i think we just hit a new megathread here.

[Vaporo]

My personal favorite is when people think that the dark side of the moon is always dark. In fact, that's what they taught me in my seventh grade science class. They also taught that, at the same time, one side of the moon always faces the earth. Luckily, the teacher was willing to listen to me, and I was able to explain that the dark side is not always dark.

That science class was horrible. Once we had to complete a paper, a paper from a company that makes books for science classes, claiming that sound moves faster through air than water. Another time, on a test, I had to make a graph of the position of a decelerating object. My graph looked like this:

I think that her graph looked like this:

Even after I showed her the problem (and she even took to the math teacher and had him confirm that I was right), I didn't get my 2 points back. The worst part is, though, that almost everyone in the class got the teacher's answer.

A bit off topic, but it infuriates me to this day.

[SlabGizor117]

this is kinda funny. this tread was started today and already has 6 pages. i think we just hit a new megathread here.

I know, I'm pretty excited XD Thanks for posting guys, this is awesome!

[LABHOUSE]

All of my teachers who mentioned space so far:

It is wrong and a waste of money for NASA to send probes to mars for trillions of trillions of money, they will never find anything because the Bible says that God only made us, and no other life on other planets.

Me:

Where?

Response (not always by teacher):

Somewhere in Psalms, I cannot recall what all the verse said though, something about God making the heavens to show His power.

Me (thinking):

That does not have to be the only reason....

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We went over Mars One for a week in Current Events, and a senior girl asked, "Does Mars have gravity?"

I nearly lost faith in our generation in that moment.

I have plenty of faith in our generation, in the following things:

1. To be stupid and do stupid things

2. To argue that metric is for third world countries only (what about Canada I ask, they say it is in a way, because of being communist)

3. To break rules

4. To get minimum wage at fast food or as a cashier

5. To not try at anything

6. To be wrong, but never admit it

7. To get worse every day

8. To use southern words they claim are superior to Yankee words and all northern things

9. To annoy me and get on my nerves

10. To ask stupid things and do stupid things just to get a laugh out of anyone

[Fel]

I don't have a quote, but I always find it silly when people talk about how much a colossal waste of money NASA is and how we don't really need them anymore.

[OhioBob]

I don't have a quote, but I always find it silly when people talk about how much a colossal waste of money NASA is and how we don't really need them anymore.

I always chuckle when someone makes the argument that the money spent on NASA would be better spent "here on Earth". What, are when shooting bags of cash off into space?

[Musil]

I know, I'm pretty excited XD Thanks for posting guys, this is awesome!

I am not sure it's a good thing.

[Xannari Ferrows]

"Warp drive makes you move faster than light."

...Do I even need to explain this?

[SlabGizor117]

All of my teachers who mentioned space so far:

It is wrong and a waste of money for NASA to send probes to mars for trillions of trillions of money, they will never find anything because the Bible says that God only made us, and no other life on other planets.

Me:

Where?

Response (not always by teacher):

Somewhere in Psalms, I cannot recall what all the verse said though, something about God making the heavens to show His power.

Me (thinking):

That does not have to be the only reason....

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I have plenty of faith in our generation, in the following things:

1. To be stupid and do stupid things

2. To argue that metric is for third world countries only (what about Canada I ask, they say it is in a way, because of being communist)

3. To break rules

4. To get minimum wage at fast food or as a cashier

5. To not try at anything

6. To be wrong, but never admit it

7. To get worse every day

8. To use southern words they claim are superior to Yankee words and all northern things

9. To annoy me and get on my nerves

10. To ask stupid things and do stupid things just to get a laugh out of anyone

I will say that nor'ners have dumb sayings, us hicks are alot better > But yeah, if we used metric everything would be 10 times better(pun intended).

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I am not sure it's a good thing.

How so? ಠ_ಠ

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"Warp drive makes you move faster than light."

...Do I even need to explain this?

Well, considering shows like Star Trek actually try to put a theory behind warp drives, replicators, transporters, and holodecks, if you google how they say it works, it's actually pretty interesting what they've come up with.

[JumpsterG]

I was taught, in early grade school (2nd grade?), that winter came when the earth was farthest from the sun during its orbit. Sounds reasonable until you later learn that the opposite hemisphere experiences summer at the same time...

[Musil]

How so? ಠ_ಠ

A thread about people being ignorant, often not because of their own fault but because of bad teaching? I find it depressing.

Also funny, but I feel guilty about that.

[Mr. Scruffy]

A girl i lived with in a student´s [!] home and my mom didnt know which was bigger, the moon or the sun, until i told them. The worst thing is, that they didnt find anything wrong with that.

[jarmund]

Another goodie it that rockets work by pushing against the air. Some in the conspiracy arena have used this one to deny the existence of spaceflight altogether (rockets obviously don't work in a vacuum). I wonder how they think their cell phones, GPS, and satellite TV work.

They are convinced that cell phones, GPS and sat TV is a hoax too that THEY make you believe so that THEY can control all information. We all know that THEY consist of the holywood elite amongst others.

[ghpstage]

Haven't seen this posted yet, but its would likely be a worthy contender on any list of stupid things said about space!

[SmashingKirby148]

"Once you go high enough, there is no gravity!"

When you leave the atmosphere, you orbit the Earth. When you leave Earth, you orbit the Sun. When you leave the Sun, You orbit the Black Hold at the centre of our galaxy.

[Motokid600]

I'm pretty sure most people have lost the ability to bend their necks backwards to look up. And this scares me. We could evolve into creatures that have completely lost the ability to look up. The neck itself may become fused into a downward position overtime.