A rigid consensus on inclusion criteria for this list has not been reached, but any proposed new entries to the article must at least fulfill the following:
The common misconception's main topic has an article of its own.
The item is reliably sourced, both with respect to the factual contents of the item and the fact that it is a common misconception.
The common misconception is mentioned in its topic article with sources.
The common misconception is current, as opposed to ancient or obsolete.
If you propose an entry that does not fulfill these criteria but you still think should be included, please include your rationale for inclusion.
List of common misconceptions is a former featured list candidate. Please view the link under Article milestones below to see why the nomination failed. Once the objections have been addressed you may resubmit the article for featured list status.
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Assess : newly added and existing articles, maybe nominate some good B-class articles for GA; independently assess some as A-class, regardless of GA status.
Cleanup : * Sport governing body (this should-be-major article is in a shameful state) * Field hockey (History section needs sources and accurate information - very vague at the moment.) * Standardize Category:American college sports infobox templates to use same font size and spacing. * Sport in the United Kingdom - the Popularity section is incorrect and unsourced. Reliable data is required.
* Fix project template and/or "to do list" Current version causes tables of content to be hidden unless/until reader chooses "show."
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This list contains a number of fringe theories and this is potentially problematic. There is a big difference between fringe theories and most misconceptions. Misconceptions generally arise from a lack of familiarity with the topics they relate to and can easily be disregarded by experts. Fringe theories, on the other hand, arise from a reasonable amount of research that a person has done on a subject that has led them to form ideas about the subject that deviate from mainstream views. Does anyone else share my concerns about this list's inclusion of fringe theories? Nezahaulcoyotl (talk) 04:11, 1 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Nezahaulcoyotl: what are some of the entries in particular that you're concerned with here? Elli (talk | contribs) 04:17, 1 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
A vaccine-autism link is still asserted by some doctors such as Bob Sears and the potential risks of GMOs have been noted by some scientists such as Julie Nordlee. Nezahaulcoyotl (talk) 23:45, 1 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
This is not the venue for that argument. Please take it to Talk:Vaccines_and_autism and if you make any progress there then we can re-assess the entry here.
Granted, not all "fringe theories" rise to the level of "common misconception". This one certainly does. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 00:22, 2 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I removed a fringe theory on James Webb disproving the Big Bang. --Ahecht (TALK PAGE) 20:10, 30 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
You removed my entry because it wasn't "common knowledge," which is fair. I don't think I would consider it a fringe theory since it was propagated by misinformed news outlets rather than continually asserted by a group (e.g. QAnon, other conspiracy theories). Misconceptions that arose from faulty and fraudulent media coverage are on this page, including the "War of the Worlds" radio incident, the murder of Kitty Genovese, and Tutankhamun's curse. Professor Chimp (talk) 06:41, 2 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe this one makes sense in inventions? The misconception is mentioned at AR-15–style rifle (the first link) in "Terminology". ~ F4U (talk • they/it) 15:36, 30 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Seems like a good addition to the page. Agree that the category is not obvious. Business, Inventions, or Law, Crime, and Military would seem like the appropriate candidates, but none are an exact fit. I'd say pick one and we can always move it later. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 16:36, 30 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Didn't think of business, but that's probably the best fit for now. I've just added it. :) ~ F4U (talk • they/it) 18:43, 6 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
References
^Myre, Greg (February 28, 2018). "A Brief History Of The AR-15". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2021. AR" comes from the name of the gun's original manufacturer, ArmaLite, Inc. The letters stand for ArmaLite Rifle — and not for "assault rifle" or "automatic rifle.
^Palma, Bethania (September 9, 2019). "Does 'AR' in AR-15 Stand for 'Assault Rifle'?". Snopes Media Group Inc. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2022. A frequent misconception centers on what the term "AR-15" literally means.
Identification
[1] "Contrary to a widespread myth, police officers have no advantage over civilians when making identifications." Benjamin (talk) 00:52, 3 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Economy
[2] Americans think the economy is worse but it's actually better. Not sure how this should be phased. This is a specific example of a general phenomenon, I think. Benjamin (talk) 00:59, 3 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Common means more than just among those Americans who have an opinion about their current economy. And the "current ecomony" is far too ephemoral to be a useful item in the list. signed, Willondon (talk) 01:07, 3 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't have to be worldwide to be common. Remember, we have the misconception about fans specifically in Korea. And it's not just the current economy, although that's what this source is about. People *generally* misconceive the economy. Benjamin (talk) 00:57, 4 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Change ideology
[3] People incorrectly think extremists are more resistant to change. Benjamin (talk) 12:22, 5 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Liberty Leading the People entry
The topic article states "The painting is sometimes wrongly thought to depict the French Revolution of 1789. " but it does not state that this error is common. The supporting cite says:
It is the definitive image of the French Revolution - and yet Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People does not portray the French Revolution at all...This scene, it tells us, took place on July 28 1830.
Is this enough to justify inclusion in this article? My opinion is "no" but let's hear some other opinions. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 21:02, 10 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I think I would say yes. "It is the definitive image..." implies practically (if not in formal logical terms) that there is a common conception here. W. P. Uzer (talk) 22:13, 10 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I interpreted it more strictly than that. From what it says (as quoted above), it doesn't say that anybody many people think it is actually the French Revolution (the clue is plainly visible in the title). I applied a stricter standard than being practically implied. Consider "After fifty years since the first moon landing, Apollo 13 remains the definitive movie account of the dawn of crewed missions to the Moon, yet it does not portray the very first mission to the Moon at all." That's not to say people think it depicts the Apollo 11 mission. I landed on "No" also because the source is so solitary. It doesn't seem to represent a group of sources that might be able to support the notion as well. signed, Willondon (talk) 23:05, 10 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It's possible that this may make the grade with more definitive sourcing. Note that the inclusion criteria only requires that the topic article mention the misconception, it is not required that it state that it's common. But we'd still need some sourcing establishing that it is a common misconception. So, the ball is in the court of those who advocate it's inclusion. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 23:22, 14 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
That's interesting. I wonder if it's a case of circular reference, though. In my above comments, I corrected "doesn't say that anybody" to "doesn't say that many people", recalling the actual words "The painting is sometimes wrongly thought to depict the French Revolution of 1789." When I reviewed where that came from, I checked the orginal source (The Guardian, from the topic article ) and found it didn't say anything about wrongly considered, just the "It is the definitive image". Consider:
April 2, 2005 (The Guardian), source is published: "It is the definitive image of the French Revolution - and yet Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People does not portray the French Revolution at all."
March 3, 2021 (Wikipedia) [4]: "The painting is often confused for depicting the French Revolution." (no source given)
December 29, 2021 (Wikipedia) [5]: "The painting is sometimes wrongly thought to depict the French Revolution of 1789." (still no source)
February 7, 2023 (ArtNews) [6]: "This iconic oil by Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) is often wrongly thought to depict a scene from the 1789 French Revolution."
December 10, 2023 (Wikipedia) [7]: a source is finally given for the statement (The Guardian, 2005), where we can see that it says nothing at all about anybody thinking it actually depicts the French Revolution. I emphasized the Wikipedia 2021 quote and the ArtNews 2023 quote to highlight the close similarity in phrasing. So I'm not so sure the source is totally reliable. I'm sure the Art News reporters know that Wikipedia can't be relied upon without checking its sources. But maybe not. signed, Willondon (talk) 19:20, 16 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It says: "Perhaps the most well-known representation of the female embodiment of the ideals of the French Revolution today is Eugène Delacroix's 1830 painting, Liberty Leading the People, which, contrary to popular belief, represents the July revolution of 1830 against the restored Bourbon monarchy rather than the revolution of 1789 (Yalom, 1997, 122)."
Following the citation to
we find: "as in Delacroix's famous painting Liberty Leading the People, which was not about the revolution of 1789, as most people assume, but the bloody uprising of 1830 (fig. 49)." Dexxor (talk) 12:39, 17 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Those sources look good to me. I'm reassured that the second source is published 1997, well before Wikipedia could be accused of misleading someone on this issue. signed, Willondon (talk) 15:52, 17 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed. Seems like we have sufficient sourcing now. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 22:12, 17 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Studying economics
[8] "It is widely held that studying economics makes you more selfish and politically conservative. ... We find no discernible effect ..." Benjamin (talk) 04:30, 12 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Body size
[9] "It was found that men underestimated the average female body by an average of 38%, whilst women underestimated their own bodies by 16%." Benjamin (talk) 12:22, 31 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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