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Fact... or Misconception?

Can you guess whether these statements are facts or misconceptions?
Some of the misconceptions are well-known, others I just made up
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: August 14, 2021
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First submittedAugust 14, 2021
Times taken13,279
Average score68.8%
Rating3.63
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1. Humans evolved from chimpanzees
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
2. French people drink a lot more wine than people in most other countries
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
According to one study, France drinks 44 liters per person per year, more than every other country except the Vatican and Andorra
3. Snakes kill thousands of people in Australia each year
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
On average, only one or two people are killed
4. More than 5% of people who contract Covid-19 will die from it
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
Estimates of IFR vary, but tend to fall between 0.5% – 1%, with younger people having much lower rates
5. Fortune cookies were invented in China
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
They were invented by Japanese people in the United States
6. Iceland is colder than most other European countries
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
7. David Hasselhoff was once a popular singer in Germany
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
The Hoff has recorded a #1 hit song, and multiple top 10 albums in Germany
8. Tortoises can live longer than humans
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
9. Based on current estimates, most of New York City will be under water by the year 2100
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
Current projections call for a sea level rise of just 0.3–1.2 meters by 2100
10. The whale shark is a type of whale
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
11. Most people in Mexico speak Spanish as a first language
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
12. In the western world, the average man has less testosterone than his grandfather did at the same age
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
13. A large percentage of the U.S. budget goes to providing aid to other countries
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
Foreign aid only represents about 1% of the U.S. federal budget
14. The Incan Empire lasted for thousands of years before the Spanish conquest
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
The Incan Empire only existed for about 100–150 years
15. In the United States, pit bulls kill far more people than any other breed of dog
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
66% of dog bite fatalities in the U.S. are caused by pit bulls
16. There are actual bird nests in traditional Chinese "bird's nest soup"
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
Relox84
+23
Level 70
Aug 14, 2021
"France drinks 44 liters per person per year" factoid actually statistical error: I, who drink far to many wine bottles a year, am an outlier and should not have been counted.
MayaB
+3
Level 73
Aug 15, 2021
Next time you should tell them to use the median instead of the average to avoid this problem. :)
Findlay
+1
Level 82
Aug 15, 2021
Mmm, you gotta use the right measure of central tendency.
Dontforget
+3
Level 60
Aug 21, 2021
Relox 84, are you Spiders Georg?
brandybuck96
+1
Level 83
Dec 5, 2023
no he's Wine Georges
joeythelemur
+3
Level 84
Aug 16, 2021
I predict a series of these! Fun quiz.
Jorissie
+14
Level 89
Aug 16, 2021
"A large percentage of the U.S. budget goes to providing aid to other countries"

Maybe define "a large percentage".

loganite
+22
Level 88
Aug 16, 2021
1 is not a large percentage by any measure. If the question used something like "large amount" instead of "large percentage" it would be more subjective and need further context, but the way it is worded is accurate.
Seanthesheep
+5
Level 66
Aug 21, 2021
Maybe on its own 1% would not be considered a large percentage but in the context of a federal budget, compared to what a country spends on other things, there are certainly people who would consider it a large percentage. It's a fine question to use, I just think it should be clarified a little.
cuotak
+2
Level 67
Aug 16, 2021
Bird's nest soup contains the spit of swallows. There's no "nest" in the soup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_bird%27s_nest
Quizmaster
+10
Level ∞
Aug 17, 2021
I'm confused by your objection. Did you read the article? It begins with this:

"Edible bird's nests are bird nests"

cuotak
+5
Level 67
Aug 21, 2021
It depends on your definition of "nest". It is solidified spit that got accumulated on the swallow's nest. No bird makes a nest out of saliva only.
Carry
+2
Level 63
Aug 23, 2021
If a recipe calls for an egg you don't put in the whole egg with the shell. So even if only the spit is used the ingredient is still the nest.
kalbahamut
+9
Level 82
Aug 21, 2021
With a small change in wording several of these misconceptions could be turned into fact. Or vice versa, I guess.
QuizzerBros
+2
Level 66
Aug 21, 2021
Awesome thumbnail lol
Pandoramix
+5
Level 50
Aug 21, 2021
I think 1% is a large percentage, if compared with what it spends with education, health and culture... I would put more or less than 1% in the question, since "large" is quite abstract.
Kalleanon
+6
Level 66
Aug 23, 2021
13% on education, 21% on health care, 12% on welfare, 15% on social security...

1% isn't large.

Djak
+2
Level 65
Aug 21, 2021
The testosterone thing is visible.
raneman11
+1
Level 66
Aug 21, 2021
All these tricky questions i ended up getting right, and here I forgot that humans aren't descended from chimps, they diverged from a common ancestor.
boltok
+4
Level 68
Aug 21, 2021
1% may seem like a small percentage, but when it comes to national budgets, 1% is significant. Maybe reword it to "double digit percentage"?
michaelngwa
+6
Level 56
Aug 21, 2021
If we were talking about the actual amount of money that 1% constitutes of our federal budget, then yes, it would need to be changed. But since the question refers to percentage, 1% is a small amount (out of 100%), and therefore the wording is correct.
dunkinggandalf2
+5
Level 68
Aug 23, 2021
1% is never a large percentage, even if it is 1% of a something gigantic. It may be a large amount, but it remains a small percentage. 1% of the mass of the Sun is gargantuan, but that doesn't make it a large percentage of the mass of the Sun!
MiracleMax
+1
Level 75
Aug 27, 2021
A one percent chance to win the lottery is a large percentage. Anthropogenic extinction of one percent of species is a large percentage. In the context of things often rendered in incredibly small percentages, like lottery chances or federal spending, there's definitely an argument to be made that the fact that foreign aid actually makes up a full percentage point is a large percent.
Miqueas
+1
Level 69
Aug 21, 2021
How is it tricky that Mexicans speak Spanish what else would they speak?????
michaelngwa
+2
Level 56
Aug 21, 2021
Well, if English people speak English, and French people speak French, I'd guess they'd speak Mexican.
jimhawkins90
+2
Level 73
Aug 21, 2021
lots of them still speak native american languages like mayan languages or nahuatl
MeddlingWizard
+3
Level 46
Aug 21, 2021
lol all the people who say 'it's not the breed it's the owner' (logic that they probably don't apply to guns interestingly enough) just got PITTED (pun intended) by question 15.

loool

chailattee
+10
Level 62
Aug 21, 2021
Actually, most of the time, it is the owner. Pit bulls are often bred and trained to fight and abused, which makes them violent, but if they are raised in a loving home like a normal dog they will act like a normal dog. Pitbulls actually scored as the second most tempered dog breed, only after the Golden Retriever.

(ps your pun was not funny)

joesoap
+1
Level 42
Aug 22, 2021
You can train them well, but they will always have that viciousness in there somewhere.
Ssssss
+4
Level 69
Aug 23, 2021
So do all dogs technically. And people come to that!
VirusSlo
+2
Level 69
Aug 24, 2021
Yea, but the most vicious chihuahua is still harmless.
timothypk
+7
Level 69
Aug 23, 2021
If some people take a breed that's naturally strong and select out the most vicious ones for dog fighting and "protection" you wind up with a lot of vicious dogs of the same breed. Naturally, those vicious dogs are more likely to attack people. That means nothing about the breed itself. It actually is the owner and the fact in the quiz does nothing to dispel that.
tervuren
+1
Level 56
Aug 21, 2021
Aren't most dog-related deaths from rabies and not the bites themselves? Because then I would think that the most deadly dogs would be stray mongrels
RobNobody
+2
Level 77
Aug 21, 2021
No, only about 2 people die from rabies in the US each year, and they don't necessarily get it from dogs. Meanwhile, dog attacks kill on average more than 40 people per year in the US.
bostjan
+3
Level 72
Aug 23, 2021
Everybody trying to nitpick 1% not being a large percentage, somehow, but nobody wants to point out the covid one. Covid is still new enough (as of 2021) that we have no idea what the long-term effects of it are. If you are simply meaning "IFR" then we still don't really know. The estimates you mention are based on the total fatalities versus seroprevalence with the two values measured at different times. With that disclaimer, the studies show IFR anywhere from less than 0.1% up to over 9%, so 5% is actually within those error bars. If you would have said greater than 10%, it'd still maybe be a stretch, since "we don't know yet" isn't the same as "misconception," but, at least the number would be outside of the range of what has been reported in peer-reviewed journals (for now at least). You are probably correct that it's less than 5%, but it's more of an opinion than a fact at this point in time.
bostjan
+2
Level 72
Aug 23, 2021
Oh, and as for pit bulls, I believe the primary source for the data is here: https://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-multi-year-fatality-report-2005-2017.php It might be worth a disclaimer that the source of the data is a site whose mission statement is "DogsBite.org is a public education website about dangerous dog breeds, chiefly pit bulls." So they may be biased, whether their data is correct, misleading, wrong, or otherwise. If you find similar data from any other source, look at where that source got the data they are presenting; it's likely ultimately from dogsbite.org.
AczeldaBeast
+3
Level 68
Aug 23, 2021
Q9 downplays the significance of sea level rise. The latest IPCC report forecasts a 5% chance that the global mean sea level will rise by more than 2m by 2100. Tipping points of ice sheets collapsing could mean a 2.4m (8ft) SLR rise by 2100 (Sweet et al., 2017). With an average elevation of just 10m, it’s fair to say New York City would not cope well with these changes… https://ny.curbed.com/2017/12/29/16830590/nyc-rising-sea-level-visuals-climate-central particularly when you consider these are averages and storm surges exist.

It’s also difficult to predict future global GHG emission levels, land subsidence, and the rate of implementation and effectiveness of flood defence schemes in battling climate change 80 years from now. The open-ended and subjective wording of the question suggests to me Quizmaster has not taken all these points into account.

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Dec 3, 2021
Most of New York is more than 2 meters high. Even under the worst case projection, there is no way that 50% of New York will be under water by 2100.
perfectsevens
+3
Level 77
Aug 24, 2021
Unless you are talking specifically about the American Pit Bull Terrier, there is no such dog breed as Pit Bull. Typically, what most people consider to be a pit bull is one of four breeds: The American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and American Bully. People will also call lots of dogs that don't share any genetic info with those four breeds a pit bull based on looks. Also, dog bite statistics are notoriously unreliable since they rely almost exclusively on eyewitness accounts and as I just mentioned, most people have no idea what they are talking about when they are asked what kind of dog it is (in fact, studies have shown that so called breed experts have difficulty telling breeds apart at a quick glance).
bostjan
+1
Level 72
Aug 24, 2021
As I mentioned in another comment, this "factoid" comes from a single data source, whose methodology is never explained and whose bias is apparent from their mission statement. Police are more concerned with tracking down the owner of the dog than tracking dog breed statistics. According to the AVMA ( https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-bite-risk-and-prevention-role-breed ), controlled studies have shown no increased danger due to dog breed. Out in society, though, it is likely the case as certain breeds or traits may be more sought after by owners who are more likely to have their dogs bite people. Where it gets silly is that these sorts of "statistics" of very dubious origin are used to pressure legislation punishing owners of certain breeds of dogs, when the real problem people could not care less about the legality of their actions in the first place.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Dec 3, 2021
There is a huge increase in danger by dog breed. To suggest otherwise is farcical. A toy poodle is less dangerous than a mastiff. Not because mastiffs are more aggressive, but simply because they are capable of doing far more damage.

No where does this quiz suggest that pit bulls are more inherently more aggressive than other breeds. But it is a fact that pit bulls are far more likely to kill people than any other breed. There are a couple reasons for this

1) People who want a mean dog get a pit bull and train it to be aggressive

2) When pit bulls do attack a human, they are far more likely to kill or seriously injure them

Due to #2, I personally wouldn't ever have a pit bull in my household, or allow children to play with one. This doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them, but the fact remains they are far more likely to kill then any other breed.

bostjan
+1
Level 72
Dec 8, 2021
I don't suppose your argument is going to convince anyone. It seems like everyone has made their mind up one way or the other and doesn't care to discuss evidence. Even if the evidence presented to back up the claim is from a dubiously biased source with unknown methodology, there certainly is no evidence to the contrary.
DenAm
+1
Level 65
Jun 8, 2023
Dang I read it as Iceland being OLDER than most of Europe and I was confused.
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