Urban legends, urban myths.
Everyone seems to know of an example of a popular story that has no basis in truth -- these are now commonly known as urban legends or urban myths.
Well, today at the pub (yes, I'm aware that this seems to be the main source for many of my entries here so far [maybe I should go out and get a life]), I came across a couple of individuals (Brits!) who argued convincingly that the derivation of the word "posh" was based on an acronym from an expression that related to the phrase " Port Out, Starboard Home", which supposedly referred to the most desirable cabin locations on cruise ships travelling around the British colonies in the Far East. As one online source points out:
"Before
air-conditioning, such cabins would remain in the shade en route".
This false derivation seems to be supported by the online sources I've checked
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/p/po/posh.htm
http://tafkac.org/language/etymology/posh_etymology_of.html).
When the people at the pub provided me with the apparently false origin of this word I was initially convinced.
I'm now wondering why we seem to be so willing to accept instances of explanations that seem to make common sense. Why are we, as a species so gullible?
I know that one of the most difficult tasks I encounter in my job is to try and foster critical thinking skills among my students. Why can't everyone be the skeptical old bastard that I am?
2 comments:
What about the sattelites hitting the stars? Who's in this pub anyway?
BTW, made the trip to Stump Lake yet?
I'm not sure if it's because people are gullible. I think people put too much importance on the silly little things that make up their (for the most part pathetic) lives and tend to take what they're told at face value. I think many people have the feeling that if it doesn't necessarily affect them personally, it's not worth thinking too hard about.
I think the gullible people are the ones who will go out and pass along this kind of information after casually hearing about it. The right thing to do is to go out and do the research to see if it is true. This ties in, of course, to critical thinking. I don't think the masses are used to thinking for themselves. I'm not sure if this makes them gullible, but it certainly makes them useless to society. If (when?) I complete my path to world domination these type of people will be up north with the criminals and the USA post master general making the beds we will sleep on, making the shirts we will wear and making the shit scoops we clean out cat litter boxes with.
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