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Epic knowledge fail by me

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raisedbyignorance
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30 May 2011, 6:13 pm

For nearly 27 years of my life, I thought the chipmunks were just squirrels when they were babies and those stripes on their back were like spots on a deer that would fade out in time.

It never occurred to me that squirrels and chipmunks were completely separate species of animals until recently.

I'm glad I never had to address this in any form in any classroom or it would've gotten pretty embarrasing.



kittie
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30 May 2011, 6:36 pm

:lol:

I'vve had similar knowledge-fails, mostly related to Geography. I thought Russia was in Europe until recently (I'm even learning Russian, so no excuse... :P ), and still can't locate the UK (my own country) on a map. 0.0



GoonSquad
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30 May 2011, 6:56 pm

I blame your parents...


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jrjones9933
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30 May 2011, 7:34 pm

A French Le Cordon Bleu trained chef once told me he thought that ducks were just female geese. Don't sweat it.


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jmnixon95
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30 May 2011, 7:53 pm

GoonSquad wrote:
I blame your parents...


Same. :lol:



Ambivalence
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31 May 2011, 5:37 am

Heh. I thought blackbirds were in the crow family - the littlest crows! - until fairly recently. :oops:


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MollyTroubletail
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31 May 2011, 6:23 am

I hardly consider these to be "Epic Failures" of knowledge. My mother once told me she believed all cats were female and all dogs were male, and she has a Master's degree!

I think it is logical to think blackbirds are in the crow family, or chipmunks are juvenile squirrels, until you find out differently.



Ambivalence
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31 May 2011, 11:36 am

kittie wrote:
I thought Russia was in Europe until recently.

It is. Russia is a European country - the capital and most of the population are in Europe - but it has a huge back garden. :wink:


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kittie
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31 May 2011, 12:17 pm

Ambivalence wrote:
kittie wrote:
I thought Russia was in Europe until recently.

It is. Russia is a European country - the capital and most of the population are in Europe - but it has a huge back garden. :wink:


Really? 8O I was taught in an advanced Geography class just a few weeks ago that it was in Asia.



Titangeek
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31 May 2011, 12:22 pm

kittie wrote:
Ambivalence wrote:
kittie wrote:
I thought Russia was in Europe until recently.

It is. Russia is a European country - the capital and most of the population are in Europe - but it has a huge back garden. :wink:


Really? 8O I was taught in an advanced Geography class just a few weeks ago that it was in Asia.


part of it is in Asia, the rest is in Europe


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kittie
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31 May 2011, 12:26 pm

Titangeek wrote:
kittie wrote:
Ambivalence wrote:
kittie wrote:
I thought Russia was in Europe until recently.

It is. Russia is a European country - the capital and most of the population are in Europe - but it has a huge back garden. :wink:


Really? 8O I was taught in an advanced Geography class just a few weeks ago that it was in Asia.


part of it is in Asia, the rest is in Europe


Mind = blown. :P



Tequila
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31 May 2011, 1:34 pm

kittie wrote:
I'vve had similar knowledge-fails, mostly related to Geography. I thought Russia was in Europe until recently (I'm even learning Russian, so no excuse... :P ), and still can't locate the UK (my own country) on a map. 0.0


Russia is a European country. It's also an Asian one; the correct term for countries like Russia (and Turkey, and Cyprus) is Eurasian.



tomboy4good
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31 May 2011, 1:42 pm

raisedbyignorance wrote:
For nearly 27 years of my life, I thought the chipmunks were just squirrels when they were babies and those stripes on their back were like spots on a deer that would fade out in time.

It never occurred to me that squirrels and chipmunks were completely separate species of animals until recently.

I'm glad I never had to address this in any form in any classroom or it would've gotten pretty embarrasing.


This is an epic failure? 8O I was once out with my kids & were watching the ground squirrels & some lady (from another part of the country) wanted to argue that they were not ground squirrels but chipmunks. I didn't argue but I did get a snicker from it, & told my kids the difference between the 2 animals. Chipmunks are much smaller than the ground squirrels btw. California has all kinds of rodents. We have tree squirrels, ground squirrels, & chipmunks...but they live in different areas of the state. I don't think you should beat yourself up for it. Now you know...no harm done.

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skysaw
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31 May 2011, 6:32 pm

raisedbyignorance wrote:
For nearly 27 years of my life, I thought the chipmunks were just squirrels when they were babies and those stripes on their back were like spots on a deer that would fade out in time.

It never occurred to me that squirrels and chipmunks were completely separate species of animals until recently.

I'm glad I never had to address this in any form in any classroom or it would've gotten pretty embarrasing.


I don't think that's anything to be too embarrassed about.
I'm sure I've made much worse mistakes - mostly about questions of nature and where my food comes from (which is probably quite typical for urban dwellers, let alone urban dwellers with AS).

PS - I have never seen a chipmunk in real life. To me they are cartoon characters with big teeth and squeaky voices.
We get plenty of squirrels in the UK though. I was very surprised to find that an Australian acquaintance of mine found them fascinating - this from a person who grew up in the land of the Kangaroo!