A visit from Mr. No It All
Mr. No It All is that one person we can depend on to debunk accepted myths, rumors, and hearsay, to show us just how gullible, naive, and dumb we really are.
The Googlamaniacs have taken nanoseconds of their valuable time to assist Mr. No It All. By borrowing, or just out-and-out stealing, from the best sources on the World Wide Web, they have brought you this pertinent information that until now you never thought you could live without.
We’ll start with that commonly accepted myth about the Great Wall of China. Is it the only manmade structure that can be seen from space or the moon with the naked eye?
As expected, Mr. No It All says, “No! Absolutely not!”
According to the astronauts, no manmade structure is visible with the naked eye above an altitude of a few thousand miles. Forget about seeing anything definitive from the moon, which is about 240,000 miles away. Oceans and continents are fuzzy from that distance without the aid of a telescope.
The astronauts claim that manmade objects like highways, buildings, airports and the Great Wall can be seen from low Earth orbit. That’s about 200 miles above sea level. Beyond that, things start getting obscure.
This is a question in the board game Trivial Pursuit, and the answer is wrong. People believe the information from that American icon of allegedly accurate information more than they believe encyclopedias. Just goes to show you how much faith you can have in their research.
The next generally accepted myth is that we use only 10 percent of our brains. Is it so?
Again, Mr. No It All says, “No! Don’t be ridiculous!”
Some insignificant psychologists in the early 20th century started a rumor that human beings use only 10 percent of their brains. A few years later, renowned theoretical physicist Albert Einstein concurred and said that we used only a small portion of our brains.
Today’s scientists agree that the 10-percent theory is total myth and completely unfounded.
If we were to believe that we only needed 10 percent of our brains, then we would be able to remove 90 percent of the brain and still be able to function normally. Ask any doctor and you will be told that damage to even a small area of any section of the brain can have disastrous results.
Imaging in brain scans reveals that all parts of the brain are used for different activities. Many areas are required for complex activities and thought processes.
If this were not the case, then why do neurosurgeons so carefully and meticulously map the brain before removing tumors? They do so because they do not want to compromise essential areas.
Evolution dictates that it is highly unlikely that our comparatively larger brains would have evolved from our ancestors if the extra areas were superfluous to our needs. According to medical doctors and educators, there is no evidence to support the 10-percent brain-use theory.
Maybe you’ll think twice before you participate in any activity that will deprive the brain of oxygen. Smoking, drinking alcohol and most other mind-altering substances kill brain cells. Few of us can afford to lose the ones that are functioning.
Here’s one that most of us who own computers use incorrectly every day.
Are the Internet and the World Wide Web one in the same?
Mr. No It All and the Googlamaniacs say, “No, they are separate entities!” Every day we see the word “Internet” and the term “World Wide Web” used interchangeably. However, though similar, they are not the same thing.
The Internet is a network of networks that links together computers around the world. A variety of computer languages called “protocols” allow any two computers connected to the Internet to communicate with one another.
The World Wide Web is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet. It is an Internet application that is one of the protocols by which information is provided. Applications like Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari allow you to view documents on the World Wide Web.
The Internet does not need the Web to function. However, the Web cannot work without the Internet.
Mr. No It All will tell you that myth, rumor and hearsay all contribute to why we live in a system we can’t understand.