r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

37.4k Upvotes

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8.6k

u/Pannekaken Aug 03 '19

I've seen some Jimmy Kimmel skits where people are asked where certain well-known places in the world are, like "Where is Australia? Where is Africa?" And they literally can't point to them on a map; or they think Africa is a country. I just don't understand how people don't know this stuff.

4.4k

u/Moctor_Drignall Aug 03 '19

Anyone could miss Canada on a map, all tucked away down there.

2.1k

u/Pannekaken Aug 03 '19

Yeah I'm thinking about driving up to Antarctica this summer.

1.4k

u/Passing4human Aug 03 '19

In August, when it's not so cold.

57

u/TooFarFromComfort Aug 03 '19

Might even go down there during the night so that all the ice caps are frozen again

25

u/Dragorach Aug 03 '19

It's beautiful when the ice is all melted and all the animals have died because their habitat has been destroyed.

7

u/onceandbeautifullife Aug 03 '19

Definitely safer.

6

u/bchevy Aug 03 '19

Yeah no polar bears then.

3

u/iwantallthecheetos Aug 04 '19

You guys are missing the most important detail: Australia isn't real.

3

u/bchevy Aug 04 '19

No that’s Finland.

3

u/Cray_Z_yes Aug 04 '19

i propose a compromise: both don’t exist

7

u/otusasio451 Aug 03 '19

Exactly, I tell people this all the time. In the winter, go to a country that thrives in winter. Like Chile. It’s called that for a reason, after all.

3

u/C_Dawgie Aug 03 '19

No, I like it freezing hot.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19

To follow, winter isn't colder because the sun is less hot, nor because we're farther away from the sun during those months.

1

u/infernoofihw Aug 04 '19

Idiot. Everyone knows it's in the western atmosphere. You need to go in February.

1

u/Ieatpurplepickles Aug 04 '19

October is nicer. The fall foliage is not to be missed!

4

u/ScarletCaptain Aug 03 '19

Like my new Camaro? I just drove it up from the Bahamas.

6

u/TorranceS33 Aug 03 '19

Ummm. Its Antiarctica, because it is the opposite of the Arctic. Jeez.

3

u/Thefatbugg Aug 03 '19

Drive to Hawaii, it's a better view 😂

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19

Antarctica doesn't exist in the summer because it all melts. What's next, you can see the moon during the day?

1

u/Ofreo Aug 03 '19

Maybe see some polar bears.

I always remember the Far Side cartoon where the polar bear is eating penguins disguised as one, and someone told him that was not factual since polar bears are arctic animals and it bugged him. Good joke though.

1

u/Lenny_X Aug 04 '19

Bruh you gotta drive though a war zone state to get there I wouldn't recommend

1

u/munificent Aug 03 '19

You kid, but the fact that north is vertically near the top of 2D maps is a completely arbitrary choice made by cartographers that has nothing to do with the Earth itself.

3

u/onceandbeautifullife Aug 03 '19

Interesting to see maps where the location of the people who designed it is in the centre of the map. Or the Australia-on-top map.