Another “Famous Failures” Graphic Gets a Failing Grade

Myths of famous failures comes up again and again in social media. There’s something immensely compelling about famous people failing miserably and then making a triumphant comeback. They often come in sets because, I guess, one story isn’t enough. (“Famous failures: Collect them all!” Even though they are probably mostly urban legends.) Just this week George Takei tweeted yet another set of “famous failures”. Let’s take a look:

Fortunately, we already debunked the stories of Jordan and Disney (as if so many others had not done so already). We confirmed the Beatles story in its previous guise even though it got the quote wrong. Here, however, is added a new quote that “they have no future in show business.” Nope. That never happened. That part is completely made up. So that’s another big Fail for this Misinfographic.

Oprah Winfrey was indeed demoted as a co-anchor. She said later in a speech that she recalled being told she wasn’t “fit for television”. Also, everyone loves Oprah. So this one gets a Pass.

Others on social media have commented on the Steve Jobs “failure” that, well, being a multimillionaire probably took some of the sting out of the “failure” of being removed from Apple. It’s a good story and basically true, though. We’ll give Misinfographic a Pass on that one too.

How about Einstein? Was he a failure as a child? Unable to speak? Did any of his teachers ever say he would “not amount to much”? No, no, and no. So, Fail, Fail, and Fail.

So, since it only got two out of six correct, Misinfographic gets a big F for Fail. If you have to lie about failure to convince people that failure isn’t all that bad, you have failed. If you post this kind of nonsense without checking, well, I wouldn’t call that a successful post. The good news is it’s true: failure isn’t all that bad. People go on to do better things. So better luck next time!

Myth: The IAU Demoted Pluto from Planet

This story has already been debunked a lot, especially by Neil deGrasse Tyson, who was involved in the discussion even before the IAU’s infamous deliberation (linked wiki erroneously uses the verb “reclassified” at least once). Pluto was in the news again this week so it reminded me to rant a little about this.

Never demoted Pluto.

Famous Failures – It Takes One To Know One

This video has been showing up here and there. It’s all about “famous failures” – people who supposedly “failed” at something for which they were later renowned. The examples are supposed to teach us  “life=risk” or some such.

My first question was “But are these stories true?” Does it matter if these stories are true or not — as long as the Feel-good message is good? Why would anyone doubt such an authoritative voice? Can anyone say for certain that they are not true? Well, frankly, I don’t care. I have no interest at all in doing any harm to other people’s Feel-Goodisms. I just like to look stuff up and I’m curious: When it comes to the truth, does this video Pass or Fail? So let’s have a look at these claims. (References available.)

Are We Entering an Ice Age?

Every time there’s a heavy snow or a bit of a chill in North America, the global warming doubters come out of the woodwork. I don’t really want to bother refuting silly arguments that have already been roundly refuted countless times. However, I do want to answer one question I’ve heard about this winter’s weather: “Are we entering an Ice Age?” It shocks me to hear very intelligent people ask this question. I would have thought they were more aware of the general climate trends. It seems to me that the facts are hidden behind a veil of pedantic or downright ignorant arguing with global warming deniers.