Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@claudialexa

claudialexa/category_myths.csv

Last active February 9, 2016 03:31
Show Gist options
  • Save claudialexa/8bfa94821048ad8c5eb9 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save claudialexa/8bfa94821048ad8c5eb9 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
A Very Basic Chart About Myths
Raw
category_myths.csv
myth description google_hits y_n category percentString percent
An 'Autism Epidemic' There's only been an increase in diagnoses of autism, caused by heightened awareness of the ailment, not incidence. 1130000 body 0.11% 0.00114
The Left and right brains have different capabilities No solid functional division; some functions activate some areas more than others. Left brain can learn 'right brain' functions and vice-versa. 2600000 "left brain" "right brain" different brain 0.26% 0.00262
Adding salt to water makes it boil more quickly Naturally salted water will boil more quickly, because of the low heat capacity of the salt content but adding salt to fresh water will not make any difference. 11300000 cooking 1.14% 0.01139
Oil stops pasta sticking Does not prevent sticking. But it can stop the water foaming or boiling over. 5200000 Cooking 0.52% 0.00524
You can get high from banana peel A hoax, perpetuated through the Internet. 3390000 drugs 0.34% 0.00342
George Washington smoked cannabis He grew hemp to make rope and clothes but there's no evidence to suggest he smoked a fatty most nights. 1460000 drugs 0.15% 0.00147
If you've used LSD, you're legally insane. Urban myth 898000 drugs 0.09% 0.00091
Marijuana is a gateway drug Most pot users don't go on to harder drugs. Those who do are probably influenced by social and other factors. 767000 drugs 0.08% 0.00077
Rule of thumb Not from a law allowing a man to hit his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. 1040000 y,"Rule of thumb" beating women Etymology 0.10% 0.00105
The 5 Second Rule Amount of bacteria transferred to fallen food depends on how contaminated the floor is, not how long the food stays there. 96000000 food 9.68% 0.0968
Eating before swimming is dangerous Doesn't increase risk of cramps; alcohol is the biggest increase in risk. 7460000 y,,,"eating before swimming" cramps or dangerous health 0.75% 0.00752
Hair products can "repair" your hair Nothing can fix split ends or damaged hair. They can prevent damage and make hair look better though. 1800000 health 0.18% 0.00182
Waking sleepwalkers is dangerous No, but they'll be really confused. Sleepwalkers are more likely to hurt themselves if they're not awoken. 941000 y health 0.09% 0.00095
Most body heat is lost through the head Only in infants. Or if the head is the only uncovered part of the body. 434000 What % is normally lost through the head under normal conditions? health 0.04% 0.00044
Alcohol kills brain cells Only in heavy users and alcoholics who rely on alcohol to get most of their calories. 393000 "alcohol kills brain cells" health 0.04% 0.0004
Napoleon was short A tall tale. At 5'7", he was actually above average height for a Frenchman of the time. 33400000 history 3.37% 0.03368
Einstein failed maths Nope. He failed an entrance exam for a school, two years early, and still excelled in maths. 2130000 y history 0.21% 0.00215
Pilgrims wore all black Nope. They sported late Elizabethan in-colours: reds, yellows, purples and greens. And no buckle hats! 1490000 y history 0.15% 0.0015
The First Thanksgiving Celebrations were recorded 50 years before the 'first' Thanksgiving at Plymouth Colony. 1160000 history 0.12% 0.00117
US Constitution written on hemp Written on parchment, despite the best efforts of stoner revisionists to convince you otherwise. 417000 history 0.04% 0.00042
Iron Maidens Never were medieval torture devices. But 18th century fakes created for sensational circuses. 414000 history 0.04% 0.00042
Lie detector No such machine. A polygraph test detects arousal, not lies. And can be easily faked. 3510000 law 0.35% 0.00354
Missing Persons Reports Police do not demand a 24 hour period before they accept a missing persons report, especially if violence is involved. 634000 y Law 0.06% 0.00064
You have to say if you're a cop US Police working entrapment law do not have to identify themselves. A hollywood-induced myth. 436000 Law 0.04% 0.00044
Get 'Closure' No evidence this mythical emotional end state is ever achieved by victims of trauma, bereavement or loss. 33400000 mind 3.37% 0.03368
Hard-wired The brain is actually incredibly fluid & plastic. So virtually no psychological capacities are 'hard-wired' from birth. 23400000 mind 2.36% 0.0236
Steep Learning Curve Actually means a skill that is easy and quick to learn. Think about it. The curve just goes up and up. 7770000 mind 0.78% 0.00784
Chemical Imbalance Simplistic. Thank pharma for the idea that major depression is caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters likeserotonin. 1580000 mind 0.16% 0.00159
Dogs sweat by salivating They regulate temperature through panting but sweat through footpads. 1280000 Nature 0.13% 0.00129
Dropping a penny from a tall building could kill someone Terminal velocity is 30-50mph which isn't fast enough. It would hurt though. 1870000 drop penny kill someone physics 0.19% 0.00189
Flushed water rotates the otherway in the Southern Hemisphere The Coriolis effect, induced by the Earth's rotation, does not affect the small amounts of water in toilets, bathtubs. 1850000 flushed water southern hemisphere physics 0.19% 0.00187
Lightning never strikes twice No reason why it wouldn't; the Empire State building gets struck about 100 times per year. 945000 "lightning never strikes twice" physics 0.10% 0.00095
Some people have a photographic memory No hard scientific evidence, but memory that mimics a camera is unlikely. Some people just have great memories 1700000 "photographic memory" psychology 0.17% 0.00171
Satan rules Hell Doesn't say this anywhere in the Bible. 36600000 Satan hell religion 3.69% 0.03691
Jesus was born on December 25th December 25 was declared official celebration date in 350CE. Could be guesstimate based on conception, or winter solstice, or Yule. 8230000 Jesus born 25th December religion 0.83% 0.0083
Islamic matyrs receive 72 virgins Nowhere in the Qu'ran, but is reported elsewhere, but is a matter of debate. 2270000 72 virgins religion 0.23% 0.00229
A Jihad is a "holy war" It actually translates as "struggle". 1870000 jihad is "holy war" religion 0.19% 0.00189
Three Wise Men visited Jesus Nowhere in the Bible does it specify this. A mash up of Matthew 2 and Isaiah 60:1_3: "The wise men visited Jesus as a child, in a house". 1250000 "Three wise men" in Bible religion 0.13% 0.00126
A gene for... Genes code for proteins, so there are actually no genes for specific characeristics, esp. not psychological ones. 375000000 science 37.81% 0.37814
Scientific Proof Proof is incompatible with science which is, by its nature, provisional and self-correcting. Only Maths has proofs. 243000000 science 24.50% 0.24504
Antioxidants are good for us Antioxidants don't do anything for our health, might actually be harmful. Research shows they have no effect on free-radicals in the body, don't prevent ageing. 30700000 science 3.10% 0.03096
Water conducts electricity Water itself is actually an insulator. It's also a great solvent. The substances it dissolves (salt etc.) contain ions, which do conduct electricity. 28400000 science 2.86% 0.02864
MSG causes headaches Anecdotal evidence. But no scientific proof. 1850000 Science 0.19% 0.00187
There is no gravity on the International Space Station Gravity is everywhere. Earth's gravity is pretty strong on the ISS - NASA says a person who weighs 100lb on earth still weighs 90lb there. 1540000 science 0.16% 0.00155
Great Wall of China visible from Space Myth. 1110000 y Science 0.11% 0.00112
Glass is a liquid Has both solid and liquid properties. "This is why stained glass windows are thicker at the bottom" Not true though. Bad manufacturing process is the cause. 1060000 y,"glass is a liquid" science 0.11% 0.00107
We have 5 senses We actually have close to 20 including balance, pain, movement, hunger, thirst, etc. 507000 science 0.05% 0.00051
Evolution is just a "theory" In science, the word theory means something more than a conjecture 899000 y science/nature 0.09% 0.00091
Edison invented the lightbulb He made the first practical lightbulb, but it was obsolete within a year. England's Joseph Swan patented a design before him. 1510000 edison invented light bulb technology 0.15% 0.00152
Planes dump toilet waste at high altitude They're emptied on ground. Blue ice is caused accidentally. Trains used to dump on the tracks, though. Dirty trains. 3700000 plane dump toilet transportation 0.37% 0.00373
Raw
index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Myths: Horizontal Bar</title>
<style type="text/css">
body {
font-family: Arial;
}
h1 {
font-size: 36px;
line-height: 30px;
}
p {
font-size: 16px;
color: #666666;
}
p.source {
font-size: 14px;
color: #666;
}
a {
color: #EB7F00;
}
svg {
background-color: white;
}
.tooltip {
position: absolute;
text-align: center;
width: 60px;
height: 28px;
padding: 2px;
font: 12px sans-serif;
background: lightsteelblue;
border: 0px;
border-radius: 8px;
pointer-events: none;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>A Very Basic Chart About Myths</h1>
<p>This table shows some some popular myths/questions ranked by Google hits.</p>
<p class="source">Source: <a href="http://www.dataisbeautiful.net" target="_blank">dataisbeautiful.net</a></p>
<div id="table"></div>
</body>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/d3/3.5.6/d3.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/stupidtable.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var height = 600;
var width = 1000;
var colors = d3.scale.category20c();
console.log(colors(0));
// Set up the range here - my output sizes for my bars - from 0 to width.
var widthScale = d3.scale.linear()
.range([ 0, width ]);
var svg = d3.select("body")
.append("svg")
.attr("width", width)
.attr("height", height);
d3.csv("category_myths.csv", function(error, data){
if (error) {
console.log("Had an error loading file.");
}
data.sort(function(a, b) {
return d3.descending(+a.google_hits, +b.google_hits);
});
var myArray = [];
var allDifferences = [];
data.forEach(function(d, i){
d.percentage = d.percent * 100;
myArray.push([d.myth, d.description, d.google_hits, d.category, d.percentage]);
allDifferences.push(d.google_hits);
console.log(allDifferences);
});
console.log(data);
console.log(myArray);
myArray.sort(function(a,b) {
return d3.descending(a[4], b[4]);
})
// set up the domain here, from the data i read in. I'm starting at 0, not min.
widthScale.domain([ 0, d3.max(data, function(d) {
return +d.google_hits;
}) ]);
var rects = svg.selectAll("rect")
.data(data)
.enter()
.append("rect")
.style("fill", function(d, i) {
return colors(i);
});
rects.attr("x", 0)
.attr("y", function(d, i) {
// this is a hack to space the bars - we can do it was axes later.
return i * 20; // just spacing the bars - notice from the top!
})
.attr("width", function(d) {
return widthScale(+d.google_hits); // use your scale here:
})
.attr("height", 5)
.append("title")
.text(function(d) {
return d.myth + " " + "Google Hits:" + " " + d.google_hits;
});
});
</script>
</html>
Raw
stupidtable.js
// Stupid jQuery table plugin.
(function($) {
$.fn.stupidtable = function(sortFns) {
return this.each(function() {
var $table = $(this);
sortFns = sortFns || {};
sortFns = $.extend({}, $.fn.stupidtable.default_sort_fns, sortFns);
$table.data('sortFns', sortFns);
$table.on("click.stupidtable", "thead th", function() {
$(this).stupidsort();
});
});
};
// Expects $("#mytable").stupidtable() to have already been called.
// Call on a table header.
$.fn.stupidsort = function(force_direction){
var $this_th = $(this);
var th_index = 0; // we'll increment this soon
var dir = $.fn.stupidtable.dir;
var $table = $this_th.closest("table");
var datatype = $this_th.data("sort") || null;
// No datatype? Nothing to do.
if (datatype === null) {
return;
}
// Account for colspans
$this_th.parents("tr").find("th").slice(0, $(this).index()).each(function() {
var cols = $(this).attr("colspan") || 1;
th_index += parseInt(cols,10);
});
var sort_dir;
if(arguments.length == 1){
sort_dir = force_direction;
}
else{
sort_dir = force_direction || $this_th.data("sort-default") || dir.ASC;
if ($this_th.data("sort-dir"))
sort_dir = $this_th.data("sort-dir") === dir.ASC ? dir.DESC : dir.ASC;
}
$table.trigger("beforetablesort", {column: th_index, direction: sort_dir});
// More reliable method of forcing a redraw
$table.css("display");
// Run sorting asynchronously on a timout to force browser redraw after
// `beforetablesort` callback. Also avoids locking up the browser too much.
setTimeout(function() {
// Gather the elements for this column
var column = [];
var sortFns = $table.data('sortFns');
var sortMethod = sortFns[datatype];
var trs = $table.children("tbody").children("tr");
// Extract the data for the column that needs to be sorted and pair it up
// with the TR itself into a tuple. This way sorting the values will
// incidentally sort the trs.
trs.each(function(index,tr) {
var $e = $(tr).children().eq(th_index);
var sort_val = $e.data("sort-value");
// Store and read from the .data cache for display text only sorts
// instead of looking through the DOM every time
if(typeof(sort_val) === "undefined"){
var txt = $e.text();
$e.data('sort-value', txt);
sort_val = txt;
}
column.push([sort_val, tr]);
});
// Sort by the data-order-by value
column.sort(function(a, b) { return sortMethod(a[0], b[0]); });
if (sort_dir != dir.ASC)
column.reverse();
// Replace the content of tbody with the sorted rows. Strangely
// enough, .append accomplishes this for us.
trs = $.map(column, function(kv) { return kv[1]; });
$table.children("tbody").append(trs);
// Reset siblings
$table.find("th").data("sort-dir", null).removeClass("sorting-desc sorting-asc");
$this_th.data("sort-dir", sort_dir).addClass("sorting-"+sort_dir);
$table.trigger("aftertablesort", {column: th_index, direction: sort_dir});
$table.css("display");
}, 10);
return $this_th;
};
// Call on a sortable td to update its value in the sort. This should be the
// only mechanism used to update a cell's sort value. If your display value is
// different from your sort value, use jQuery's .text() or .html() to update
// the td contents, Assumes stupidtable has already been called for the table.
$.fn.updateSortVal = function(new_sort_val){
var $this_td = $(this);
if($this_td.is('[data-sort-value]')){
// For visual consistency with the .data cache
$this_td.attr('data-sort-value', new_sort_val);
}
$this_td.data("sort-value", new_sort_val);
return $this_td;
};
// ------------------------------------------------------------------
// Default settings
// ------------------------------------------------------------------
$.fn.stupidtable.dir = {ASC: "asc", DESC: "desc"};
$.fn.stupidtable.default_sort_fns = {
"int": function(a, b) {
return parseInt(a, 10) - parseInt(b, 10);
},
"float": function(a, b) {
return parseFloat(a) - parseFloat(b);
},
"string": function(a, b) {
return a.localeCompare(b);
},
"string-ins": function(a, b) {
a = a.toLocaleLowerCase();
b = b.toLocaleLowerCase();
return a.localeCompare(b);
}
};
})(jQuery);
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment