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My child came home from kindergarten this year and told me that there were five oceans. I only knew four. I quickly pulled up Wikipedia and confirmed that the S

My child came home from kindergarten this year and told me that there were five oceans. I only knew four. I quickly pulled up Wikipedia and confirmed that the Southern Ocean was a thing. That was the first case of something my child learning contradicting my own outdated education. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago
"No dad/mom, yeet is NOT a thing anymore!"
hellojason 5y ago
Have you heard about Pluto yet? My very eager mother just served us nachos.
- prepend 5y ago
  My very eager mother just served us? Nein!
- jkingsbery 5y ago
  My very eager mother just served us nine pickles.
flycaliguy 5y ago
They also renamed Brontosaurus to Apatosaurus.
- silicon2401 5y ago
  This is a lot older; I remember hearing about this back in the 2000s.
- JadeNB 5y ago
  I was born in the early '80s, and I remember learning both names in my dinosaur-obsessive phase, so I'm not sure it's a new thing.
xdennis 5y ago
I wouldn't call it outdated. With imprecise things like oceans and continents people are always going to disagree, like how US Americans and South Americans disagree about the number of continents in America.
- ericmay 5y ago
  This is a thing? I didn’t realize people tried to loop North America and South America together into a single continent. What’s the driving force behind that?
  - SonicScrub 5y ago
    "Continent" has no consistent definition and is largely a cultural construct. Ergo different cultures will have different things that they consider "continents".
  - eloff 5y ago
    Yeah, can confirm, I discovered this from my wife who's from Panama. Continent is a poorly defined term.
  - chitowneats 5y ago
    I've only heard this from Argentinians. They think that because we refer to our country as "America", that we are disputing the existence of, or are unaware of, or are somehow slighting, South America. They want us to refer to ourselves as USAers so that we are more accurate. I don't think that one is going to stick in the USA anytime soon.
    - vagrantJin 5y ago
      To be fair, they have a point. Besides, It's not so much America thats the issue but "Americans". Then again I don't blame the US for calling itself a continent since United states really isn't a name. Like South Africa isn't a name. Very nebulous now that I think about it. On the other hand, the UK has too many names.
bshimmin 5y ago
My 7-year-old came home recently with several maps with a continent on them marked, variously, either as "Australia" or "Oceania". My wife and I were both confused since we had been taught that this was called "Australasia". Apparently people don't call it that nowadays!
- soneca 5y ago
  Never heard of Australasia. It was always Oceania for me. I am 42 yo
  - kmlx 5y ago
    Australasia is still a thing today: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia
  - have_faith 5y ago
    I don't think I've thought of the name Oceania outside of references to 1984 (the book). I knew the word didn't originate from there but it's all I think of when I hear the term used.
- coldtea 5y ago
  A lot of these divisions and names are country or culture-specific. Asian countries call those one way, European another, the US a different, some countries prefer their own, etc. As the Wikipedia entry below says e.g.: "Australasia is a region which comprises Australia, New Zealand, and some neighbouring islands. The term is used in a number of different contexts including geopolitically, physiogeographically, and ecologically where the term covers several slightly different but related regions." This include continents, which, depending on the context, country, etc can be seen as being anywhere from 4 to 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent#Separation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent#Separation
falcolas 5y ago
Just wait for math. It blew my mind. FWIW, I don't hate or love the new way, it's just pretty radically different from what I was taught.
jck 5y ago
Have you heard about Pluto? That's messed up.
derekp7 5y ago
I was in school in the 70s - 80s. The first time having kids come home from school and needing help with their math homework was a real shocker. Back when I was in school, you "carried" and "borrowed" when doing addiging and subtraction. Now they "regroup", and some other terminology I can't remember.
mads 5y ago
Where I come from, there are seven oceans. Pacific and Atlantic are divided by the belt of calms into northern and southern parts.
e17 5y ago
When I was a kid in the 90s we were taught that the tongue had specific zones that tasted specific tastes. There was a diagram and everything. I think it was long debunked even then.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  I have a dictionary with the tongue map printed in it. It's also in a Magic School Bus book. It's a good case study in society's ability to believe things despite the fact that every single individual in the society has direct personal experience falsifying the belief. If you've ever eaten candy, you've experienced the taste of sugar all across your tongue. It takes only a couple of seconds to run an experiment that conclusively disproves the tongue map. But there it is in the reference books.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    (Related: one of Phil Plait's pet peeves is apparently the large number of people who tell him that you can't see the moon during the day. Again, all it takes to falsify this belief is occasionally looking up.)
- kleton 5y ago
  Certain taste receptors are enriched in different areas of the tongue, but there are no exclusive zones. > all taste sensations come from all regions of the tongue, although different parts are more sensitive to certain tastes
chlodwig 5y ago
That was the first case of something my child learning contradicting my own outdated education. The funny thing is that it is not like this is some new discovery or new knowledge -- Webster's 1913 dictionary has five oceans: "Ocean: 2. One of the large bodies of water into which the great ocean is regarded as divided, as the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Antarctic oceans." https://www.websters1913.com/words/Ocean https://www.websters1913.com/words/Ocean So you get to feel like you have a more up-to-date education than your grand parents, your kids feel like they have a more up-to-date education than you, and it all is just a cycle of fashion :-P
- egiboy 5y ago
  I wouldn't go to Webster's for definitive information about hydrography. The definitive source is "Limits of Oceans and Seas" by the International Hydrology Organization. The 3rd edition of that document, which came out in 1953, lists four oceans - same as Webster's sans the Antarctic: https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_19... The 4th edition of the document, which has been in draft since 1986, adds the Southern Ocean: https://legacy.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/S-23WG/S-23WG_Misc/Draft_2002/Draft_2002.htm https://legacy.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/S-23WG/S-23WG_Misc/Dr...

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

"No dad/mom, yeet is NOT a thing anymore!"

hellojason 5y ago

Have you heard about Pluto yet? My very eager mother just served us nachos.

prepend 5y ago
My very eager mother just served us? Nein!
jkingsbery 5y ago
My very eager mother just served us nine pickles.

flycaliguy 5y ago

They also renamed Brontosaurus to Apatosaurus.

silicon2401 5y ago
This is a lot older; I remember hearing about this back in the 2000s.
JadeNB 5y ago
I was born in the early '80s, and I remember learning both names in my dinosaur-obsessive phase, so I'm not sure it's a new thing.

xdennis 5y ago

I wouldn't call it outdated. With imprecise things like oceans and continents people are always going to disagree, like how US Americans and South Americans disagree about the number of continents in America.

ericmay 5y ago
This is a thing? I didn’t realize people tried to loop North America and South America together into a single continent. What’s the driving force behind that?
- SonicScrub 5y ago
  "Continent" has no consistent definition and is largely a cultural construct. Ergo different cultures will have different things that they consider "continents".
- eloff 5y ago
  Yeah, can confirm, I discovered this from my wife who's from Panama. Continent is a poorly defined term.
- chitowneats 5y ago
  I've only heard this from Argentinians. They think that because we refer to our country as "America", that we are disputing the existence of, or are unaware of, or are somehow slighting, South America. They want us to refer to ourselves as USAers so that we are more accurate. I don't think that one is going to stick in the USA anytime soon.
  - vagrantJin 5y ago
    To be fair, they have a point. Besides, It's not so much America thats the issue but "Americans". Then again I don't blame the US for calling itself a continent since United states really isn't a name. Like South Africa isn't a name. Very nebulous now that I think about it. On the other hand, the UK has too many names.

bshimmin 5y ago

My 7-year-old came home recently with several maps with a continent on them marked, variously, either as "Australia" or "Oceania". My wife and I were both confused since we had been taught that this was called "Australasia". Apparently people don't call it that nowadays!

soneca 5y ago
Never heard of Australasia. It was always Oceania for me. I am 42 yo
- kmlx 5y ago
  Australasia is still a thing today: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia
- have_faith 5y ago
  I don't think I've thought of the name Oceania outside of references to 1984 (the book). I knew the word didn't originate from there but it's all I think of when I hear the term used.
coldtea 5y ago
A lot of these divisions and names are country or culture-specific. Asian countries call those one way, European another, the US a different, some countries prefer their own, etc. As the Wikipedia entry below says e.g.: "Australasia is a region which comprises Australia, New Zealand, and some neighbouring islands. The term is used in a number of different contexts including geopolitically, physiogeographically, and ecologically where the term covers several slightly different but related regions." This include continents, which, depending on the context, country, etc can be seen as being anywhere from 4 to 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent#Separation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent#Separation

falcolas 5y ago

Just wait for math. It blew my mind. FWIW, I don't hate or love the new way, it's just pretty radically different from what I was taught.

jck 5y ago

Have you heard about Pluto? That's messed up.

derekp7 5y ago

I was in school in the 70s - 80s. The first time having kids come home from school and needing help with their math homework was a real shocker. Back when I was in school, you "carried" and "borrowed" when doing addiging and subtraction. Now they "regroup", and some other terminology I can't remember.

mads 5y ago

Where I come from, there are seven oceans. Pacific and Atlantic are divided by the belt of calms into northern and southern parts.

e17 5y ago

When I was a kid in the 90s we were taught that the tongue had specific zones that tasted specific tastes. There was a diagram and everything. I think it was long debunked even then.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
I have a dictionary with the tongue map printed in it. It's also in a Magic School Bus book. It's a good case study in society's ability to believe things despite the fact that every single individual in the society has direct personal experience falsifying the belief. If you've ever eaten candy, you've experienced the taste of sugar all across your tongue. It takes only a couple of seconds to run an experiment that conclusively disproves the tongue map. But there it is in the reference books.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  (Related: one of Phil Plait's pet peeves is apparently the large number of people who tell him that you can't see the moon during the day. Again, all it takes to falsify this belief is occasionally looking up.)
kleton 5y ago
Certain taste receptors are enriched in different areas of the tongue, but there are no exclusive zones. > all taste sensations come from all regions of the tongue, although different parts are more sensitive to certain tastes

chlodwig 5y ago

That was the first case of something my child learning contradicting my own outdated education. The funny thing is that it is not like this is some new discovery or new knowledge -- Webster's 1913 dictionary has five oceans: "Ocean: 2. One of the large bodies of water into which the great ocean is regarded as divided, as the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Antarctic oceans." https://www.websters1913.com/words/Ocean https://www.websters1913.com/words/Ocean So you get to feel like you have a more up-to-date education than your grand parents, your kids feel like they have a more up-to-date education than you, and it all is just a cycle of fashion :-P

egiboy 5y ago
I wouldn't go to Webster's for definitive information about hydrography. The definitive source is "Limits of Oceans and Seas" by the International Hydrology Organization. The 3rd edition of that document, which came out in 1953, lists four oceans - same as Webster's sans the Antarctic: https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_19... The 4th edition of the document, which has been in draft since 1986, adds the Southern Ocean: https://legacy.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/S-23WG/S-23WG_Misc/Draft_2002/Draft_2002.htm https://legacy.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/S-23WG/S-23WG_Misc/Dr...