Five Little Known Facts

Which are true?

1. The easternmost, westernmost, northernmost, and southernmost states are respectively, Maine, Alaska, Alaska, and Hawaii. False. Alaska is the most eastern thus holding three of the four positions. Because Alaska reaches into the eastern hemisphere, it is, according to geographers, farther east than Maine.

2. If you and your friend Google the same query, you will get the same list of websites. False. Google builds personalized profiles that deliver different suggested sites to people with different interests. There is a downside to this. Your beliefs, both right and wrong, can be reinforced rather than balanced with objectivity, thus Google can encourage confirmation bias. If you prefer cats to dogs or vice versa, for example, start with your own preference then Google the question that fits your preference first followed by the other question: "are cats better than dogs?" Or Google "are dogs better than cats?"  

3. Only humans deliberately lie. False. Koko, a gorilla who learned sign language, blamed a kitten for tearing a sink from a wall.

4. There is a Nobel Prize in economics. True, but with an explanation. The prize in economics is technically the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. In 1968 Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, donated money to the Nobel Foundation in memory of Alfred Nobel to be awarded to economists for outstanding contributions to the field. It is referred to as the "Nobel Memorial Prize" to distinguish it from the "Nobel Prize" referenced in Alfred Nobel's will. The Nobel Prize is limited to the sciences listed in Nobel's will.

5. Four Corners National Monument plaque marks where Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico meet. Mostly true. However, in 1925 a Supreme Court decision overrode an 1860's act of congress to make that true. The original plaque was not placed at the congressionally-designated designated parallel and meridian lines due to primitive survey equipment. In 1925 the Supreme Court ruled that the congressionally designated description of the state boundaries is superseded by the placement of the original survey markers even though the markers were incorrectly placed.