Today, I opened up a box of Cracker Jack, and got this wonderful art-relevant pseudo-scientific fact with my pencil spinner prize.

"A typical pencil can write 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long!"

That sounds impressive, doesn't it? But let's investigate that statement, shall we?

1) It fails to define a "typical pencil"

There are so many types of pencil, each for different purposes, that it would be very difficult to quantify "a typical pencil". Typical in what way? Are we talking the most commonly produced model of pencil? Are we talking about the pencil with the most average performance in terms of longevity? Clearly a soft pencil is going to write fewer words than a hard pencil. Does my Wacom pen count as a pencil? (If so, I can theoretically draw a line as long as a computer will allow me to draw, and if I choose to make it a vector, it's theoretically infinite in length)

2) It fails to define how long a word is

If your average word length is twelve letters, you're going to write fewer words with one pencil than you would if your average word length was six letters.

3) How big are your letters?

Clearly, if your letter O is a 35 mile circumference, you can only write one letter with this hypothetical typical pencil, not 45,000 words. Likewise with a 35 mile long lowercase L. Why you'd scribe a 35 mile circumference/length letter I don't know, but it serves to illustrate my point, doesn't it?

4) What form of writing?

Are we block lettering? Writing in all caps? Writing in cursive? Writing calligraphy with pencil? Those will all affect the number of words you can write as well.

5) How thick is this line?

If our line is only the width of the pencil lead, then perhaps we'll draw a 35 mile long line, but what if our line is ten leads wide? What about a hundred?

Sadly, a lot of people don't seem to be taught critical thinking skills. Give them a plausible sounding fact, and they'll take it exactly as it was said or written, and never question it. These unsubstantiated, undefined facts are everywhere, and without schools teaching critical thinking, this leaves people unable to verify such unsubstantiated facts for themselves. Is it any wonder America is falling behind in the sciences when compared to much of Europe?