I just discovered this evening a simple fact that I should have learned more than fifty years ago – that “circadian rhythm” is not “cicadian rhythm” and that it has absolutely nothing to do with those noisy little insects that show up every so often. I assume everyone or just about everyone reading this already knows that and has probably known that for decades. But somehow it made sense to me that those insects keep to a "rhythm" that repeats itself every 17 years.
When the true meaning of "cicadian rhythm" was explained to me, earlier this evening, I not only felt stupid – when I probably should have just felt ignorant – but I also began to wonder what else I think I know that is actually nonsense.
I doubt that I’m the only one in the world who lives for years with a basic, truly elementary, misunderstanding of something that probably everyone else knows. Only as a teenager, for example, did I discover that the strange phrase I had vocalized for years when singing the Star Spangled Banner, the “donzerly light" was actually “dawn’s early light,” which made a lot more sense.
So I really have no idea how many other words, phrases, concepts, and ideas I completely misconstrue, how many natural events, bodily functions, man-made instruments, organizational processes, and so much else in the world I misunderstand, or how many connections I make between things that are, in reality, completely unrelated.
It’s a humbling experience, but I’m sure I’ll recover from it, even if it takes me another 17 years.