Those misunderstandings include diplomatic harassment on both sides, with the Eritreans demanding to inspect confidential diplomatic pouches of the American Embassy in Asmara and the Americans closing down an Eritrean consulate in Oakland, Calif.
These misunderstandings include the confusion between "four candles" and "fork handles".
Examples of the misunderstandings include plants acquire all their nutrients from the soil, plants only absorb green light, and photosynthesis only occurs during the night (Nerdel et al., 2002).
There are other misunderstandings, including some broken engagements (and hearts), and Goldoni makes some knowing observations on the folly of man (and woman) before the fiasco is resolved.
This accounts for misunderstandings (including, at times, my own) regarding Truffaut's later work, which has often been derided as impersonal compared to his earlier films.
Truffaut was in fact in the midst of a major artistic transition, one that would take time to bear fruit and that gave rise to misunderstandings (including my own).
That sense of craft, of a virtuosic artistry that increased the gap between the onscreen world and the inner world that gave rise to it, produced terrible misunderstandings (including my own) regarding the merits of Truffaut's later films.
So how could that be prevented?After the last real war scare, in 1990, India and Pakistan, under pressure from the United States and others, agreed to a series of measures designed to bolster stability and avoid misunderstandings, including advance notice of military exercises, a hot-line between military commanders and an agreement not to attack each other's nuclear facilities.
One useful resource that clearly sets out to address a wide range of common misconceptions and misunderstandings, including incorrect definitions of scientific terminology, is the Understanding Science website produced by the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California at Berkeley (Thanukos, 2013).
The use of terms like "primitive soup," "primordial broth," or "Darwin's warm little pond" has led in some cases to major misunderstandings, including the simplistic image of a worldwide ocean, rich in self-replicating molecules and accompanied by all sorts of biochemical monomers.
For 16 persons, the term "terminal sedation" as an etymological misunderstanding included the deliberate intention to kill.
