Am I too stupid for grad school?

[acmes]

I'm a new to the site and just signed up.  I was pretty confident until I did  so, however.  In the security question this site requires to ensure that I'm not a bot, it asked the name of the planet we're living on.  I typed in "Earth".  I was told that this was incorrect.  Have I missed some new developments?  I retyped it.  Again, it was invalid.  I know I've been busy with coursework and stuff, but I thought we were still calling this place, Earth.  Maybe it was the capitalization...it's an earth, not the Earth.  Sigh.  Good news is that it asked me what three plus 11 was and despite my GRE math score being in the toilet, I was able to figure it out.  But just in case it comes up in an interview, would someone let me know what planet we ARE living on.

[TakeruK]

lol I don't even remember this being part of the signup process (but that was awhile ago!) Was it a security question generated by the forum or a third party captcha thing? 

Also, because planetary science is my field, I come across this question a lot (when to use Earth vs. earth). The quick answer, in my opinion, is that use "Earth" when it's a proper noun (i.e. you are referring to the name of the planet we live on) but use "earth" when you are not using it as proper noun / specifying our planet by name, even if you are referring to our planet as a "place". For example:

Ex. 1
Correct: What on earth is going on here?
Incorrect: What on Earth is going on here?

Ex. 2
Correct: Mt. Everest is the highest peak on earth.
Incorrect: Mt. Everest is the highest peak on Earth.
(However, I would write: Mt. Everest is the highest peak on Earth while Olympus Mons is the highest peak on Mars.)

So in your signup answer, "Earth" should have been correct

And if you really want procrastinate more, I think it's also important to point out this is one of the many cases where grammar rules from English and from the scientific community do not agree. For example, grammarist.com would disagree with my example 2. However, proofreader.cc gives different standards for scientific contexts.

I'm in the school of thought that language should be descriptive, not prescriptive, so I think it's appropriate to use the words the way our community uses them, with context to the audience you're writing for, instead of following some list of rules and protocols

Edited October 15, 2015 by TakeruK
added caveat for Ex. 2

[rising_star]

It only had the lower case version entered as the right answer but, I've just updated it (I think). 

[CBclone]

On a related note....In one of my classes, we have to read the final papers of other students and participate in blackboard discussions based on those papers. It's making me bang my head on my desk and feel bad for the professor who has to assign grades for these. 

Transverse =/= traverse

there/their/they're. Sigh. 

our/are. Double Sigh. 

Repeated words, random phrases where you can tell they had an original sentence, decided to change it to something different, and then didnt proofread so you have to read it 10 times to make it make a little bit of sense. Does anyone proofread?

One paper not only missed the "most papers are around X" pages statement by "X - 6", it is also missing complete sections out of the requirements. The discussion questions this student posted are actually productive and useful, but the paper...wowzer. 

 

[clem5]

I've just updated it (I think). 

OP, maybe you’re too smart for grad school?

To weigh in on the word usage topic, I personally always use “Earth” when talking about the planet (although apparently I didn’t when I signed up for the site?), and “earth” when referring to soil.

[EdNeuroGrl]

Research says your smartness likely has nothing to do with it: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/

[acmes]

Thanks all.  Feeling somewhat relieved though clearly the path to graduate school is mined with intellectual traps and pitfalls.