We humans are a weird bunch. Some of us are shooting a spacecraft at an asteroid to demonstrate that it’s a viable technique to protect the planet but others still insist that swallowed gum will stay in our stomachs for 7 years.
Interested in hearing the most prevalent misconceptions, Reddit user FM596 made a post on the platform, asking everyone to share myths that are passed from generation to generation, and that people still believe in. Turns out, there’s no shortage of those! Continue scrolling and check out some of the most-upvoted entries.
#1
Vaccines cause Autisim.
Image source: thugbunny12, Steven Cornfield
#2
That certain animal ‘parts’ have healing/magical properties. Like tiger whiskers protect the wearer or rhino horn cures impotence and hangovers.
Image source: storm-in-a-teapot, David Clode
#3
Boys playing with dolls (or other traditional feminine toys) will turn them gay. Or that anything will turn people gay or lesbian.
Image source: Lmh68, Etienne Assenheimer
#4
Trickle down economics.
Image source: TwoTeapotsForXmas, Scott Graham
#5
That being out in cold weather will make you catch a Cold. The cold is a virus you catch from others and nothing to do with the outside temperature.
Image source: The_Geordie_Gripster, Kristin Vogt
#6
That you have to wait 24 hours before filing a missing person report.
#7
That the hymen is a freshness seal like a snapple cap, has any bearing on virginity, and your first time should hurt and cause bleeding
Image source: Honey-and-Venom, DANNY G
#8
Religion, easily.
I get that people believe in religion but they have zero proof that any of it is true.
Image source: DreamerMMA, Noah Holm
#9
That GMOs are bad. Without GMOs, we wouldn’t have a lot of the food we have today.
Image source: Th3MadCreator, Ralph (Ravi) Kayden
#10
That we use 10% of our brain. Power or capacity, this was actually proven to be b******t.
Image source: SadFront7566, Kenny Eliason
#11
That shaving makes hair grow back thicker and longer.
Image source: DazzlingDifficulty36, Christoffer Engström
#12
I got pregnant in 2002 and people legit told me I shouldn’t raise my arms over my head because the cord would wrap around the baby’s neck. Not just great grandmas telling me this either. People at my restaurant job fussed at me all the time for getting things off high shelves. Insane.
Image source: YouSeaBlue, Jernej Graj
#13
That your generation is always the last good generation.
Image source: Special-Sandwich-324, Everjean
#14
Swallowed gum will stay in your stomach for 7 years. Never seen a single wad of gum in the hundreds of thousands of stomachs I’ve looked into.
Image source: DoctorJonesMD, cottonbro
#15
Over cracking your knuckles will lead to arthritis.
Image source: HairoftheDog89, Eren Li
#16
That fish only have a 5-second memory. My fish are fed automatically on a timer and they know dinner time better than my goddamn cat.
Image source: Osr0, Brian Wangenheim
#17
That your hair and fingernails still grow after you die. It’s mainly an optical illusion. Your skin decays and shrinks, causing hair and fingernails to look like they’ve grown.
Image source: CasinoKitten
#18
That birds will abandon their babies if they have a human scent on them.
Image source: Dora_Rock, Maurice Schalker
#19
That cats kill babies.
I’ve run into this so many times since having kids. And it’s not the older grandmas making these statements. I’ve had 20 year olds tell me that you can’t have cats if you plan to have babies because “they’ll steal their breath” or some other variation. No amount of reasoning or rationale will dissuade them of this belief
Image source: anothertimesometime
#20
Circumcision is medically beneficial enough to be *routinely* done to every male infant born, rather than just like.. you know… waiting to see if it’s actually necessary.
Image source: Fit-ish_Mom, Carlo Navarro
#21
Pit bulls can lock their jaws. If they bite you then you have to kill them because their jaws are locked.
No, I am not kidding. I’ve heard this BS from the elderly and from kids. They just keep repeating this nonsense.
Image source: Not_the_EOD
#22
90% of the myths surrounding pregnancy and childbirth.
If the baby’s heart rate is fast it’s a girl. If you crave sweet things it’s a girl, if you are carrying “high” it’s a girl.
They’re the only ones I can think of at the moment but there are so many other myths out there.
Image source: squeephish, freestocks
#23
Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Image source: SuvenPan, Dan Meyers
#24
Someone can be tested to determine their virginity status. Hymens aren’t barriers, they aren’t supposed to be broken, and they heal when they do tear. No one, not even a doctor can look at someone and know they’re a virgin or not.
Image source: Much_Elephant, Clay Banks
#25
Bulls become angry seeing the color red.
Image source: SuvenPan, Giovanni Calia
#26
That reading in dim lighting will cause you to lose your eyesight.
Image source: Dora_Rock, BENCE BOROS
#27
If you watch the TV too much or too close, you will go blind
Image source: rhi_x, Jens Kreuter
#28
You eat 8 spiders a lifetime
Image source: Your_Enabler, James Petts
#29
One that’s still not known well is the white people in the south and middle America that think they are part Cherokee. You’re like 99.9% sure to be wrong. Your family is wrong. There wasn’t a “Cherokee princess” or any of that. It’s a folks tale basically. And your grandma was told the same as a kid, she told your mom, hour mom td you.
People get defensive about this because you have to accept that A) Your family accidentally mislead you on something your whole life, and B) you don’t have some magic Cherokee princess Native American blood. You’re just white.
This is what happened with Elizabeth Warren. She was told this tale and believed she was part Cherokee. I was also told this and believed it while growing up. Almost all of my friends were told the same about themselves too.
Just a folk tale passed down the generations
Image source: appleparkfive
#30
Carrots improve vision. Has to be on the list for top propaganda campaigns. Started in WWII to cover for the use of radar. Still to this day more people I meet believe it than don’t.
Image source: Neither-Storage-4157, Markus Spiske
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