It’s no secret that it’s been getting increasingly hard to separate facts from fiction. With so much chaos, fake news, conspiracies and whatnot surfing around the media, it’s easy to lose your own standpoint.
But believing nonsense, aka myths, is part of (often flawed) human nature. In fact, people believed all kinds of crazy things a long time before the pandemic hit, and ridiculous beliefs, like that when you get a covid vaccine, you get injected with a microchip, started spreading much like the virus itself.
So when someone asked “what myth is still widely circulated as truth?” on r/AskReddit, the 33.2k responses came flowing in. We selected some of the most eye-opening ones that debunk so-called common knowledge that turns out to be anything but knowledge!
#1
A lot of people still believe a woman sued McDonald’s because her coffee was hot. In reality, the woman had 3rd-degree burns throughout her pelvic area and only asked that her medical bills be paid.
Image source: staugh3
#2
If you work hard at school and get good grades you’ll get a good job and enjoy a stable life.
Image source: Ben716, vazovsky
#3
That diamonds are rare and therefore should be expensive, that is just a myth perpetrated by the de beers diamond cartel.
Image source: Herrjulias, Edgar Soto
#4
That you have to wait for 24h before you can report a missing person. If someone is missing, go get help!
Image source: radiusmcfly, Erik Mclean
#5
Bulls hate red. They are actually colour blind and are reacting to the movement of the cloth and the a**hole behind it.
Image source: pumperthruster, Giovanni Calia
#6
The mystery of how the pyramids were built. They know how they were built. Ramps, pulleys, ropes, and labor.
Image source: MedicalWelder, Leonardo Ramos
#7
If an HIV-positive person has sex with another HIV-positive person, they don’t have to worry about protection. They do, because there are 140 different strains of the HIV/AIDS virus, and getting infected with another strain, especially a potentially deadlier one, could be dangerous. Also, pregnancy is still a very big risk for HIV-positive women. If you are considering a sexual relationship, get tested, and talk to your doctor about birth control.
Image source: PaulfussKrile, NIAID
#8
people believe in the whole alpha and beta wolves thing
It’s not true. The “leaders” of the pack are the parents.
-in natural wolf packs, the alpha male or female are merely the breeding animals, the parents of the pack, and dominance contests with other wolves are rare if they exist at all.
Image source: rawsugar87, Eric Kilby
#9
The Food Pyramid
Image source: WCGWjoiningReddit, bigbrand .
#10
The Bible.
#11
That washing chicken gets it rid of bacteria. No. Cooking chicken gets rid of bacteria, given that you do it well. Washing chicken, on the other hand, can contaminate your whole kitchen with salmonella.
Image source: Peterthemonster, JK Sloan
#12
That goldfish have a 6 second memory. I mean it’s still not great, I think like a couple of months. But still… Get your fish a bigger damn tank
Image source: SilverRabbit1, Ahmed Hasan
#13
That you can tell if someone is a “virgin” by looking at their hymen to see if it is “intact.”
Image source: TravelBookly, orzalaga
#14
That whole “you eat seven spiders a year” myth. It was created by some lady in the late 90s or early 2000s to prove that ridiculous things can be found on the internet, spread like wildfire, and believed by many.
Image source: JasaProxy, Vidar Nordli-Mathisen
#15
That cold is caused by lower temperatures. The cold is a virus that transmits between people.
Edit: a lot of people are saying that cold temperatures weaken the immune system and thus indirectly make you more susceptible, and while it’s true, the direct cause for common colds is caused by human contact.
Image source: reddit, Annie Spratt
#16
That we only use 10% of our brain
Image source: xtra_sleepy, Alina Grubnyak
#17
That the tongue has different regions for salty, sweet, bitter, and sour.
Image source: honguss, Hayes Potter
#18
Antibiotics can cure virus infections. No, they don’t
Image source: metal_gearmen, anjanettew
#19
The Bermuda triangle. Turns out ships and planes disappear at the same rate all over the world’s oceans.
Image source: MedicalWelder, Daniel Lerman
#20
I was adamantly told by some seniors at work not to drink the water that boiled twice because it cooks the oxygen out of it.
Image source: DesignerPilky, Ty Konzak
#21
Shaving hair causes it to grow back longer and thicker.
Image source: IllusiveAceOfSpades, Laura Mitulla
#22
That historical armour was useless, or just something you wore so you had a slight chance to turn a death blow into merely a serious injury.
Shows and movies still perpetuate this. Game of Thrones has “acclaimed” sword fights where guys casually shove swords through dudes in plate armour. Impossible. Metal is not cardboard.
Even the most basic iron or bronze chain mail armour will be barely scratched by a slash from the sharpest katana. Well-made plate armour is impervious to all damage short of a blow from a specialized armour-piercing weapon (lance, pole axe etc.). Even the earliest guns couldn’t penetrate plate armour.
Armour was incredibly expensive. Common people couldn’t afford it so made do without or, if lucky, with fabric armors (that were still very effective protection!). A suite of the custom-made plate would have cost a knight the equivalent of a modern high-end luxury car. Why would people pay that much for something useless?
Armour was very useful. That’s why weapons continued to advanced over the centuries and why armour did as well. It was an arms race.
Image source: reddit
#23
Organic crops don’t use pesticides or herbicides.
Image source: reddit, Daniel Fazio
#24
That the seeds are the spiciest part of hot pepper. The seeds are the only part of a pepper that isn’t spicy. The white stuff near the seeds though, spice max.
Image source: Toxicsully, Pickled Stardust
#25
Knuckle cracking doesn’t lead to arthritis, it is just an old wives tale people use in place of simply telling you it’s annoying them. Crack away!
Image source: SquilliamFancySon95, TAMHSCPhotos
#26
That you can reduce fat from a particular body part
Image source: AAAARRRGGGGHHHH, mahmoud99725
#27
Gum takes 7 years to digest
Image source: Snoo48391, Valerie Hinojosa
#28
That Corsets are a lethal torture item and every Victorian woman did tight-lacing.
The myth about harmful Corsets was started by Victorian men, in order to bring down women-owned businesses. And some feminists (looking at you, Emma Watson) swallowed that lie, hook, and sinker, thinking they are empowering somebody with it.
The truth is, Corsets are way better than bras. If you have back pains, which many women have because of their bras, switch to Corsets. There is a reason, why it was used that long.
Image source: jasmin_booklover
#29
You have to wait 30 min to swim after eating
Image source: Lizardsteve, Martin Abegglen
#30
The European “Dark Ages”
People seem to love the idea that, between the fall of Rome and, like, DaVinci or something, everyone in Europe was just blowing spit bubbles and looking at the funny pictures in the Bible. Not only was there not a complete absence of classical learning in Europe during the dark ages but throughout the dark ages and medieval period, there actually was a fair amount of progress in fields like architecture, engineering, metallurgy, philosophy, theology, and yes, even science.
But then again, I suppose it all ties back to the notion that people in the past were somehow far stupider than we are.
Image source: Nurhaci1616
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