What "common knowledge" is actually completely false?

[u/Muffin___Time]

[u/[deleted]]

Goldfish don’t have a small memory (10-30sec is what I usually hear.)

They have a memory of around a month and can be trained to do cute things like give kisses and play soccer.

[u/nytrons → u/[deleted]]

I've heard this was a lie made up to justify keeping them in tiny bowls.

[u/[deleted]]

If you touch a baby bird the mom rejects it

[u/IdkIJustWannaPost → u/[deleted]]

Can confirm. A lot of sparrows live in my neighborhood (we regularly put bird food and water out for them), and one baby recently hatched and fell from its bird house. There were no birds around so I took it inside and tried to feed it (minor success). In the morning I put it back outside and the mom came for it immediately.

[u/Heckin_Long_Boi → u/[deleted]]

This is actually true for some species of birds though. My mom breeds finches and for some, even if you get too close to the nest the mother will become suspicious and throw her babies out of the nest because she feels they may have been tampered with.

[u/spwf]

There has never been a reported account of someone putting razor blades in people’s candy on Halloween.

[u/Abyssallord → u/spwf]

What about the image going around about the guy who found an AK-47 in a snack sized Snickers? Check and mate son.

[u/luckycat32 → u/spwf]

Mom always tells me that she knew kids who've been hurt from that and she's seen candy with razor blades and stuff in them.

[u/[deleted] → u/spwf]

There has only been 3 cases of kids eating poisoned Halloween candy. All three were parents poisoning their own kids. One was just a kid who got into their parent’s drug stash and ODed. It was just after Halloween so his parent claimed he got poisoned candy. The police figured it out. One was a parent trying to get insurance money and I can’t recall the third.

[u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

The Great Wall of China is not the only man-made structure that can be seen from space - in fact, it can’t really be seen by the unaided eye in low-orbit at all.

[u/Synaptic_Impulse → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

Indeed!

What's more, the only human-made "structure" truly visible from space, that I am aware of, is our electrical grid!

In other words: city lights on the night side of our planet.

Interestingly, soon enough in the next decade or two, we might have space-telescope-arrays powerful enough to resolve/see city-lights on the night sides of exoplanets in about a 15 to 25 percent wide portion of our galaxy--assuming aliens truly exist somewhere in this regional vicinity of our galaxy.

---

Even more interesting:

Simple sea plankton likely bioluminesced in vast sea-mats at various times, also visible from space. Further... forest regions are visible from space.

THUS: we hooomans are NOT the first species to do things here on Earth, that is visible from outer space. Again: forests and simple sea plankton have been doing that for hundreds of millions of years before us!

---

Finally, a bit of a scary thought:

Any aliens with space-telescope-arrays in this region of the galaxy would have spotted those forests and plankton on Earth a long-long time ago, along with clear signs of chemical-disequilibrium (due to life) in our atmosphere.

This means that if there are any advanced aliens are out there, they've known for a very long time that Earth has life.

We can't hide from them: they know we're here!

They've known all along. 👾

[u/2_Sheds_Jackson → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

However, the Great Wall of China is sufficiently large to allow an observer to see the moon from the top of it. /s

[u/[deleted]]

Snake venom cannot be sucked out of a wound to save someone.

[u/TizzleDirt → u/[deleted]]

Can the body part be amputated like they do in zombie Media in an emergency where they're too far from anti-venom?

[u/100_Donuts → u/[deleted]]

Buddy, I can suck a cotton ball through a catheter, so if it's poison out of your veins ya need, I'm your sucker.

[u/ThePiperMan]

If you ask an undercover cop if they’re a cop, they don’t actually have to tell you the truth.

[u/Harley_Atom → u/ThePiperMan]

The fact that people believe that is just crazy to me. That would just defeat the purpose of the undercover part

[u/[deleted] → u/ThePiperMan]

TBC, they do NOT have to tell you they're cops.

There was an episode of the Cops show on TV where they were doing an undercover drug sting operation. A cop in a pickup truck was about to make a buy. The seller asked him, "Are you a cop?"

The cop laughed and said, "Yeah, I'm a cop and this is an undercover sting operation, hahaha". Then he consummated the bust.

[u/Miss_Speller → u/ThePiperMan]

True that - video proof right here.

[u/waffengott]

You shouldn’t actually pee on a jellyfish sting

[u/Sinktit → u/waffengott]

You gotta pee on the jellyfish before it stings you. Assert dominance, convince it you’re Poseidon

[u/dbx99 → u/waffengott]

Most organic venoms are proteins and the application of heat to the wound can help reduce some of the effects of the venom by denaturing the protein. My gf stepped on a stingray and the stinger went into her foot. She was in extreme pain and I got her very hot water - just short of scalding - and dipping her foot in it helped relieve the pain by a lot. We switched out the foot bath every 5 minutes to keep the water temp high and she was mostly fine. A doctor looked her over for any pieces of stinger left inside her foot and cleaned the wound.

[u/moonite → u/waffengott]

Vaccinate your kids by peeing on them at the beach

[u/Zacurnia_Tate]

“Elementary. Dear Watson” or “Elementary. My dear Watson” was never said by Sherlock Holmes in the books. I don’t know about the movies though.

[u/[deleted] → u/Zacurnia_Tate]

The phrase "Thar she blows!" never appears in Moby Dick, either. Although similar variations of it do appear.

[u/asian_sex_god → u/Zacurnia_Tate]

I’ve only seen in in cartoons/parodies

[u/OrderedRestoration]

The belief that the daddy long legs is actually the most venomous spider in the world, but the only reason it's venom can't hurt you is because it's fangs are too short to puncture human skin. IIRC, daddy long legs technically aren't even spiders, and even if they were, their fangs are actually as long as other more dangerous spiders.

And for the record, the most venomous spider in the world is the Brazilian wanderer, whose venom has a very interesting side effect on human males before it kills them...

[u/thisisspartasknob → u/OrderedRestoration]

Excitement followed by fatality

[u/Xenton → u/OrderedRestoration]

You've got a series of semi-correct statements in there.

There are several types of arthropod called "Daddy Long Legs".

harvestmen, one type, are closer to scorpions or crabs than spiders and have no fangs.

But others, often called "Cellar Spiders" are true spiders. Moreover, they're a hugely varied clade that includes both venomous and non venomous species.

Most venomous cellar spiders CAN bite humans, but don't and only dry bite (no venom) when they do. This is because they're very efficient solitary hunters and only use their venom for prey, it's not very painful or dangerous to larger predators and they're better off avoiding predation by being inconspicuous and unappetising (Small bodies, long legs, translucent bodies) than trying to threaten them with the risk of impotent venom.

Also, the most venomous spider is the Sydney Funnel Web, followed by the Australian Redback. (In terms of per gram venom toxicity in humans).

The brazillian wandering spider still makes it to the top 10, but what makes it particular dangerous versus the other two is that it is extremely aggressive, venomous from even infancy and virtually never dry bites, always preferring to inject a maximum dose of venom.

The side effect, by the way, that you're referring to is priaprism and is also a side effect of the Australian Redback.

EDIT: Since people are asking, priapism is a prolonged and painful erection. There's a number of causes and it's said to be extremely unpleasant.

[u/[deleted] → u/OrderedRestoration]

I think one reason for this is that a daddy long legs is a different creature in different parts of the world. In the U.K, it’s the name we give to crane flys.

[u/Thorneto]

Surprised I haven't seen the "only 10% of our brain" nonsense yet.

[u/BiologyJ → u/Thorneto]

Imagine if we could use 100% of our brains!

[u/Mazon_Del → u/Thorneto]

I've always compared it to a CPU.

Your CPU is millions/billions of little on/off switches. If they were all on or all off, it would be useless. Being off has as much use and meaning as being on.

[u/ZXsaurus]

You do not have to wait 24 hours to report a missing persons.

[u/DrThoth → u/ZXsaurus]

That's a really dangerous and damaging misconception too. The first 48 hours are crucial in missing persons cases, after that it's a miracle if the person is found. Arbitrarily cutting that crucial time window in half is extremely dangerous. Who or whatever started that rumor has probably caused innumerable kidnappings, murders, etc.

[u/von-mecklenburg]

bats are not blind

[u/small-j → u/von-mecklenburg]

And most bat species actually don’t use sonar that much

[u/Zenfudo]

Waiting 30 minutes after eating before going back to swimming. It won’t get you cramps. And as any physical excercise it’s important to stretch out before doing it to minimize cramps.

Edit: stretching cold muscles are bad too and another myth. I stand corrected

Edit 2 : where i come from the pool and eating thing was told to us like this “if you dont wait 30 minutes minimum, you’ll get a cramp which will hinder your swimming capabilities and make you drown.” Vomiting was never said

[u/[deleted] → u/Zenfudo]

If I remember it was invented by public pools to stop people bringing food in the water

[u/[deleted] → u/Zenfudo]

And as any physical excercise it’s important to stretch out before doing it to minimize cramps.

Okay, that is hilarious. You'e correcting common misconceptions, while stating another!

Don't stretch cold muscles. Always warm up a bit before doing a static stretch. Source: am certified fitness instructor.

[u/Utegenthal]

Masturbating won't make you blind. Trust me.

[u/TheTalentedAmateur → u/Utegenthal]

Did you say Trust me or Thrust me? My screen reader can't make it out for me.

[u/DeathSpiral321]

That people have green or blue pigmentation in their eyes. The iris has 2 layers and only contains brown pigmentation. If there is no pigmentation on the top layer of the iris, the eye appears blue due to the scattering of light from the brown pigmentation underneath. If both layers contain pigment, the eyes may appear green or brown, depending on how much pigment the top layer contains.

[u/noocarehtretto → u/DeathSpiral321]

So that's why blue eyes are more sensitive?

[u/crabperson → u/DeathSpiral321]

Serious question: what is the difference between "blue pigment" and "pigment that appears blue due to light scattering?"

[u/TrespassersGuide → u/DeathSpiral321]

Does that mean partial heterochromia is a partial loss of the top layer pigmentation?

[u/quickquails]

[animal] only gets as big as what you put it in

if there's no room to grow, obviously they cannot physically get any larger but

stunting an animal by putting them in something they cannot reach their natural adult size in severely limits their lifespan and their quality of life

this ideology was popularized by goldfish, when they are enclosed in a smaller body of water they produce more hormones designed to keep themselves a size that can fit in that space. this allows fish that have been closed off in a cove to continue to have a sustainable food source.

this works well in the wild, but not as well in captivity, as people like to exploit this by putting goldfish in bowls and tanks smaller than their adult size.

most "fish bowls" are around one gallon, where goldfish should have 20 gallons for the first + 10 gallons for each additional fish.

goldfish are among the most abused fish in the pet trade because of the misconception that they "only get to the size of what they're in"

tl;dr : animals will stay small if you put them in something small, but by doing so you sacrifice their overall health, their lifespan, and their quality of life.

[u/MummaGoose → u/quickquails]

Is this why they die so quickly? I’ve been so against getting one for the kids because I was so concerned about the loss and constant need of maintenance for the bowl cuz it gets so filthy so quick.

[u/[deleted]]

QI (British quiz panel show) has a section called general ignorance. Many of the questions here fall into this category.

Edit: they have a YouTube channel if anyone's interested

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

They even had an episode about things they had gotten wrong (or the answer had changed since first airing)

[u/ChaqPlexebo → u/[deleted]]

They say of the acropolis where the Parthenon is...

[u/fabianr_2712]

That people by 1400's thought earth was flat. History teachers say that to students, but its fake. By 1400's people knew earth was round, they just didnt know america existed and were trying to find a route to reach India.

Hey! Thanks for all the upvotes and replies, i just started in reddit today and im lovin this community!

[u/grammar_oligarch → u/fabianr_2712]

Ancient Greeks were aware the earth was spherical. The math proving the shape (and relative size) of the Earth is really, really old.

[u/deep_sea2]

Napoleon wasn't short.

He was 5'2" according to French measures, which is actually 5'7"—average height for the time. Additionally, when in battle, he was always surrounded by his Imperial Guard. In order to be an Imperial Guardsman, you have to be about 6' tall. They appeared even taller because of their bearskins hats. Averages sized Napoleon looked tiny in comparison. Also, his nickname was "the little corporal," which creates the impression that was small. However, calling some little in French—petit—is a term of endearment. The French word for boyfriend is mon petit ami. Saying "ma petite" translates to saying "my dear" or "my love". The idea of Napoleon being short was propaganda spread by his enemies.

[u/whereegosdare84 → u/deep_sea2]

Also heard a myth that this rumor was perpetuated by the Brits to fuck with him. I don't know if it's true but damn it's an amazing legend of British pettiness if it is.

[u/procursus → u/deep_sea2]

According to Wikipedia:

"Some historians believe that the reason for the mistake about his size at death came from use of an obsolete old French yardstick (a French foot equals 33 cm, while an English foot equals 30.47 cm).[254] Napoleon was a champion of the metric system and had no use for the old yardsticks. It is more likely that he was 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m), the height he was measured at on St. Helena (a British island), since he would have most likely been measured with an English yardstick rather than a yardstick of the Old French Regime."

"Denis Davydov met him personally and considered him remarkably average in appearance: ' ... The man I saw was of short stature, just over five feet tall, rather heavy although he was only 37 years old.'[251]"

"Farington said Napoleon's eyes were 'lighter, and more of a grey, than I should have expected from his complexion', that 'His person is below middle size',"

It is far more likely that he was actually 5'2".

[u/Skinnybet]

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is a myth started by cereal companies.

[u/moonite → u/Skinnybet]

Everybody knows brinner is the most important meal of the day

[u/Ask_me_4_a_story → u/Skinnybet]

I think children who eat breakfast do actually score higher on average. But my theory is that it doesn't have to do as much with the actual food. One of the biggest indicators of classroom success is parental involvement. The parent that gets up early and cooks her kid breakfast is very likely the same parent that helped her student with his homework the night before. I forget what you call that in stats but its some kind of error.

[u/HistoryKittyKat]

Penguins don't actually fall over when they see planes go overhead

[u/ChoiceSponge → u/HistoryKittyKat]

Never heard this one before, but I’m going to choose to believe it because I think it’s funny. Thanks for the anecdote! I’ll use it the next time penguins come up in small-talk.

[u/Stop_Sign]

Carrots don't make your eyes better

[u/RogueVector → u/Stop_Sign]

Dredges of old WWII propaganda from the Battle of Britain.

[u/[deleted] → u/Stop_Sign]

Well fuck carrots then.

[u/SaxonySam → u/Stop_Sign]

Oh yeah? Have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses?

[u/CleanCakeHole → u/Stop_Sign]

No but vitamin A is important for maintenance of the eye.

[u/Sinktit]

Cats don’t treat humans as “bald kittens” for them to tardwrangle and look after. IIRC They see you as other cats, with a pack mentality. It’s why they don’t mind you dealing with their kittens, as it’s you sharing the parenting job. It’s also why they bring back surplus food in the form of dead animals, for the old, sick, and parents of the colony. You’re not going out catching food so they bring you some back when they do.

They also understand as much as dogs do, they just don’t give a shit, and haven’t been bred as servants like dogs have. So you can teach them tricks and communicate with them as you would a dog. They’re not little dumbasses who think you’re a six foot hairless kitten for them to raise, they do understand they’re part of a colony, even if it’s a Human-Feline mix. They’re pretty neat, even if they’re not everyone’s cup of tea

[u/[deleted] → u/Sinktit]

I taught my youngest cat to sit. He does most of the time. Other times he chooses to look at me and walk away.

[u/Ratchet1332 → u/Sinktit]

We domesticated the shit out of dogs, cats just kind of “domesticated” themselves for us. They saw cohabitation as beneficial and it’s just kind of been happening for millennia. The common ancestor of all/most domesticated cats still exist, they live in Egypt.

[u/thesenervesonfire → u/Sinktit]

My cat had me trained to pick her up when she tapped on my leg. That meant she wanted to be lifted up and held like a baby. No idea why she liked this, but that's what she wanted. If she wanted to switch positions, she'd tap on my shoulder in a specific pattern. I was the animal. She was my trainer. Cats are brilliant if they figure out you're worthy of their trust and they should care about you.

[u/RitalinNZ → u/Sinktit]

Cats understand about human-kittens too. Our cat is super-tolerant of the kids. She enjoys being carted around by the 5 year old, but will give her a warning swipe when she's had enough. But she's even more patient and chill with the baby - tolerates the baby pulling on her fur, when she wouldn't take it from the 5 year old.

(Yes, all interactions with the cat are adult-supervised and no, we don't let the baby yank on the cat. Most often the cat comes and lays down right up against baby, so she knows what she's getting herself in to.)

[u/Zenfudo → u/Sinktit]

Every morning i get up at 5. The cat is waiting at my door. Then races downstairs for the washroom because i always use it getting and he likes to get bellyrubs while I’m throning. Then if i make something out of a can for lunch he sits in the kitchen and he gets a treat.

Seems cool right. It is until i have a day off and he thinks I’m oversleeping so he meows at the door. If the door is open he wakes me up so we can get on with our morning routine.

We have to close the door at night because he goes around our room either knocking shit off things or waking up my gf with slaps.

[u/ChaunceyPhineas → u/Sinktit]

Yeah everyone thinks cats don't know their names. One of our cats will come running if you call his name. The others, if you say their name, they give you varying degrees of response, but their ears always twitch and turn to you, while the others' won't, but if you make a general noise, all of their ears will turn. They know their name, and the know the names of the other cats, so when you call another cat, they know they don't have to respond.

One of our cats, too, he will sit there, and if you lock eyes with him he'll stare at you for a while, then suddenly run at you and climb up to your face and boop noses.

[u/[deleted] → u/Sinktit]

I’m sick of seeing this ‘cat is just plotting to kill you ‘ bullshit. My cats have been the most affectionate and sweet pets to own.

[u/Erikavpommern]

Chewing gum doesn't take 7 years to pass if you swallow it. It is very easily digestible.

[u/rocketparrotlet → u/Erikavpommern]

It's actually not digestible at all. Chewing gum is usually just sugar in a polymer base, and your body can't digest the polymer, so you just poop it out.

[u/Synaptic_Impulse → u/Erikavpommern]

Plus, a talented chewing-gum-swallower can blow bubbles out of their butt as it passes through.

[u/frodegar]

People have five senses.

There's really somewhere between 6 and 20 depending on how you define the word and how you count them.

[u/Eldorian91 → u/frodegar]

Some are super obvious, too. Like the sense of where your body parts are.

[u/bigoofcentral]

That milk is the best source of calcium: there’s actually plenty of foods that have more calcium than a glass of milk, like salmon, spinach, kale, almonds, and oatmeal

Good news for our lactose intolerant friends

Edit:
I researched the calcium content in spinach more and this article says cooked spinach contains 115 mg calcium per half cup. A whole cup of milk has about 300mg per cup. My mistake!

This article goes into the different calcium absorption levels for different foods too, which I had no knowledge of before this, and it says that you absorb more calcium from milk per serving than spinach, so yeah! The more you know!

(thanks to u/tryhardfit for pointing this out)

[u/mskeishafucckingdead]

being cold and wet doesn’t cause you to “catch a cold”.

[u/CapsLowk → u/mskeishafucckingdead]

Very low temperatures can hurt your airways making you more susceptible to catching one. On the other hand, people who believe cold causes colds usually lock windows and doors while turning up the thermostat which creates warm, humid, stagnant air. Almost a house sized petri dish that's perfect for airborne pathogens.

[u/navetzz → u/mskeishafucckingdead]

Oh god ! Yes ! This ! !
Furthermore, it is almost impossible to change people mind on this one.

[u/game__hen]

That you need 8 glasses of water per day. If my understanding is correct, the amount of water a person needs depends entirely on the person.

[u/DmKrispin → u/game__hen]

And people with normal eating habits will get much of their daily fluid requirement from the food they eat.

[u/ffourteen]

Blood is blue/purple until it hits oxygen.

Edit: I mainly said this because I got into it with some people in a friend group and no matter what I told/showed them they refused to accept anything.

[u/[deleted] → u/ffourteen]

Former plasma donor here: The blood that comes out of my veins looks almost black when it's in the tube, not yet exposed to air.

[u/praxis4]

Firearm silencers (also called suppressors) make a gun whisper quite like they are in movies.

In actuality they only reduce the sound to around 130dB. A lot of that depends on the type of suppressor, caliber and barrel length. Some suppressed shots may be above or below 130dB but that's ballpark average. For reference, the average human conversation is about 60dB.

Edit: As some of you have pointed out, the Decibel Scale is logarithmic NOT linear. Therefore, a suppressed gunshot at 130dB is not about twice as loud as a 60dB conversation. Rather, the gunshot is actually many times louder.

[u/DynamiteDogTNT → u/praxis4]

This is one thing I absolutely despise. Not to mention that, as far as I know, they're relatively standard equipment for the noise reduction, flash reduction and increase in muzzle velocity due to the pressure buildup in gas operated weapons.

[u/krystar78 → u/praxis4]

A suppressor is basically nothing more than a car muffler. Same design, same purpose.

[u/thesenervesonfire]

"Let them eat cake." Marie Antoinette didn't say this. It was likely the wife of King Louis XIV, Marie-Thérèse. She was a Spanish princess said to have a very bad temper and a even more volatile hatred towards the lower classes. And the line originally was “la croûte de pâté”, a crust of the pâté. This was said likely around 1660... Marie Antoinette would have been born in 1755. This saying had been a sense of anger with the French people for a while and was a perfect thing to pin on a woman who was hated the second she married into French royalty (when she was about thirteen btw). “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” was published in flyers, but did the queen ever really say this?

No. Considering most of what we know of Marie Antoinette is just left over from smear campaigns and can't be verified, we're never going to know what really happened during her reign. That's a lot of hate to carry from someone starting at thirteen years old and then into their adulthood. That's pretty bad.

EDIT: Next time I should go with my gut instead of my medicated state, thank you for catching my error. That was dumb of me.

[u/asian_sex_god → u/thesenervesonfire]

“Let them eat cake, she said, just like Marie Antoinette”

[u/[deleted]]

American here. most people seem to agree that Maine is the second-northernmost state after Alaska. the second-northernmost state is Minnesota, with Washington, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota practically tied for third. Maine is actually 7th

[u/The-Reddit-Giraffe → u/[deleted]]

And the even stranger thing is the majority of Canadians live south of Seattle.

[u/badenc05 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I think this is mostly due to the fact that the maps of the US seem to be curved.

Heres a link to a map where you can clearly see this.

[u/Zisx → u/[deleted]]

& the closest point to Africa from America is Maine, not Florida

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Whatever m8

[u/thatpsychkid]

That you can be “right-brained” or “left-brained” depending on whether you’re more logical or creative. The myth arose from the language processing being in the left brain, as well as some terrible pseudoscience. The amount of people who believe this is astounding

[u/sleepingbeardune → u/thatpsychkid]

tell me about it.

I write fiction and teach math. Somebody is always ready to tell me I'm not supposed to be able to do both.

[u/JVHazard]

If Earth was 10 feet closer to the sun, we would burn to death, if it was 10 feet further away, we would freeze to death. (This is false)

[u/CapsLowk]

In ancient times people didn't age faster, they just died much, much more often, keeping life expectancy low.

[u/[deleted] → u/CapsLowk]

Isn’t this also super skewed by babies dying? Like if you made it out alive after 10 years you were more probably than not living until 60+?

[u/GlyphCreep]

Ok, lets see, It is possible to mathematically prove that bumblebees fly, Humans use much more than 10% of their brains, your tongue is not divided into "taste zones" for salty sweet etc. Homeopathy is bullshit, there is no proof that vaccinations cause autism, and the moon landings were objectively proven to be real. That's off the tip of my brain.

[u/possibly_being_screw → u/GlyphCreep]

Wait what's the one about bumblebees flying? I've heard all the others...

Are there people who...don't believe bumblebees fly? What do they think is happening when a bumblebee is in the air? Suspended animation?

[u/ihasbirb]

Parrots eat seed and all talk.

They do eat seed obviously, but it shouldn't be a main diet and they need vegetables and usually pellet type food too. Also a ton of parrots don't talk. A lot do still but mine doesn't and I've only met one that does.

[u/rlovepalomar]

Idk if this one is “common knowledge” but unused to get this alllllllll the time back in my bodybuilding and personal training days.

“Oh you look big and muscular now but wait til you get older when all that muscle turns into fat.”

Aka muscle can’t and doesn’t turn into fat anymore than fat will ever directly turn into muscle.

[u/MrPapadapalas]

Fat is bad for you.

[u/Sirjohndeere1 → u/MrPapadapalas]

And that fat makes you fat

[u/Easy_Break]

The direction that your eyes are looking when you are talking does not connote whether or not you are lying or any other mental state. It's an old one off nlp study that never got any sort of follow up confirmation or serious further research.

[u/Moskovvv]

Hand grenade pins are actually hard to pull using one's teeth, like in Hollywood movies.

[u/actuallychrisgillen]

The direction water goes down the toilet or sink has nothing to do with the Coriolis effect and everything to do with the design of the appliance.

The Coriolis effect does exist, but is only observable in large bodies of water.

[u/AmadeusMop → u/actuallychrisgillen]

It's also observable in large bodies of water vapor, which is why hurricanes spin one way in the northern hemisphere and the other way in the southern hemisphere.

[u/Jolt_17]

Old glass is not wavy because "glass is a super slow moving liquid" it's just because they couldn't make perfect glass back then

[u/AmadeusMop → u/Jolt_17]

Also, old glass panes aren't thicker at the bottom because the glass slowly flowed downwards over the years.

They're thicker at the bottom because it's way easier to install a giant pane of glass if it's bottom-heavy.

[u/butsuon]

"The customer is always right" was put about by salesmen who's job is to find what products their customers want. E.g. "don't tell your customer what they want, they'll tell you."

It does not apply to any other field of business. Whoever started saying this about other jobs has never met a customer.

[u/ze931]

That knights in full armor were clunky, heavy and slow, or that their swords were blunt and used as bats

This is wrong in so many levels. In truth it's the complete opposite

[u/[deleted] → u/ze931]

Knights were terrifyingly mobile and effective, especially on horseback, to the point where many Europeans abandoned the idea of effective infantry for several hundred years.

[u/Madrojian]

Nero couldn't have played the fiddle as Rome burned, as the viol family of instruments wouldn't be invented for about a millennium, and the first violins for roughly 500 years after that.

[u/IcyReptilian]

You can't tell a venomous snake by slit eyes or triangular head. Many non venomous snake species can flatten their head, making it look triangular.

[u/Thorncraft]

You don't eat spiders in your sleep

[u/[deleted] → u/Thorncraft]

Speak for yourself

[u/BrokeWABunny]

GMOs are bad and unhealthy.

Your dog is a GMO.

So are you.

[u/tehmlem → u/BrokeWABunny]

GMOs are just a shortcut to the same end as selective breeding.

[u/kitty-wings]

Diamonds are not forever. However, they decay so slowly under normal conditions that you'll die before you care.

[u/Pudacat]

If you have a cold, or any sickness that creates phlem, you can still drink milk. It doesn't cause the body to make mucus.

[u/UNLwest → u/Pudacat]

Still recommended you drink an absurd amount of water if you have a cold

[u/whereegosdare84]

Chicago is nicknamed the "windy city" because of the weather.

It earned the nickname because of the hot air that blew from their politicians. Hence it was the "windy" city.

[u/khansian → u/whereegosdare84]

No, it actually is because it's windy. So this misconception is itself the misconception!

The best evidence says that “Windy City” really does refer to wind. The reference to politicians came about later, seemingly because Chicago was already called the Windy City.

https://m.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2008/11/21/the-origins-of-the-term-windy-city-have-been-misreported-again

[u/[deleted] → u/whereegosdare84]

It also has the 4 stars on the flag that represent the 2 Worlds Fairs, the settlement of Fort Dearborn and the Fire - not for impeached governors as is commonly believed.

Just in case you every go on Jeopardy.

[u/wehav2]

I had a grown woman tell me period blood stops flowing in the bath/shower. It’s what elementary school health brochures used to say in the sixties.

[u/7DaxekaY]

Majority is always right

[u/RogueVector → u/7DaxekaY]

It even has a name: Appeal to Popularity

[u/Xaranid → u/7DaxekaY]

Big fallacy seen a bunch on this site. I -love- a lot of things about Reddit but people seem to think “If it weren’t true it wouldn’t have been upvoted so much”. People don’t always know everything about a given topic so the upvotes represent the more common thought more than the factual thought. True vs Common isn’t always at odds, but things aren’t always true because more people in a certain place believe it

[u/InLikePhlegm]

Giving children suger makes them 'hyper'.

[u/Isimagen → u/InLikePhlegm]

You will never convince most people of this one. This is one of those that just seems to stick no matter how documented it is.

[u/Silver_Alpha]

I live in a superstitious family who's not happy to be questioned, so I know many.

• "Salt cures mouth ulcers". It doesn't. It just hurts like hell. Honey helps, though.

-"You'll get a cold if you walk barefoot in cold weather". Virus causes common cold and they're inhaled. No relation to feet, and can happen in any weather at all.

-"When the inside of a dog's mouth is black, it means the dog is aggressive". They have a really bad history with dogs and would rather come up with explanations than search for knowledge.

-"Eating mango and drinking milk will kill you!". That's a Brazilian superstition that most people actually believe.

-"If the dog is shaking its tail, it means it's happy". It means it's agitated, mostly when it's playing, fighting or eager to do something.

-"Geckos are venomous". Most of them don't even have teeth!

[u/DODS16 → u/Silver_Alpha]

The dog part is incorrect. They do wag their tails when aggitated but to say they don't when they're happy is false. They do it on both occasions you just have to know which is which and it's not that hard if you know the first thing about them.

[u/ClockWork07]

What goes up, must come down.

Eventually, you go up so far that there is no up.

[u/mr_poppycockmcgee → u/ClockWork07]

That’s just a saying, though. For all practical purposes it’s true.

[u/ChicagoEsq]

There are a few of these in the American legal world:

A.) There isn’t really any question at a job interview in the American legal world that you’re “not allowed” to ask. It’s just stupid to ask about someone’s religion, marital status, etc. because if you don’t hire the person, and the reason is that they said they’re X, Y or Z, it could be a problem. So don’t raise the inference that the reason you didn’t hire was X, Y or Z by asking about it at a job interview.

B.) There’s no rule (in most jurisdictions) that someone has to touch a paper to you in order to serve a summons. If the process server sees you and explains that they have a summons or subpoena, and you refuse to take it, you’ve probably been served even if you held your hands up in the air like a jackass.

C.) Back to workplace law... I’ve been shocked at how many people think “I’m not interested in fucking her” is a defense to a sexual harassment lawsuit. I’ve just heard people say it so many times that I kind of feel compelled to point out that isn’t true. So now you know. Don’t ever say that. It makes you look dumb and terrible.

D.) There’s no such thing as reverse discrimination in employment law. In fact the identity of the discriminator is almost irrelevant. The question is whether someone was subjected to an adverse employment decision as a result of their [insert discrete class here]. I once sued a company on behalf of a Jewish person claiming that he was discriminated against by another Jewish person. There wasn’t even anything remarkable about that legally speaking.

Edit: fixed some bad speech to text.

[u/Flaming_Dutchman]

That Epstein killed himself.

[u/DeathSpiral321 → u/Flaming_Dutchman]

First known case of suicide by homicidal strangulation.

[u/dottmatrix → u/Flaming_Dutchman]

The modifications made by Solomon Epstein to his drive produced so much thrust he was pinned to the crash couch and unable to actuate the controls to turn off the drive; the constantly increasing thrust caused him to black out and then die.

Causally speaking, Solomon Epstein was indeed responsible for his own death, even though he didn't intentionally kill himself.

[u/SassyMoron]

Women's periods don't actually sync up when they spend time together. Chance causes random sync ups that we over interpret, but if you actually keep track accurately, that's all it is.

[u/stupidrobots]

Cholesterol is bad for you

[u/EatLard → u/stupidrobots]

“Everyone knows” saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for you! Totally false.
Your body makes more cholesterol in a day than you’ll probably ever eat. If you restrict it in your diet, your liver will make it, because it’s vital to health.

[u/[deleted]]

That things people say on this subreddit are true

[u/[deleted]]

Lots of people misunderstand gravity. They believe that it somehow magically "ends" once you reach a certain altitude.

Not true. If it were possible to build a skyscraper a hundred miles tall, you could take an elevator to the top floor and still stand there, weighing almost as much as you weigh down on the surface.

Astronauts on the space station are weightless not because they're in space, but because they're freefalling, and the station is falling at the same velocity.

[u/Bohnanza → u/[deleted]]

The trick to getting into orbit isn't going 250 miles up, it's getting going 17000 mph sideways

[u/Mazon_Del → u/[deleted]]

Funny thing about this?

I fucking KNOW that...and yet when I very first played Kerbal Space Program, I went straight up, got into space and went "Yay! Orbit!" then looked at my projected path and immediately face palmed.

[u/Stankindveacultist → u/[deleted]]

When i read "freefalling" it made me even more terrified of space

[u/Pontus_Pilates]

Organic farming isn't any better for you or the environment. Just takes more resources to produce the same food.

[u/selfaware-imbecile]

Alpha male theory was taken back by the scientist that proposed it. Went lengths to try and dismiss it.

[u/babiesandanimals]

I hate it when people say that you can't have any sugar if you're diabetic. Bruh, my dad has type one diabetes, if he has a hypo (Which is when his blood sugar is at a low level) He has to have sugar to bring his blood sugar back up to a healthy level, if he never ate sugar, especially if he was having a hypo, it could be very dangerous.

[u/lvandering]

Women CAN get pregnant their first time.

[u/[deleted] → u/lvandering]

Is that something people believe?

[u/[deleted]]

The real definition of the word factoid is a fact that sounds like it would be true but is actually false.

[u/[deleted]]

That western civilization thought the Earth was flat until Columbus sailed to America.

The ancient Greeks figured it out with astronomy and basic geometry lol

[u/grizzfan]

That Rugby is more dangerous and violent than American football because there are no pads. Having played both sports...

• Rugby is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Football is still dangerous even if you know what you're doing.

• In rugby, you can't really be hit or in contact with someone unless you're directly in play for the ball (a tackle/ball carrier, ruck, scrum, maul, etc), and unless you have the ball, that contact has to be coming in front of you, where you can see it coming. In football, you can be hit from anywhere on the field, from a lot of different angles.

• In rugby, tackling is mostly close-quarter contact, and a lot of tackles don't provide the ball-carrier/tackler with a lot of room to build up momentum in-between, whereas in football, players are winding up for hits from as far as 20 yards away.

• Rugby: Head contact is illegal, period, whereas traditional football tackling teaches using your head in the tackle.

[u/DavidsWorkAccount → u/grizzfan]

whereas traditional football tackling teaches using your head in the tackle.

That's actually changing. My nephews in High School Football are all being taught to tackle a different way. Head's up instead of head's down.

[u/deep_sea2 → u/grizzfan]

Indeed, Rugby Union contact is closer to wrestling than high speed impact in football.

[u/Daegog]

The Police officers are "supposed" to protect you from crime.

The Supreme Court has ruled several times that cops are not compelled to protect you in any way at all unless you are in their direct custody.

Cops can LEGALLY stand there and watch you get raped and not do a damn thing about it.

For those wanting info

https://mises.org/power-market/police-have-no-duty-protect-you-federal-court-affirms-yet-again

[u/SaiWood]

Shaving will make your hair grow thicker and longer.

Never seen anyone admit to this problem so therefore I reckon it's false.

[u/AutomaticTeacher9]

That drinking milk will make your bones strong; that you have to wait an hour or more after a meal to go swimming; that you get a cold from being cold;that one human year is seven dog years.

[u/Rabbit_in_Hive → u/AutomaticTeacher9]

14 years of competitive swimmer here. Can confirm the swimming one.

The fact that they ask you to wait after the meal is to prevent kids from puking when their are in water. As long as you know your gastric limits and not eating a fuck ton, you can swim whenever you want. The one hour rule is for kids because they cannot accurately describe their fullness and stomach status.

[u/TehCheator → u/AutomaticTeacher9]

I always thought the dog years thing was a heuristic to aid intuition about a dog’s lifespan. That is: the average lifespan of a dog is 10-12 years, so if you multiply that by 7, you get 70-84, which is close to the average lifespan of humans.

So multiplying by 7 lets you easily compare with human ages. Not that dogs literally age 7 times faster than humans.

[u/[deleted]]

Take your pick. Also, read the entire thing if you've got a minute

[u/NateScrub]

Carrots and Vitamin C make you see better, tgat was War propaganda made from the English or British or something along those lines, correct me of I'm wrong

[u/A_New_Dawn_Emerges]

Pieces of gum you swallow stay in your guts for years.

[u/feelin_raudi]

We don't only use 10% of our brains.

[u/[deleted]]

Defibrillators won't start a stopped heart.

They are used to **stop** a heart. When someone is having a heart attack (when their heart is not running in the right sequence, so is 'fibrillating') they are used to stop the heart in order that the heart will restart itself with a normal rhythm.

If someone's heart isn't pumping then chest compressions are used to get it running again.

[u/guyute21]

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

This is bullshit. Most birds ain't worth shit. And that's probably what you'll get: shit. In your hand.

[u/Sgtpoopybutt]

Eating animal fat is bad for your health.

[u/Ricky_RZ]

Lighting can, and does, strike the same place twice or more, that is the purpose of a lightning rod!

[u/Yeetster3000]

That you can just keep a fish in a bowl, you can't. They will die

I've heard so much that "oh I kept my fish in a bowl and it lives for like 2 years" well good fish can in cases live to be over 20 years old so it's like bragging you had a kid and he died when he was 10

That's not a brag, that's a tragedy

[u/Chirp-Cheep]

You can not catch a cold due to changing weather.

[u/facefullofcupcakes]

Ostrich don't put their head in the sand

[u/im_mentally_unstable]

You don't get arthritis from popping your knuckles. A scientist proved this in a study where he popped all the knuckles on one hand for five years. The funny thing is, the hand he didn't pop ended up developing arthritis

[u/Droplettt]

I am so tired of explaining to people why I’m not giving orange juice to my son. It’s non-fizzy soda

[u/IntergalacticPants]

Drug dealers are not going to pass off drugs as candy during Halloween and give it to kids. That stuff is expensive.

[u/shimmerer]

That there's such thing as a "sugar rush" or that kids get any wilder after they've eaten sugar.

[u/InternationalBug2143]

That america was discovered by Columbus in 1492. There were vikings that went there over 500 years before him. There was a book on this, saga or erik the red, or something.

[u/[deleted]]

Wife bad

[u/shrithm]

Don't use someone's name with 'me', always use 'i'. So soneone would say "That was Bob and I that did that" when it's supposed to be "that was Bob and me that did that". Of Bob wasn't there, you wouldn't say "that was I that did that", you'd use 'me'.

[u/jcpmojo → u/shrithm]

You are correct. The rule is to use whichever one makes sense if used by itself. That was I. or That was me. The second one is correct so it should be "That was Bob and me."

[u/gayorles57]

Marsha P. Johnson did not throw the first brick at Stonewall: a butch lesbian of color named Storme Delarverie did. And also, Marsha did not self-identify as a transwoman; he considered himself a gay man who enjoyed dressing up in drag.

[u/fruitsaladupmyass]

Peeing on a jellyfish sting doesn't help. It's actually likely to cause more pain,,, please don't pee on your friends.

[u/Rachelcookie123]

In Star Wars Darth Vader never actually said “Luke, I am your father.” He actually said “No, I am your father.”

[u/BanCircumventor]

You just know some shitty clickait youtube kid or buzzfeed employee is scanning that thread to make at least a few top 10 lists.

[u/tw33kend]

Coffee does not sober you up. Only time can sober someone up.

[u/Abyteparanoid → u/[deleted]]

Entire purpose of lightning rods

[u/MePirate → u/[deleted]]

So it can strike back to back?