From Santa (sorry…) to Bigfoot, there are hoaxes, lies, and old stories that don’t seem to die off, despite most people not believing them. Maybe they are comforting, interesting or so ingrained that a small portion of the population still clings on to these beliefs.
Someone asked, “What is the biggest hoax that people still believe?” and people shared all the delusions they had encountered. So get ready to possibly have your worldview shattered, make sure you are comfortable as you read through and upvote your favorite examples. Comment your thoughts and arguments below.
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All that detox health science bs. Your body already has a detox system. It's called your liver.
The privatized American “healthcare” system.
It takes billions of American taxpayer money to “operate” while *also* charging Americans billions on insurance premiums and fees.
Americans should either pay taxes that cover universal healthcare *or* pay insurance premiums and/or fees, NOT BOTH.
Lol. How do you make 50% of Americans lose their minds? Prefix any word with 'social'.
The Wakefield Paper. A deliberate hoax commissioned by a crooked law firm seeing to profit from legal judgments based upon the entirely falsified “results” of the “study”. This single act of entirely knowing and intentional fraud precipitated the greatest public health catastrophe of the antibiotic era: the modern antivaxx movement.
Personally, I love anti-vaxxers because they remind me that no matter how bad my day gets I’ll never be that selfish, stupid, or misinformed.
"Be loyal to your company and they'll reward you"
Bull f*****g s**t... Only thing they'll do is exploit you more.
That wealth trickles down
Yup. Let's try 'trickle-up' economics. Poor people spend their money. Wealthy people hoard it.
That cutting taxes for the rich is good for workers.
Pfffft.
Cutting taxes on the rich gives them cash to buy out their competition, merge the companies, and then lay workers off. We've only seen that happen a couple of thousand times.
“You can lose 25 pounds in three weeks and never feel hungry while eating all the delicious foods you want. Just call this 800 number…”
Homeopathy
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Germany, the birthplace of this movement, still allows people to study ‘MD Homeopathy’ despite the EU largely being opposed to it. In India one can get certified as a “Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery”. Most countries, while not recognising homeopathy doctors as legitimate, still allow sale of their “remedies” because they don’t see the harm in what are essentially sugar tablets and diluted alcohol.
I've met more than one person who turned down a raise because they thought they'd end up making less money because of taxes.
Nahhhh, son. Nah.
that blood is blue when inside your body. I remember getting into it with a gym teacher he insisted “blood is blue inside your body but turns red when it’s exposed to the oxygen in the air like when you get a cut” but bloods whole purpose is to carry oxygen INSIDE the body, therefore it’s always red, and not turned red because the oxygen in the air.
apparently i’m still heated about that lmao
Healing Crystals.
"Oh, if I put this inert rock next to my wrist, it'll help with my arthritis?"
Alkaline water is pseudoscience, any chemist or doctor will confirm this
Humans only use 10% of their brain (well lately I guess some do)
Im a police officer, and Ive had people tell me that ALL police officers MUST by law say they are cops if/when they are asked, including cops that are undercover. I tried to explain this would defeat the purpose of being undercover because the criminals would just simply ask "Are you a cop?" to everyone they were committing crimes with and invest is over. There is no such law but i can never win the argument.
The hysteria over GMO food. It is demonstrably fine. We have been genetically modifying food in an uncontrolled way since before the written word. The idea that it's *more* haphazard and dangerous when done with precision by scientists with advanced technology is completely absurd.
Also, trees and plants can't run away from predators, they have to protect themselves with chemistry. Pesticides are naturally occuring and omnipresent. In fact, food we consider inedible is mostly that due to the presence of said pesticides, compounds in them which make them unpalatable or dangerous for us to eat.
People are mostly freaked out about TRANSGENIC food that has other genes from other species inserted. First the majority of GMO foods are simply bred that way. Gene insertion has also been rigorously tested by FDA and USDA. BTW, my degree is in FOOD SCIENCE. These modified foods allow us to grow hardier crops that need less pesticide and fungicide and keep people from STARVING TO DEATH.
One big lie that some people still believe is that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. It's been debunked, but it's amazing how many still believe it!
its just air that has been built up is all,it dosnt harm you or anything
The food pyramid.
I think the amount of people that continue to fall for hustle culture and the snake oil salesmen push it. There is huge emphasis in modern society on not only being rich but being rich young by the simplest/fast means necessary. Its honestly depressing how many people continue to purchase master classes/work shops that all filled with surface level near useless information.
Chiropractic adjustments, getting your vertabrae popped and ground on a frequent basis is good for you.
Drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Gluten being bad for you if you don’t have celiacs.
The problem is the lack of education on food in general and not knowing about food safety in combination with companies cutting corners left and right with cheap mass production. Humans can't properly digest raw flour. If you try it, you'll get horrible stomach pains. From badly cooked yeast you'll get bloated and gassy. But companies nowaday bake cheap bread on roll through ovens. The flour and yeast doesn't cook completely through. So if you have problems after eating wheat bread, try toasting the bread before eating. If that helps, you have neither celiac disease nor gluten intolerance. Either change the brand of bread you buy or keep toasting it if you can't afford different bread. Now, I'm sure now some people will whine: BuT iF I EaT GlUtEn FrEe I dOn'T hAvE pRoBleMs... Yes, of course, that's because most gluten free alternatives either don't have wheat or the gluten is removed and you only eat the starch which means that the wheat was processed and often has no yeast.
Don’t go swimming after eating
Carrots improve your eyesight. This was English propaganda during WW2. They didn't want Germany to know that they had radar which spotted their bombers. It was those sharp eyes of Brit's pilots.
Cheerio mate, fancy a spot of carrots so we can spot them German jets? I’ll go right ahead and fetch them old chap.
That going to sleep with or going out with wet hair causes a cold.
I used to walk to school with wet hair in the winter. Which would freeze. I would be brushing ice out of my hair for a half hour. Never got sick.
Milk for strong bones.
Dairy industry advertising campaign that isn't supported by evidence and in fact we have a good amount of evidence to the contrary.
Recycling is saving the environment
I've never heard anyone say "recycling is saving the environment". Recycling makes sense, reduces some raw material requirements, and is beneficial to the environment, though "saving", nope.
Hey, BP: Can we stop with the 'popular hoaxes' threads until you hear of some new ones? Because 1. these are tired, and 2. it makes you look very lazy.
Fantastic list! I can't wait to read it again in a week and then again the week after that.
One that's not being said: you won't grow 3 inches in a month, and i'm not talking about height.
Hey, BP: Can we stop with the 'popular hoaxes' threads until you hear of some new ones? Because 1. these are tired, and 2. it makes you look very lazy.
Fantastic list! I can't wait to read it again in a week and then again the week after that.
One that's not being said: you won't grow 3 inches in a month, and i'm not talking about height.
