40 Myths People Think Are True, Yet They Are in Reality Very, Very False, As Shared In This Online Thread
Comedian Ron White once famously called his show You Can't Fix Stupid. The statement is debatable, because in theory, education is supposed to do that, but it's a completely different story when it boils down to practice. And so there is always work to be done when pushing away the tide of ignorance.
But until then, Redditors embrace the reality by asking questions and sharing experiences. Specifically, this time around, someone on Reddit asked people to share the dumbest myths people today still believe, and the r/AskReddit community was quick to deliver.
Scroll down, enjoy the list, and why not upvote and comment some of your stories in the comment section below!
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Vaccines cause autism…..
I wish I could upvote this more than once! AUTISM IS A NEUROLOGICAL CONDITION DETERMINED BEFORE BIRTH, TYPICALLY CAUSED BY GENETIC FACTORS
Trickle down economics.
Trickle down is just a lie to justify big tax cuts for the rich to "pay back" big coproration donors. GOP loves that excuse and their brain dead voters believe each c**p they get told.
That there are dozens of hot singles in my area just dying to meet me.
There are dozens of hot singles (true) in my area (not as true) just dying (possibly) to meet me (flat out lie)
When I had cancer a few years back and was doing chemotherapy I had people who constantly questioned that I actually "had cancer" due to the fact that my hair didn't fall out until I was actually in remission (Had been off chemo for about 2-3 weeks when my hair started gradually thinning and falling out).
It's a complete myth that every single person's hair will have the same reaction to chemo. Some people lose hair right away, some don't. Everybody is different.
There was a letter on ask a manager of a woman who threw their padding at a colleague after a mastectomy when those nasty potstirrers claimed she couldn't have cancer because she didn't look sick enough. It's ridiculous how cruel some people can be if you don't fit in their expectations.
I still believe that if any of my limbs hang off the bed while sleeping that a monster will grab them. I also believe that the moment I remember this and pull them back on the bed is just in the nick of time before a monster grabs them.
You can't prove there isn't a monster under my bed.
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
Religion imo
Amen. Lots of hate, wars and discrimination because you aren't with the right group. Such BS. Treat everyone with kindness. If they can't reciprocate, move on.
Funny part is that is the whole point of Christianity... AND SOME CHRISTIANS IGNORE THAT FACT!
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omg, i don't care if im downvoted for this- can we just stop hating on religion??? BP is making it a mission to constantly hate on religion, and a lot of us, good, loving, kind religious people are tired of it.
I’ll give you my humble opinion on where it comes from: guilt by association. If the people who have been f*g bashing me my entire life, who are the same people who have made me have to scan every single environment of every single moment of my life to assure I’m safe, which are usually the people that tell me “Jesus loves you even though you’re a f****t” or the more often heard “you’re going to burn in hell you fûcking queer” are the same people you freely associate with, you’re guilty by association. There’s no denying this is the foundational basis of how Judeo-Christians have treated an entire class of people. The, “that’s not what the bible meant & I’m not one of those people” is a b******t cop-out if you’re not actively and vocally fighting from within. When you freely associate with an organization that that oppresses and subjugates people, no matter how much you disagree with it, you’re still freely associating with them. If you’ve tithed in a church, you’ve killed in Uganda.
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Reminds me of story I heard read on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WquoGAnlD1M
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Calling out untruths does not equate to dissing people.
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This really should be #1. I'm convinced no one actually believes there's a magic man in the sky just like no one really believes the earth is flat. They know Magic Man isn't real, it's just a chosen way of living. We say, 'In God we trust', but if we ever said we actually saw God, we'd be thrown in the nut house. I don't know why society keeps up the charade. At the very least, religious buildings should be paying their fair share of taxes.
I agree in a way: No human can fully grasp an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibonevolent god. We are too limited. But I believe God understands that and Christianity isn't about being strong enough. But be careful not to assume everyone is like you.
Load More Replies... I don't have a problem with religion itself so much as some of its followers.
Ghandi said he liked our Christ but our Christians are so unlike our Christ, to paraphrase.
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Well technically it is by the accurate definition of the word myth, but myth doesn't necessarily mean untrue/fairy story in that context.
Reading the Bible was directly responsible for me turning to atheism.
Im pretty sure not reading the Bible could lead to the same outcome.
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Comment section: *religious people and atheists warring* Me, an agnostic: *eats popcorn*
I’m personally agnostic. Basically an atheist who is too scared to let go of the possibility of some magic. And my opinion, is that as long as you are not using your beliefs, to discriminate, use it to claim your own self-importance over other people, and to hurt others. Then it’s okay. But nothing should be forced on anyone. ❤️
'The only people who need to follow the rules of a religion are those in the religion'. Too many religious people forget that
After the conversations that I've had on this post, I have made a solemn vow: unless someone is deliberately dissing my religion with no proof just for the sake of hating, I will NOT participate in any religious discussions. There are way too may people who want to push forward their own beliefs onto others, and disrespect the other person's beliefs - whether they are Atheists, Christians, or something else 😵💫
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Religion, in large part, caused 99% of all wars in Europe and the Middle East.
Most religions are ruled by people corrupted by power and money. Not the worshippers .. the hierarchy. I have seen it from the inside
Yup, this. It's hard to believe that almost 50% of Americans have an imaginary friend who speaks to them and tells them what to do. Call it what it is. Confirmation bias. If only 'one' God is real, why do followers of every religion believe their prayers are 'answered'?
It seems some people are happy to follow the angry aspects of their interpretation of their religion but ignore the knid and selfless aspects. We should all just be excellent to each other.
We are living difficult times, I think that religion is helpful, I pray to be in touch with God, those prayers help me feel more confident. In fact, praying has helped me to have hope and reach my goals.
People now are replacing religion with politics or social agendas. Even Atheists can have identical behaviors just like any other religious fanatics. In the past 100 years, more people have died at the hand of political cultism than belief in the supernatural.
The original intent was for an individual to re-ligere... retie ... their self to their higher, inner, divine self. The culture of so came Elkin is actually against actual re-ligion. Take that as you will...
This is a load of rubbish. You may think this, but you have no right to openly hate against anyone's belief. I'm personally an honest and upright Christian and while yes some people may cause harm in the name of religion, they are practicing it wrong. I just feel sorry for anyone who hasn't realised they've been touched by God or his son. Why are you still breathing? Maybe stop reading the anti religious myths that surround the modern population and then you won't be sucked into a circle of hate
Hate to break the news to you. Religion is ingrained into humanity. We all have some sort of faith. Well, maybe not agnostics. We all know the ugly behaviors associated with organized religion yet we see identical behavioral aspects from Atheists, Humanists, & others. Even those who are fanatical about their politics, philosophies, social agendas, & race. And every one of these is guilty of judgement of others, persecution, murder, genocide, etc. And each one of these will use some sorry excuse on why their belief is morally superior to all others. So where your faith is into there being no God (science cannot prove his non-existence either), Karl Marx, Donald Trump, or Greta, many of you all are capable of the same ugly behaviors as Jihadists, Christian Zealots, & Zionists.
It’s a die hard, no question. It’ll most likely stick around for quite some time yet, human kind isn't ready to let go of the sense of purpose and protection, I think, even though it’s artificial. It’s not about what’s in the sky, it’s about what’s in our heads, where the only real miracles take place. People are small in the universe - small, but with a massive main character syndrome. The combination makes gods almost inevitable, I’d say. It’s been a concept in most human civilizations because of that - it’s not a proof of (insert any religion/spirituality here), it’s a proof that our psychological needs and functions have been the same since the arise of homo sapien sapien. It’s also immune to logic, more or less, because those don’t work on pretend friends. It is what it is. It could be me, a lifelong atheist, who’s wrong - I’m not out to tell anyone any different. I don’t know if there’s a god or not (because one can’t prove negatives) - but neither does anyone else.
let's separate out a few things. 1. Belief in a god or gods. 2. Scriptures. 3. Practices of religion. Clearly since (3) is practice, not belief, it can't qualify as myth. However we can maybe debate the transubstantiation thing (jesus = crackers). At any rate, we can pretty much say (3) is myth if it involves beliefs. (2) Could be myth since many myths are written down. E.g. we can be fairly sure Noah didn't have kangaroos, so either the world was not entirely flooded or the Noah story is false and/or a local flood memory (Gilgamesh et al). So (2) is mythical insofar as it is not scientifically verifiable. Unfortunately, that is quite a fair bit of it. (1). That part depends on philosophy. Some smart people like William Lane Craig still believe in god, it's not only idiots. So... 1 is up for debate. If we look at this result then, we get about 50% myth at best.
Just curious as I've never heard this before, how are we pretty sure Noah didn't have kangaroos?
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Let's evolve religion and honor it's contributions. Have you heard of St. Judes hospital? Universities?
My non religious views aren't keeping women from bodily autonomy. My views haven't made it that there are countless children buried in red schools. I could go on but cultists are gonna cult so I'm not going to respect them or their religions
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Everything is life for a lot of people. Joking about it does not take that away from them. If religion is important to you, then don't watch shows that make fun of religion. Simple solution. If we weren't allowed to say things that might offend a group of people anymore, then you wouldn't have been allowed to write that comment.
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Tear here to open.
The whole “Alpha/Beta male” thing
When that first started, some guy tried it on my wife at a pub and she told him I was an Omega male. He stood there having no idea what Omega meant so she said "He'll be the f*****g end of you". (Nobody clapped or bought us free drinks all night but he did walk away looking like a wet, beaten dog)
“Lightning never strikes the same place twice.”
Yes it does, that’s the entire reason for lightning rods on buildings.
The late Roy Sullivan, a Canadian farmer, held and still holds the world record for the most lightning strikes experienced during one’s lifetime: he got hit by lightning seven times over the course of his life.
That humans only use 10% of their brain. This is false, regardless of how those who proclaim this myth seemingly demonstrate that it is in fact true.
That you eat spiders in your sleep.
Spider will not knowingly walk into a preditors mouth.
They can sense both the heartbeat, heat and noise from humans. All things that would alert them not to go into our mouth.
The sound of my snoring ensures there are no spiders within 25 yards of our house.
Life is fair, and bad things only happen to people who deserve it.
“Do what you love and never work a day in your life.”
No one is paying me to play video games and eat pizza.
I used to be a games tester. Sounds a lot better than it was - my job was to check new updates still let old games work, so I just tested each game for an hour, week in week out. When you consider some of the nonsense that gets released (Barbie and Bratz are two games that stick with me), it stops looking quite as fun. Wasn't a bad job by any means, but it wasn't non-stop decent gaming. Christmas parties were awesome, though; cheers Sony!
That there are magic pills that make you lose weight and gain muscle without ever going to a gym. Or that there are snake oils that will take years off of your face and make you look young. There's a sucker born every minute.
There are dumber ones out there, but the one I, as an estate lawyer, deal with constantly is the idea that there needs to be a "reading" of the will, where the family all gather and the lawyer reads it aloud to them for the first time. We don't do that, we just mail everyone their own copy if they want it.
It's a really stubbornly persistent one because people continue to see scenes of it in movies and TV shows, where it's used for some big dramatic reveal. I've even had irate beneficiaries insist that the administration of the estate can't be "official" until there's a reading.
Way, *way* back, like 150 years ago or so, I believe we used to do something like that at times because you couldn't exactly presume literacy on the part of the beneficiaries, but now we feel it's a pretty safe bet that you can either read it or find someone who can.
I'd rather my inheritances be given out discreetly. I know too many people on my mom's side who are vindictive, scheming, entitled and will try to rob my beneficiaries of their rightfully given estates.
Corporations care or even exist for any reason other than to make money.
"Lie detectors" as a literal thing.
There's a reason they aren't admissible as evidence in court in most places.
Still blows my mind that people think the Earth is flat.
That Einstein failed his grade school math class. It was the subject of a Ripley’s Believe It or Not column in 1935 and Einstein himself refuted the article. In primary school he had been at the top of class and by 15 he had mastered differential and integral calculus.
In Germany at the time they used a 5-1 GPA system where 5 was the lowest and 1.0 was the highest, Einstein had a 1.05, putting him in the top 1/1000th percentile in Germany at the time. Journalists used to the British 0-4 or 0-5 where 4 or 5 is the highest (like what we use in the US, Canada, etc) saw a 1.05 and not realizing it was a different system, just assumed he failed, when he was near perfection
You have to wait 48 hours to report someone missing
This one is DANGEROUS- the odds of someone who’s been kidnapped surviving decrease exponentially after the first 16-24 hours, I believe
Anything about MSG. I battle with my health conscious wife about this often.
EDIT: Too much of anything is bad for you. I still don’t understand the demonization of MSG.
MSG= Make S**t Good (let's not forget there are naturally occurring glutamates in SO MANY FOODS)
At some point, a viral video allegedly proved that the “beg buttons” at crosswalks are just placebos.
Some of them are, but most of them really do add a cycle for pedestrians to get a walk signal. You should use them regardless
That magnetic jewelry / healing will cure just about anything. A dude named Mesmer the 1780 came up with the idea, and it have been debunked many times - yet it’s still a billion dollar industry. Fun fact - the word “mesmerized” is related to him.
Great for checking out the bodywork of the second-hand car you’re about to buy, though.
Halloween candy is commonly laced with [illegal substances] or razor blades.
It’s one of those things where it’s very rare, but HAS happened, so it’s worth checking to be sure. Although, I did get a rice krispy treat with “choose god” on it once.
Had a cab driver insisting that the reactor meltdown at Fukushima was a failed Chinese attack on the US. The plan was to superheat the rods so they'd burn into the ground, through the center of the Earth, and come out in America and irradiate it.
Amazing.
I could think of a million reasons why it would not work, but it sounds like the plot of a movie I would watch.
It is believed in Indian culture that keeping your unibrow means “good luck” I kept my unibrow for 20 years thinking it is my “good luck” until I got stage 5th of kidney failure and I did my eyebrows after that because who gives a f**k about luck anymore. Now my eyebrows look cute af.
I remember the myth that gum takes 7 YEARS to fully pass through your digestive system
Okay this is partially true. If the gum stayed in your system, it would take 7 years for it to be digested into the body. However, it just stays in it's gummy form and follows the rest of the waste out the back door.
That you can target fat loss in specific areas of the body by doing certain exercises (like doing sit-ups to lose belly fat)
It’d be nice, though. Or, if you gained weight, to choose where that weight goes.
"Oh, I dont want a raise/make more money, because then I'll lose more money to taxes and take home less!"
You only get taxed on the money thats made above your current bracket. Its literally impossible to make more money and take home less.
Unless you are on some form of benefits and the raise makes you cross the threshold of income. Making £100 per week, plus top up of £20 from government, pay £5 tax. Income £115. Then a raise of £10. Earn £110 but now wages too high for top up, pay £6 tax. Income £104 But that's just bad government.
My dad had this guy helping him out (think Big Box store DIY curb ready helper) who told him "If you sleep with your hair wet, you will bleed out of your mouth"... and he was 110% sure that was fact.
We were both just confused and bewildered at this statement.
What the hell had this guy witnessed?!
Had to explain to a grown a*s adult that blood isn’t blue inside the body and red once it hits oxygen because… blood already carries oxygen.
ETA: I didn’t expect this to take off, I first commented when the post was brand new and only had 30 comments. I understand that I came off as a snarky a*****e about it, but the dude and I were cool after 10 minutes of convincing him that what he was taught was a myth. No hurt feelings, buds.
Well, some of us DO have blue blood...if we are octopuses. (https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/octopuses-keep-surprising-us-here-are-eight-examples-how.html)
So many people think Narwhals are mythical.
A more serious one, that people who have been hurt or oppressed are morally better. My Mom thought that because she had been hurt by her Dad, whatever she did to the family was somehow justified. The Hutus were legitimately oppressed by the Tutsis (but to be fair, that comes back to Leopold, the patron satan of Africa). All people are fundamentally similar.
Astrology. It's just a fun nerdy thing but now it's almost religious beliefs
That you can write a comment 36 minutes after the post has been made and believe that it will gain any sort of traction
Being cold is what makes you sick
This again is a half truth. Being cold does not directly make you sick but it heightens the risk of getting sick. That's why cold countries have flu and cold mini-pandemics every year. Cold air makes our nasal tissue more vulnerable to diseases and the natural defenses against viruses and bacteria go down.
There are still people who believe that having [making love] in certain positions or eating certain foods can influence the sex of your unborn child or impact whether you have twins/multiples.
It does, if you don't have sex you can guarantee that you will not have a boy, girl, twin or triplets. i can speak from experience.
People think bats are blind. They aren’t
Note: this post originally had 43 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
that gas prices have to do with the president. no, the president has no control over gas prices.
That's not entirely true. In the US we have massive government owned oil reserves specifically to help lessen spikes in gas prices. Obviously it can only do so much, but if it weren't for that we probably would have seen $10 gas last year. Also, control of the reserves are done by the executive branch if not the president specifically.
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Women’s bare breasts are bad. I checked and no one died from women’s bare breasts last year but many died from guns.
Mine is "The customer is always right." No Karen, you cannot butcher a saying to allow you to talk to the manager. It's "The customer is always right in matters of taste."
Mine is "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Many thousands of survivors of concentration camps and gulags are proof that this ain't necessarily so.
A girl I worked with years ago insisted that a birth control pill has 700 calories. Where she got this idea (way before the internet), I don't know. Probably small-town Iowa, where she grew up. Anyway, I was about 35yo at the time and had been on bcp since I was 20. I said, a pound of fat = 3500 calories more consumed than burned by the body. What do you think I'd look like now if I'd consumed an extra 3500 calories EVERY 5 DAYS for the last 15 years???? (I weighed about 130 at the time.) She still wasn't convinced her street knowledge wasn't true.
I know heaps and heaps of myths, commonly believed and not true. For example "infinity=infinity+1" is a myth. Etc. Etc.
since it misses the satanist marks, like "we owe nothing to you" or "it's all your fault", i would say this is a pretty honest article; except the "taxi driver" that tried to cover a lie with an opposite one, which is one of the most disgusting means of the new age propaganda.
Like some of the examples in the list, it's not as straightforward as being "true" or "false". It is true that (aside from any fluid retention issues) we gain weight by consuming more energy/ calories than we use, and lose weight by using more calories than we consume. It is also true that some medications can affect metabolism and/or appetite, so in combination with other factors can lead to an increase in some patients' body fat.
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That it's human nature to be s****y, yeah well maybe if we didn't justify it we wouldn't be as s****y
that gas prices have to do with the president. no, the president has no control over gas prices.
That's not entirely true. In the US we have massive government owned oil reserves specifically to help lessen spikes in gas prices. Obviously it can only do so much, but if it weren't for that we probably would have seen $10 gas last year. Also, control of the reserves are done by the executive branch if not the president specifically.
Load More Replies... Women’s bare breasts are bad. I checked and no one died from women’s bare breasts last year but many died from guns.
Mine is "The customer is always right." No Karen, you cannot butcher a saying to allow you to talk to the manager. It's "The customer is always right in matters of taste."
Mine is "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Many thousands of survivors of concentration camps and gulags are proof that this ain't necessarily so.
A girl I worked with years ago insisted that a birth control pill has 700 calories. Where she got this idea (way before the internet), I don't know. Probably small-town Iowa, where she grew up. Anyway, I was about 35yo at the time and had been on bcp since I was 20. I said, a pound of fat = 3500 calories more consumed than burned by the body. What do you think I'd look like now if I'd consumed an extra 3500 calories EVERY 5 DAYS for the last 15 years???? (I weighed about 130 at the time.) She still wasn't convinced her street knowledge wasn't true.
I know heaps and heaps of myths, commonly believed and not true. For example "infinity=infinity+1" is a myth. Etc. Etc.
since it misses the satanist marks, like "we owe nothing to you" or "it's all your fault", i would say this is a pretty honest article; except the "taxi driver" that tried to cover a lie with an opposite one, which is one of the most disgusting means of the new age propaganda.
Like some of the examples in the list, it's not as straightforward as being "true" or "false". It is true that (aside from any fluid retention issues) we gain weight by consuming more energy/ calories than we use, and lose weight by using more calories than we consume. It is also true that some medications can affect metabolism and/or appetite, so in combination with other factors can lead to an increase in some patients' body fat.
Load More Replies... That it's human nature to be s****y, yeah well maybe if we didn't justify it we wouldn't be as s****y
