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Someone Asks “What Is A Popular Belief That Has Been Scientifically Proven Wrong?” And People Deliver 30 Illuminating Responses
Interview
The tricky thing with beliefs is that we all think ours are correct. When actually, almost everything we believe, at some point in our lives, will eventually be at least partially wrong.
Not only are we often unaware of it, but we also have no idea of how to determine which of our pieces of common knowledge are incorrect. So when someone asked “What is a popular belief that is scientifically proven wrong?” on Ask Reddit, the responses started rolling in one by one.
From thinking that you can catch a cold by being in cold temperatures to the belief that gum gets stuck in your stomach for eternity, here are the most popular beliefs that are very far from true.
We reached out to Audrey Tang, an award-winning book author, psychologist and spokesperson who shared some very interesting insights into how popular beliefs and common knowledge emerge, how they are passed through generations, and how it all comes down to the fact that humans are social creatures. Scroll down for the interview below!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Homosexuality has been proven to be natural. It's not a disease or whatever. It has been observed in hundreds of species.
Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 2 years ago
And even if it wasn't natural it doesn't effect u so shut up
Marcos Valencia 2 years ago
Indeed, there is no need to find justifications.
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Mulberry Juice 2 years ago
So, remind me, which is unnatural, homophobes?
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Stardust she/her 2 years ago
Gay penguin couples are known to adopt eggs and care for the chick
Shane S 2 years ago
I read somewhere that penguins can’t distinguish gender. I don’t know if that’s true or not and it doesn’t really matter. But if it’s true, they don’t even realize they are with another penguin of the same gender. But again, someone fact check me.
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Anne 2 years ago
Homosexuality was also not forbidden in the Bible until about 100 years ago when some priests decided to change the text where pedosexuality was forbidden to homosexuality. (You shall not lay with a young man as with a woman - the word young was removed)
Shane S 2 years ago
Also, you can just dismiss the Bible as a work of historical fiction written by men. So many people try to pick it apart and justify it with interpretation, when it’s easier just to let it go. There’s lots of weird stuff in that book, as there is with most religious/mythical tales. It’s ok to just let go.
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Tracy Sellars 2 years ago
You dont choose to be gay anymore than you chose to be transgender. Let people be who they are.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago
Or be heterosexual, you forgot to mention that!
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Loverboy 2 years ago
It's not even purely sexual. A lot of times, they find a partner and will stay with that partner despite not being able to reproduce. It happens a lot too, with about 1,500 animal species practice homosexuality.
Mary Rogers 2 years ago
Sadly, the only reason we didn't know about this sooner was because of the discomfort of the scientists observing these animals in the wild. I have also heard that this was really no secret among farmers either. But no one talked about it until the gay rights movement.
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Beck 2 years ago
Christians act like if you do not have a relationship that produces a child, then that relationship is not worthy. Insane. What about people like me who have had tubes tied or people who cannot have babies? Are they destined to be alone forever? It just pisses me iff.(I have kids but i cannot anymore. So what if my husband dies or I get divorced. I can no longer have babies so tough luck?
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Will Cable 2 years ago
One thing noticeable in the media is when someone comes out as gay or bi is you get people saying "Typical, why push it on us we didn't want to know" ...The same lot then say "Why didn't they come out as gay before, why hide it" when someone is found out to be gay or bi later in life.
assdog 2 years ago
Yup, i'm a straight man and have plenty of gay friends (m and f). It doesn't bother me. Also a lot of my friends are of a different colour.(i speak 4 languages) Doesn't bother me. My old school parents brought me up with common sense . Do what you want peoples if it makes you feel how you should be. I aint going to give you trouble
“Stories have a way of taking on a life of their own, especially in the landscape of social media,” Audrey said. She explained: “Citations are not always given, elements may be changed as the story moves along, and a little bit like gossip, or the 'broken telephone' – eventually a narrative makes its way into popular belief and often is so removed from the original as to be unrecognizable (and example of this is the oft-cited in leadership posts (especially on LinkedIn).”
More importantly, stories are compelling because they give us a sense of completeness. “Research into false memories has shown that when elements of memory are missing we ‘fill in the gaps’ – and this may not be an accurate account.”
RELATED:
#2
Torture doesn’t work.
It has never worked. It was proven that torture doesn’t work before America was colonized.
Torture DOES produce confessions, but it doesn’t reveal the truth.
liam newton-harding 2 years ago
There was a Mythbusters episode about torture, specifically Chinese Water Torture. Tori, Kari, and Grant all went through it. All were incredibly, visibly distressed. This while being surrounded by medics, and being able to stop it at any time. Afterwards they talked to a professional about the problems with, and the trauma of torture, and he looked at them and said, "I really wish you hadn't done that. There is no such thing as "simulated" torture. What you went through WAS torture."
Laura Gillette 2 years ago
Bored Panda will censor the word "die" but a photo of actual torture is ok?
Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 2 years ago
Torture works if ur not looking for the truth of anything and ur doing it just for fun
#3
As a cat lover, it always drives me insane that so many people will automatically give a stray they found milk. Most cats are lactose intolerant.
Loverboy 2 years ago (edited)
If you give a dog water, why would you give a cat any different? Now that I've slept, I'm realizing that this logic wouldn't work for other things.
Týna Ef 2 years ago
people giving stray cats milk think they are giving them something better and nutritious...
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Fenchurch 2 years ago
The other one is give a hedgehog bread and milk. Please don't. Hedgehogs are carnivores, feed them dog food.
Fraxinus excelsior 2 years ago
They can eat cat food too, but never give them fish flavoured as it gives them the runs.
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Jj321 2 years ago
But, not all cats are. We have one cat, if you have ice cream or cereal, his face is in your bowl while you are eating, no matter how hard you try to stop him. He's a grumpy old man and he doesn't care about rules anymore.
LH25 2 years ago
Honestly, did he ever really care about rules? We have one kinda like that. If hubby has a bowl of cereal, he'll sit and watch him, when he hears the spoon hit the bottom of the bowl he starts meowing until he gets to drink the milk.
Load More Replies... Mary Peace 2 years ago
I have just found out that I am, after years of undiagnosed stomach ache. I was told to eat/drink plenty of milk, cheese etc, because I needed the calcium. Now I've learnt it was good, but not good.
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A gay cat man 2 years ago
yes i am very lactose intolerant lol I hate it when people give me milk
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
Quit showing up in my yard meowing than
Load More Replies... oktopus 2 years ago
It's also a myth that "lactose intolerant = can't consume dairy products, ever"; just that in some people (and animals, presumably) the amount that can be comfortably consumed is more limited. Had a cat who loved licking out the insides of empty milk cartons (she came running the moment she heard the sound of one being cut open); but I do imagine giving her milk by the bowl would have had "interesting" consequences for the carpet.
Carrie Laughs 2 years ago
This is very much the case. Some can tolerate an intolerance very tolerably!!
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Lizard Lady 2 years ago
Some old practices are almost impossible to change. The other one that gets me is the one where people say they want their pet to have puppies/kitties before getting spayed because it makes them better or their kids need to witness it. Or that senior pets aren't adoptable. To me puppies should only be adopted by experienced dog owners as they require so much training. Seniors are perfect for 1st time per parents for so many reasons
Satan Laughs 2 years ago
They love the fat content. Lactose intolerance usually means mild farts. On the dairy farm the cats would love the cream leftovers. I mean, it’s not their main diet but wow they loved the treat. Water all the way for regular drinks.
RandomEpiBioPerson 2 years ago
Most species don't and shouldn't drink milk beyond adolescence. Many humans just have a mutation that allows for the continued consumption of milk.
More! 2 years ago
Cats drink more water if it’s from One of those cat water fountains. Best thing I bought ever. Remember to change the filter, wash & refill regularly.
BeepBoop the Single Pringle 2 years ago
absolutely! Our cats love to drink out of our faucets so we bought one of the fountain bowls and all the animals love it
Load More Replies... #4
You don't have to wait 24 hours to call the police to file a missing person's report. Never wait 24 hours. Every hour that passes means you are less likely to find said person. Dead or alive.
Take me to dinner first 2 years ago
that always confused me. If they consider the first 72 hours the most important, then why would you have to wait for the first 24??
Easily Excitable Panda 2 years ago
It used to be standard practice; the police just assumed that your child (especially a teen) had just run away, and you HAD to wait 24-48 hours to report, b/c it was believed they'd return on their own in that time. It wasn't until the 1980s that people figured out that was a bad idea.
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Niki A 2 years ago
If you listen to the Crime Junkie podcast, they mention this fact again and again. I also have heard speculation this is a delaying tactic some use because they assume anyone who is not missing a child will "turn up" or can "disappear if they want to". This seems to happen a lot with regard to teenagers, despite them still being children.
Eloise_Is_Weird 2 years ago
That is a stupid myth and I feel like television/movie corporations are responsible for kids that died because their parents didn't report them missing until after 24 hours
Holly Stevens 2 years ago
It's just lazy cops, they don't want to bother with teens or minorities so they make up these rules and say people are runways or have high risk lifestyles
Riley Quinn 2 years ago
This is true, so I don't know where the myth came about. But not all police stations will react immediately unless it's a child or elderly person. Many respond with invalidating comments like "well, you know how teenagers can be" or some such nonsense.
Furthermore, Audrey explained, “We tend to make sense of those gaps based on our world experience at the time – an example of this is, sadly, where a child of divorce may think that a parent left ‘because of them’ – if it has not been explained to them in accessible and understandable language.”
“This is not always the parent’s fault as they too are going through a great deal of emotional upheaval, but dismissing a child’s questions can sometimes lead to the child reconstructing an approximation of what is really going on.”
Related to that, Audrey continues, “When a story resonates with an experience we have been through (or believe we have been through!), we are also more likely to connect with it because of the familiarity.”
#5
Back in the olden days, people just turned 30 or so and died.
The infant mortality rate was just much higher, but if you made it to adulthood, living to be a senior was not that rare.
alwaysMispelled 2 years ago
Exactly. "Life expectancy" simply factoring in infant and childhood mortality. People still got old.
Zenozenobee 2 years ago (edited)
On my family tree (from 1670's until recently) , birth is critic, around 2 yo it becomes better, but the kids reaching 7 yo (unless starvation, epidemy, war or.... first giving birth for women) are likely to live 60 or 70yo. There's even a woman during mid 18th century who lived 87 years. They were either fishermen or farmers, so nothing fancy about their life style.
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Agfox 2 years ago (edited)
The painting is "Taming the Tarasque, from Hours of Henry VIII" by Charles-André van Loo. The painting depicts St Martha, allegedly Mary Magdalene’s sister, taming a tarasque in France that she then paraded through the town in which she was living. From Wikipedia: The tarasque was described as having a lion-like head, a body protected by turtle-like carapace(s), six feet with bear-like claws, and a scaly tail like a serpent's tail.
Laura Gillette 2 years ago
I remember I had a high school history teacher who told us, a class of 15 year olds, that if we lived in ancient times, we would be halfway through our lives already. I didn't want to make a stink, but even then I knew that wasn't how it worked.
Mario Strada 2 years ago
Unless, of course, you went and bothered the local dragon and try to make him walk on a leash while he ate your friend.
Take me to dinner first 2 years ago
Okay I'm positive this is an ancient version of Sharknado, they have such a similar scene involving a chopper, an electric saw, a shark, someone getting eaten and the same person being rescued alive from the shark
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David Paterson 2 years ago
Yes and no. Infant mortality was extremely high. But adult mortality was also very high, and independent of age. Of those reaching 20 years old, 15% were dead by 30, a further 15% died between 30 and 40, a further 15% died between 40 and 50, a further 15% died between 50 and 60. So although seniors were not all that rare, they were not all that common either.
Alex Luiz 2 years ago
Quite -if you look at modern -day population pyramids comparing countries at different levels of development you can see it in action.
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#6
Most dietary information that is widely accepted by the public was from studies that have been proven wrong since the 70s
Solidhog 2 years ago
Along with the myth that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Fish Fingers 2 years ago
Well, it is? If you don't break your fast you will starve to death 100% of the time.
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Ryan-James O'Driscoll 2 years ago
It's also the product of industry lobbying, not actual science.
Jan Rosier 2 years ago
Indeed, and yet nutrionists and dietists still follow this. As an example : nutritional advise in the Netherlands differs from Belgian nutritional advise, two neighbouring contries which you can drive through by car in 4 hours... Netherlands has a higher rate of dairy farms per capita as Belgium, so their nutritional advise includes a glass of milk a day for adults - in Belgium it does not.
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Gregg Carr 2 years ago
Also daily calorie requirements of 2500/2000 (ish) for men/women - How can this be still true nowadays when there is virtually no manual heavy labour jobs and nearly everyone drives everywhere ?
Noel Bovae 2 years ago
Interesting. I never thought of it that way before. I guess I always kind of assumed that the 2000 calorie thing was based on more of a sedentary lifestyle, and then if you were super active, that's when you'd need to consume even more calories. Either way, most people these days are consumed triple and quadruple that amount, plus they're not hardly burning any off, leading to our insane obesity rates. Every single time I go out, I'm absolutely astounded by the number of morbidly obese people I see. And I'm in SoCal where our obesity rates aren't even close to being as high as some parts of the country. But just from my observations, it appears that out of 5 people I see, 2 will be overweight-obese (it's very easy to classify as being obese, and I tend to underestimate body weights constantly,) and 1 will be morbidly obese.
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Austin Sauce 2 years ago
80-100% of Asians, 75% of Blacks and 50-60% of Latinos are lactose intolerant and yet they still recommend 2-3 servings. Like facial recognition software, this was designed by white people for white people, and everyone else is just forgotten about.
Frank Hassler 2 years ago
And also, based on research funded by the food industry, and the final guidelines STRONGLY influenced by industry lobbyists.
MagicJacket 2 years ago
Just slice off the bottom layer of that pyramid and you're already in better shape.
#7
Goldfish have a three second memory.
They don’t and, supposedly, you can even train them to do tricks.
Solidhog 2 years ago
Look up on Youtube. There is one that retrieves a ring. You can even buy Goldfish assault courses!
GirlFriday 2 years ago
Wait, are you saying that I can train an army of goldfish to attack people?
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Awesome At Being Autistic 2 years ago
I have two Black Moor Goldfish, and they are pretty smart. They each know their names, and will come up to the top of the aquarium for treats when called. They love to see new people, and they will remember people that have given them treats. They will also make smacking/kissing sounds when they want attention. They're water puppies.
Renee McDaniel 2 years ago
I once had a Beta who would jump for his food. You held the food pellet just above the water and he would actually jump out of the water and snatch it from your fingers. Brutus was the coolest
Noel Bovae 2 years ago
Anyone that's ever had a goldfish can tell you that the 3 second memory thing is bologna. If that were the case, they'd forget you were the "food machine" and they wouldn't get all excited every time you came near the tank.
Serial pacifist 2 years ago
Tricks such as standing on their hands, barking, and wearing tophats.
Audrey argues that research suggests that our brains seem better wired to process and recall facts set out as a story rather than facts alone.
“For example, the colors of the rainbow may be remembered using the mnemonic 'Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain,' and similarly, groups of numbers which can be 'chunked' into memorable dates, e.g,. 1066 instead of 1,0,6,6, are better recalled as well.”
And when it comes to popular myths, Audrey suggests that they may occur through people connecting with them and repeating them. “Perhaps if details are changed to suit the storyteller, again, that story takes on even more strength as more people may relate to it and repeat it,” she told Bored Panda.
#8
There is an alpha wolf in a pack.
Like the person who made the first claim debunked his own claim, but nobody cared.
Loverboy 2 years ago
I see so many of these self proclaimed alphas nowadays and it annoys the hell out of me. If you say you're an alpha, I automatically consider you scum. "Alphas" are usually misogynistic a******s who influence kids or other equally dumb adults. You are not an alpha, you are a douche. Stop it.
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
You have NO IDEA how much it annoys us wolves as well to see human males proclaiming themselves to be "alphas".
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XenoMurph 2 years ago
Anyone who must say they are an alpha, is insecure and needs constant validation.
Firefoxy3121 2 years ago
Packs are literally a family. Like, a main pair and then children and possibly other relatives
Oliver Coine 2 years ago
"I'm an Alpha wolf!" Oh, you're a confined creature with immense stress and mental issues? Cool. Might I suggest therapy?
Ovata Acronicta 2 years ago
This is notably problematic when it comes to dog training. With far-reaching celebrities teaching the alpha/dominance garbage, you have tons of dogs who are not living their full happy lives, and tons of people making their dogs neurotic because they're doing stupid s**t like punching their dog in the neck over food aggression.
Ovata Acronicta 2 years ago
Cesar Millan is an idiot and I'd prove my DoMiNaNcE to him by supplexing his lil body into the nearest mound of dog poop.
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farbenzirkel 2 years ago
When people refer to themselves as alphas, my standard response is: Yes, I know alpha (versions) in software. I'd rather wait for the successor.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago
Yes that was a good reply, only I would wait for at least beta.
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TonyTee 2 years ago
That “Alpha” s**t is overplayed, and meaningless altogether. They’re looked down upon, an “Alpha” is NOT a strong leader. Leaders don’t corrupt innocent people, they teach them and steer them down the right path. Leaders influence them to stay good and do better (as I put it in my own way). An Alpha’s influence ain’t so good.
David Paterson 2 years ago
But there is an alpha chicken. They call it "pecking order" and it is literally that. And there is an alpha gorilla.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago (edited)
The gorilla is a good example. I saw a documentary about a gorilla family where a young kid was left by its mother, who was seduced by another male. The male (alpha) gorilla then had the little on sleep with him, because that male gorilla is too heavy to climb up and make a nest. I saw somewhere else, that it has been found, that males who are good with the kids have more offspring.
Load More Replies... #9
Used to be a popular belief that if you sit to close to the tv your eyes will go bad. But Ive recently come to realize that children who sit “too close” to the tv might already have poor vision, but cannot communicate it, so when they go get their eyes checked it appears that the causation is them sitting to close to the tv, when it was probably genetics or other factors. Thus causing people to think that the cause was them sitting too close to tv.
ADJ 2 years ago
That is a myth now, but old tv sets from before 1960s emitted some radiation which may have bad effect on eyes.
JN 2 years ago
Exposure to blue light from screens is still a problem though and some scientists think that it may lead to age-related macular degeneration. So not sitting too close to the tv may still be a good idea.
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Solidhog 2 years ago
Most likely created because kids sitting right in front of the TV block the view of adults.
Beck 2 years ago
Yup. Those big wooden tv's that sit on the floor and always have sort of doily snd figurine next to the rabbit ears.
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🇳🇬 Asi Bassey 🇳🇬 2 years ago
Thanks to my dad (an optometrist) who noticed I sat too close to the telly as a kid, and after running tests found I had refractive errors. I’ve been using glasses for 32 years now. Whenever I go visiting him (we live in different states), he still insists on checking my eyes.
David 2 years ago
What ADJ said. This WAS true with Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs). They emit alpha radiation and it is harmful to the eyes. It won't penetrate clothing / dead skin but internally or in the eyes it is a problem. It was also a problem for commercial pilots back when they use radium to make the gauges glow. (also an alpha emitter). Being the wrong distance from something your eyes are trying to focus on is also a thing - and still is - but old style TVs could literally damage your eyes if you were too close to the source.
Deborah Rubin 2 years ago
The way my parents discovered my sister and myself were getting progressively more near sighted is because we sat so close to the TV. "We can't see it from back there."
DrBronxx 2 years ago
I think this is a modern take, which is interesting. In my case, it was all about the size of the TVs also used to be a lot smaller. My eyesight, and that of all my siblings, is (thankfully), perfect. When we were children we would sit close to the TV so the screen would seem bigger - we wanted to recreate the cinema screen. That was the sole reason.
Howl's sleeping castle 2 years ago
Not TV but working/studying long hours in front of the laptop definitely gave me bad eyes.
#10
You can catch colds from being outside without a hat. Colds are caused by viruses, not cold temperatures
Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 2 years ago
But colder temperatures make ur immune system weaker and therefore it's easier to catch a cold
Kira Okah 2 years ago
When it is cold, people tend to congregate in warm areas in large groups, allowing the easier spread of illnesses. People who permanently live in colder areas don't get sick more frequently than those in temperate or hot areas.
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XenoMurph 2 years ago
Being cold for a long period of time reduces your body's ability to fight off infection. Being cold doesn't give you a cold, but you are more likely to catch one.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago
And your nose gets less effective filtering out vira and bacteria when it gets too cold
Load More Replies... Solidhog 2 years ago
And that they are only spread by sneezing, coughing and touching your face and then other things. The virus lives and breed on the walls of the throat and lungs. Viruses are so small (0.4 to 0.2 microns) they can attach to the moisture in your breath and can be spread just by breathing up to 8 metres. This is why you appear to catch colds in an office even when not being near a person or touching the same things they have. It's also the reason most masks wont protect against a virus. Most masks only filter particles larger than 3 microns. A virus is 100 times smaller. And that is not allowing for the bad fitting allowing larger particles to be sucked in from the sides. It is like trying to catch rain with a tennis racket.
Solidhog 2 years ago
Interesting side note. There has been an argument for a long time about if viruses are actually living things. Some say they are as they feed on organic matter and then reproduce. Just like many living organisms.
Load More Replies... Serial pacifist 2 years ago
I am sensing that there is negation required in the first sentence.
General Anaesthesia 2 years ago (edited)
The first sentence is the popular belief, the second the science.
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Jonathan Aldridge 2 years ago (edited)
Also, viruses outside the body die/breakdown faster in a hot environment, but can stay viable for longer in cold weather, so in winter, they linger on surfaces for longer and get picked up by more people. In one study, Covid would last around 2 days at 20°C, but only a few hours at 40°C (https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12985-020-01418-7)
Austin Sauce 2 years ago
This is false. Everyone with a Mexican mother knows you really get colds from not wearing socks.
Landithy 2 years ago
No force on earth will convince my parents that this isn't true. Furthermore wet = cold, so they freak out and insist that I change my clothes any time I get slightly damp. It's even weirder because we're from the tropics. I'm semi-convinced that they secretly belive that I am a witch and will spontaneously combust if I get wet.
Vicki Doggurl 2 years ago
They just proved why you get sick in the colder weather. It harms your nasal mucus membranes making viruses easier to enter your body!!
Vicki Doggurl 2 years ago
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/scientists-finally-figure-out-why-youre-more-likely-to-get-sick-in-cold-weather
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Fire Singer 2 years ago
Or that you lose more heat from your head than anywhere else. You lose heat from any uncovered part of your body, it's just more people cover everything but their heads especially if they have thick hair so naturally heat is lost from your head in that case. If you don't wear gloves, or socks and shoes, or whatever, that's where you'll lose heat.
There’s also an explanation for why particular common beliefs disappear while others remain something people believe throughout generations. “Many beliefs that are passed through generations have a strong link with culture and tradition, and even though there may be no reason for engaging with them because they are part of your personal story, you feel connected with it,” Audrey explained.
According to her, Christmas traditions are a lovely example of this: “my own mother-in-law always makes a Christmas Gift Cracker as this was something that she had enjoyed when she was young. Not having children personally, it is not something I will be passing down, but my husband’s cousins might, and thus whenever this tradition plays out, we are reminded of the happy times at Christmas.”
#11
Most things that tout "detoxifying" properties.
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
You have livers and kidneys to do the job (I think I might be missing a few organs here)
Hawkmoon 2 years ago
Agreed. And yep, you miss the brain. Most important organ to use for detoxification of bullsh... ;-)
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Tracy Wallick 2 years ago
The only thing I know of that actually 'detoxifies' is activated charcoal, and that's only if you've been poisoned.
jaredsbanta 2 years ago
Eating different food help various systems in your body to function more efficiently. It has been observed in the Pripyat exclusion zone birds that have eaten high antioxidant diets and effectively reduced cancers and other radiation caused diseases while living in areas that should have killed them.
Anthony Bal 2 years ago
I mostly agree with the exception of f.e. chlorella alguae that bind with heavy metals in the body (so detoxifying in case of serious heavy metal intoxication
Geoffrey Scott 2 years ago
I drink LOTS of tea. Not because of any health benefits, but because it's better than soda. Have heard it plays heck with the kidneys.
Heather Resatz 2 years ago
There are so many kinds of tea .. be more specific? White? Green? Black? Herbal? Root??
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Riley Quinn 2 years ago
Poo, poo this all you want, but there's money to be made in them there hills.
#12
The belief that sugar causes hyperactivity in children. This belief has been around for decades, but numerous scientific studies have shown that there is no evidence to support it.
XenoMurph 2 years ago
Kids get excited at parties and get hyper around their friends. That's a good thing.
Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 2 years ago
Ig kids just get excited when eating tasty food. Also kids r hyper without the sugar it's incomparable
ApplePie123eat 2 years ago
Sugar doesn't cause hyperactivity in children, the excitement before consuming it does ;)
Kira Okah 2 years ago
The study that made that link used a sample size of 117, that isn't even outside a margin of error. Anecdotes don't prove anything either.
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Olivia Dean 2 years ago
I've responded here so many times.. but there IS a difference with ADHD kids. And also- the sugary foods are almost always mixed in with dyes, additives and colours etc which do have noticeable impacts on brains - in particular neuro diverse ones.
EmBree 2 years ago
Like clockwork people show up to explain how science does not matter. Blind studies show they are wrong but they insist science is wrong because they saw with their own biased eyes that it happened. Anyhow, the orphanage gave the kids sugar water in their bottles to keep them calm and tired. Did it really work that way? IDK. But I thought I'd throw it out here. I also think most of us have experienced food coma when we have consumed too much carbs.
#13
We only use 10% of our brain
Surenu 2 years ago
Given some people I interact with on a daily basis I can see how one might arrive at this conclusion though, to be fair.
Monday 2 years ago
10% seems to be a fairly high estimate for the folks we see in certain corners of the internet too....
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Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
"There's some great genius like Stephen Hawking up there on seventy or eighty per cent, and it's the rest of us dragging the average down. What's your day? Bumble around, bumble around, make a rudimentary snack - two per cent, tops." - Bill Bailey
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Gmaddles 2 years ago
Our brain is constantly working, day in, day out, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. It's running your nervous system, your emotions, digestion, breathing, organ functions, memories, info processing, decision making, quick movement decisions ("instinctual"), fight or flight, speech, sense pain, temperature, etc for our body's survival. 10%, my a*s!
Samuel Pelatan 2 years ago
Well isn't using 100% of your brain at the same time called an epilepsy crisis anyway ?
Gandalf the Pink 2 years ago
You're supposed to use that thing? I wasn't supposed to throw it away?
Cosmologist wannabe 2 years ago
This is not true. this is a myth. We use a full 100% percent of our brain. If I remember correctly, it came from an article that said that we only know how 20% the brain works. The media just accidently missed this, and changed accidentally, and so a myth was born.
Deborah Rubin 2 years ago
I hat this one! With a very few exceptions, humans use 100% of their brains.
Mary Peace 2 years ago
How did you manage to post this comment then, Disguise Doge?
Load More Replies...On the other hand, sometimes certain beliefs are extremely questionable as society changes, Audrey added. “It is hoped that many rules also change accordingly, or, where that is not possible, that enough people become aware of the original rule, find no basis for it to be true, and create their own, which then grow because of their acceptability in the modern world.”
“A less contentious example, but still a problematic one that is changing, is the view that in some cultures, mental ill health is simply not discussed. As we learn more about mental health diagnoses, cultures become more accepting as to why certain behaviors may be happening and what can be done about it, they blame less and grow more,” Audrey explained.
#14
Cracking knuckles = arthritis
Christopher Gerlach 2 years ago
There was a dude that cracked only one hand for like 30 years to prove his mom wrong.
TrippyBanana 2 years ago
I was in my 20s when I learned this was false. I'm glad because there are times my neck feels like it's fused so cracking it is all I can do to release the headache.
CHRIS DOMRES 2 years ago
I am 68 years old and have cracked my knuckles regularly all my life. I have painful knuckle joints in only my right hand. I am right handed and have used that hand more than the left. My conclusion, whatever joint gets more use wears our first.
Doodles1983 2 years ago
So. Partly myth. The crack itself is air bubbles popping in the synovial fluid. But most people crack their knuckles the same way, which can cause RSI and some osteoarthritis. But from the repetition. Not the crack.
NickTheDuck 2 years ago
a doctor spend 40 years cracking the knuckles in only his left hand to prove this wrong.
#15
“Fish don’t feel pain” , and simultaneously “Fish do feel pain” are both arguments which ignore centuries of research.
They lack a Neocortex which deems them unable to “process” pain, however they have several nociceptors located around the mouth which allows them to “feel it”. What does this mean? Well nobody actually knows yet, and it is largely open to interpretation. It’s unfathomably hard for us to understand, as we can both feel and process pain. Some scientists describe “acting on instinct” as symptoms of pain when these nociceptors become compromised. Some scientists describe it as just that though, acting on instinct based on what parts of their body are compromised and hence weaker or vulnerable.
For example : You hook and release a bass. That Bass now moves slower, eats a little less, and socializes less. Are these actions the result of the fish acknowledging the compromised nociceptors and acting accordingly while giving itself a chance to heal? Or is the fish genuinely hurting and sad? Research points to both being correct, but neither have enough evidence to prove anything yet.
All we know with certainty is that we don’t have a definite answer supporting either argument, so anyone that leans hard one way or another doesn’t know what they are talking about.
Kea_Tortilla 2 years ago
Thank you for acknowledging that we still have so much to learn about our fellow creatures! Pain or not, fish are still animals and deserve respect.
Admiral Graf Spee 2 years ago
we put down a massive carper cause it had a tumour almost the size of itself we put it in water with a agent that would kill it quickly
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Becky Samuel 2 years ago
If a scientist drops a substance that is harmless but causes pain on the lips of a fish, the fish will rub its lips against things in the environment, hide, and show elevated stress responses. There is no other explanation for this other than that fish can feel pain. Some people try to use the excuse that fish brains may not be able to process pain because of different brain anatomy, but it is a huge assumption to make considering just how long ago fish diverged from other animals. There is also a strong lobby from the industries that need to minimise the idea of fish being sentient creatures deserving of protection from torture, i.e. the whole fishing industry and anglers. The very idea of hauling an animal from its environment using a hook through its mouth, just for fun, is repugnant when you really think about it. Most fish caught at sea die a horrible death gasping for air whilst freezing in a hold full of ice.
James Hall 2 years ago
100% agree. Fishing, whether done as a hobby or on an industrial scale, is just horrendously cruel. Maybe even more so than hunting. If fish could scream, fishing wouldn't be anywhere near as popular a passtime.
Load More Replies... A. Starhawk Hunt 2 years ago
until it is proven that any creature does not feel pain (infants, hence, circumcision without anything for pain) I will persist in believing that all living entities feel/experience pain. This includes plants, incidentally. However, I not giving up meat just as I won't give up vegetables.
PolymathNecromancer 2 years ago
Thank you, M. Hunt, this perspective succinctly and similarly echoes my own position on beliefs and food.
Load More Replies... Solidhog 2 years ago (edited)
And that plants actually feel pain and scream when cut. Makes a whole new problem for vegans?
Beck 2 years ago
The smell of fresh cut grass is the grasses way of screaming for help.
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Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago (edited)
I take issue with the last paragraph. Fish obviously feel pain. Stick a pin in a live fish. Oh! It feels pain. Now, "suffering" is when you think about how crappy things are and you imagine a world where you don't suffer. They don't do that, the brain anatomy won't support it. But they obviously feel pain, why is there any question at all?
SkekVi 2 years ago
pain is too useful a sensation for other living beings--even plants--to not be able to feel something from being damaged. I really really like the nuance in this take though, because yeah we don't really know what that MEANS or what other beings perceive. Good sciencing OP!
Dynein 2 years ago
I'm with you regarding animals, but am not convinced that plants feel pain. The reason: Pain makes the most sense if you have the ability to adapt your future actions to avoid the pain. If you can't actually avoid the stimulus, feeling pain basically amounts to torture. In that regard it's notable that animals have the most pain sensors in their skin, but a lot less inside their body. Internal body damage is way worse than e.g. a paper cut, so why focus on the skin? Well, most the avoidable causes of pain damage the skin, and the sooner you notice damage of the skin, the sooner you can prevent further damage. But with internal damage, your average animal can't do much and doesn't need to know the exact location. The molecular inflammation and healing processes can happen regardless. (Honest question, is there any study on plant pain that found more than merely molecular responses to tissue damage? Because those happen in animals all the time even if no pain is felt)
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Louisa Johnson 2 years ago
My husband goes carp fishing, he goes to well established and respected fisheries, the fish are treated with respect when out of the water, there are rules on certain hooks not being used due to to much damage and they also have to treat the catch wound with a special treatment made to help it heal better. And I hate it, I really do. My husband tells me I should go that I would like it. But I wouldn't, the poor thing is gasping for air, it's been ripped from its comfort zone with the lure of food, which they obviously need cause if they were not hungry they would not be getting caught. I say to him how about you getting water boarded for fun when your hungry. Bloody pisses me off, people using animals for sport. I also as a child had uncles that would go hunting, there would be pheasants and rabbits hung up in the shed, the freezer full with their little bodies. My mum said I lived on rabbit as a child. Like WTF
C.O. Shea 2 years ago
I stopped fishing a few decades back... and now periodically rescue stranded worms to make up for all the ones I tore in half for fishing hooks.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago
I loved reading this. Then I am not alone in doing this, we are at least two. Whenever I see an earthworm on asfalt I take it up, and throw it into the grass it seems to be headed at. But I have been wondering if the throwing hurts it.
Load More Replies... Exquisite Spam 2 years ago
If there's any doubt in the matter, don't cause harm to animals! Fish and even snails learn to avoid painful stimuli, so they certainly aren't enjoying it.
#16
That if you shave it’ll grow back longer and thicker
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago (edited)
Because hairs naturally taper to a point. When you cut through a hair, the remnant is wider than the tip you cut off. So it appears thicker, despite being exactly the same as ever it was.
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Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago
Been shaving my baldish head for about 30 years now. When I look like I have Fabio's hair, I'll let you know.
Will Cable 2 years ago
Duct tape applied and pulled off.....along with everything else
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Mary Peace 2 years ago
When I was a teenager, most of my female friends used to shave their legs. The hair grew back, and they shaved again. So then some of them said they regretted starting to shave, because of the hair growing back. Of course, I didn't ever shave my legs.
Burnt Bagel 2 years ago
So I just got drunk and shaved my head for the first time in 56 years. Does that count? ( feels freakin fabulous by the way!)
The Minister of Digital Affairs of Taiwan also argues that often, “a little bit like social media hashtags, the enduring narratives are those which resonate closely with the zeitgeist at the time, such as #metoo.”
Moreover, endorsements from celebrities can make a difference as well. “Not only does research show that celebrity endorsements are more likely to make you believe a certain thing, but to also not check it for credibility.”
Audrey explained that inviting a psychologist to comment on an article and adding the phrase “backed by science” can do the same thing. “As I always say – 'backed by science,' says NOTHING about the reliability, validity or even relevance of the research as a whole, nor the population it was based on.”
#17
Hiding under a highway overpass is actually not a good way to survive a tornado.
It has been scientifically proven that the wind gets concentrated and the speeds increase underneath the overpass.
If you aren’t shielded by a bridge girder or something similar you’ll just get swept away and mulched.
Your best bet for survival if you cannot escape the tornado is to find the nearest deep ditch or hole.
Janos Schumacher 2 years ago
Find a ditch and get flat. A tornado can pick up a car and throw it just fine. Better to be flat and in a ditch face down with your hands over your head.
Beck 2 years ago
Tornadoes are scary. Every few years a big one will come through the area near me and the destruction is insane. It could be a quarter mile wide and 2 mile long path of trees and buildings down, or it could be a 10 foot wide 2 mile long just trail of destruction. My brothers best friend growing up played football at the University of Alabama. The guys girlfriend was in a closet or cellar hanging on for dear life and she died when her insides were pulled out through her throat. So sad. In that same tornado, a girl was saved because she picked the right closet to hide in. When she opened the closet door, the whole house was doen around her. I do not say this for shock factor. I say it because if your are in a tornado, you need to take it seriously.
Kenny Kulbiski 2 years ago
Maybe so but if it comes down to standing in an open, flat area and going man to man with a tornado or getting under an underpass I'll be wedged as far back as I can get under the underpass.
Billy Harrelson 2 years ago
This is one of those that became popular back in the '90s because of that one video where the people hid under the bridge while the tornado passed right over them. And the movie Twister. When I watched the ending to that movie I knew they should have been finding Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton's twisted bodies and not them embracing and knowing they were going to be famous.
ILoveMySon 2 years ago
It was also popular in Kansas in the '70's as a family survived in an underpass and it was broadcast on the news. My mother told me to seek shelter in an underpass in the event of a tornado. I didn't learn the truth until the late '80's. Crazy.
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Phemonoe 153 2 years ago
All the times I've been around a tornado is in huge rainstorms, you'd drown. We'd laugh about this in Virginia, pointless advice out there
Geoffrey Scott 2 years ago
There was footage many years ago, of someone sheltering under an overpass...pretty intense. Had a camera, could see trucks flipping etc..
aartdesigns 2 years ago
True. Deep ditches or holes are rarely there when you need them. The thing with underpasses that work best is, as you say "bridge girder", but also an abutment or other support. Get as close as possible (opposite side of the wind if possible). Or better yet, strap yourself to it if possible. Overpasses are probably more readily available than a ditch. Deep ditch would be my first choice though if you have options!
Daniele Ribolla 2 years ago (edited)
better than nothing... and if you're on a highway, that's probably the sole option.
similarly 2 years ago
I've always through they meant to squeeze in at the top where the bridge meets the supports, because even if the bridge gets torn away, that part is usually pretty stable and you're protected by the girders.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago
I'd have assumed they suggested it because it might give you shelter from the larger debris. As in you won't be as likely to get squished by a car that the tornado is throwing at you.
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#18
Despite popular belief, urine is not sterile.
Monday 2 years ago
Wait....who believes urine is sterile? It's the waste our bodies get rid of how could it possibly be sterile?
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
It's been purified by your kidneys so it's sterile (no bacteria) - when it reaches the bladder. But then it picks up bacteria from your system again so it's not sterile when it exits your body.
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Loverboy 2 years ago
It should never be drank, even as a last resort. And that "peeing on jellyfish stings" thing is b******t and will likely make it worse. How do people think that something so foul is good? It's like me telling you to rub s**t on your stab wound.
Beck 2 years ago
My mom always rubbed wet tobacco on mine. Once again, the 80s.
Load More Replies... David 2 years ago
I've never heard anyone say it is sterile. It is generally safe to drink if you are in a situation where you are going to die from dehydration. But even tap water is not sterile. PS - if you have to store urine for a while in a bottle / toilet wont flush - add two or three drops of bleach. that horrible "old urine" smell is bacteria in the urine pooping out ammonia. Tiny bit of bleach kills the bacteria so the ammonia never forms.
Viv Florini 2 years ago
Yeah but if theres already ammonia... you probably don't want to do that...
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Austin Sauce 2 years ago
Fun fact of the day, they used to diagnose diabetes by tasting the patients urine. If it was sweet, they were shedding excess glucose and combined with other symptoms helped identify diabetics. I don’t know who the first guy to trial this was, but Donald Trump has probably been able to diagnose a few diabetics in his life.
David 2 years ago
I've heard this before but forgot about it. You can smell sugar. I don't know who was first but it was probably tied to examining a sample and noticing it smelled sweet. Still took a jump to go to tasting though.
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Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost 2 years ago
I graduated from nursing school in 1994.i was taught that urine is sterile. I'm not saying it's true, I'm trying to say that we have a better understanding now than 30 years ago
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
Patches O'houlihan in Dodgeball, "Is it necessary to drink my own urine? No. But I do it anyway because it's sterile and I like the taste!"
Jerry Perkins 2 years ago
Medical resources say it is sterile. Not that I care one way or the other.
Lizard Lady 2 years ago
My son and I were changing his two day old son, on zero sleep, when he peed in his own face. My son just says, "oh great, my son just peed in his own face. Isn't urine sterile?" My reply? According to Bear Grylls it is. We laughed so hard we cried as we cleaned baby James and restored his baby dignity
#19
That we taste different things in different areas on the tongue.
Monday 2 years ago
My high school biology teacher had a lesson on this. Makes me wonder what other fake c**p was included in the syllabus.
LK 2 years ago
There's lots of stuff that was taught when you were in school that is no longer considered correct. This is always happening. Hippocrates (ca. 460 BCE–370 BCE) is said to have come up with the theory of the four humors—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. We now know this is not true. There was a similar idea for the four elements. We now know this is not true. It used to be thought that the smallest item was the atom. We now know this is not true. This has been happening for millennia. We keep learning more about our world, but it can take time for this knowledge to trickled down into schools, and even longer for the general public to grasp it.
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Oki 2 years ago
The receptors are scattered but have more and less dense areas. This has an easy home-safe experiment. Pour a drink you enjoy into differently shaped glasses/containers. Now taste each one. They will taste differently, depending on the area of your tongue that touches the liquid first. This is why ice cream tastes better when you lick it instead of using a spoon - it tastes sweeter because most sweet-detecting sensors are on the tip/front of your tongue. The real myth about taste is that there are only five flavors. Everything else, almost everything, involves our sense of smell. This is why food tastes bland when you're congested - it's just five flat flavors.
David 2 years ago
Putting things on different areas of your tongue helps distract you while you are hiding under your desk to be safe from the nuclear bombs.
Verena 2 years ago
Anybody saying "not true" has evidence by having it tested themselves? At least my tongue works that way.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago
But scientific evidence requires more proof than what one person has found to be true of herself. What about all of us other people?
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JamesRTK 2 years ago
The areas have different sensitivity to 5 tastes. “All regions of the tongue that detect taste respond to all five taste qualities. There are some mild regional differences in sensitivity for different taste qualities, but these differences are small enough that they do not play a clear role in taste perception.” So where did the tongue map come from? It all started with a 1901 paper by German scientist David Hänig. Hänig measured responses to taste stimuli in different areas of the tongue and found the strength of those responses varied depending on location — an observation that is still considered generally correct. Hänig drew a line graph showing the change in sensitivity to taste stimuli from one area of the tongue to the next. However, the graph was artistically rendered and it could give the impression that different areas of the tongue were responsible for certain tastes.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago
I wonder where umami receptors hide, but he didn't know about umami then I suppose
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#20
You can swim after you eat it's no problem
Take me to dinner first 2 years ago
Well, not in my case. If I eat and make any kind of physical activity (even walking back home or something) I feel terribly nauseous. My blood pressure is quite low, so taking hot showers after eating is also not well received by my body lol
BeepBoop the Single Pringle 2 years ago
that makes sense for you, but the whole myth was about cramping and drowning. So I'm glad that the myth isn't true and I hope you find a way that doesn't make you nauseous
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Rachel Reynolds 2 years ago
With the caveat that you're not doing an intense swimming workout, but than you shouldn't eat (a big meal) right before any intense workout.
Dr M 2 years ago
Could still have an ischemic injury if you push it too hard after a big meal so still have reasonable consideration and don’t blanket statement everything. Most likely you’ll just vomit and s**t yourself but seizure, coma, death are always on the table as well. The truth is usually in the middle of the extremes.
CHRIS DOMRES 2 years ago (edited)
If one eats a large meal and immediately does intense aerobic exercise, you can get "side splints" which are abdominal cramps caused by the body diverting blood supply from digestion to other muscles. If you are a kid just playing in the pool this is unlikely to happen.
AlyDawn 2 years ago
I think it has to do more with making sure your food is settled so you don't barf. If you bob neck-deep in water after eating a full meal, the extra preasure from the water might cause it to come back up. I know I burp way more in the pool than I usually do regularly. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but that's my theory
Tanja DeZalia-Chanowsky 2 years ago
My uncle was on the swim team and he drowned following eating .
Lady of the Mountains 2 years ago
I've been a competitive swimmer since I was very young and always ate snacks throughout competitions. I thought the old wives tale was absurd when I heard it, and thought it was even more absurd when I met someone who actually believed it
#21
Lightning never strikes in one place twice.
Serial pacifist 2 years ago (edited)
Just ask Roy. https://virginradio.co.uk/lifestyle/92446/meet-the-man-who-survived-being-struck-by-lightning-seven-times
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
But was he in the same place every time? Maybe vindictive lightning followed him around.
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Loverboy 2 years ago
That makes absolutely no sense. The Empire State Building is struck about 30 times a year.
Phase9.ka 2 years ago
Exactly. If this were true, I guess there is no point of lightning rods
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Effseven Six 2 years ago
Most people also do not know that lighting comes from both the sky and the ground.
Lydsylou 2 years ago
I think there's a place in NZ or somewhere that has an almost permanent lightning storms
aartdesigns 2 years ago
The most lightning-struck location in the world. Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the place on Earth that receives the most lightning strikes. Massive thunderstorms occur on 140-160 nights per year with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute lasting up to 10 hours at a time.
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Take me to dinner first 2 years ago
I don't think there is a single place in brazil that hasn't been struck by a lightning yet
aartdesigns 2 years ago
A lightning rod... but most tall buildings are.... so, yeah. Perfect example of ideal conditions to facilitate lightning striking the same place as often as it wants.
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Binky Melnik 2 years ago (edited)
Anyone who ever worked picking cucumbers (or similar) knows this one’s false! You wanna avoid being the tallest object around when there’s lightning.
#22
That bubblegum get stuck in your stomach for 99999999999900000 years
Bell-acose 2 years ago
I don’t buy that three day thing either. Want proof? Give me a cob of corn and eight hours…you’ll get your proof.
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Beck 2 years ago (edited)
I love this picture. Her shirt, her hair, that shiny bubble and the strings to her friendship bracelet. She does not have a care in the world and it is the 80s in a nutshell! Edit. On closer inspection, that is a tattoo. Even better. My eye sight is bad. Sat too close to the tv growing up, Apparently🤣she probably has friendship bracelets up her sleeve. Maybe a slap bracelet as well.
Kimba 2 years ago
I heard it would stay inside you for 7 years. Then Iearned you poop it out with the rest of the stuff you digest.
Headless Roach 2 years ago
And I wanted to comment that a zero was missing there. Let's get our story straight, shall we? 🙃
Load More Replies... Mary Peace 2 years ago
So who lived for that many years to supposedly prove that theory? And what if the bubblegum prolonged their life?
Lady of the Mountains 2 years ago (edited)
It's still not recommended to swallow it, because it will gather up bacteria in your mouth while you chew, and that's not great to have inside you. So I've heard. Probably not true. But it's still a million times better to swallow the gum then stick it somewhere for innocents to find
#23
That rice will make the birds who eat it explode. Birds eat rice all the time! It's actually good for them, especially brown rice.
I believe this myth was made up so people would stop throwing rice at weddings, but harming the birds wasn't an actual risk. It was getting rice grains stuck in your ear that was.
Icecream Sarang 2 years ago
I was under the belief it was bad for them to eat their weight in rice at weddings, which is why we switched to bird seed…then the same thing happened, so now we do bubbles. But if you’re me, you just eloped and are coconut cake in your hotel room.
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 2 years ago
I would not like to be a coconut cake. Maybe a chocolate cake with white frosting.
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Raccoon 2 years ago
What is bad is bread for ducks ( https://www.sugarlandtx.gov/447/Why-You-Should-Not-Feed-Ducks#:~:text=Duckling%20malnutrition%20%E2%80%94%20in%20areas%20where,or%20lake%20will%20become%20overcrowded. )
BeepBoop the Single Pringle 2 years ago
Yes! Y'all don't feed ducks bread please. There's plenty of healthy food that you can buy for pretty cheap. We brought frozen veggies and let them thaw (I think, I don't quite remember but they definitely weren't frozen) and we found out our ducks really like corn! It's perfectly healthy for them unlike bread
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Antoinette Maldari 2 years ago
People who don't want to sweep up the rice.
Load More Replies... no Adhesivness2020 2 years ago
I remember being told the rice would swell in their stomach and kill the birds and the solution at many weddings I have been to was to throw bird seed instead. So, still feeding the birds.
Svelk929 2 years ago
Oh I thought the reason was so birds wouldn’t poop everywhere when they came down to eat the rice
GirlFriday 2 years ago
When I used to attend church, the church banned rice throwing at weddings because for days after the wedding, the birds would flock to the courtyard and would cover everything in poop. I have never heard of birds exploding from eating rice.
Load More Replies... Daniel Atkins 2 years ago
I always wondered how this one started. If you think about it there are vast areas of land dedicated to growing rice all over the world. If this were even remotely true there would be people lobbying governments to ban rice production.
Turanga Leela 2 years ago
May I suggest a rotisserie chicken? That way the newlyweds will have something to snack on if they get hungry.
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Mary Kelly 2 years ago
people just didn't want to clean up the rice, so they made some horse doodoo up...happens all the time
#24
Don't know if it's been said yet still scrolling, but that male lions don't hunt or do anything. Yes, lionesses do most of the hunting but males do help if the prey is too big and strong, such as with cape buffalo or giraffe. Males do a lot, staying back and protecting the territory which is very important if there are cubs, not to mention that the mane not only blows their cover more when hunting, but it tires them out quickly as it's a bunch of hair weighing on their head. Males also have to leave their birth pride at a certain age which of course until they can find a pride, they at that point have to hunt.
Also on the topic of African animals (wildlife nerd) hyenas hunt more than lions and are more successful predators, and hyenas aren't dogs. Elephants don't think you or any human is cute.
Edit: I was told wrong a lion's mane doesn't weigh as much as I thought, but it does have more of a negative effect on their hunting compared to a lioness.
Beth W 2 years ago (edited)
I think you’re cute XenoMurph..I’m not an elephant tho, just a bit overweight
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Grace and Lucy 2 years ago
Male lions ....get a haircut and get a real job. Clean your act up and don't be a slob. Get it together like your big brother Bob.
Loverboy 2 years ago
I am devastated that no elephant will ever find me cute. That's two species now that don't find me cute :(
Tabitha 2 years ago
Take it with a grain of salt, no sources were cited so I'm going to continue to believe they think I'm cute until proven otherwise, lol
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Jenna Logan 2 years ago
Also, I've mentioned this before in a comment on a previous post, the most dangerous animal in Africa is the hippo
Best Behave 2 years ago
The Cape buffalo is also very dangerous. I’ve also heard that it maybe crocs that are the most dangerous, except they leave no evidence
Load More Replies... tuzdayschild 2 years ago (edited)
My profound apologies to all male lions for labeling them savanna potatoes.
Mojca Tomsic 2 years ago
Well, well, well... so the true animal king is not a lion, it's Queen Lioness
Randy Klefbeck 2 years ago
There has recently been female (lioness') who have been found growing manes. It is a short term evolutionary trait for prides that lack a significant number of males (which are generally larger and stronger than the typical females) to use as a cautionary approach for other predators to protect cubs.
Danish Susanne 2 years ago
I saw a documentary about among other animals lions, where a young male was left to look after the cubs while the females was going hunting. They came back to find him asleep and the cubs all over the place. He was severely reprimanded and escaped from the females up a tree, or so he thought, but happened to hit a bees nest. I couldn't help feeling sorry. I believe the documentary was called Serengeti.
#25
That eggs are bad for you.
That eggs are good for you.
Its been proven that it completely depends on your own genetic makeup on if they are good or bad for you. For some people they're healthy, for others they're not and they're bad cholesterol level skyrockets.
Mirabelle Skyrim 2 years ago
For MOST people eggs are healthy. One of the functions of your liver is to regulate your cholesterol to a level that's optimal for your own body. If you eat a lot of cholesterol rich food, the liver will lower its production of cholesterol. If you eat sparingly of cholesterol rich food, the liver will increase its cholesterol production.
Sue 2 years ago
I thought now they were saying that cholesterol in foods doesn't cause a rise in cholesterol but eating fats can make your body produce more cholesterol. I remember in the 70's or 80's, everything started being no cholesterol, and then later was changed to no fats. Now it's no carbs. So many people, including my parents, were told that eating a plate of pasta is better than eating a steak. They both died of heart attack & stroke at 52 & 60. I think a diet should just be balanced, but when I'm trying to lose a few pounds, I do eat fewer simple carbs & it's works faster. But I also eat more veggies when I'm not having simple carbs.
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 2 years ago
This is true of all unprocessed or natural foods, and many processed ones. For some people, white bread shoots up their blood sugar, for others it is perfectly fine. The outcomes can also vary from day to day within one person, or even depending on what else you eat at the same time. The main thing is to learn to listen to your body about what makes it feel good, avoid ultra-processed foods as much as possible, and don't eat beige meals - color on your plate is good.
Kira Okah 2 years ago
Dietary cholesterol doesn't increase body cholesterol. Humans make their own cholesterol, we cannot take cholesterol from food.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago
That's just not true. While the body does produce it's own cholesterol it DOES absorb some from foods. I've seen varying reports about how much, this one for example says about 15% comes from diet. https://www.wth.org/blog/do-i-really-need-to-pay-attention-to-the-cholesterol-in-foods/ Another described it as a "small but significant amount".
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and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 2 years ago
My health class was bonkers. One of the big things was a documentary that included how ALL meat was terrible for you and dairy was the devil come to lure you to and early grave and eggs were evil except the whites only that’s miracle food. There was also a whole thing about apple cider vinegar and gummies… it was really annoying.
MrsFettesVette 2 years ago
I'm one of those lucky people who can eat eggs with no problem. I love them just about any way I can get them.
Laura Lett 2 years ago
If I eat too many eggs in a week, I will have gas so bad it will peel paint off the walls. Boy I love my family genetics.
Will Cable 2 years ago
Again be careful when doing an online search, especially if you "love eggs"
Bridgit Gilmore 2 years ago
And another debunked myth...that there is 'good' or 'bad' cholesterol.
#26
Carrots do not improve your eyesight.
Tobias Reaper 2 years ago
this was propaganda by the british government in world war 2 to hide the fact they had radar
Bell-acose 2 years ago
And yet to this day, people still think that they are immune to propaganda.
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Kea_Tortilla 2 years ago
This belief comes from propaganda during WW2. However, it is true that carrots contain vitamin A, which is important for healthy eyes.
Linda 2 years ago
Carrots certainly can improve people's eyesight, but just not as much as everyone thinks (the article talks about the specific circumstances where it can actually affect night blindness). And the British propaganda wasn't to cover their radar. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-carrots-improve-your-vision/
Icecream Sarang 2 years ago
No, but eaten in insane amounts, can turn your orange…also, feed it to your hermit crabs after molting.
aartdesigns 2 years ago
well, Trump didn't need it for his luxuriant cheeto hue...
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aartdesigns 2 years ago
Not in a long time, now that you mention it. Could they have switched to contacts! Oh those stinken little...
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Noor-Jannah <3 2 years ago
I stuck the carrots in my eyes. Can confirm my eyesight did not improve.
Laura Lett 2 years ago
I wouldn't eat slices carrots as a kid, I thought they were eyes!!
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#27
A frog thrown in a pot of boiling water will jump out immediately. If a frog is put in a pot of cool water and that water is slowly warmed, the frog won’t notice and boil to death.
This is indeed false
XenoMurph 2 years ago
This is the worst frog recipe I've ever read. I still don't know how to cook my frog.
Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago
You win the comment section today, my friend 😸
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The Scout 2 years ago
Actually the scientific evidence is inconclusive on this. In 1869 Biologist Friedrich Goltz proved experimentally that a frog with an intact brain will try to leave the water when it reaches 25 degrees Celsius, while a frog whose brain has been removed will stay in the boiling water. Heinzmann (1872) and Fratscher (1875) alleged the frog will stay in the water if heated slow enough. W. T. Sedgewick tried to explain the difference in their findings with different setups and heating rates. E. W. Scripture also recreated this experiment by increasing the temperature only by 0.002 degrees per second, leaving the frog dead after 2 1/2 hours without any move or reaction first. The later experiments by D. Melton (1995), G.R. Zug (2002), V.H. Hutchison (2202) showed that if the frog has means to jump out, it will indeed do so. What frightens me more is that there seems to be a very long and rich history of frog-boiling in science (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog for details).
Noname 2 years ago
What scares me is that millions of frogs died for the sake of science in classrooms at a premium price per frog with little educational value when the farms supplying this food source could have been feeding the poor at market price.
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Saint Thomas 2 years ago
This is more a metaphor used to illustrate the concept of habituation than an actual scientific fact.
Sue 2 years ago
It apparently doesn't work with lobster. My uncle made it for the first time, put the lobsters in then turned on the stove WITH NO LID. They climbed out & freaked him out.
David Beaulieu 2 years ago
Great, next you'll tell me that this race my rabbit is in with a turtle has a chance at losing.
Noname 2 years ago
Rabbit is also quite delicious, in both stews and on the grill. I'll never understand why scientists use food for their experiments. I guess that when they learned plants are sentient, they thought they'd hit up on the Animalia Chordata.
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Thomas Ewing 2 years ago
The frog will jump out of the cold water and luxuriate in the hot water! lol
Kira Okah 2 years ago
If you want frog soup, it is best that your frog be dead or lobotomised first (the frog that stayed in the water in the experiment this is citing had been lobotomised iirc).
Load More Replies... #28
That you can “alkalize” your body to prevent or cure disease.
Monday 2 years ago
Well.....if you alkalize your body enough you won't have to worry about any disease since you'll be dead.
Daniel Billingsley 2 years ago
Does that make it technically true then ? lol
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SkekVi 2 years ago
Do you ever run into a piece of discourse you didn't know existed at all? XD Wha... what does "alkalize" even MEAN??? XD
Steve Nelson 2 years ago
Some people think drinking alkaline water is healthy (pH>7). Streams and springs vary in nature from 5 to 10. Any alkaline water is immediately neutralized by stomach acid.
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Steve Nelson 2 years ago
The acid in the lemon will neutralize some or all of the alkalinity. But it will still taste good.
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Rachel Smith 2 years ago
This one is pretty dumb. I also think alkaline water is dumb, it won't be alkaline once it hits your stomach acid.
CHRIS DOMRES 2 years ago
Alternative physicians a few years back pushed the alkaline diet. Science has proven the body maintains a very narrow ph range. Diet has no effect whatsoever on blood pf. Any deviation and you die.
Riley Quinn 2 years ago
Has anyone ever considered the possibility that the brains behind these pseudo-science products belongs to a misanthrope whose long game is culling the herd?
#29
Women's periods don't sync up when they live together. Any syncing that occurs is a result of a coincidental overlap of their individual cycles.
Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 2 years ago
But it's with ALL my afab friends. Every single last 1. How can a coincidence like that happen?
CanadianDimes 2 years ago
In all the years that I lived with my mother, my sisters, and then later female flatmates, it never once happened to me.
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Icecream Sarang 2 years ago (edited)
I’ve seen this happen too often for it to be completely false. An example is the women in my office. We didn’t randomly overlap a few days. We got to the point where we ALL started on the same day, even changing the length of our cycles, in my case 35 days to 28. One woman was peri menopausal and completely irregular at this point. Boom, 28 day cycles. My daughter was overseas at that time. She came back, and within 2 cycles we were the same. When I became pregnant, and everyone else got thrown out of whack.
Sky Render 2 years ago
Hell, I had it happen last period! My cycle started 5 days early, despite having been entirely stable at 26 days for over a year and a half. It's remained on the new timing schedule this cycle, to boot. Some of it is probably psychosomatic (we can influence what our bodies do in ways that are frankly terrifying), but it doesn't change the fact that cycles can be synced. It just doesn't happen by default, apparently.
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Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago
Completely disagree. I work with a "super syncer." She realigned the whole team over a couple years. No one was happy then and no one is happy now when 75% of my staff are simultaneously on their period. So I've seen it play out for real.
Lama 2 years ago
This sounds like a bunch of grumpy men are just saying random sht about things they don't understand.
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Jennifer .S 2 years ago
We got taught in biopsych that there was a study in which women's periods did sync up after exposing their pheromones to each other regularly
Kitty Jordan 2 years ago (edited)
Probably the McClintock study, which was the original study that suggested they did. However, current research has since disproven that original study. You can read more about the original study and its debunking here: https://ro.co/health-guide/cycles/
Load More Replies... Jj321 2 years ago
Not supporting the myth. Just find this interesting. My daughter just started her period in March. My period came several days earlier than my normal range a few days later. She got her second period almost a month later. My period was over a week early, starting the same day as hers.
Mirabelle Skyrim 2 years ago
Two of my female colleagues used to not only sit next to each other in the office, they'd also spend a lot of their free time together. Their periods synced and they even got pregnant and gave birth less than a week apart. That's just one of many examples I know of.
Lama 2 years ago
That's called anecdotal evidence. Worth looking up, it happens so much!
Load More Replies... Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago (edited)
Sara Pascoe pointed out that, if you think about it, it would be really stupid for women to evolve in such a way that they all need extra nutrients at the same time, because it would destabilise the tribe.
Rachel Smith 2 years ago
That and cycles usually aren't consistent and could come early one month, could come late another month. It's really just coincidence if your periods overlap
KnightOwl 2 years ago
Yep, I've always known this one is a load of rubbish. I have 4 sisters, and we're all close in age. When we still lived at home, we very rarely had our periods at the same time. Even when we left home and a few of us lived together for a few years, it was very rare. I've also worked in a few all female workplaces, and even when we were really close friends, it almost never happened.
#30
I just read it recently that people believe that consuming alcohol moderately has some health benefits but it was proven by a recent study that it does not have any health benefits at all.
XenoMurph 2 years ago
That's also not true. Different drinks have different effects. "A recent study..." will be contradicted by tomorrows recent study. The reality is that there are positive and negative effects at the same time. So a study that tries to find one thing will find it, but it will exclude the other things, because that wasn't part of the research.
Bell-acose 2 years ago
I’m afraid your information is wrong sir. Alcohol has now been conclusively proven to cause cancer. Even I’m small amounts. It breaks my heart to hear it, but the science isn’t going to change. I live in Canada where they are already talking about putting warning labels on alcohol just like cigarettes. There is a tear in my beer.
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Monday 2 years ago
Really depends on what you're drinking, how much of it you're drinking and why you're drinking it. If you're a super stressed person and a glass of whatever calms you down to such an extent that you can enjoy yourself I'd argue that's a health benefit. It's not ideal of course, but still a benefit.
The Scout 2 years ago
Alcohol itself does not have positive properties, but some alcoholic drinks do. In red wine, it is not the alcohol but the flavines that give it its circulatory system benefits. The malt in beer has indeed been proven to be good for a sore throat. Even teetotaler Sebastian Kneipp, never touching other alcohol, made an exception for mead, as he was convinced its desinfectory and soothing properties (caused by its high content in methylglyoxal and propolis) had the benefits outweigh the damages.
mandy the capibara 2 years ago
There is a funny methodological reason why studies often report that al little alcohol is good for you: that is the fact that the group that drinks absolutely nothing, has a relatively high number of alcohol-addicts in it, eho have stopped drinking. But they still suffer the consequences of their previous addiction. Therefore, if you ask people how much they drink and then research their health, the group that drinks a little seems to be better of in comparison, thus giving the illusion that a little alcohol has benefits. however, you exclude previous addicts, the group that doesn't drink at all is healthier.
Is this where I put my username? 2 years ago
I've read a version of this, that sick people in general drink less. Both arguments however points to the difference between correlation and causation. Showing correlation is relatively easy. Figuring out the correct causality, if there is one, is harder. To explain with less technical terms: you see the same pattern (correlation) if sick people drink less and if drinking makes you healthy. I.e. the question is which came first (causation).
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Jared Robinson 2 years ago
As an alcoholic I can tell you it is an evil drug that should be outlawed. It's so evil that trying to get rid of it made people even more evil than they already were.
Evan not Hansen 2 years ago
Alcohol is carcinogenic, and inhibits brain function, even causing permanent damage if abused. Also, if you drink too much it can kill you, or make you do stupid things that then kill you. Alcohol itself is poisonous, but there may be other ingredients in certain alcoholic beverages that have good properties. (At least according to what I learned in Health class today)
What do you think ?
Monday 2 years ago
Half of these are just sharing the wrong belief on it's own, the other half are sharing the corrected thoughts. Really damn confusing when one post says "Gum sits in your stomach for x years" and the next says "Homosexuality is natural". Can we please stick to either sharing the lie OR sharing the truth and not mix and matching them without any indication which is which?
Tyler 2 years ago
I was just about to say the same thing! I can't tell which are saying the false belief, and which are saying the correction.
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AndThenICommented 2 years ago
Feminine and masculine energy BS. I have friends who truly believe that certain activities are inherently ‘feminine’ and when I said that’s completely man made and tied to cultural norms they were adamant that it was a truly biological thing… :-/
BeepBoop the Single Pringle 2 years ago
oh dang I wasn't expecting you to say they thought it was biological.. It's totally man made. Ugh some people should Google more (that also includes me)
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VodkaInMySweetTea 2 years ago
There is a severe lack of science in this "science has proven" thread. "I've noticed..." isn't science.
Samuel Pelatan 2 years ago
You mean it lacks scientific method or biology and social science aren't science ?
Load More Replies... DrBronxx 2 years ago
If people are going to talk about studies, they should have to cite them. I mean, I could say "it was proven by a recent study that all people named Kevin have a vestigial tail that looks like a pinky finger." That carries just as much weight as anything else here that does not have a source. If you want to prove something wrong, then PROVE it wrong. Back up your "correction".
Verena Fiori-Jambor 2 years ago
In my opinion all these threads cause even more confusion…some aren’t even proven
Illustrious G 2 years ago
Ok, I have a real one for this list, I think it’s a little more well-known now, but it was spread a lot in prior years: Baby birds will NOT be rejected by their parents if they have “human scent” on them. #1. Birds do not have that strong of a sense of smell; and #2. They have very strong parental instincts. If at all possible, return fallen babies to the nest, and if not, contact a rehabilitator in your area. And please do NOT try to raise the baby yourself if you do not have the proper materials and training!
similarly 2 years ago
I STILL don't know if high fructose corn syrup carries an increased risk of obesity and diabetes. Literally half the scientific literature says "yes" and the other half says "no". One says that the body has a more difficult time metabolizing fructose compared with glucose, and so tends to store it as fat, and the fructose can affect insulin levels in the liver. Then other scientific articles say that there's absolutely no proof of that. Which do I believe? I know this: Prior to 1980, lots of people ate lots of snacks. Plenty of plenty of people sat inside all day watching tv. Lots of people ate too much. But during the 1980s, first soft drinks and then a LOT of foods switched to HFCS and suddenly obesity and diabetes rates soared. Certainly I'm aware of Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (and similar) fallacies, but it still seems suspicious to me.
EmBree 2 years ago
My dad was 100% certain the hair dye changed the color of your hair permanently. Not the dyed part, mind you, but the color of the hair that grew out afterward. It didn't matter how many times I explained that the dark hair was my natural hair color and the light blond he remembered was my hair bleached by the sun.
Monday 2 years ago
Half of these are just sharing the wrong belief on it's own, the other half are sharing the corrected thoughts. Really damn confusing when one post says "Gum sits in your stomach for x years" and the next says "Homosexuality is natural". Can we please stick to either sharing the lie OR sharing the truth and not mix and matching them without any indication which is which?
Tyler 2 years ago
I was just about to say the same thing! I can't tell which are saying the false belief, and which are saying the correction.
Load More Replies... AndThenICommented 2 years ago
Feminine and masculine energy BS. I have friends who truly believe that certain activities are inherently ‘feminine’ and when I said that’s completely man made and tied to cultural norms they were adamant that it was a truly biological thing… :-/
BeepBoop the Single Pringle 2 years ago
oh dang I wasn't expecting you to say they thought it was biological.. It's totally man made. Ugh some people should Google more (that also includes me)
Load More Replies... VodkaInMySweetTea 2 years ago
There is a severe lack of science in this "science has proven" thread. "I've noticed..." isn't science.
Samuel Pelatan 2 years ago
You mean it lacks scientific method or biology and social science aren't science ?
Load More Replies... DrBronxx 2 years ago
If people are going to talk about studies, they should have to cite them. I mean, I could say "it was proven by a recent study that all people named Kevin have a vestigial tail that looks like a pinky finger." That carries just as much weight as anything else here that does not have a source. If you want to prove something wrong, then PROVE it wrong. Back up your "correction".
Verena Fiori-Jambor 2 years ago
In my opinion all these threads cause even more confusion…some aren’t even proven
Illustrious G 2 years ago
Ok, I have a real one for this list, I think it’s a little more well-known now, but it was spread a lot in prior years: Baby birds will NOT be rejected by their parents if they have “human scent” on them. #1. Birds do not have that strong of a sense of smell; and #2. They have very strong parental instincts. If at all possible, return fallen babies to the nest, and if not, contact a rehabilitator in your area. And please do NOT try to raise the baby yourself if you do not have the proper materials and training!
similarly 2 years ago
I STILL don't know if high fructose corn syrup carries an increased risk of obesity and diabetes. Literally half the scientific literature says "yes" and the other half says "no". One says that the body has a more difficult time metabolizing fructose compared with glucose, and so tends to store it as fat, and the fructose can affect insulin levels in the liver. Then other scientific articles say that there's absolutely no proof of that. Which do I believe? I know this: Prior to 1980, lots of people ate lots of snacks. Plenty of plenty of people sat inside all day watching tv. Lots of people ate too much. But during the 1980s, first soft drinks and then a LOT of foods switched to HFCS and suddenly obesity and diabetes rates soared. Certainly I'm aware of Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (and similar) fallacies, but it still seems suspicious to me.
EmBree 2 years ago
My dad was 100% certain the hair dye changed the color of your hair permanently. Not the dyed part, mind you, but the color of the hair that grew out afterward. It didn't matter how many times I explained that the dark hair was my natural hair color and the light blond he remembered was my hair bleached by the sun.
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