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Has your friend ever said something so incorrect that you actually had to stop walking to correct them? It’s even worse if you’re a specialist in the field they’re talking about and it’s always so hard to make them change their mind about it.

The good people on Reddit came together to share some of the misconceptions they’ve had to correct one too many times. 

More info: Reddit

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#1

Covid-19 Prevention Measures Work

Covid-19 Prevention Measures Work Quarantine and "stopping the curve" was not meant to prevent anyone from getting covid it was meant to slow down the spread so that hospitals did not get overloaded I'm so f*****g tired of hearing people complain about how useless quarantine was because it didn't completely magically stop covid or something when that was literally never the f*****g point Also the mask wasn't to prevent you from breathing in other people's s**t it's to stop you from spreading your germs further because many people will be asymptomatic carriers for anywhere between a few days to a few weeks after infection before showing any symptoms similar to how it's been normalized in a lot of Asian countries to for example wear a face mask if you have to go out in public even just with a cold or something it's to prevent you from spreading it to other people.

Vanilla_Neko , Thirdman Report

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    #2

    Corporations Downplay Their Responsibility In Lawsuits

    Corporations Downplay Their Responsibility In Lawsuits Frivolous lawsuits like the McDonald’s coffee example. The lady suffered 3rd degree burns from coffee spilled on her lap. Her [private part] fused!! She only wanted the bills covered. F*****g Ronald’s PR team made it seem like she took a sip of above warm coffee and sued for inconvenience. That poor woman

    DJVanillaBear , MIKI Yoshihito Report

    #3

    People With Bright Hair And Tattoos Do It For Themselves, Not Because They "Crave Attention"

    People With Bright Hair And Tattoos Do It For Themselves, Not Because They "Crave Attention" That if I have blue hair and tattoos I crave attention. Nope. I hate attention, it's panic inducing. I just really love tattoos and coloured hair and do it to make myself happy.

    Acrobatic_Average_16 , Luis Quintero Report

    In order to gain more perspective about common misconceptions people have, Bored Panda reached out to one of the commenters, toast_sweat7. Toast’s bone to pick is with people who laughingly say “I’m so OCD,” whenever they straighten something out or wipe down dust, because obsessive compulsive disorder isn't fun to have. 

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    I was kidding about the bone picking, by the way, what toast_sweat7 is more interested in is breaking stereotypes and spreading correct information about OCD.

    #4

    Just Because Someone Is Depressed, Doesn't Mean They Have To Be Sad All The Time

    Just Because Someone Is Depressed, Doesn't Mean They Have To Be Sad All The Time alterperspective said: Depression = sad. eddyathome added: You're just kind of meh about everything and nothing excites you. You have no passion for a hobby, say. You just kind of exist and do the bare minimum to exist. You don't bother with your appearance because nobody looks at you anyway. You don't do laundry because effort. You maybe watch tv but you're just kind of killing time, not really enjoying the show. It [is bad] being depressed.

    alterperspective , Pixabay Report

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    #5

    Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism

    Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism I hate having to tell people that vaccines don't cause autism. The guy who originally came up with that theory used it to push his own product at the expense of the existing vaccine, and most of the 'evidence' people point to when they believe this comes from correlation, not causation,

    cheat-master30 , Adrià Crehuet Cano Report

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    #6

    Not Everyone Wants Kids

    Not Everyone Wants Kids That everyone wants children.

    User , Ben Wicks Report

    Toast says that they hear stereotypes in common conversations. It’s not uncommon for a random conversation to follow the lines of: “I have to keep X organized because of my OCD,” with toast running across these conversations once a month, sometimes more often.

    “When I tell people I have OCD, I don't get as many stereotypes as I first did,” toast says. People associate them with germaphobia, and they may not be very far off, as they are particular about public restrooms, anything that looks like blood, and so on.

    #7

    Trans People Existed Worldwide Since Ancient Times

    Trans People Existed Worldwide Since Ancient Times There were no trans people in the past Or the apparent misconception that not letting people transition somehow makes fewer people trans

    xyious , Delia Giandeini Report

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    #8

    There Is No "Man And Woman" In A Same [intimacy]/Gender Relationship

    There Is No "Man And Woman" In A Same [intimacy]/Gender Relationship People asking my boyfriend and I which one of us is the “female and male” in the relationship. In a same-[intimacy]/same-gender relationship, there **is not** a “man and a woman”. My boyfriend and I are **both men**

    divine_invocation , Nicholas Swatz Report

    #9

    Anyone Can Be Poor

    Anyone Can Be Poor That there aren't poor white people. The color of you money separates us more than the color of your skin.

    Raztan , Ev Report

    While their coworkers stick up for them if they think something may be bothering toast, they aren’t sure the colleagues understand they react only to certain triggers: “it's not full-fledged germaphobia and it has some OCD form of 'logic' behind it.”

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    Toast doesn't really bother with correcting people in everyday conversation about it because they’re not up for the discussion. They also don’t want to assume or disregard others’ experience in case they do have some form of OCD, but they don’t think that’s the case typically.

    #10

    Neither Humans Nor Wolves Have "Alphas" And "Betas"

    Neither Humans Nor Wolves Have "Alphas" And "Betas" Alpha and beta. This is getting worse with more people using the terms. The guy who came up with them spent his entire career trying to disprove it. Humans don't have alpha and betas, wolves don't have them either. There is no pack animal on this entire planet where they have 1 ruler that dictates everything and has an absolute ruler. Pack animals work as groups based off strengths. H**l, even bees will over throw their queen if need be. I hate explaining to people how alpha and beta doesn't even make sense for survival.

    User , Bill Smith Report

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    #11

    People With Autism A Lot Of The Time Aren't Like They're Portrayed In The Media

    People With Autism A Lot Of The Time Aren't Like They're Portrayed In The Media That I am like Rain man or Sheldon Cooper because I'm autistic

    hiya84 , Bbtfan07 Report

    #12

    Introverts Aren't Always Shy, Extraverts Aren't Always Outgoing

    Introverts Aren't Always Shy, Extraverts Aren't Always Outgoing Introverted doesn’t mean you’re shy, extraverted doesn’t mean you’re outgoing.

    kingstunner , Maria Victoria Portelles Report

    “I used to comment on stupid social media quizzes about 'How OCD are you?' that have nothing to do with OCD,” toast mentions.

    Now they focus on educating people through social media, sharing articles from sources like the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF). They also participate in the organization's walking fundraiser and they may not get a lot of donors, but they feel they get more views talking about what real OCD looks like. Toast even wrote a little book about OCD stereotypes with a friend and self-published it through Kindle direct publishing.

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    #13

    Being Bisexual Doesn't Mean You're Polyamorous

    Being Bisexual Doesn't Mean You're Polyamorous Bisexual != Polyamorous. Also being bi isn't only "real" when I'm in a same [intimacy] relationship.

    User , Peter Salanki Report

    #14

    Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Isn't Like How The Stereotypes Portray It

    Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Isn't Like How The Stereotypes Portray It That OCD is all about cleanliness and germaphobia. Or that it's quirky. The stereotypes are really pervasive...I usually don't even correct individual statements anymore.

    toast_sweat7 , Jesper Sehested Pluslexia.com Report

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    #15

    The Color Of Eggs Has No Impact On Their Nutritional Value

    The Color Of Eggs Has No Impact On Their Nutritional Value *Shelling out for eggs:* People who prefer brown eggs do so because they believe brown eggs are healthier and more natural than white eggs. However, the truth is that all eggs are nutritionally very similar, regardless of their size, grade, or color. Both brown and white eggs are healthy foods. A typical egg contains lots of vitamins, minerals, and high quality protein, all wrapped up into less than 80 calories.

    Back2Bach , Katherine Chase Report

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    #16

    AI Is Not Conscious

    AI Is Not Conscious The current versions of AI are not conscious, they do not "think," they do not "understand," and they sure as s**t don't "feel" or "experience." I see people talking about chatgpt like, "let's listen to what it wants from us, we need to understand what it is experiencing." There is no it. There is no there there. The way people anthropomorphize AI with total conviction, total certainty that it is just a breath away from consciousness, is really irritating not because it's a crazy idea, it's not, but because people reach their conclusion based on zero understanding of how the technology works. It's OK to not understand how it functions, but then the next step is to educate yourself, not dive into the deep end of ignorance and assume you know something that is just wrong. "If I don't understand it, no one understands it," is the gist of how people decide they are right, and it's tiring. Read a book, read the documentation, come up with a more sophisticated opinion.

    3SquirrelsinaCoat , Kindel Media Report

    Zafrod O
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This one's a bit circular. That AI doesn't "think" is still a pretty loaded argument. Those who argue it definitely doesn't tend to be showing less about their understanding of transformer-based LLM architecture, and more about their limited understanding of cognitive science and philosophy of the mind. If you know how LLMs work, and you understand schema theory, the difference is a lot less evident - more about substrate than function. Even major industry people are starting to recognize this - see recent changes in Anthropic's public stances. This isn't to say that "AI is conscious." It's more that consciousness is a really fuzzy term, and anthropocentrism is as rampant as anthropomorphism.

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    Toast would like for people to know a lot more about OCD: “I'd like readers to know that OCD is mental torture. We have an intrusive thought and latch onto it. If I had this horrible thought, it must make me a horrible person, right? No, but OCD says yes.”

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    There are a lot of different obsessions and compulsions, and they’re typically not logical. OCD sufferers generally know that, but the miniscule chance of 'X is true' or 'Y will happen and it will be my fault' overrides everything else.

    Toast would also adopt other people’s symptoms if they read about them. At this point, toast has been exposed to so much information, takes medication, and has been in therapy, so they aren’t as worried about that anymore. Yet OCD attempts to find new ways to present itself - it’s a sneaky and creative disorder.

    #17

    You Won't Lose Money If You Get A Raise, Because You Will Get Into A "Higher Tax Bracket"

    You Won't Lose Money If You Get A Raise, Because You Will Get Into A "Higher Tax Bracket" I’m a payroll accountant. If I have to explain to one more person that you can’t lose money by getting a raise because you’re in a “higher tax bracket” they are going to have to change the term going postal to going payroll.

    TheLeopardColony , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

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    #18

    People Should Be Talking About Rich Schools vs. Poor Schools, Rather Public vs. Private Education

    People Should Be Talking About Rich Schools vs. Poor Schools, Rather Public vs. Private Education People that argue about private educating vs public education don't understand the fight. Private schools exist in poor areas too and barely survive. What they are really fighting about is the filthy rich vs poor schools.

    User , Sam Balye Report

    #19

    Only 10% Of People With Tourette's Swear Compulsively

    Only 10% Of People With Tourette's Swear Compulsively Only 10 percent of people with Tourette's Syndrome compulsively swear.

    HallieAlford , Pixabay Report

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    #20

    Working From Home May Be Better Than Working From The Office

    Working From Home May Be Better Than Working From The Office Work from home is better than going into the office. Sorry Jan that you can't walk around staring at your workers computer screens. Just have to trust us I guess.

    johnnyfreedom76 , Vlada Karpovich Report

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    “You might not be able to immediately tell someone is engaging in an OCD compulsion. Some are mental compulsions that can be invisible, or maybe the person won't seem entirely present in the conversation,” toast provides. They may be repeating or mouthing phrases that are compulsions for soothing their anxiety, which is only temporary.

    Others engage in behaviors that the average person associates with OCD, for example, washing hands until they’re raw and bleeding. 

    What people don’t see is other, more detailed reasoning: "I have to wash my hands because I touched that binder from science class that touched the table that had people's hands and pencils on it, people/pencils who were in the same lab with me growing E. coli, they might not have washed their hands well and I don't want to get myself/my family/my friends/my dog sick."

    #21

    Your Immune System Wouldn't Attack The Eye If It "Found Out About It"

    Your Immune System Wouldn't Attack The Eye If It "Found Out About It" That the eye has its own immune system, and if your brain found out about the eye it would attack and destroy it. * The brain doesn't control the immune system that way, like a general sending soldiers to attack. * The eye has the same immune system as the body, it just has some immune privileges. * The one area that doesn't have the immune system is the cornea, because it's not vascularized.

    Throwaway070801 , João Jesus Report

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    #22

    Being Bipolar Doesn't Mean You're Happy One Day And Sad The Next

    Bipolar disorder doesn’t mean one day you’re super happy, full of life and then the next hour you’re sad, tired and mad

    User Report

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    #23

    Southwest US Is Running Out Of Water Because Of Agriculture And Irrigation

    Southwest US Is Running Out Of Water Because Of Agriculture And Irrigation That the southwest US is running out of water because too many people live here. It's almost entirely a problem of agriculture, not houses.

    climb-it-ographer , Aleksandr Slobodianyk Report

    #24

    Daddy Long-Legs Spiders Aren't Venomous At All

    Daddy Long-Legs Spiders Aren't Venomous At All Daddy Long Legs spiders are nowhere near the most venomous spiders

    VividUnderstanding68 , Mike Keeling Report

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    People may walk a certain route, knock three times, avoid a pair of socks, arrange books perfectly, retype a sentence perfectly or do any number of unrelated things because someone may get hurt or die if they don’t.

    Toast says that they would have to make sure that they didn’t hit a person when hitting a pothole. Later on they’d hit the same pothole and have to turn around to check again. Logically, they know that they didn’t hit someone, but the “what if” remains.

    There is a reason why OCD is the “doubting disorder.” Toast finishes the interview by saying that there are a lot of resources about it, but they recommend the IOCDF, which you should definitely check out if you’re interested.

    #25

    The Red Fluid In Steaks Isn't Blood, It's Water And Myoglobin

    The Red Fluid In Steaks Isn't Blood, It's Water And Myoglobin As someone who currently goes to cooking school if i need to explain that the red s**t you see coming out of your medium rare steak isn’t blood one more time im gonna have a god [darn] aneurysm. For this fact, Bored Panda reached out to the post for a bit more insight into food misconceptions. Another common myth that Weirdo mentioned is people believing all fats are bad. There are, actually, healthy and unhealthy fats. Healthy fats are in foods like avocado and are very nutritious. On the other hand, trans fats are one of the worst things you can have as they can cause heart and other issues. "Not all fats cause you to get "fat," for lack of a better term. Mainly it's sugar that gets people all fatty, not the actual fat from food." Weirdo69213 doesn't suggest that all kinds of fats are good, but that you should be more informed about them and know what you're eating and what they may be doing to your body.

    Weirdo69213 , Kasumi Loffler Report

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    #26

    Countries Producing Lots Of Goods Also Create High-Quality Ones, But They Are Usually Ordered To Cut Costs

    Countries Producing Lots Of Goods Also Create High-Quality Ones, But They Are Usually Ordered To Cut Costs That countries like China are incapable of manufacturing a quality product. They can make whatever you ask them to. But they’re usually asked to cut corners to make it as cheap is possible.

    grptrt , Alexander Isreb Report

    #27

    Not All Romani People Are From Romania

    Me being Romani means i come from Romania

    Craigothy-YeOldeLord Report