Popular Myths That People Still Tell Each Other

Author image for Eric Lund
Eric Lund
Nov 24, 2021 2:00 PM EST

If something wrong gets said enough, it sort of develops its own gravity. And that pull towards wrong and dumb thinking is strong. As it turns out, if people just say something a lot, that doesn't necessarily mean it's true. So here are some untrue things people can't seem to shake. And also, if someone tells you that they're allergic to MSG, ask them if they eat Doritos. To fill your head with better junk, here are some strange scientific facts to ponder.

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  • 01
    Font - didnsignup4dis · 8h O 9 12 5 3 6 That you need to wait 24 hours to report a missing person. If you sincerely think someone is missing, then report it. The faster that a missing person report is filed, the better chance there is that the person will be found. This is especially crucial when it comes to missing children.
    via AskReddit
  • 02
    Font - Back2Bach · 9h S 2 The belief that "lightning never strikes twice in the same place." Actually it does, and sometimes with great frequency.
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  • 03
    Font - SofaSurfer9 · 7h 7e3 3 3 The belief that touching a fawn or a baby bird will make the mother abandon it. Complete and utter bullshit. If you find a bird out if the nest it most likely fledged. If not and it is visibly very small it is perfectly fine to pick it up and place it back in the nest. Same with fawns, animal instincts are much MUCH stronger than to just abandon their young because of smell. It has to do more with the fact that fawns hide in tall grass from predators and the mothe
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  • 04
    Footwear - BelicianPixieFry - 9h · edited 7h 3 2 The middle ages were less barbaric and dark than we think
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  • 05
    Smile - ELpork · 8h 2 2 3 3 Leaning your head back for a bloody nose.
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  • 06
    Font - Vaivaim8 · 8h 2 MSG is harmful and east asian cuisine is bad because of MSG 15.0k Reply Share Report Save ExtrapolatedData - 7h My wife used to think she had an allergy to MSG, because the only two Chinese restaurants in our home town that didn't make her sick were the ones that claimed not to use it. It wasn't until she started noticing how many other things she eats that have MSG that she realized that it probably wasn't what was making her sick.
    via AskReddit
  • 07
    Font - vacannabisgrower · 7h 2 2 e S The alpha/ beta social hierarchy that we "observed" in wolves. The researcher who performed the experiment realized he had made many mistakes in his original take, and has spent the rest of his life trying to undo the damage that report has created.
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  • 08
    Font - boredsaffron - 9h 3 That getting caught in rain causes a cold
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  • 09
    Font - beactiveiseasy · 7h 2 e Anyone says you can trim fat in "X" area by doing "Y" exercises. Totally impossible. You lose fat proportionally over all areas of your body, you can't just target one area to work on.
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  • 10
    Font - JoonieWasTaken · 7h · edited 6h I'm Britain, kids are told that if they eat carrots it will help them see in the dark This originated from world war 2, it's crazy how many people actually still believe it
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  • 11
    Font - harleyhemp - 8h That black ladybugs with red spots are poisonous
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  • 12
    Font - Wisebutt98 - 8h - edited 1h The concept of pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps. This phrase was coined as an impossibility, and yet we still expect people to be successful using this as an example. EDIT: I fear some commenters missed the point of this. No one is saying you cannot succeed. But grab onto your shoes and try to pull yourself up; you can't do that. This phrase first appeared in the 19th century in a newspaper article criticizing a charlatan making unverified claims. The
    via AskReddit
  • 13
    Font - Rock3tCat · 6h Humans only use 10% of their brain. Aside from the overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary (fMRI, etc.), evolution wouldn't have developed such a massive energy-sucking organ over those millions of years if it wasn't being used
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  • 14
    Font - sansaman · 6h This is in India. If you pass out / faint, rub the persons feet to wake them up. Tv serials taught the population this trick. Now people do this for all passing out, including drownings, heart attacks, and other serious ailments.
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  • 15
    Font - superflippy · 7h e That the Marshmallow Experiment demonstrated that kids who can delay gratification will be more successful later in life. On further review, it was discovered that what it actually demonstrated was that kids who are not economically disadvantaged will be more successful. But the most recent study found no meaningful correlation between the ability to delay gratification as a child & success later in life.
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  • 16
    Font - felixrocket7835 - 8h That snakes are evil and will attack you. Snakes are very shy creatures who are afraid of humans and only bites in self defense.
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  • 17
    Gesture - Olivertwist43 - 4h That OCD is liking things to be extremely neat, tidy or organized.
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  • 18
    Font - UrBoiEthan101 · 10h That ancient humans were very stupid, which for some reason to this day has been insanely persistent. So much so we give them nicknames that we pass off as what they are actually referred to as, like 'cavemen' or 'Neanderthals' which doesn't make sense because Neanderthals weren't even humans to begin with, they are a whole separate species of hominid. Ancient humans were very smart, so smart in fact I would argue they are more smart then us modern humans. We definitel
    via AskReddit
  • 19
    Human body - TemptCiderFan - 7h That hard work guarantees success, and that rich people are always hard-working, successful people.
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  • 20
    Font - lolhead_stomp · 6h A cop has to tell you they are a cop if you ask. Not encouraging criminals here, but of you are up to some shady s! and think someone might be a cop, shut up and leave go about your shady business later somewhere else.
    via AskReddit
  • 21
    Font - jburdine · 7h Adding another lane will make traffic go away 347 Reply Share Report Save hunertproof · 3h Traffic happens because people follow too closely and have brake unnecessarily. My fiancé's friend would tailgate like crazy, when she was asked why, she said to make room for more cars on the highway. Some people are just stupid.
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  • 22
    Font - Wildcard1016 - 6h That the Vikings wore horned helmets. There's no evidence that they did.
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