22 Myths That People Believe Are True Despite The Fact That They're Actually Very, Very False
Recently over on the Ask Reddit subreddit, u/JoeyDotnot posed the question, "What's the dumbest myth people today believe?" The responses came pouring in with people sharing the most ridiculous, silly, or utterly unbelievable myths that either they used to believe themselves or that they've heard other people believe. Here are just some of the best ones:
1."Black belts have to register their fists as weapons. I can't believe I fell for that."
"I had an ex tell me this. She had 'papers' and everything."
2."There are still people who believe that having sex in certain positions can influence the sex of your unborn child or impact whether you have twins/multiples. It absolutely cannot."
"I had a friend who thought if you didn’t have sex or masturbate for a while, then it increased your chances of having twins/triplets."
3."You have to wait 48 hours to report someone missing. There's actually no time limit."
4."I had somebody tell me that it was really windy the other day because there was a meteor that passed close to Earth."
5."My dad had this friend who told him, 'If you sleep with your hair wet, you will bleed out of your mouth.' And he was 110% sure that was fact. We were both just confused and bewildered at this statement. What the hell had this guy witnessed?!"
6."That humans only use 10% of their brain. This is false, regardless of how those who proclaim this myth seemingly demonstrate that it is in fact true."
—u/MatthewWakeman"I had a health teacher in school who told us once it's 'probably' okay to actually drink during pregnancy because chances are the brain damage will happen to the 90% of the brain humans don't use, so it won't have any effect on the baby."
7."That you shouldn't flash your lights at a car that has their headlights off because it's actually a gang initiation rite. They would kill the first person to flash their lights at them. This whole thing's totally made up."
"I remember when this hit the news back in the '90s. They ran stories about not flashing oncoming cars or you may be shot."
8."Anything about MSG. I battle with my health conscious wife about this often."
"MSG gets such a bad rap, and it's all due to some racist shithead from decades ago. Almost nobody has any real allergic reaction to it, and most of the ones who say they do, just think they do. It naturally occurs in all kinds of foods that most people eat regularly."
"It's funny that it became associated with Chinese food when it's basically a cornerstone of most Italian American dishes as well."
9."That shaving makes your hair grow back thicker. My 37-year-old partner still believes this and it does my nut in!"
"My mom laid this on me THICK when I started asking her if I could shave my legs. She made me think that once you shave, you can’t go back to not shaving or you’ll turn into Sasquatch. In reality, the hair just looks different after shaving because it has a blunt edge."
10."Halloween candy is commonly laced with drugs or razor blades."
"No one — and I mean NO ONE — is giving their drugs to your eight-year-old for free."
11."Many people still believe hymens are like plastic food seals that cover up the vaginal opening and get popped when you have sex for the first time, and if a person with a vagina doesn't bleed, then they're not a virgin. This is so wrong."
12."That blood is blue before it leaves your body and comes into contact with oxygen. I don’t understand these people because blood literally carries oxygen through your body."
"I was taught by multiple teachers that this is true."
13."That eating soy makes you get boobs, or that it's bad for men. Soy has phytoestrogen, aka plant estrogen. It causes little to no harmful effects on humans, and if it does, it's because the person consumed way too much. Soy actually has tons of health benefits."
14."So many people think narwhals are mythical."
"I was 15 when I found out narwhals were real. In my defense, how on Earth are they real?"
15."Eating carrots helps you see in the dark."
"This actually started as UK propaganda in WWII to hide the existence of radar from the Germans. Instead of revealing that they were able to shoot down German planes at night because of the new radar technology, the British said carrots gave them night-vision."
16.“'Lightning never strikes the same place twice.' Yes it does."
17."That you should pee on a jellyfish sting. Please don’t do that."
18."The myth that multiple partners will make a vagina 'loose.' Here's what actually happens: the vagina 'tents up' during arousal to create more room for a penis, sort of like a reverse erection. Being nervous can inhibit that process, and people who are less experienced may be more nervous. Unless there is a medical condition like vaginismus present, experienced people with vaginas have an easier time relaxing enough to make penetration possible. You're not supposed to cram it in there when they're not warmed up and euphemize it with 'you're so tight, baby.'"
19."That an MLM can actually work. Sorry, but you're selling rubbish to people who don't want it. If you're as successful as your Instagram account claims you are, you'd be getting scouted by top sales firms, not trying to sell dishcloths and vitamin pills at £50 a go."
"MLMs don't work for most people. They only work for the first few who get into a territory and amass huge teams. I know one person who is indeed making millions per year, but she was literally the first ever rep for the company."
20."The whole 'Alpha/Beta male' thing."
"I love it, though, because it’s like a big neon sign telling me to avoid all of those people like the plague."
21."Fish only have a five-second memory. Not true. My fish are fed automatically on a timer, and they know dinner time better than my goddamn cat."
22.And finally, "That detox drinks work."
"I used to work somewhere that sold juice cleanses. Your body does not need something to cleanse its liver and kidneys like that. Your liver and kidneys are the cleansers. If anything, you're just giving them a break by laying off alcohol and cheeseburgers. You only feel better because for a couple days you're actually getting some vitamins into your system for once and aren't eating steaming piles of shit at every meal. It's not the presence of the juice, it's the absence of the other shit."
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
