With the rapid spread of misinformation, you'd think everyone would all be a little more thorough using the super computers in our pockets to double check information. Unfortunately, not everyone does and, because of that, we have a lot of angry people who get incredibly inappropriate online when you correct them.
Sorry, but Christopher Columbus was just not that interesting of a guy.
Reddit user, u/KnotKarma, wanted to hear what we should know as false when they asked:
What myth is still widely circulated as truth?
It's My Birthday, I'm Out Of Here
homer simpson episode 20 GIFGiphyThat people in the middle ages only lived to 40 or something. There was a lot of child dead, thus lowering the average age. Living till 60, 70 years old wasn't strange.
It was definitely more common to die early because of lack of medical care, but yeah it's not like people dropped of old age at 40 or 50
Why Do We Celebrate This Guy?
People in general though the world was flat until Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
No, the Ancient World figured that out a long time before. People just thought that it wasn't possible to sail across the ocean to Asia because sailors would run out of food by then, while Columbus thought that wasn't case because he thought Asia was bigger than contemporary estimates.
Curse You For Making Me Believe In A Magical Body
That the tongue has different regions for salty, sweet, bitter and sour.
Why were we ever taught that?
Damn you Ms Frizzle!
Not How Science Works
If an HIV positive person has sex with another HIV positive person, they don't have to worry about protection. They do, because there are 140 different strains of the HIV/AIDS virus, and getting infected with another strain, especially a potentially-deadlier one, could be dangerous. Also, pregnancy is still a very big risk for HIV positive women. If you are considering a sexual relationship, get tested, and talk to your doctor about birth control.
Sounds Like Big Water Is Influencing What You Know
I was adamantly told by some seniors at work not to drink the water that boiled twice because it cooks the oxygen out of it.
What is with seniors and water that's been boiled twice? My grandmother used to say that it would make the water radioactive - I still can't wrap my head around the fact that a woman that had been a chemist her entire working life believed this.
Though I've heard others who grew up in the Soviet Union, like my grandmother, echo this so perhaps it's some silly propaganda that stuck.
Yeah, No. They Don't.
Undercover police have to tell you they are policemen when you ask them.
Breaking Bad has a great scene where an undercover cop tricks a guy into selling him drugs using this myth.
Not Just Some Of The Bread, But ALL Of The Bread
talking homer simpson GIFGiphyThe Food Pyramid
So much bread 🍞😂
Everybody knows about Big Tobacco and Big Pharma, but what about Big Gluten using scams like this to line their pockets?
Crack. A. Way.
Knuckle cracking doesn't lead to arthritis, it just an old wives tale people use in place of simply telling you it's annoying them.
Crack away!
Not As Positive An Impact As You Think
Organic crops don't use pesticides or herbicides.
Another myth is that organic farming is somehow always better for the environment. In many cases, it can actually be much worse. One example is that in conventionally grown crops, you can use precisely calibrated fertilizer so that you're "feeding" your crops exactly as much nitrogen as they need through the soil, whereas with some types of organic fertilizers, you have to way overshoot it to make sure the soil is fertilized sufficiently, which results in massive nitrogen runoff and water pollution.
It's Kind Of An All Or Nothing Deal
That you can reduce fat from a particular body part
You Know What...Maybe That One's Right.
That we only use 10% of our brain
My cousin had a roommate who thought this and tried to use "100% of his brain" to run through a wall.
Learn From Bugs Bunny
surprised homer simpson GIFGiphyBulls hate red.
They are actually colour blind and are reacting to the movement of the cloth and the a--hole behind it.
You also gotta keep in mind those bulls are poorly treated and usually given some kind of stimulants. Bulls on our ranch are actually quite friendly as long as it's not breeding season.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Unimpressed Classic Film GIF
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Cat Kitten GIF by Demic