We don't realize how much about the world we don't know. There's a million "facts" we're told from the moment we enter school we live our whole lives thinking to be true. Honestly, a quick peek at the super computer we all carry in our pockets can teach us a thing or two about well-known "facts" and "truths" regarding yawning, Christopher Columbus, and goldfish.
Time to educate ourselves.
Reddit user, u/Fred_the_human_1, wanted to know what isn't true when they asked:
What widely accepted fact do you know is wrong?
You're All Going To Do It In 3...2...1...
tired homer simpson GIFGiphyThat yawning simply indicates that you're tired.
Sometimes you do yawn as your body is preparing for sleep, but it's more likely that's because we react with a yawn when changing our physical state. This could also be when you become more alert and awake or when you're breathing differently.
That's definitely not the only reason we yawn. It could be for getting extra oxygen into our blood, a reaction to being bored and not getting much stimulation or for cooling down our brain.
It's Dead. Sorry.
That the Megladon may still be out there. No. The skeletons found stop at a certain period of time thousands and thousands of years ago. If they were still alive in some "great underground ocean" we would have found skeletal evidence by now.
Sometimes The Lie Is More Important Than The Truth
Albert Einstein was:bad at math in school, a dunce, learned to read late, et al.
Albert Einstein was an above average student from day 1 and by 6th grade was reading college level physics books. He learned to read at an exceptionally early age, most historians believe he did not have a learning disorder but like Isaac Newton did display some signs of mild Aspergers and the believed origin of the "dunce" story is his entrance exam to Zurich Polytechnic. He was 16 at the time, did not know a lot of French which was the language of the test and he aced the math portion. Math is the same in every language. He however bombed the botany, zoology and language sections most likely due to the language barrier.
However I can say, as a disinterested elementary student who had little interest to apply myself, being told those lies did help. I became very interested in Einstein and wanted to "succeed" too. I graduated just shy of valedictorian and that's from being nearly held back in 4th grade for not learning or doing my work.
Longer Than You Thought
That people used to often die in their 20s. The average age for people in the Middle Ages was around 25, but that's not because people died when they were 25. Most people lived to about 50, but there were a ton of deaths at birth, and that brought down the "average" lifespan.
Protect Your Digital Neck
That you need anti-virus software on your PC.
Modern operating systems and web browsers are perfectly capable of defending you against most threats, assuming you're not doing anything egregiously risky.
A lot of anti-virus software is more likely to be the way viruses get in to your system than the reason they can't.
Turns Out Everything Your Parents Know Is Wrong
Blood is not blue inside the body. (Mother insists this is true because her college professor told her that in the 80s.)
Bring her to the blood donation centre. Blood is clearly red in the bags, and it should not be mixing with air.
Just Another Reason To Hate Columbus
That people in the Middle Ages believed the Earth was flat. It was a rather common knowledge since the Ancient Greece that the Earth is round. Hence Columbus argued that he can find a way to India by sailing the other way.
Settle Down, Tesla Fanboys
Edison didn't invent the lightbulb, he just invented the filament that makes it last longer. Joseph Swan invented the bulb years before.
Canadians Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans also invented an electric lightbulb, and they sold the patent of that lightbulb to Edison. Edison may have made the lightbulb more practical but a big part of his legacy comes from the fact that he was pretty good at credit stealing too.
Everyone! Stop Eating Carrots!
Carrots improve your eyesight.
It was British WW2 propaganda to cover up the fact that radar had been invented
For people into conspiracy theories, this is what actual conspiracies look like
And notice that it didn't stay hidden because conspiracies are impossible to keep quiet.
Eat How You Want, When You Want
homer simpson eating GIFGiphyBreakfast is not the most important meal of the day.
Cooking vegetables in the microwave is not bad for them.
The food pyramid is not the most health way to eat.
We do not need three meals a day.
Breakfast is somewhat of a social construct sold to people by marketing campaigns. I get flac sometimes for not eating "breakfast food" when I wake up in the morning but it honestly doesn't matter. I'll often eat leftovers for breakfast as well, which was apparently the most common form of breakfast before the "breakfast food" marketing took hold.
Flip Flops. Those Are Flip Flops.
It's illegal to drive without shoes.
This is false.
Without shoes is better than with thongs
Pumped Up For A Different Reason
That children eating too much sugar makes them hyperactive.
Kids especially eat it at birthday parties, Halloween, Christmas, other candy filled holidays/events. They're not bouncing off the walls because they're on a crazed sugar high, they're bouncing off the walls because they're happy and excited. Chances are if you eat something with lots of sugar when blood sugar levels are already regulated, it will just store the sugar as fat rather than use it for energy. If the body really needs to use the energy, it will.
Maybe Change The Name To A Shapiro
That Napoleon was short. He was 5'6 which was average height by the standards of the day. People believed it because of differences in French units which made him 5'2. It was likely also partly because he was always surrounded by grenadiers, who were typically big strong dudes. British propaganda undoubtedly played a huuuge part in perpetuating the myth too.
Accepted Fact that is wrong: Cow's consistently produce milk, and if they don't get milked they become ill.
Cow's only produce milk when they become pregnant, and that milk would normally be fed to their babies, but we take that milk for our own consumption until she stops producing it, at this point we force her to become pregnant again.
The male baby cow's get killed on there first day of life, the females grow up to become pregnant and milked...and then killed.
Bonus accepted fact that is wrong: Milk is good for you.
The Scent Of A Woman
That a mother bird will abandon her young if she smells the scent of humans on them.
This is not true. Find a baby on the ground beneath its nest? Gently scoop it up and return it to its nest and the parents will continue to care for it.
Edit...As it has been pointed out in several responses, if you ever find yourself in a position in which you feel the need to put a baby bird back in its nest, be certain that said baby bird is not a fledgling trying to learn to fly (although I imagine it would simply just hop right back out of its nest).
Ah, So They Died Another Way?
Dutch sailors didn't hunt dodos to extinction.
Their meat was so rubbery they left it alone. They imported pigs and dogs which ate their eggs which it lays on ground and they had a very slow reproduction cycle.
Every Parent Of A 5-Year Old Has Some Explaining To Do
Goldfish only grow to the size of their bowls.
An average household goldfish will only grow a small amount because the vast majority are malnourished and living in poor conditions. In the wild, a goldfish can grow up to 30cm long and live to around 20 years.
The common picture most people have of goldfish is essentially the same as if you'd only ever seen malnourished children and assumed that's just what all humans looked like.
Do We Just Not Understand Goldfish At All?
That goldfish have a five second memory. It's simply not true. Fish intelligence is vastly underestimated. Some fish can solve complex problems and many can recognize individual human faces.
Got It? GOT IT?
angry homer simpson GIFGiphyThe hymen is not a paper-thin layer of skin that breaks with penetration, nor is that the reason why some women, (or in some people's minds, all women) bleed when losing their virginity. This one is more a myth, but its still widely accepted as a fact from what I can tell.
For real, I have been told by multiple doctors that I simply don't have a hymen. I'm not born with one. Not sure if being a man has something to do with it?
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.