Some of the most common forms of misinformation stem from false beliefs that have been passed down. One huge bit of terrible information taught as fact was the traditional food pyramid millennials grew up having drilled into us in school. It's almost like there might be a reason so many 90s kids have struggled with relationships with food.
GabeGecko wanted to thrash through some major misinformation they asked fellow Redditors:
“What is the most largely believed piece of misinformation?"
Teaching incorrect color theory in schools…
animation color GIF by Motion AddictsGiphy“That red yellow and blue are the primary colors for painting. It's actually magenta, yellow, and cyan - those are the real primary colors. Also, the only thing special about primary colors is that they map to the inverse of the colors our eyes see (our eyes actually see red green and blue unless you have another type of color vision).” ebray99
The biggest contributors to the climate crisis isn't you, it's industrial waste and meat production….
“Recycling. Corporations are wasting millions of tons of resources, and severely damaging the environment. Kurzgesact has a really good video on this. But to summarize: corporations have successfully shoved the climate change problem onto consumers.”
“So to elaborate: This problem isn't quite that black-and-white. The amount of waste varies a lot between countries, as well as the providences/states within countries.” Dot957
Zeus just really sucks at apologies.
“Hercules is his Greek name. It actually isn't and I think more and more people are finding out about this now but its actually Heracles/Herakles. He was named as a 'tribute' for Hera because she was upset that Zeus cheated (again).” Akane_Hyuga_2359
Much to the heartache of the horror genre…
“Inverted crosses are satanic. It is actually the St. Peter's Cross. When he was crucified, he requested to be crucified upside down because he didn't feel worth to be crucified the same way as Jesus.” EngineerMinded
You are entitled to your wrong opinion however…
“That all opinions are valid. Everyone may have opinions. Everyone may speak their mind. Everyone should pursue truths and understanding.”
“However, when debating a topic, there's a big difference between somebody who has spent their entire professional career and education on the debate's subject matter versus someone who saw a post on Facebook.” sMc-cMs
Lack of humidity means less insulation so temperatures easily rise and drop dramatically.
“Deserts are hot. Many are, but not necessarily so. The requirement is that they get less than ten inches of precipitation a year. Antarctica is a desert too.” 8dogsinatrechcoat
"She was an elderly woman who suffered from third degree burns…”
“The other day someone corrected me about the McDonalds coffee incident. I firmly believed the lady did it on purpose, but it was clear that it was accidental and McDonalds had spun a story with the media to make it look like it wasnt their fault. Kind of insane how me and most people around me were fooled by that.” Dead-HC-Taco
“She was an elderly woman who suffered from third degree burns on her thighs and vagina and had to be hospitalized. The McDonald's had been warned that their coffee was kept too hot as well, just under boiling. She initially sued them just for medical expenses because when she asked politely they refused.”
“The judge was so incensed by their behavior that he awarded her the big settlement which was so widely mocked. And anti-government regulation/pro-business groups spun it into this testimony to frivolous lawsuits. Really a shocking piece of misinformation.” ofBlufftonTown
Please call emergency services immediately and follow their guidance, not googles…
“EMT here! Boy are there a lot, but the one that comes to mind is that of someone is having a seizure you need to put something in their mouth so they don't swallow their tongue. This is false for a few reasons:
1) It is physically impossible to swallow your tongue. Go ahead and try, it's attached on pretty well.
2) Putting something in a seizure patients mouth will only introduce a choking hazard. Now the patient has two problems.
3) Seizure patients bite and they bite HARD! So if your fingers are in the patient's mouth when that bite happens, your patient will again have two problems and medical staff will have two patients.” puizunman206
The other 90% is just random facts and Tim Gunn quotes…
Mrw GIFGiphy“The whole "we only use 10% of our brains" thing. Nonsense.” JToTheGlock
Although best practice is to leave nature alone your mama was wrong on this one.
“If you touch a baby bird, their mothers will reject them.” SinisterBootySister
Many of these were considered just plain facts back in our day. Brings us back to some of the best advice one can give: “Question everything, then question the answer."
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