Redditor P-o-t-a-t-o-o wanted to hear what shocking things we've heard people say they think is truth.
So they asked:
"What is the stupidest thing a large amount of people believe in?"
I'm still stunned to meet Flat Earthers. I mean...
Careless...
Rich Get Richer Make America Great Again GIF by Creative CourageGiphy"That influencers, politicians and businesses are genuinely interested in you and your lives."
badblackguy
Doesn't Hurt
"We have blue blood and it turns red when exposed to oxygen."
gladiiisss
"I remember being literally taught this in elementary school. And the whole different areas of the tongue's taste buds are for specific flavors. I had a first grade teacher encourage us to pull out strands of our hair claiming it 'doesn't hurt.' So many lies. And I got in trouble for ever questioning them."
The_Geekachu
Obvious
"MLMs."
Specialist_Watch1081
"Lots of people who are actively in MLMs also believe MLM's are stupid. They just believe their MLM somehow is not an MLM because it's called something else like 'network marketing' or they are an 'independent distributor.'"
ReturnedAndReported
"I don't know how people can make it this far in life in modern society and still not be able to spot the obvious scams."
silenttd
The Fixer
"A college dropout with tax evasion case will fix the Philippine economy again. 31 million people actually believed this."
Aggravating-Ice6053
"Can confirm. Im a Filipino living in the Philippines. It's absolute hell in here. BBM supporters call it the "golden era" but I swear, we struggle to buy food right now, considering that you're middle class. Imagine the poor people living here. What's worse is we fought for this back in 1986 to make sure the reign of the Marcoses never happen again."
"Hundreds and Thousands of lives lost all for nothing. That's what stupidity and bribery does."
"I'm really glad that other people are aware of this issue, and not just us Filipinos. Gives us a sense of hope that hopefully one day we can bounce back from this. Honestly a lot of Filipinos have already migrated to other countries, so that should give you an idea what kind of situation the Philippines is in right now."
Mimble_Amagi
Seconds Off
Time Mma GIF by UFCGiphy'''I'll be there in 5 minutes.'"
Blonde_girl713
"'I'm on my way right now.""
Fine_Cheek_4106
Being on time... just say you're gonna be late if that's the issue.
Not a Knockout
Knock Out Chloroform GIF by Bailingguo NewsGiphy"That a little bit of chloroform on a rag over someone's nose and mouth for a few seconds renders them unconscious. Totally not from first hand experience."
rone007
Not so far fetched...
"Scientology."
1smartchickey1_1
"I’ll never forget watching the South Park episode about Scientology and thinking 'haha yeah this cannot be real, this stuff is way too far fetched.' And then I googled it and googled the instruments they use for Scientology and who some well known names are that were who were part of Scientology and I was completely shocked."
Conz_
Representation
"That millionaire politicians will represent the working class."
TheBatjedi
"I absolutely hate the concept of 'he is not in it for money, he already has enough' when talking about rich politicians. Please show me a single multi-billionaire who is not constantly trying to get richer. No one suddenly flips a switch from from exploitative capitalist to public servant. Every single rich politician is only interested in getting more wealth/money and to think otherwise is naive."
Al_Tilly_the_Bum
Be Nice
"That screaming at whichever hapless employee had to answer your call will magically get a supervisor on the line."
"It might work in a few places, but the person you want to talk to is probably too busy to deal with you (or they don’t care), and the person you’re cursing out is being paid to handle calls so their boss don’t have to do that on top of their actual job, too."
"At least that’s been the case at most of the places where I’ve worked. (Note: I have never worked in a call center, so no, there wasn’t a supervisor standing by.)"
"Incidentally, when I was a partial owner of a small business, anyone who was abusive to an employee was banned, full stop. I refused to tolerate that nonsense."
"Edit: holy cow, this blew up. Remember to be nice to the people who did show up for work and are trying to help you…their hands may be tied."
littlelostangeles
Smile...
John Candy Reaction GIF by LaffGiphy"That 'mental illnesses aren't real.'"
guitarist4hire
"A few years back, I remember talking to a coworker one day about a really bad depression episode I was having and my boss overheard, he scoffed and was like 'Depression? Just think happy thoughts and be happy.'"
Bacon-Manning
How are we so gullible?
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.
By Inches....
"If the earth moved just 10 inches, then we would all be dead." Parakeet63
It varies by like 2 million miles. Inches? Ha! Disposedofhero
By a Hair....
GiphyHair grows back stronger after being razored off. fake_applause
I was told this for so long. A 12 year old has the sense to see that the stubble that occurs after shaving just feels and looks more coarse because of the blunt ends. And I was taught this by every female role model like it was the gospel truth. Fantastic-Mrs-Fox
Gumballs....
"Swallowing the gum will make it stick to the stomach" Paul-Stefan
My most embarrassing life story involves me getting a gumball machine for Christmas when I was 6 or 7, and essentially eating the entire machine worth of gumballs in a single day, leading to a rockhard, butt-busting solid gum turd that scarred me emotionally for years. Swallow that one piece and live your best life though y'all.
Edit: thanks for the platinum for sharing my childhood cautionary tale, I feel so redeemed after 30 years of shame haha. meghankerry
Stunted.
Caffeine can stunt your growth.
Caffeine doesn't stunt your growth! It's been scientifically proven that an average dose of caffeine has no affect on your height. Caffeine does not affect growth hormones unless it is in absurd amounts. Like 35 cups of straight caffeine, not 2 cups of coffee and a Mountain Dew.
Edit: Heck this blew up! Also I don't have citations, but I did a school project on this topic. Thanks for the award :). TitaniumGhostMaster
Oink.
GiphyNot a fact. However, "sweating like a pig" is a phrase often used, and seldom do pigs sweat. They're always rolling around in the mud to keep cool. penguin-jesus
Eat Up.
You eat 8 spiders per year while sleeping or whatever. OldPepper12
"average person eats 8 spiders a year" factoid actually just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier and should not have been counted. HandLion
Popped.
That popping/crunching joints on your hands will give you arthritis. It's not true. KiokoMisaki
It's the synovial fluid being moved around the joint and displacing gas bubbles.
Which is why you can't pop the same knuckle twice in a row very easily. You have to wait for the gas to move back into the joint to be able to displace it again. Littlebrin
Mad is Mad.
'If you tell me, I won't get mad." Thatlamereddituser
"I'm not mad; I'm just disappointed"
They're also mad. SeedlessGrapes42
I've been in both situations.
- Finding out a random friend stole a measly $10 from me in college. Not mad, just disappointed that he would risk the friendship over something so petty.
- Finding out that my group of closest friends all decided together to start a D&D campaign without anyone mentioning it to me or asking if I wanted to join. Going so far as apparently specifically telling everyone not to let me know they were excluding me. Not mad, just disappointed... actually no I was so legitimately upset that I couldn't sleep even 12 hours after I found out. Namika
Hence, sham-poo.
Roman people would use bird poop to dye their hair (true). The birds used to produce the poop were actually somewhat expensive to keep, it wasn't just random chickens. It got so popular that opportunistic people would mix together things that looked like the bird poop to sell, and ended up using fats (for texture and consistency) and lye (for color). This counterfeit poop ended up being more popular in the long run thanks to it's cleaning effects. Hence, sham-poo. Reverse_Waterfall
I See You.
Giphy"Eating carrots improves your eyesight."
This nugget of false wisdom originates with WWII Allied propaganda and its efforts to conceal a technology from the Nazis.
One of the ways the British defended against bombing raids was by holding blackouts to make it harder for incoming planes to find their targets.
At the same time the Allies were curiously good at shooting down German planes despite the blackouts. This needed a cover story because it's (incoming pun warning) blindingly obvious that small mobile aircraft are slightly harder targets at than large stationary factories and cities.
Hence the explanation that defensive gunners were supplied with a diet high in vitamin A to promote good night vision. Hence carrots.
It's true that vitamin A deficiency can contribute to vision loss. The public garbled this into a notion that excess vitamin A intake imparts super-vision. Actually what adequate Vitamin A mostly does is prevent the cornea from excessive dryness (which can be one cause of clouded vision).
The myth about carrots persisted in popular culture long after radar stopped being a classified technology.
Source:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-wwii-propaganda-campaign-popularized-the-myth-that-carrots-help-you-see-in-the-dark-28812484/ doublestitch
Yes Officer.
Giphy"If you tell me the truth you won't get in trouble"
-A cop, to 16 year old me. wednesdaythecat
The 2....
The US 2 dollar bill is no longer printed for circulation and as such has been hoarded by collectors. Because it's been hoarded, its extremely valuable.
2 dollar bills are still being printed, though none will be printed in 2020 because there is enough supply of them to meet what little demand there is. Since they are hoarded by collectors, and money collectors are really the only people who want MULTIPLE 2 dollar bills, there is almost no extra value in them.
Basically, anyone who wants 2 dollar bills has a stockpile of them already and anyone who wants one and doesn't have one can easily get one from a collector or even your local bank. Since no extra value exists in them over their 2 dollar face value, many hoarders are willing to part with a bill or two. cabavion92
NASA Budgets....
NASA spent millions of dollars on a pen that could work in space, while the Russians just used a pencil.
They didn't spend the money developing the pen (Fisher did, and then approached NASA). novayamodel
Also they wanted a pen stead of a pencil so there was less chance of graphite breaking off and getting into the electronics. Selfaware-potato
REALITY: CO....
"Carbon Monoxide is heavier than air, so put your detectors close to the floor. The first people to die of CO poisoning are the ones lying down."
REALITY: CO is about the same density as air (in fact it is actually slightly lighter than air), so it doesn't matter where you put your detectors. This myth likely started because CO fatalities are most likely to occur while people are sleeping because they are not aware of the symptoms of poisoning (ie dizziness, nausea, etc) vs. those who are awake. goodluck_canuck
She Real!!!
Giphy"My girlfriend goes to another school." DefinetlyARealPerson
But my high school boyfriend really did go to a different school! Fortunately he came around to my school enough that people saw him, plus my friends knew him. He was hot too. shinygreensuit
You're Blanked!
Blanks are harmless. Semideleted
The gun works this way: the propellant gas propels whatever's in front of it at high velocity. So instead of sending a small slug of lead into your skull, the blank sends a small slug of your skull bone into your skull. sharfpang
Report Now!
Always wait 24 hours before reporting a missing person. Pojinator89
After 24 hours the missing person's survival chances drop dramatically. hydrogen_bromide
Fake Eyes.
Your eyes don't grow (this is fake). They do actually grow but they grow very slowly (like REALLY slowly)
Edit: (found this out from my eye doctor or whatever you call them) apparently not wearing your glasses won't make your eyes worse and wearing them also won't make your eyes better. Numbnipples4u
in case of war.....
On the US interstate system it was designed so that at least one mile in every 5 miles was straight so that it could be used as a runway by the military in case of war. This was done to appease certain politicians that opposed the massive spending on the interstate project. diiejso
Bye Bye Birdie....
GiphyIf a baby bird falls out of a tree, touching it will make it smell human and cause the mum to abandon it. Not true. ridgeydidged
The problem is that some birds and most rabbits just aren't great parents. It might not be because of smell or any one thing, but doesn't take a whole lot to spook a mother rabbit or bird away from their nest long enough to kill the babies. It's a quantity vs quality issue. Ragidandy