"What's the dumbest myth people today believe?"
With A Few Deep Breaths, You Can Get Away With Anything
"'Lie detectors' as a literal thing."
"There's a reason they aren't admissible as evidence in court in most places."- bitew41489
test homer GIFGiphyHow Would That Even Work?...
"My dad had this guy helping him out, think Big Box store DIY curb ready helper, 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?!"- bitew41489
Purely For Dramatic Effect
"There are dumber ones out there, but the one I, as an estate lawyer, deal with constantly is the idea that there needs to be a 'reading' of the will, where the family all gather and the lawyer reads it aloud to them for the first time."
"We don't do that, we just mail everyone their own copy if they want it."
"It's a really stubbornly persistent one because people continue to see scenes of it in movies and TV shows, where it's used for some big dramatic reveal."
"I've even had irate beneficiaries insist that the administration of the estate can't be 'official' until there's a reading."
"Way, way back, like 150 years ago or so, I believe we used to do something like that at times because you couldn't exactly presume literacy on the part of the beneficiaries, but now we feel it's a pretty safe bet that you can either read it or find someone who can."- PigHaggerty
Shouldn't They Also Have To Register Their Legs?
"Black belts have to register their fists as weapons."
"I can't believe I was dumb enough to fall for that."- gorox47927
...Still Best Not To Try It...
"If you drop a penny off a skyscraper, it will eventually fall fast enough to puncture someone’s skull."
"By that logic, raindrops would hurt or straight up kill you."
"Not to mention hail."- UnvwevweOsas
Tyler Labine Penny GIF by HULUGiphyA Balanced Diet Is All It Takes...
"Detox drinks."- Ok-Relief-723
Though We Should Believe This One...
"Tear here to open."- TheDarkSide2187
You Never Know What Your Good Luck Is...
"It is believed in Indian culture that keeping your unibrow means 'good luck'."
"I kept my unibrow for 20 years thinking it is my 'good luck' until I got stage 5th of kidney failure and I did my eyebrows after that because who gives a f*ck about luck anymore."
"Now my eyebrows look cute af."- Full_Sector_1606
miranda sings eyes GIFGiphyThe Reason Everyone Sleeps With Their Mouths Closed
"That you eat spiders in your sleep."
"Spiders will not knowingly walk into a preditor's mouth."
"They can sense both the heartbeat, heat and noise from humans."
"All things that would alert them not to go into our mouth."- messeboy
If Anything, It Might Actually Come Out Faster...
"I remember the myth that gum takes 7 YEARS to fully pass through your digestive system."- QuandiliusDinglebop
You Shouldn't Wait 48 Seconds!
"You have to wait 48 hours to report someone missing."- loxisi5751
No Two Bodies Are The Same
"When I had cancer a few years back and was doing chemotherapy I had people who constantly questioned that I actually 'had cancer' due to the fact that my hair didn't fall out until I was actually in remission."
"Had been off chemo for about 2-3 weeks when my hair started gradually thinning and falling out."
"It's a complete myth that every single person's hair will have the same reaction to chemo."
"Some people lose hair right away, some don't."
"Everybody is different."- DorothyGMilne
Once A Genius, Always a Genius
"That Einstein failed his grade school math class."
"It was the subject of a Ripley’s Believe It or Not column in 1935 and Einstein himself refuted the article."
"In primary school, he had been at the top of the class and by 15 he had mastered differential and integral calculus."- rolis20544
albert einstein GIFGiphyAlways Make Sure That Lid Is On Tightly
"Not sure if this fits here exactly, but the McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit being a frivolous case filed by a money hungry customer."
"That poor lady was a real victim who suffered legitimate injuries who only wanted her medical costs covered."- deneto1043
Always Check With Your Doctor First...
"That magnetic jewelry / healing will cure just about anything."
"A dude named Mesmer the 1780 came up with the idea, and it has been debunked many times."
"Yet it’s still a billion dollar industry."
"Fun fact - the word 'mesmerized' is related to him."- rolis20544
Be it watching too much TV will make your eyes fall out or Windex can clear up any ailment, some people will truly believe anything.
And no amount of convincing will ever change their mind.
When they fly the coop...
"If you take care of a baby bird, the mother won’t want it anymore because it’ll smell like a human."- GreatXs
No amount of fiber can help you
"If you swallow gum, it'll stay in your digestive tract for 7 years."- stinky_cheese33
It was every other subjects he had trouble with
"Albert Einstein failed math in school."- Nothingreallyend
albert einstein GIFGiphyThough it does make shampooing easier
"Shaving your hair will make the hair grow back thicker.'- RunWithScissorsss
Sleep with your mouth closed
"The amount of spiders you eat while being asleep."- pantsofafatman
Just... No...
"That you are supposed to pee on a jellyfish sting to ease the pain."- Actuaryba
jellyfish burn GIF by Monterey Bay AquariumGiphyOlé
"Bulls not liking the color red."
"Bulls are partially color blind and can only see yellow, green, blue, and violet."- Rogurzz
Call a Lyft instead
"Coffee, speed, and uppers sober you up."
"Nope!"
"Too drunk to drive?"
"Now you're drunk AND on drugs, you just don't feel the effects of the booze but your motor skills, reaction time and decision making are all still drunk AF."- kirkrjordan
Best let nature run its course
"The damn alpha wolf."
"It was one study under captivity, the poor researcher made it his life's work to try and set it right."
"If you want a brutal hierarchy where everyone pecks down, what you're looking for is chickens."- raxeira-etterath
dog lol GIF by Regal CinemasGiphyGive this one some thought
"We can only use 10% of our brain."- UnbearableHuman
A little bit of research will clear up any doubt you have on these old superstitions and beliefs.
And for anyone who helped out a friend who got stung by a jellyfish, no need to be embarrassed.
Reddit user ThatSpyGuy asked
"What commonly repeated cooking tip is just completely wrong?"
I love garlic. It's my go-to seasoning. But y'all can't tell me I'm wrong about this garlic ice cream thing.
Too much garlic is real and I'm gonna need everyone who makes garlic ice cream to please stop.
Here are some of the food myths that Reddit stresses itself out about.
Golden Brown
"Cookies: 'bake until golden brown' "
"Your cookies will be overdone if you do that. The cookie sheet will stay hot after it leaves the oven and keep baking the cookies for a minute or so."
"If you want soft cookies, it's better to take them out when only the edges look golden brown and let them keep cooking outside of the oven."
- Celestaria
"I used to bake my cookies until they were golden brown, and the bottoms would always end up burnt."
"I started removing the cookies from the oven when the edges begin to turn golden brown, and they usually come out perfect most times."
- Gunner_4224
GiphyHigh Heat
"Myth: high heat is like fast-forward for cooking. It is not. Still working to get my dad to understand this one."
- EatLard
"Mine is opposite. Every time I use high heat to sear he thinks I'm about to burn the house down. Same goes for entrapped water/moisture that makes a lot of sizzling noises when it comes into contact with a hot pan."
"The noise makes him freak out a bit, even though I know exactly what I'm doing."
"Bonus points when he complains about lack of crispiness of his food after demanding do turn down the heat."
- LoopyPro
"If I'm supposed to bake something at 150°C for 20 min, I can also bake it at 600°C for 5 min. That's just basic math."
"I'm being sarcastic, please don't try this."
- Berserker-Hamster
Onion & Garlic
"Starting to saute onion and garlic at the same time. So many recipes treat onion and garlic like they're conjoined twins and you should just do everything together with them."
"Onion takes a lot longer to cook and adding the garlic too early can burn it which can ruin the entire flavour of the dish. So many recipes tell you to do this and I just don't get it!"
- hbwd
"Yes! Just figured this out."
"It’s odd because I’d learned early on, add the veggies that take the longest to cook to the pan first - but because I’d been ingrained to cook garlic and onion at the same time for so long, I didn’t even think how garlic takes like 30 seconds to cook whereas onion takes on the order of minutes to cook."
- kgriff112
Clumping
"Adding oil to your pasta water to prevent it from clumping."
"Oil floats in water - as in it's above the pasta and doing exactly nothing."
"Just stir it."
- dancingbanana123
"BIG pot of water is what will prevent clumping the best, with mild stirring to separate everything initially. The roiling motion of the water will then keep the pasta from clumping as long as the pasta has the space to move."
- GreenLurka
"On top of that, you get oil on the noodles as you drain them, which will reduce any sauces ability to stick to your pasta."
- EndoShota
" 'May your marinara sauce never stick to your pasta!' - Sophia, Golden Girls"
- LadyBug_0570
GiphySpreading Salmonella
"Rinsing off chicken."
"I know you don't want to get salmonella, but rinsing off chicken just spreads it. Cooking it solves the problem automatically."
- CreepyAssociation173
"I think this is more commonplace where/when the meat wasn't cleaned prior to sale. If your meat has feathers, dirt or rocks on it, you would need to wash it."
"But commercially produced meat is clean (in this way, at least) so the fewer surfaces your raw meat touches the better!"
- mcoon2837
"The first time I heard someone doing this, I thought they were insane. I’ve seen people use bleach to do this…"
"Ensuring your chicken reaches 165F is going to clean it of all dangerous bacteria. Washing it is going to do absolutely nothing but spread bacteria around and poison people if you're using bleach to do it."
- P0ster_Nutbag
Grated Butter
"When making pie crust: rubbing the butter into the flour or using a fork/knife/pasty blender to achieve 'pea-sized' crumbles."
"Pretty much every recipe will describe it this way, but the expanding water from the butter drives that beautiful flakiness. This method isn't the best way to get it."
"Instead, get a cheese grater with moderately large holes. Use very cold butter, and handle the butter lightly so that it doesn't melt into your hands."
"Grate it and toss it into the flour about 1/3 of the butter at a time, tossing it to coat it with flour. Then make your dough."
"It will be light and flaky and heading in the direction of puff pastry. Also works great for biscuits."
"Seriously, I use the same dough recipe I always used and the results are just staggeringly better because of this technique."
- Terpsichorean_Wombat
Oven Pizza
"I have spent years, years I tell you trying to perfect home-made pizza."
"Most recipes I've seen so far say 'bake at 350 degrees F' which is utter nonsense."
"Pizza ovens bake the pizza at around 800 to 900 F. So I finally found out I could get a decent result at home by putting the oven on the highest temp - 500F, and put the pizza on the oven's lowest rack (my broiler is located in the bottom.)"
"Then when the bottom crust is done I put the pizza in the broiler rack below and cook it about 3 mins to get the top done."
- mistmanners
GiphyMicrowaved Nutrients
" 'Microwaving food will destroy nutrient molecules' ”
"Microwaves are far too long-waved to cause any molecular changes. All they do is make molecules vibrate faster. They don’t directly break up molecules."
"To actually split chemical bonds you need much shorter wavelengths. UV light at least. It is true that Microwaves can INDIRECTLY cause chemical reactions because they will increase the temperature of the food. But that is no different to any other heat source."
"Likely, microwaves preserve nutrients BETTER than boiling/steaming because the heat is delivered faster and the food spends less time in a high temperature state."
- antistitute
Salty
" 'Salt your pasta water always.' "
"Sometimes, the sauce is plenty salty and no need to add even more salt to the food."
"It's ok to salt pasta water if your sauce (or lack of sauce) doesn't add sodium. But tomato sauce has so much sodium as is, lightly salt the water at best."
"Your Pepe e cacio or Pasta a olio, sure salt away... But not tomato sauce dishes."
"And definitely never your water 'as salty as the ocean.' How the f*ck people eat that much salt is beyond me. At this point, don't make pasta, just eat salt."
- GuardianOfTriangles
Grill Marks
"Grill marks."
"Watch just about any cooking show, they go on and on about turning the meat exactly 90 degrees, once only per side to get that lattice pattern."
"Yes, it looks pretty. But the grill marks are flavor because of the maillard reaction. More marks = more flavor. Why are you trying to minimize the flavor just to get perfect stripes?"
"I get we eat with our eyes to an extent, but I'd much rather have haphazard and excessive grill marks vs the 'perfect' look."
"Think about it - we cook steaks in cast iron pans to get the entire outside sizzling and crispy and flavorful. Would you want them to put chopsticks or something under most of the steak so only tiny strips get turned dark brown?"
"I know this is more unpopular opinion than 'completely wrong,' but I stand by it. Grill marks are flavor, and more flavor is almost always good. 'Perfect' grill marks just make me sad for missed flavor."
- jtclimb
GiphyNo Need To Oil up
"Coating your protein with olive oil before you season it. Most seasonings will not become soluble in oil. So you are basically adding a barrier between the meat and the seasoning. Blocking the flavors from the meat. Grilling done properly requires no extra oil."
"Pan searing a steak might benefit from a bit of oil or butter added to the pan if you don't have enough fat layer on the meat to render off some of that right at the beginning."
"Add seasoning of your choice in liberal amounts to a steak at least 6 hrs prior to cooking to give the flavors time to permeate the meat. Adding seasoning a hour or less before cooking won't do much to add flavor and most of it burns away during grilling."
- slowbike
Propper Rice Etiquette
"Add rice to the boiling water... No, no, no, no .. it's a bad way to cook rice."
"For the past 30 years I have been cooking rice like this: Put the desired amount of rice in the pot. Rinse them thoroughly with cold water to remove as much 'rice dust' as possible."
"Then add cold water toothed rice, so they are covered by approximately 2,5cm/ 1 inch of cold water."
"Add salt and put on a lid. Put the pot on the stove at medium heat. Let it come to a boil while stirring every now and then."
"When all the water has been sacked up by the rice, turn of the heat and let the pot sit for 10 minutes with the lid on."
"It only takes 20 minutes to cook rice this way instead of 25-30 minutes, and they come out perfectly cooked every single time!!"
"Oh yeah... bad tip nr. 2 I've learned to no longer follow... 'make the sauce/ gravy' as the very last part of the meal."
"No, no, no, no .... for the past 4 years I've learned to ALWAYS start cooking the whole meal with the onions and other veggies or herbs for the sauce/ gravy. It takes a long time to get that deep flavor to bind everything together, and a good sauce can lift a meal from 'plain everyday quick meal' to 'restaurant quality home cooking'."
- Tuznelda75
Chinese Food Rice GIF by Nigel Ng (Uncle Roger)GiphyAlcohol Stays
" 'Any alcohol you cook with will go away during the cooking'. The only way the alcohol content leaves your dish is if it's burned up (like in flambe)."
- GCIATG44
"If you are cooking at a high enough temperature, long enough, alcohol will boil/steam out of the dish; just like if you were to reduce a sauce(basically boil the water out). Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water therefore many dishes will be hot enough to lose at least some of the alcohol content put into the dish."
- YetiThyme
"I know but it depends on the alcohol, cooking type and time, etc. But I was always hearing 'if you cook it, the alcohol goes away' and they were not cooking long enough for that to be the case!"
- GCIATG44.
"For sure, usually not the case."
- YetiThyme
No Peeling Necessary
"Not necessarily wrong but odd is peeling potatoes. Potato skins are actually very nutritious and filled with vitamins. A lot of potatoes actually taste much better with the skins on as well."
- Gringoboi17
"And carrots. I'm always slightly confused when people waste time peeling carrots. Like, it's effort that you just don't need to put in."
- NarrativeScorpion
GiphySeeds Or No Seeds
"That chillies contain most of the heat in the seeds and you just remove the seeds if you don't like it that spicy."
"Completely wrong. Seeds don't contain most of the heat. I see semi-professional chefs parrot this.'
"Also the whole heaty/ cooly foods and that if you drink cold beer with "heaty" food, you might die. For example beer with durian."
- Ya-Dikobraz
Its Not Ikea
"Not a cooking tip perse but almost everyone I know uses the time stamps in recipes exactly. Now I know these are most of the time farely accurate but they are not like rules or something."
"I've always been taught that if you really don't know how long to cook that specific item use the recipes timestamp as a reference but judge it yourself."
"Cooking is not like a simple ikea clauset build with step by step instructions, they are guide lines. Use them as a reference but judge with your own sight and smell if something is done yes or no. Then and only then you will actually learn and be able to cook."
- BroodjeSpekMetKak
"Awesome advice."
- Foolishly_Sane
fail michelle buteau GIF by WNYC StudiosGiphyDon't Just Watch
“ 'A watched pot never boils' - a damned lie. I stared at a pot like a hawk once in middle school, and though I was bored, it totally boiled eventually."
- High_Tops_Kitty
"I've had experience with that before and I believe it's just a psychological thing. Disclaimer I'm not a psychologist."
- Laser20145
"It's more an idiom than a truism, effectively meaning "leave it alone, you staring at it isn't going to make it happen faster". In reality, it's as you said, purely a psychological thing. Time will pass quicker when you're doing something active than it will just staring at a pot."
- Nomulite
The Chicken Will Tell You
"You need to grease the bbq grill. This is false and I see it all the time. Food like chicken will come loose from a hot grill when it’s ready to turn. You should never have to use anything more than a fork to bbq chicken."
- mikeyhol
"If yo chicken is stickin, ain't no time fo flippin"
- green-ember
hungry finger lickin good GIF by KFC IndiaGiphyMilk Does Not Fluff
"- Milk does NOT make eggs fluffier.
"Use low heat instead. Keep in mind, the egg continues to cook after you turn off the stove, plate it, and serve it. Passive cooking can ruin a LOT of foods that require timing (which, in itself, is another tip)."
"I believe fluffy eggs is just eggs uncooked, barely cooked, or layers of both (this is an educated guess)."
- zengalan07
Alright Redditors, it's your turn to get in on this food fight.
What's a food myth you really need people to let go of?
See you in the comments!
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Step on a crack. Break your mother's back. Lies. I know. I've tried. Kidding.
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis, no it won't!"
Cancer-Cinema
"I crack my fingers all the time and because I'm hyper mobile my knees crack every time I bend down more or less. But I love the feeling of it."
l52286
Fluid Scam
"Detox teas. Liver and kidneys do that for you."
BlacGirlMagik
"'Detox' is a scam warning word to me with 'cleanse' right behind it. I might be willing to believe what I'm being told about a product but the moment they use those words they've lost all credibility. The funniest experience I ever had with a product like that was a coworker telling me about this amazing drink that cleaned your intestines of waste that somehow got stuck and built up."
"The 'proof' that it worked was these long nasty looking things they crapped out after drinking this supposed miracle cure which they of course took pictures of to show everybody. I looked into it a bit and found that the primary ingredient they all used was the same as is used in gelatin. People were essentially making jello molds out of their colon and then showing off the results."
Tangent_
Greens
"Spinach has a ton of iron compared to other vegetables. The scientist missed a decimal place and he said it has 10 times as much as it really does. That’s why Popeye loves his spinach. It actually has the same amount of iron as every other green leafy vegetable."
Nettius2
On the tongue
masterchef junior taste GIF by HULUGiphy"'Taste zones.' All taste buds are all over your tongue; there is no such thing as a 'sweet zone,' a 'sour zone,' etc."
berael
Thank goodness that knuckle one is a lie. I can't stop myself.
LIES!
bonnie gordon GIF by AlphaGiphy"-- Caffeine stunts your growth."
"-- Pretty much any 'food pyramid' promoted by the western world prior to ~1998."
sskoog
“evidence”
"Graphology. That you can determine traits about a person by their handwriting. I did an entire research paper on it. Plenty of 'evidence' in the common sensational news, but not a single damn article or shred of evidence from the academic research area, excepting 'yeah no we tried it and didn’t find any correlations.'"
Commander_Meh
Columbus Who?
"Europeans knew the world to be round in Columbus' time. Columbus just calculated the circumference very incorrectly and is lucky there was a whole other continent to run into before he and his men ran out of supplies. To be abundantly clear, the Ancient Greeks figured it out."
"So did the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Persians, and probably the Maya and many many others. My point is that 'proving the Earth wasn't flat' is a myth. Anyone thinking the Earth was flat had nothing to do with Columbus' bid to find a westward passage to East Asia. It is a myth that people thought the world was flat in his time."
Lord0fHats
Doggie Colors
"So my ex is a vet. Dogs can actually view pretty much all of the visible light spectrum from red to blue. They just don't see colour as vividly as humans do, so they don't distinguish very well between different shades. Blue and Violet they can just make out. Indigo and violet are impossible for them to distinguish."
"See also: the difference between reds and pinks and the innumerable shades of blue, green and blue-green."
Apocryph761
Fly High
Honey Bee Loop GIF by Kev LaveryGiphy"The thing with the bumblebee technically not being able to fly because of aerodynamics. Used as a kind of motivational tale about overcoming obstacles."
"Turns out, modeling a bumblebee as a kind of plane is a bad idea, you know with the moving wings and stuff. If you think of a bumblebee as similar to a helicopter then all of a sudden the aerodynamic calculations work out and the bumblebee can fly."
Fridge_ov_doom
Blue
"Your blood is blue. C'mon people, you're saying blood turns red when exposed to oxygen, but neglect the main fact. Hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen to your body's organs and tissues and transports carbon dioxide from your organs and tissues back to your lungs."
wolfpack123343
Still good for you...
“'Tomatoes aren’t vegetables, they’re fruit.'"
"They’re both. They’re botanically fruit, but vegetable is not a botanical category, it’s a culinary one."
MarvelousOxman
"I just don't get why we single out tomatoes. Beans, peppers, squash, corn, and plenty of others are technically fruits, but for some reason, 'a tomato is actually a fruit' is the fun fact we teach to kids."
FutureBlackmail
Shave It
"That hair grows back darker and thicker if you shave it. Only hormones change hair consistency and color. Laser and electrolysis can do the thinning and removal. Every argument for this myth is a misconception and easily proved otherwise by those who actually know about hair and how it works."
supagirl277
Liquid
Water Douse GIFGiphy"That water has memory and feelings.. my mom believes that..."
dadika08
"If you Google 'water memory' a bunch of 'resources' will show up explaining this."
meetmyfriendme
I Debunk It
"Does the lack of scientific evidence that could prove efficacy count as debunking? If so I could point to astrology. Also, fun fact, the Reagan white house had an official astrologer that gave advice occasionally on government policies."
etherend
"Not really 'official,' but she did have way more influence on things (particularly scheduling) than many actual White House aides."
"Nancy Reagan really believed in her, so staff had to take her advice and make it seem like it came from the president's advisors, so the public wasn't aware of the astrologer's influence. Pretty weird situation altogether. Her name was Joan Quigley if you're interested in reading more about it."
Ragnarok2kx
Family Structures
"The Alpha Wolf. The guy who initially published this stuff put his entire life into disproving himself, but the myth is out here and a lot of people ate it up. From personal experience there's a lot of overlap with the bootstrap-believers."
"Wolf packs in nature are most often family structures and they're very social creatures. Here's a source: https://sciencenorway.no/ulv/wolf-packs-dont-actually-have-alpha-males-and-alpha-females-the-idea-is-based-on-a-misunderstanding/1850514"
raxeira-etterath
Man's Worst Friend
"That dogs are a good judge of character. Hitler had dogs that loved him."
BlueRFR3100
"I mean he was probably lovely to his dogs, it was every other human in existence he was an **shole towards Dogs won't care that you are a monster to millions of other human beings, as long as you treat them right - dog's can't read, or get onto twitter, so cannot form opinions of their owners based on other people."
ThatOne749
Did he give up?
"Homeotherapy. It's based on one quack theory that toxins that cause symptoms similar to symptoms from an illness, will cure you of that illness! That's not how it works. The guy who originated the theory went on to kill people with this nonsense. Did he give up? No, he was a trier."
"So he amended his theory to; a dilution of the toxin that is so dilute none of the toxin remains will cure you. Because it gets more effective the less there is! If they dilute it so much that there's no active ingredient left, they claim that the water or sugar 'remembers' the effect of the active ingredient. But only if you slap each dilution!"
"This bull is killing people today. They are forgoing effective modern medicine, because they are told sugar pills and water or alcohol drops will save them."
n3m0sum
Cheers Anyway...
Red Wine GIFGiphy"That drinking red wine is healthy. Debunked a decade ago: people who drink wine eat better than people who drink beer. Hence the first group will have a slightly better health, but that's not due to the wine. Alcohol is a poison. And I love that poison..."
Apotak
Now the truth shall set us free. Spread the good words.
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A majority of blockbusters are fiction of course, and even films loosely based on real-life stories can have false information unless a notable director is helming the picture.
To show that some popular beliefs people believe to be true can be dangerously spurious, Redditor kuroi_sny asked:
"What survival myth is completely wrong and can get you killed?"
The desert is beautiful. But it can also kill you. Beware of the following myths.
Nourishment From Desert
"Drinking water from a cactus. If absolutely needed for survival, you could get some water out of a Fishhook Barrel Cactus but only in limited amounts, most cactuses have various acids and other fun things in the water that will make you sh*t yourself to death, dehydration in the desert isn't a laughing matter and you don't want to lose the precious bit of water left in your body to the desert ground."
– Kraymur
The Intense, Dry Heat
“'The desert is hot and little clothing is best.' Cover up during both the day and the night. The sun will burn you and dehydrate you very quickly. During the night it’s really common for people to die of hypothermia because the temperature drops so fast. And honestly living here, during the winter it gets to the low 20s f pretty often. And the wind is awful."
"Edit to add: it’s dry heat here. There’s no moisture in the air majority of the year. You can drop dead from heat stroke 'barely' sweating."
– Curious_Wrangler_980
Leave It To The Pros
"Most of the stuff Bear Grylls does. Like eating raw meat, picking and eating fruit out of bear sh*t, or squeezing the juice out of elephant sh*t and drinking it."
– DemocracySausage89
Deadly Eats
"You cannot eat everything that an animal can eat. There are things animals can eat that humans find toxic, so eating everything you see animals eating can lead to you potentially eating deadly berries or mushrooms."
– lordbeezlebub
In the face of immediate danger, you may want to unlearn these popular "tips."
See Ya Later Alligator
"Running in a zigzag to outrun an alligator. Alligators don't run for long distances, so this will probably just waste your energy. They can also climb some fences and trees as well."
– TchaikenNugget
Seal Yourself In
“'If you’re in a tornado, open all your windows to equalize the pressure inside to match the outside.'”
"If you’re in a tornado opening any window or door will create a wind tunnel that rips your entire roof off."
– NightOnF'kMountain
Lightning Pattern
"Lightning never strikes twice in the same place."
"If lightning has found a path that it likes to the ground it's extremely likely to strike there multiple times. That why lightning rods work."
– CatboyInAMaidOutfit
When Encountering Jaws
"If a shark is coming after you, swim away."
"If a shark is coming towards you in the first place, it's most likely just curious and wants to check you out. Swimming away and thrashing about will further intrigue it to keep following you. Instead, redirect it by running your hand along its side and carefully positioning it to swim away from you."
"(Side note: If one happens to bite you, poke/stab it in the eyes or pull on its gills instead of bopping it in the nose. Gills and eyes are far more sensitive than a shark's nose.)"
– swaggy_kyu
When Falling From The Sky
"If your plane is crashing, an inflatable raft makes a TERRIBLE parachute."
– shaka_sulu
Cinematic Example
"But hiding in a fridge will save me from a nuclear blast though, right?"
– Stevotonin
What Happens After
"That you can give somebody CPR and they'll be fine moments later like nothing happened."
– Q8Q
No Coming Back From This
"You can survive a Moose attack."
"That's it, that's the myth, because no you f'king can't."
– TheWelshExperience
Are you lost? You won't be found as easily if you fall for these unfounded suggestions.
Change Your Voicemail When Distressed
"That bullsh*t 'change your voicemail if you are lost' PSA that was making the rounds over the last year. You need a cell signal to change your voicemail, if you have a signal then why wouldn't you just call for help?"
"Moreover it misses the most important thing about US cell phones and being lost: 911 will work on any cell tower regardless if it's 'in network' or even if you have an active phone plan or not. So in an emergency always TRY dialing 911 regardless of your phone appears to have signal or not."
"EDIT: To the dozens of people who replied that you are supposed to change your voicemail before going out, this is still a bad idea. If you're lost or injured in the woods, your survival depends on being found quickly. Waiting for someone to get worried enough about you not coming back to try calling you is just going to waste precious time. It's much better to just tell your friends/family where you will be and set up a check-in time so they know you made it back safely."
– Histidine
Getting Your Bearings
"That moss grows on the north side of a tree. It can grow all over the tree, so it’s not a steadfast rule that you should make important decisions solely on."
– dildorthegreat87
No Banquet In The Forest
"That you’ll be totally safe if you only eat plants/fungi you recognize. Hemlock looks a lot like wild parsnips. Basically all wild almonds will kill you if you eat more than one. And of course there’s the Chris mccandless 'potato seed' thing."
– Redqueenhypo
Debate On An Outdoorsman's Death
"Chris McCandless is the subject of the book/movie 'Into the Wild.' He died alone in the Alaskan wilderness. He’s a pretty controversial figure in the outdoor world. Some people think he is inspirational and died not due to lack of knowledge or training but to a fluke, some think he is an idiot who got himself killed by not being prepared or knowledgeable. Basically he ate something toxic and died. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked into it but there was a very lively debate about what he ate that killed him. From what I remember some think he misidentified a plant and accidentally ate a poisonous plant, some say he ate a plant that’s perfectly fine in limited quantities and if you are in good health, some say he ate a plant that is not itself poisonous but does sometimes grow a poisonous fungus on it."
– The_Mighty_Pato
Just in case you're planning a solo hike in the desert or go scuba diving in uncharted waters of the deep, your newly acquired knowledge here could save your life, thanks to these anonymous Redditors.
It's a good reminder to double check on the things you've heard to be true to get a solid confirmation.
A brief research can literally be a matter of life or death.
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