17 myths that are 100% false.
Myths and superstitions are sometimes fun to believe in. Nothing wrong with people believing in Sasquatch or ghosts as long as it doesn't hurt someone. Some people go a little further when they refuse to swim until an hour after they eat. Some myths aren't worth their weight in salt, whether you believe it or not.
People share myths nobody should believe in on a popular Reddit thread in the AskReddit subreddit.
They write:
1. bitew41489 says:
'Lie detectors' as a literal thing. There's a reason they aren't admissible as evidence in court in most places.
2. PigHaggerty says:
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 copy if they want it.
It's a 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 estate administration 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.
3. gorox47927 says:
Black belts have to register their fists as weapons. I can't believe I was dumb enough to fall for that.
4. UnvwevweOsas says:
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 like a b*tch. Not to mention hail.
5.Ok-Relief-723 says:
Detox drinks.
6. TheDarkSide2187 says:
Tear here to open.
7. Full_Sector_1606 says:
It is believed in Indian culture that keeping your unibrow means 'good luck' I kept my unibrow for twenty years thinking it is my 'good luck' until I got stage five kidney failure and I did my eyebrows after that because who gives a f*ck about luck anymore. Now my eyebrows look cute.
8. bitew41489 says:
My dad had this guy helping him out who told him, 'If you sleep with your hair wet, you will bleed out of your mouth' and he was 110% sure that was a fact. We were both just confused and bewildered by this statement. What the hell had this guy witnessed?!
9. messeboy says:
That you eat spiders in your sleep. Spider will not knowingly walk into a predator's mouth. They can sense both the heartbeat, heat, and noise from humans. All things that would alert them not to go into our mouths.
10. QuandiliusDinglebop says:
I remember the myth that gum takes SEVEN YEARS to fully pass through your digestive system
11. loxisi5751 says:
You have to wait 48 hours to report someone missing.
12.DorothyGMilne says:
When I had cancer a few years back and was doing chemotherapy, I had people who constantly questioned that I actually 'had cancer' because my hair didn't fall out until I was actually in remission (I 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, and some don't. Everybody is different.
13.rolis20544 says:
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 class and by 15 he had mastered differential and integral calculus.
14. deneto1043 says:
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.
15. rolis20544 says:
That magnetic jewelry/healing will cure just about anything. A dude named Mesmer 1780 came up with the idea, which has been debunked many times - yet it’s still a billion-dollar industry. Fun fact - the word 'mesmerized' is related to him.
16. holesix705 says:
At some point, a viral video allegedly proved that the “beg buttons” at crosswalks are just placebos. Some are, but most add a cycle for pedestrians to get a walk signal. You should use them regardless.
17. MatthewWakeman says:
That humans only use 10% of their brains. This is false, regardless of how those who proclaim this myth seemingly demonstrate that it is, in fact, true.