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Indrė Lukošiūtė

40 Widely Believed “Facts” That Aren’t True At All

United States

You can’t trust everything you hear. But people sometimes talk with such confidence that it’s hard not to believe them. Not that they’re necessarily trying to mislead anyone—although, in certain cases, they might be—but most of us simply don’t have the time to double-check every claim we come across. And that’s exactly why some myths keep circulating for years even after they’re debunked. Recently, Reddit user Quiet-Grief asked everyone on the platform to share false “facts” that many still repeat as if they’re common knowledge. The answers that came in highlight just how slippery the “truth” can be.

#1

The president of the US is the “Leader of the Free World”. No one in the “Free World” calls him that.

#2

That freedom of speech means you can say whatever you want anytime, anywhere. Whenever someone says that they know their rights, it's a red flag that they don't. People should read.

#3

Vaccines cause autism!

Sleepy-Kodiak-Bear:
It's wild how if you trace back the origins of the movement, it was created by a British charlatan who wanted to sell a vaccine competitor and was exposed for blatantly lying in his studies.
Yet for some reason these types just believe him, based on vibes, I guess.

#4

The USA is the greatest country on earth. At what?

#5

MSG is unhealthy. It actually is less unhealthy than salt, and the prejudice comes from racism against Chinese restaurants.

#6

“Survival of the fittest” has something to do with strength. Wrong, it’s survival of the most adaptive.

#7

I think the most dangerous wrong “fact” is that you need to wait for someone to be missing for 48 hours before you can submit a missing person’s report. That is **not** true, and *especially* for minors! You can submit a report when your punctual friend is 5 minutes late for brunch. And the *second* you suspect a child is in trouble, you file a report! .

#8

“We only use 10% of our brains.” Apparently that’s not true at all …where did that myth even come from?

oppernaR:
It's like saying you're only using 10% of your car if you're not stepping on every pedal, opening and closing all the windows and doors and using every light, windshield wiper and indicator at once.

#9

That there is an alpha in a wolf pack. The original author of the study for this debunked it himself years later after doing more research.

#10

"Immigrants are bad for the economy".

#11

Daddy long legs is the most poisonous spider but it's fangs just can't penetrate human skin which is why it seems harmless. First of all, it would be venomous, not poisonous. Second of all, they're not spiders, they're harvestmen. Thirdly, that's just incorrect.

#12

Different parts of your tongue detect different tastes.

#13

“Bottom of the totem pole” is a term that is often used to describe something of low value, importance, or seniority. That isn’t actually how the icons on totem poles are arranged. Generally, the MOST important images are placed on the bottom, as foundational icons.

#14

Republicans are for the people.

#15

You need to drink 8 glasses of water every day. There is no support for that. Your body doesn't care if the water comes from a liquid or food, and a soda, liquor, coffee, or ice cream all have the same water. The amount each person needs varies with h the person and with day-to-day activities.

#16

Don't go swimming for 30 minutes after you eat.

DrunkenMcSlurpee:
It's a nice way of saying "Give Mommy a minute to clean up after just feeding you"

#17

That being in the cold (esp with wet hair) will make you sick… when its actually just that more people are indoors sharing germs in close proximity during winter.

#18

That fat is bad for you.

#19

"you can't use soap to wash an iron skillet pan"

Apparently that was when lye was in soap. Modern day soap is fine.

(Still don't soak your pan and always season it after washing).

#20

Breakfast being the most important meal of the day.

#21

Cracking knuckles causes arthritis.

#22

That the lifespan of humans is much, much longer now than in the distant past.

The *mean* lifespan of humans is now longer than in the past because so many fewer of us die in infancy. But hundreds or even thousands of years ago, if you made it past early childhood, you were NEARLY as likely to live to 70- or 80-something as you are today.

People tend to think that since the "average" in say, Biblical times, was something like 40 (give or take), that most people died around 40 years old. In reality, most people died either before their first birthday, or in their 70s. We largely eliminated the infant mortality rate, thus raising the average, but the "lifespan" of a human is only a little longer than it has been for centuries.

#23

The Myers Briggs personality inventory is valid.

#24

Kids getting a "sugar high" after eating sugar. It's not real. It doesn't happen.

alasw0eisme:
It's more complicated than that. If you've been fasting, sugar will first make you more alert because you're finally getting glucose. If you eat a lot, then your blood pressure will drop because of digestion and you'll feel tired.

#25

Cops don't have to tell you that they are cops, especially when undercover. They only have to tell you when they arrest you.

#26

Blood is blue

Blood is never blue, even when deoxygenated; it is always red, just darker when lacking oxygen.

Horseshoe crabs do have blue blood though.

#27

Israel is defending itself. Wrong they have been ethnically cleansing Palestinians off their ancestral lands for 100 years.

#28

“Looks like Frankenstein”

What they actually mean is Frankenstein’s monster.

This isn’t a “fact” but something that is regularly said incorrectly.

#29

You can’t see the Great Wall of China from space.

#30

'Don't drink the Kool aid ". It was Flavor Aid.

#31

"If you don't wear a sweater you'll catch a cold"... That's not how that works lol.

#32

That people are left-brain or right-brain dominant. It's not an actual thing.

#33

Bears hibernate. They do not enter into true hibernation but a deep sleep. They do wake up in the winter to feed and poo.

#34

Thunder only happens when it rains.

#35

Less and less now fortunately, but the idea that "according to science, bumblebees can’t fly". Sure, if you treat the wings like rigid airplane wings the surface is too small, but they, you know, MOVE their wings.

#36

That "the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" is the full quote.

#37

That urine is sterile. It is not.

#38

“Other countries pay the tariffs”.

Opposite_Bag_7434:
This is a generalization at best. A tariff applies to a country of origin typically, and can apply to certain goods. Who pays can vary, sometimes it is the exporter and sometimes it is the importer. But it is not “the country” that pays in either case

#39

Your beard grows back thicker after you shave.

Lemonface:
The tips of each individual hair often do grow back thicker (for a time) after shaving. The density of hair/number of follicles producing hair doesn't change, though