12 Things I Learned On "Adam Ruins Everything" That Made Me Want To Punch A Wall

    That's why his hair is so big. It's full of secrets.

    Andrea Hickey
    by Andrea Hickey

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Polygraph machines don't actually prove anything, but they're still used all the time in legal cases in the U.S.

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    Polygraph tests are not admissible in court, but they are often used to pressure suspects into confessing to a crime.

    2. Salmon is a lie.

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    According to Adam, "In the ocean, wild salmon turn pink because they eat krill, but farmed salmon are fed kibble made of chicken fat, soybeans and ground-up feathers." And even when a restaurant's menu claims its salmon is wild, it might be farmed.

    3. FATBERGS.

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    Aaaand, there goes my lunch.

    4. Unpaid internships are often pointless, exploitive, and sometimes even illegal.

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    Okay, so I didn't JUST learn that unpaid internships were gross and bad. But this proves it!

    5. The real reason we have summer vacation in schools is because of rich parents.

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    Many people think the "agrarian calendar" is to thank for summer vacation; it's said that children didn't go to school in the summer so they could work on their families' farms. FALSE!

    6. When Nintendo first came out, it was marketed exclusively towards boys. Subsequent game systems did the same, which may be why we have so much sexism in gaming today.

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    UGH.

    7. Circumcision in the US began when doctors in the 1800s thought it would stop boys from masturbating.

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    And what's more, John Harvey Kellogg, the doctor who invented corn flakes, was strongly anti-sex and masturbation, and developed the cereal as a deterrent. His brother, Will, became his business partner in selling the cereal, but when Will wanted to add sugar to the recipe, that was simply out of the question for John. Will formed the Kellogg Company on his own and thankfully today, cereal has nothing to do with sex!

    8. Vitamin C won't help your cold. It just won't.

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    Just let your cold run its course, and for crying out loud (or maybe more appropriately, for COUGHING out loud), stop coming into work sick!!!

    9. Embalming is unnatural and unsafe, and the funeral industry is basically one big corporation benefitting from grieving people.

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    From fancy coffins to embalming, the funeral industry ultimately wants to upsell you. Though many funeral homes are owned by one huge corporation, there are other options out there. Caitlin Doughty, who hosts "Ask A Mortician" on YouTube, is the inspiration for the awesome game (can confirm, have played) "A Mortician's Tale," and is the founder of The Order of the Good Death, is a proponent for natural burial. The body is simply wrapped in a shroud and buried in the ground, like people have done up until fairly recently in human history. This can help bring people closer to their dead loved ones and help to ease the stigma around death that surrounds our society today.

    10. Americans think they're always at risk of dehydration for no good reason.

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    As exercise physiologist Tamara Hew-Butler DPM, PhD explains in this episode, all you need to do is drink when you're thirsty. There's no need to worry about staying hydrated, since our bodies will tell us when we need more water. We only think we need the extra hydration because of – you guessed it – advertising!

    11. The idea of romantic love came about in the 1800s, and we've been head-over-heels, well, in love with it ever since.

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    No one's saying love is bad, but romantic love is portrayed as the perfect coupling of two souls to become one; the easy, lasting happily-ever-after. Realistically, love can happen by chance, you have to work to maintain it, and it's not what we see in rom-coms and fairytales. This concept began with Romanticism in the 19th century, when young people were finally allowed to marry for love; a stark contrast from the utilitarian views of marriage held before this time.

    12. And speaking of love, weddings weren't always such extravagant affairs...unless you were rich.

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    The white wedding dress's roots have nothing to do with the wearer's virginity, as popular myth will tell you; in fact, Queen Victoria created the lasting fad when she married Prince Albert in 1840. However, poor families couldn't afford white dresses or even white cakes, since white sugar was surprisingly expensive in the 19th century. Today, the wedding industry is a booming business, encouraging couples to spend boatloads of money on everything wedding-related and even overcharging them. Are you even surprised?

    13. Bonus fact that'll make you feel less outraged by everything you just learned: Adam Conover's partner is the artist Lisa Hanawalt, producer and production designer of BoJack Horseman! Goals!