After recently learning, researching, and then debunking some widely believed myths that are actually totally false, I was inspired to investigate more supposed "truths" that I could pick apart like a crow.
So, here are even more accepted "facts" that are so false:
1. "That bulls get angered by the color red. They are color blind, so it really makes no difference. It's the waving of the cape that gets to them."
2. "Getting caught in the rain can cause a cold."
3. "That it's illegal to film someone in public. It is absolutely legal to film a person without their consent in a public place."
4. "That someone can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. We expect people to be successful using this as an example, but this phrase was coined as an impossibility."
Today, the phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is used to convey self-reliance and advice to pull yourself out of poverty, particularly when it's tossed around in politics. However, its modern usage is incredibly ironic since the phrase was first used in 1836 to convey the impossible task of lifting yourself over a fence by pulling your bootstraps. This will help you put your boots on, but not jump a fence.
As the phrase was passed on, its humorous intent was lost and it began to be taken literally around the early twentieth century, just a few years ahead of the Great Depression. How convenient.
5. "That you can use a defibrillator (paddles) to restart a heart that has flatlined. You do regular CPR for that. The paddles are meant to shock an arhythmic heartbeat back onto a normal rhythm. They won’t work on a heart that has flatlined."
6. "That the stock market represents the economy. There is no correlation between fluctuations in stock indices and GDP."
7. "That ancient humans were very stupid, which for some reason to this day has been insanely persistent."
8. "Swimming after eating isn't dangerous, nor does it cause cramps. But waiting 30 minutes or an hour makes it much less likely for kids to vomit in the pool."
9. "It's not true that corsets were deathtraps. Most women didn’t mind wearing them!"
We've all heard it (and I'm guilty of perpetuating it): corsets were so tight that fainting couches were a necessity, so Victorian women could pass out on them. To quote Maury Povich, "that was also a lie." Those "fainting couches" were just daybeds, and that misnomer wasn't used until well after the Victorian era. Besides that, corsets were working garments, so they morphed with the people who wore them and came with built-in flexibility. Even working-class women wore corsets, so they needed to be functional. There were even corsets for cycling.
It's safe to say that corsets are in their Reputation era, and that the misinformation about them is rooted in later society ridiculing women fashion as a desperate attempt to attract male attention. As if!
10. "Is it too soon to talk about how GMOs are actually safe and beneficial to sustainable food chains? Or is that still a touchy subject?"
11. "The Red Scare wasn't so much about 'rooting out subversive communists' as it was about weakening labor and de-segregation movements. And boy, did it work."
12. "Women get 'looser' the more sex they have."
Besides being blatantly misogynistic, this is totally false. There is absolutely no evidence that sex causes a vagina to loosen up over time. Someone with a vagina having sex for the first time may cause a slight stretch in the hymen, the thin membrane around the vagina, which may make the vagina feel slightly more open. However, this is totally normal. And healthy.
During sexual arousal, the muscles of the vagina relax and will temporarily open up before, during, and after sex to help penetration, but will return to its usual shape. Also, every vagina is different. Parts of any body evolve as our age, weight, and health changes with time, not because someone's having more sex than you.
13. "There used to be a thing in Korea about 'Fan Death', a belief that a running fan would eventually deprive a room of oxygen and kill any occupants in there, if it was left running too long. The belief still somewhat exists today, and all fans sold there were usually equipped with an automatic safety shut-off timer mechanism."
14. "The belief that the Sun is yellow. Actually, the Sun is white. If you look at it during the day (not a good idea), you'll see that it's white."
15. "That poor posture leads to body pain. That’s actually rarely the case."
Which ones surprised you the most? What are some commonly believed "facts" that you've recently learned are totally false? Let me know in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. #5 in this article has been updated to be more clear that AEDs will determine whether or not someone has a shockable rhythm.