10 Ridiculous “Facts” That Are Not True

There have always been rumors and just plain old lies that have been told by one person only for it to spread to the next person and the next person and so on until it got out of hand. Case and point is any high school in the world. What happens if one of these rumors or lies gets so common that people start telling it to each other in day to day life? Well in this list of ten ridiculous facts that are absolutely not true we find out just how common those are and how fast and far they can spread.

Rabbit Eyes

During world war II, the Brits spread the rumor that carrots give good eyesight. This was in an attempt to hide the fact they had developed radar technology, so they hid the radar and called it the pilots’ good eyesight.

Pencil Lead

This “fact” is funny because the inside of the pencil has been graphite since the start, but it was the outer coating of the pencil that contained the heavy metal poison, lead. It was this outer coating that kids tended to put in their mouths, thus leading to the rumor.

MSG Is Toxic

Monosodium glutamate is actually found to be commonly occurring in many different foods, such as tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, and other vegetables and fruits.

Tourette’s Syndrome

Most people think people with Tourette’s syndrome randomly yell out swear words, when in fact only 10% of Tourette sufferers have vocal tics, with most having physical habits. And even then, the ones with vocal tics don’t always swear.

ATM

A common misconception about withdrawing cash from an ATM is that entering your pin number backwards will notify the police that you are being robbed. This is completely false; for instance, what if you pin number was symmetrical, such as 4884?

Taste Buds

Ever been the kid in class during the taste test experiment that doesn’t believe that different areas of the tongue has different taste buds? Well you’re not alone. Turns out that experiment is a load of hogwash and that all of your tongue can taste everything.

Apple Macintosh

It was believed that Macs couldn’t get viruses. Instead there were so few Macs around that hackers really didn’t think it was worth their time developing malware for an operating system that was uncommon. As people buy more Macs, more viruses will be developed.

Spiders

It is believed than on average a person eats somewhere between 4-8 spiders in their sleep every year. Considering the Earth’s population of roughly 7 billion, that means all together we eat a total of 42 billion spiders every year, which is incorrect. Spiders aren’t stupid enough to walk into your mouth and be eaten.

Undercover Police

The law states that undercover police have to tell you that they are undercover when you ask them. Just one episode of COPS is enough to prove this one to be a lie. Thanks Breaking Bad.

Flat Earth

Even though today some people still believe the Earth is flat, it is a common misconception that in the middle ages everyone believed the Earth was flat, when in fact the Greeks had even calculated the planet’s circumference around 300 B.C.