22 Cool Ways People Explained Stuff Before We Had Science

‘Nords believed that thunder was Thor hunting trolls’
22 Cool Ways People Explained Stuff Before We Had Science

We’re very smug here in the present, since by definition we’re the most advanced society that’s ever existed. Well, as far as we know. There could be an alien race looking down on us right now, both literally and figuratively, musing to each other, “Isn’t it cute how they think the alignment of the planets has some effect on their behaviors and personalities?”

That’s pretty much how it feels to look back on a time when natural disasters were thought to be punishments for our sins and illnesses were caused by an imbalance of bodily fluids (which is today if you listen to the semen retention guys, which we don’t recommend). Until such a time when science can explain why all Leos are, like, like that, though, it’s kind of a fun system, right?

It turns out history was actually full of these neat little stories that satisfied a scared population that didn’t understand why it was so cold outside or how gravity works, and a flight of fancy was as good an explanation as any. That’s why user Creph_ asked r/AskReddit, “What are some of the most interesting mythological explanations for real scientific (phenomena)?”

Gregaroo 7y ago Cyclops myth was spurred by one-eyed fossils which turns out to be ancient elephant skulls
976chip 7y ago It's been theorized that the ten plagues of Egypt were the result of a massive volcanic eruption in Greece (I think, I know it was on the other side of the Mediterranean).
7y ago Ancient cultures such as the Greeks used to burn sulphurous candles to ward off ancient spirits in their brewing houses. In reality they were filling the air with sulphates which inhibit bacterial growth
MissMarionette 7y ago Japan explained earthquakes with a giant ass catfish that slept beneath the archipelago and when it snored it would cause earthquakes. It's why the Pokémon Whiscash has that Snore attack (among other pokés).
cortechthrowaway 7y ago The Cherokee had a myth that the great cataract in the Tennessee River Gorge was created by a giant sturgeon flopping around on the riverbottom.
HCPwny 7y ago The Flying Dutchman and other ghost ships could have earned their reputation due to looming, in which a ship on the horizon would appear to be floating in the air due to the way light bends. If it faded below the horizon it would also appear to disappear into nothing.
skallskitar 7y ago Perhaps it's common knowledge, but the old nords believed thunder was Thor hunting trolls. The lightning flashes was reflections from his hammer, Mjölnir, amd the thunder was the sound of the hammer hitting the ground where a troll lived.
blabbyabby 7y ago I'm super late to the party so I doubt anyone will read this, but I'll write it anyway. The myth of Atlantis, the sunken city, is believed to be inspired by the real island of santorini. There was a volcanic eruption that left most of the island covered by water so what was once a almost round island now looks moon-shaped. Meaning the rest of the island must have sunk into the sea.
ecualife 7y ago I live at the feet of these three mountains in Ecuador. Respectively they are called Chimborazo, Tungurahua and Carihuairazo. Tungurahua is the only currently active volcano. There is a huge amount of lore about these three mountains. One such legend is that Taita (sir) Chimborazo is married to La Mama Tungurahua and their baby is Carihauirazo. Another is that the reason Tungurahua always blows ash in February is because she is still dealing with the hangover from Carnaval. Ecuador is a fun place to live :)
mattherat 7y ago Not really a scientific phenomenon. But the story behind the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland is that it was built as a bridge between Ireland and Scotland to allow two giants to meet and fight. The Irish giant known as Finn MacCool (when written in English) got scared and so had his wife dress him up a baby, when the Scottish giant arrived he seen Finn, thought he was really a baby and as such ran away home because of what he thought Finn must of looked like because of the size of his kid. The bridge
Katzenhaft13 7y ago I like the tail of Helios that explains the sun. They thought some giant man and his giant chariot driven by giant horses pulled the sun across the sky and must rest each night to pull the sun again the next day.
xaviere8 . 7y ago I've always loved how some First Nations traditions believe the northern lights are the spirits of your friends, family and ancestors who've passed away, dancing because they are happy. It's such a nice association--to look at a beautiful phenomenon, remember people you've lost and be happy.
Dracon_Pyrothayan 7y ago Medieval scholars, being unable to see fly eggs, thought that rotting meat simply generated maggots. Considering the Viking myth of the origins of Dwarves (i.e., they're maggots emerging from the corpse of the first giant, from whose body the worlds were made), that is a very old belief.
SkepticShoc 7y ago Early explorers of Africa wrote about how Lake Victoria appeared to smoke sometimes. Some theorized the black plumes were demons. In reality, it was an absolutely massive brood of black flies all metamorphosing and gaining wings and exiting the lake at the same time.
PremSinha 7y ago Edited 7y ago In India, centuries ago, people used to think that white clothes turning red is a sign of a demon entering one's house. Indeed, clothes don't generally change colour. In reality, turmeric is a spice used in Indian food. If white clothes stained by turmeric are washed with soap, they turn red. So, it was just messy eating, which was hardly demonic.
MoriKitsune 7y ago I've always liked the Greeks' explanation of echoes. In the Ovid, the story goes that Zeus was very fond of the nymphs, and visited them often. Hera got jealous, and when she went to investigate, a young nymph named Echo tried to protect Zeus from discovery by distracting Hera with long conversations. Hera eventually figured out what Echo was doing, and got very angry. She cursed Echo; after that, the nymph was only able to speak the last few words that were spoken by others. Later on, Echo fell in love with Narcissus, but was unable to
High_Stream 7y ago TL;DR: Vampires come from misunderstanding how bodies decay. Let's say you live in medieval Europe. A bunch of people start dying in your village. It's a contagious disease, but you don't have germ theory yet, so you exhume the body of the first person to die. In some parts of Europe, high amounts of lime in the soil prevents bodies from decaying for a bit longer, so if you exhume a recently deceased body, it may have looked better preserved than it should have been. Then as the body dehydrates, skin on fingertips recedes while the nails
Short_Tales 7y ago The Greeks had some weird explanations for stuff. My favorite: Hades (god of the underworld) kidnapped Persephone (goddess of springtime, I think?) to be his wife. Demeter (Persephone's mom, goddess of the harvest) did not like. Hades wound up having to give her back. However, it turned out she ate some pomegranate seeds of doom while in the underworld, and thus she had to stay for six months a year. So now, every year, she goes to the underworld and stays for half the year. This makes Demeter angsty, and she denies good harvests or warm temperatures
ZBiggety 7y ago This is a bit different from the others, but when I was studying physics in school we talked about Aristotle's ideas of gravity. Не had this idea that there was a natural order to the four elements: earth, then water, then air, then fire. The idea was that the elements were always trying to reestablish this order, so if you throw a rock in the air it falls down to be at the bottom again. Water flows downhill but always has earth underneath it. Bubbles rise in water. I always liked it because it's a decent explanation
pjabrony 7y ago In the mountains of Germany, it's possible to climb high enough that you get cloud formations below you. If the light catches things just right, it can look like a great shadow moving across the clouds at high speed. This may be the origin of the idea that witches would fly.
The-Tewby 7y ago Edited 7y ago I dont know if this is what yoi are looking for, but the Vikings used to add bone to their iron in hopes of getting the god's favor and making the weapon stronger. What they really did with it was create a primitive kind of steel, still much stronger than regular iron. But for them it was the god's favor.
allizzia 7y ago There's a myth in the southeast of Mexico where very high in a cave lived some wise old men whose job was to create storms. They were nice people kind of like gods that helped with the crops and were peaceful. They went home and stomped on the floor and danced to create heavy rain. They took off their belts and hit the floor with them to create thunder. People built them a nice temple to appease them and have nice weather. It's a very tropical place and hurricanes and storms are normal there, flooding is common.

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