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40 Random Myths, Mistruths and Miscalculations That Have Poisoned the Zeitgeist

Sorry, but your archnemesis isn’t going to hear that awesome quip you’ve been workshopping to your minions

40 Random Myths, Mistruths and Miscalculations That Have Poisoned the Zeitgeist

October 30, 2024

Statistically speaking, serial killers are dumb as rocks.

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40

MYTH: Daniel Craig gets free Aston Martins, forever Some people think that Daniel Craig gets free Aston Martin cars forever because of his role as Bond, but that's not true. It would probably be the best perk ever, though CRACKED — Source

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MYTH Diamond engagement rings have been the proposal standard for x hundreds of years. FACT Diamond engagement rings were essentially a marketing invention of the DeBeers company after they over purchased diamond mines in the 1930s. CRACKED — Source

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MYTH Store-bought foods should be x thrown out after the expiration date on the packaging. FACT The FDA doesn't require expiration dates, except for baby formula. The date on most food is an estimate, and is often put on food to encourage consumers to throw it out and buy a new one. X0 LP245 18:53 R1 EC2 31/12/2019 CRACKED — Source

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MYTH: Marilyn Monroe had six toes The rumor that Marilyn Monroe had six toes on each foot isn't true. It started with a photographer who thought they saw an extra toe in a 1946 photo. But when they looked at other photos taken at the same time, they saw she had five toes. CRACKED — Source

36

You can't have a conversation during a gunfight. Gunshots are louder than jackhammers, so forget about cracking wise at your opponents (let alone whispering to your partners) while bullets are flying. You'll be pretty much deaf for a while. CRACKED.COM — Source

35

Kicks are no good. Kicking someone is slow, cumbersome, and leaves you exposed to a counterattack (to your crotch). The effectiveness of kicking for self-defense is debated even in the martial arts community. CRACKED.COM — Source

34

MYTH: DIETING? YOU SHOULD eAT CALORIE- BURNING FOODS. 80 Pd 100 FACT: THERE'S no SUCH THING. So-called negative calorie foods tend to be some sort of fruit or vegetable that supposedly contains fewer calories than it takes to digest it. But the calories your body burns in fueling the digestive cycle are minuscule compared with the calories in the food itself. Even chewing, and even celery. CRACKED.COM content ime.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804 1896439_1896359_1896346,00.html — Source

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Serial killers aren't all the hyper-geniuses the media makes them out to be. The average IQ of an American serial killer is 95, just below the national average of 98. Their intelligence varies like with any other group of people. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

MYTH: BREAD GeTS STALE BECAUSE IT DRIES OUT. FACT: STALeness comes FROM TOO MUCH MOISTURE. When bread gets too much moisture, the starches in the bread start to crystallize, making the bread tough and stale. And refrigerating bread won't keep it fresher. Low temperatures actually speed up the crystallization process. CRACKED.COM https://kitchen-myths. com/2011/11/19/myth-bread-becomes-stale-by-drying-out/ — Source

31

Everyone pictures Kenya as a wild or impoverished land But in reality Kenya is a modern state with bustling cities and a capital home to over three million people. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

PODCAST BS 705.1 CONNIT CLAIMING YOUNG PEOPLE DON'T NEED A COVID SHOT Joe Rogan suggested on his podcast that young, healthy people don't need to be concerned at all about getting the COVID vaccine. CRACKED — Joe Rogan
Snopes

29

PODCAST BS CLAIMING THE ABSENCE OF A HYMEN PROVES LOSS OF VIRGINITY Rapper T.I. got a lot of flack for saying in a podcast that he takes his daughter to the doctor every year to make sure she's still a virgin. The fact is, checking for the presence of a hymen isn't a sure-fire way to determine virginity at all. CRACKED — Jamie Lamor Thompson/Shutterstock
Snopes

28

THE CHARL KIRK SHOW PODCAST BS CLAIMING THE ARIZONA 2020 ELECTION WAS RIGGED Charlie Kirk has said some untrue things about athletes and COVID-19 vaccines on his podcast, like that they're dying from them. He's also touched on the 2020 election in Arizona, saying that the results were messed with. CRACKED — The Charlie Kirk Show
New Straits Times

27

Crypto Scams THE JEFF BEZOS SCAM British people have lost a lot of money to cryptocurrency scams featuring famous people, with the most expensive one involving a photo of Jeff Bezos costing almost two $200,000 dollars. CRACKED — Tinseltown/Shutterstock
Decrypt

26

GRACKED.COM Afraid to go to Australia because of the sharks, snakes, and crocodiles? Those aren't even Australia's deadliest animals anyway. In deaths per decade... 90 85 80 75 77 70 65 60 55 50 45 44 40 35 33 30 25 27 20 18 15 16 16 14 10 9 5 0 Bees Dogs Other Snakes Sharks Bovines Crocodiles Kangaroos Horses, ponies, and donkeys — 15 Countries We Picture Wrong Side By Side With Reality

25

Being Cold Causes Colds GRACKED.COM Your parents would have you think a puffer jacket is your last line of defense against the common cold. The common cold is a virus, and a lack of mittens has nothing to do with getting infected. Licking frozen telephone poles? Still not recommended. — Cracked

24

MYTH: WOMEN WERE BURNED AT THE STAKE DURING THE BE SALEM WITCH TRIALS. CRACKED COM Many women were put to death as witches in Salem during the summer of 1692, but not by way of burning - that was the European way of carrying out an execution. In America, we did the sensible thing and hanged the accused. — Washington Post

23

You can't be easily sedated. New Too little sedative, and nothing will happen. Too much, and you will kill your target. And even if you get the dose just right, the effect is never immediate. — More: 6 Deadly Injuries You Only Survive in the Movies (Update)

22

MYTH: Marilyn Monroe inspired Tinkerbell The popular story that Tinkerbell in Disney's Peter Pan was based on Marilyn Monroe isn't true; the character was actually inspired by actress Margaret Kerry. CRACKED — Source

21

CRACKED The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4 It's commonly thought that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, but it wasn't. Congress gave the go-ahead on that day, but the actual signing didn't happen until August 2. — Source

20

Prior to 1999, the mythical American Express Black Card was just a myth. AMERICAN EXPRESS 3763 9 Valid Thru GRACKED.COM 02/12 NG CHUN KEUNG The myth became so pervasive that AmEx decided to capitalize on it and actually make a black, ultra-exclusive credit card. — Money Tips

19

MYTH Owls can spin their heads around completely. TRUTH Owls can turn their heads 270 degrees in both directions. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

MYTH Bulls will charge anything that's the color red. TRUTH Bulls are colorblind to the color red. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Nails Grow After Death CRACKED.COM A common myth says nails (and hair) keep growing after death. Retracting skin may make nails and hair appear longer, but they cannot continue to grow without glucose. Ancient cultures may have come up with this myth to explain why corpses look so fabulous. — Source

16

MYTH x Before modern medicine, people used to die at 40. FACT If people survived into young adulthood they were likely to reach their 70s and 80s just as we do today. This myth stems from people calculating the average age of death without taking high child mortality into account. CRACKED — Abraham Bloemaert/National Gallery of Art
SAPIENS Anthropology Magazine

15

MYTH Wolves howl at the moon. TRUTH Wolves howl to communicate, day or night. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

MYTH: ALWAYS COOK PORK UnTL I'S SWELL-DONE. FACT8 PORK IS MUCH SAFER THAN you THINK. The myth that undercooked pork is swimming with worms is left ove

13

MYTH Lobsters are monogamous. TRUTH Female lobsters spend up to two weeks with a mate. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

MYTH: A munchkin killed himself on The Wizard of Oz People often say that a munchkin killed themselves while they were making The Wizard of Oz, but that's not true -- it's just an urban myth. CRACKED — Source

11

Urine is sterile. It's a myth that pee is totally clean. In reality, even healthy people have some bacteria in their urine. CRACKED — Tupungato/Shutterstock
Science News

10

CRACKED MYTH: MOST PEOPLE OF AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE ONLY USE 10 PERCENT OF THEIR BRAINS (AS SEEN IN: LUCY) FACT: Everyone, of varying levels of intelligence, uses 100 percent of their brain. There is no basis for this myth at all. — Source

9

MYTH: SHAVING MAKES HAIR GROW BE BACK THICKER. CRACKED.COM If shaving made your hair grow back faster and thicker, every teenage boy would look like Paul Bunyan. The reason this myth persists is because hair tapers as it grows, and when you cut it back you see the wider bottom portion. — Business Insider

8

MYTH: LOSING YOUR VIRGINITY WILL HURT. FACT: IT PROBABLY won'T. The hymen isn't a barrier that gets painfully ripped open, and it has generally dissolved before a woman's first time having sex. If sex is uncomfortable, it's probably just a physiological response to anxiety, making this myth only a self-fulfilling prophecy. CRACKED.COM — Sex Myths You've Probably Believed Your Entire Life

7

MYTH: TOO MUCH SUGAR WILL MAKE YOU HYPER. CRACKED This myth stems from a single study in the '70s that proved one child's behavior improved when sugar was removed from their diet - go figure. Don't worry about polishing off your leftover Halloween candy before bed, although maybe consider a change in diet yourself. — Source: Association for Psychological Science

6

2 MYTH: MILK BUILDS STRONG B BONES. CRACKED.COM This myth started when schools were provided nutritional material that boasted the importance of dairy in your diet, when studies cannot link milk consumption with healthy living and especially stronger bones. Who gave them this material? The National Dairy Council. — More: 6 Ridiculous Science Myths You Learned in Kindergarten

5

2 MYTH: ALBERT EINSTEIN FAILED B MATH. CRACKED.CO Einstein did drop out of school at age 15, but not because he couldn't hack it; although he consistently aced his classes, he was frustrated by the mechanical discipline implemented by his teachers. Presented with the myth of his mathematical shortcomings, Einstein remarked that he had mastered differential and integral calculus'' by age 15. — Source: Washington Post

4

40 Random Myths, Mistruths and Miscalculations That Have Poisoned the Zeitgeist — Source: Alaska

3

40 Random Myths, Mistruths and Miscalculations That Have Poisoned the Zeitgeist — Source: BBC Science Focus

2

NEANDERTHALS ACTUALLY HAD GREAT POSTURE. Neanderthals stood upright. The myth of the hunched knuckle- draggers came from one Neanderthal skeleton that — Source: NHM

1

MYTH: DARKER DRINKS ARE HEALTHIER. FACT8 DARK DRINKS GIVE YoU A WORSE HANGOVER. While it's true that red wines and darker beers generally have more an

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