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40 Deceitful Little Myths That Have Mislead Us for Far Too Long

Sooner or later, the truth always comes out!

40 Deceitful Little Myths That Have Mislead Us for Far Too Long

November 17, 2024

We have to apologize. We’re usually on the ball, but these truths took a lot longer to uncover than usual. We were led down the wrong path by myths disguised as truths, but once we learned of their dishonesty, we got back on the right track.

That’s no excuse, though. We have to be better. You’ve come to expect sincerity from us, and if even one of those would-be truths slipped through the cracks, we’d spend a lifetime making it up to you.

40

Intelligence

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

39

Lions

MYTH Lions have kings (or at least alphas). TRUTH Lions don't have a hierarchy. They live in a egalitarian society. CRACKED.COM — Source

38

Fireflies

Fireflies Fireflies are actually beetles, not flies. And surprise, surprise, it's not fire but bioluminescence. CRACKED.COM — Source: Scientific American

37

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving CRACKED.co .COM Thanksgiving ! celebrate as we it today was established in 1941, coincidentally only one year after America's favorite turkey supplier first trademarked the name Butterball. It's true that a meal took place in 1621, but like most meals, it was pretty much a one-off thing. There were a few local celebrations held on varying dates, but people were generally too poor or busy running revolutions to bother with another holiday. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

36

Cigarettes

Tobacco companies added filters to make cigarettes healthier. But filters actually make cigarettes way more cancerous. The original filters from the '

35

Ancient Egypt

Cleopatra is known for being the last pharaoh of Egypt, but she was not actually Egyptian. She was Macedonian. CRACKEDCOMT

34

Expressing Emotions

Contrary to the common stereotype, women are not more emotionally expressive than men. While it's true that women express more positivity, there are no gender differences when you consider the vast range of emotions. GRAGKED.COM

33

Email

The ability to get work mail anywhere should boost productivity. But actually, it does the opposite. The 24/7 workplace sounds great on paper: Even wh

32

Opossums

MYTH Opossums sleep upside down and hanging by their tails. TRUTH Only baby opossums can support their weight with their tail...and only for a few seconds. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Mice

MYTH x Mice love cheese. FACT Mice prefer most other food over cheese- specifically carbs, vegetables, and sugary foods. The myth might stem from the old practice of storing cheese openly in underground cellars, making it the most accessible food for mice. CRACKED — Billion Photos/Shutterstock
Mice Mob Exterminator

30

Beards

MYTH: SHAVING MAKES HAIR GROW B 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. — Source

29

Nutella

MYTH Nutella is as healthy for x you as peanut butter. FACT Nutella is actually less healthy than chocolate frosting. Nutella pushed the healthy myth so far that they were actually ordered to pay out a class action lawsuit for deceptive advertising. nutella FERRERO ge der - CRACKED — Source

28

Wolves

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

27

Spiders

MYTH: DADDY-LONGLEGS ARE THE MOST VENOMOUS SPIDER IN THE WORLD. CRACKED COM The myth states that the deadly arachnids are harmless to humans because their fangs are in the back of their mouth, SO they can't bite us. Daddy-longlegs, otherwise known as harvestmen, not only aren't actually spiders, but they have no venom at all. — Source: Burke Museum

26

Milk

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

25

Screen Time

CRACKED MYTH: SITTING TOO CLOSE TO THE TV CAN DAMAGE YOUR EYES. FACT: While sitting too close to the TV may cause eye strain, it does not cause permanent damage to your eyes. This myth started when televisions contained more radiation than they do now. — AAO / Laughing Squid

24

College

MYTH: COLLEGE IS WHERE women experiment. FACT: NOn-COLLeGe women experiment more. The CDC did a study on 10,000 women. They found that those with bach

23

Nail Growth

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

22

Taste

MYTHB YOUR TOnGUE IS ZONeD BY FLAVOR TYPE. BITTER SALTY SALTY SOUR e SWEET FAGT8 YOUR WHOLE TOnGUE TASTES THINGS. The myth about your tongue being abl

21

The Color of Blood

MYTH: THE BLOOD LEAVING YOUR HEART IS BLUE. FAGT8 IT'S ACTUALLY DARKER RED. The myth that deoxygenated blood is blue comes from the fact that through

20

Antacid

MYTH: ATE So MucH you FEEL SICK? POP An ANTACID. FAGT8 ANTACIDS MAke YoU FEEL even FULLER. Eating causes your stomach to produce hydrochloric acid to

19

Pork

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

18

Gaming

GRACKED.COM Men are better gamers than women. BUSTED! A study shows that male and female gamers advance at the same rate in digital games.

17

Madagascar

Myth: Madagascar is all jungle and primitive tribes. Reality: It has a thriving economy with its own airlines, 5 star hotels, and shopping malls. The

16

Palm Trees

CRACKED PALM TREES ARE NATIVE TO L.A. It's a common misconception that palm trees are from Los Angeles. In reality, most of the palm trees in L.A. were brought in from other places and planted to make the city more beautiful and attract more people. с DESER SP KEE adidas HOLTYWO VEN Sterlins 2 — Source

15

Vikings

CRACKED ALL VIKINGS WORE HORNED HELMETS Actuallys the misconception came from a painter who had drawn the Vikings with horned helmets. He was inspir

14

Knighthood

CRACKED You-had-to be borna knight. It's a common misconception that knights were born into their title. In reality, knighthood was a privilege that was earned through brave acts or service, and could even be bought or granted as a reward. — Nejron Photo/Shutterstock
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

13

Salem Witch Trials

CRACKED BURNING AT THE STAKE AT THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS People often think that witches were burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials, but that's not true. In reality, 19 of the accused were hanged and one was pressed to death with heavy stones. — History / Britannica

12

Roman Orgies

CRACKED ROMAN ORGIES It's a common misconception that the Ancient Romans were into orgies, but there's no proof of any kind of organized group sex in Roman literature. — AFR / Wikipedia

11

Spartan Soldiers

CRACKED SPARTANS AS ANCIENT SUPER-SOLDIERS. It's a common misconception that Spartans were the best warriors in ancient Greece. In fact, there's no proof that they were particularly good at fighting in the Archaic period. Their fame mainly comes from their victory at the Battle of Thermopylae. — Ancient World Magazine / Midwest Film Journal

10

Rabbits

BUGS BUNNY: RABBITS EATING CARROTS BB GRACKED Many people believe that rabbits eat carrots only because of Bugs Bunny, who was just a parody of Clark Gable in the 1934 movie It Happened One Night. Rabbits don't particularly like carrots IRL. — Me TV / Wikipedia

9

Elevators

40 Deceitful Little Myths That Have Mislead Us for Far Too Long — Source: Live Science

8

T. Rexes

T. Rex Wasn't Quick On His Feet CRACKED.COM When Jurassic Park was created in 1993, there was a common misconception among paleontologists that a T. Rex could run up to 40 mph. However, we now know that a T-Rex has a running speed of approximately 15 mph, which was fast enough to hunt slow-moving herbivore prey but not swift enough to outpace an early '90s Jeep. — Source

7

Bats

2 MYTH: BATS ARE BLIND. B CRACKED.co The misconception is that bats use echolocation to locate food to make up for their poor eyesight, when in reality they have excellent vision attuned for low light. A bat is no more blind than a dolphin, another creature that uses echolocation. — Source: Britannica

6

Men with Big Feet

You know what they say about men with big CENSORED feet? Turns out it doesn't matter what they say, as research has found that there is no correlation between foot size and member length. CRACKED.COM

5

Transgender People

CRACKED.COM THE MYTH Transgender people make up a third gender. THE FACT Transgender people explicitly identify as male or female. They aren't part of a third gender. They are men and women.

4

Men as Leaders

Think men are naturally better leaders than women? WRONG! A study of over 2,900 managers found that women scored higher than men in 4 out of 5 traits necessary for a successful leader. CRACKED.COM

3

Feminine Colors

PINK HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN A GIRL COLOR. In fact, it was used more for boys in the early 1900s. CRACKED.COM

2

Reading Emotions

Think women are better at reading emotions? Researchers examined the ability of 15,000 participants to decipher whether people were displaying real or fake smiles in photographs. When viewing same-sex pictures, men were right 72% of the time, women 71%. As for opposite-sex pics, men beat women 76% to 67%. CRACKED.COM

1

Divorce

Men: FINANCIALLY RUINED after a divorce? NOPE. After divorce, a woman's standard of living drops by an average of 27% while men's grows an average of 10%. GRACKED.COM

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