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40 Pervasive Myths We’re About to Bust Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

No myth is safe

40 Pervasive Myths We’re About to Bust Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

January 12, 2025

All you deceptive little myths and misconceptions can’t hide the truth forever! Like we’ve done with every myth that came before you, we’ll expose you for the lie that you are. Let this list of our most recent unveilings serve as a warning to you and any of your little counterintuitive counterparts. Your days are numbered.

40

The Number of Senses

MYTH: Human BEINGS HAVE FIVE senses. U D J TOUCH TASTE SIGHT HEARING SMELL FAGT8 you've ACTUALLY GOT SOMeTHING LIKE 15. Scientists still aren't quite

39

Neanderthals

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

38

Teenage Employees

CRACKEDcO COM M fice Pm Less than a third of fast food workers are actually teenagers. Thirty percent are between 20-24 years old. Contrary to the ima

37

The Middle Ages

Contrary to popular wisdom, witch burning wasn't really a thing in the Middle Ages. It only got going after the Middle Ages ended, and really kicked off around 1500. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

36

Searing Meat

MYTH: TO keep YOUR meAT MOIST, YOU neeD TO SEAR IT. FACT: SEARING Doesn't LOCK in JUICES. Searing meat doesn't do a thing to keep juices inside. When you sear your steak, you're actually creating a tougher crust on the outside of the cut, which makes the inside seem juicier by comparison. Alton Brown did an experiment and found that seared meat is actually less moist than meat that's been cooked to the same temperature but not seared. CRACKED.COM http://www. cookthink.com/reference/7/Does_searing_meat_really_seal_in_moisture — 24 Food And Cooking Myths

35

Boiling Water

You might have heard that adding salt to water will make it boil faster. But if added, the salt actually raises the boiling point of the water. This m

34

Dinosaurs

Velociraptors probably. weren't actually cunning, cooperative pack hunters. It's a popular image in both pop culture and science, but some scientists now think they attacked the same prey but didn't cooperate much. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

33

The Placement of the Human Heart

CRACKED Your heart is on your-left side. It's a myth that the heart is on the left side of the chest. Actually, the heart is in the middle of the chest, but it's slightly tilted to the left. — Source

32

Age

CRACKED Old people used to be rare. Contrary to popular belief, people in the past could live to be quite old. Archaeological evidence and records show that humans have been able to reach their 70s, 80s, and even 90s for the past 160,000 years. — Source

31

Herbs

MYTH: The right herbs can get you in the mood. FACT: Herbal aphrodifiacy can kill you. According to the FDA, no herbal supplement can actually boost your sex drive, and Spanish Fly has been shown to permanently damage the urinary system. Worse, in 1995, four men died from taking herbal aphrodisiacs. The myth probably arose in ancient times, when some herbs contained vitamins people were actually deficient in. CRACKED.COM features/9912150015 1 aphrodisiacs-wild-oats-herbal

30

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

29

Roadrunners

MYTH Roadrunners can outrun those pesky coyotes. TRUTH Roadrunners can run up to 20 mph, but coyotes can run twice as fast. CRACKED.COM — Mental Floss

28

The 1929 Stock Market Crash

BELIEF: Many stock brokers jumped out of windows when the market collapsed. There were two jumping TRUTH: suicides between the crash and 1929. The myth of the common Wall Street suicide originated with a comedian's quip. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Tinkerbell

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

26

Urine

Despite the popular myth, urine has bacteria and isn't actually sterile. CRACKED.COM The myth spread when epidemiologist Edward Kass set a cutoff in the 1950s for the number of bacteria in normal urine, and any number under that resulting in a negative test. — Science News

25

Andre the Giant

GRACKED ANDRE THE GIANT: NOT AS TALL AS ADVERTISED. Andre the Giant was said to be really tall on TV: 7'4. Не was actually a bit shorter than that, though - about 6'9 and three-quarters. Still pretty gigantic, admittedly. — Refactoid / WWE

24

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

23

Birds

Contrary to popular belief, handling a baby bird won't make its parents reject it due to the smell of human. Most birds can barely smell. ... but it's still a bad idea to handle any baby birds you find. Their parents are rarely far off, and even if you don't see them, they see you. CRACKED.COM — Source: 40 Myths (That've Been Around Forever) We All Believe

22

Napoleon’s Height

CRACKED NAPOLEON Contrary to popular belief, Napoleon wasn't particularly short. Не was probably around the same height as the average Frenchman in the 19th century --he was estimated to be 5'6 or 5'7. — Source

21

Giraffes

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, GIRAFFES MOST LIKELY EVOLVED TO HAVE LONG NECKS TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT BETTER- NOT JUST TO GET MORE FOOD. CRACKED.COM Giraffes also have the same number of neck vertebrae (seven) as most other mammals, including humans. — NY Times / San Diego Zoo

20

Vitamin C

Contrary to popular belief, Vitamin C doesn't prevent you from catching a cold. But it can have some benefits for colds, like reducing their severity or duration - that's the finding of a meta-analysis of 29 scientific studies. CRACKED.COM — Source: Healthline

19

Police Brutality

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Cops manhandling a suspect in a movie or TV show? It's okay if it's the good guys doing it. REALITY: No, it really isn't. A study of 26 crime series (from How To Get Away With Murder to Mindhunter) showed that abuse of power is often portrayed as acceptable, forgivable, and even virtuous, as long as it's the heroes doing it. In reality, this type of conduct is an example of injustice itself. It's also a dangerous belief, as most people think they're the good guys.

18

Bread

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/ — 24 Food And Cooking Myths

17

Serial Killers

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Most serial killers had an abusive childhood. REALITY: A whopping 70% of serial killers reported no child abuse. These numbers might include individuals who don't want to admit experiencing a traumatic childhood, but that's still a pretty high number debunking the popular belief. Many of them did however report bed wetting, abusing animals, and setting things on fire. — 14 Myths About Crime We Believe (Thanks To Pop Culture)

16

Bathing in Medieval Times

Everyone in HISTORY THE medieval times smelled awful. Actually, they were way into bathing. Contrary to popular belief, medieval people actually lik

15

Cleopatra

Cleopatra is known for being the last pharaoh of Egypt, but she was not actually Egyptian. She was Macedonian. CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

14

Baby Poop

Think: all poop stinks? Not to your mother. Scientists found that when mothers sniffed and rated various samples of baby poop, they reported that poop from their own babies smelled less nasty. It actually makes sense. If mothers are less disgusted by their own children, they'll take better care of them. CRACKED.COM — 30 Medical Facts You'll Swear Are B.S. (But Aren't)

13

Cowboys

BELIEF: Cowboy hats were worn in beginning of the Western American frontier. TRUTH: The cowboy hat didn't become popular until after the American Civi

12

Knights

Medieval knights wearing full armor actually weren't terribly bulky at all. For example, contrary to widespread myth, knights could get on their horse without any help - they didn't need, say, elaborate cranes or anything. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Coffee

Contrary to popular belief, lighter coffee has higher caffeine content. When coffee is roasted, it loses caffeine, meaning that a dark and robust cup of coffee has less caffeine than a lighter roast. CRACKED

10

Lighters

Contrary to popular belief, lighters have been around longer than matchsticks. Chemist Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner invented the first lighter in 1823,

9

Springtime

Research on seasonal effects on suicide rates suggests that suicide attempts OCCUr more frequently in the springtime, contrary to the popular belief t

8

Water

Contrary to popular belief, water is not a good conductor of electricity. The basic rule of electric conductivity is that the conductor needs to carry

7

Fingerprints

MYTH: FINGERPRINTS ARE ALL super unique. FACT8 THEY'RE ACTUALLY WORRYINGLY SIMILAR. Your fingerprints aren't all that unique - -relatives will have ma

6

Goldfish

THINK YOUR FORGETFUL PAL HAS GOLDFISH MEMORY? 5F 10 50 15 45 20 40 35 25 O0 30 THINK AGAIN. Contrary to popular belief, that goldfish have a three sec

5

Potted Plants

40 Pervasive Myths We’re About to Bust Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

4

Leopards

A leopard never changes its spots This belief is SO popular that it became an idiom, but leopards do change their spots as they reach adulthood. The

3

Stress

Your belief that stress is bad for you (but not the stress itself) is actually killing you! A study with 30000 adults in the US asked people if they b

2

Male Emotions

CRACKED.COM CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, MEN ARE MORE EMOTIONALLY' SENSITIVE THAN WOMEN. In one experiment, when presented with blissful, funny, exciti

1

The ‘Third World’

WHEN YOU HEAR THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES YOU IMAGINE POOR COUNTRIES. IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY INDICATE A COUNTRY'S FINANCIAL PROWESS AT ALL. SUCH INDICATION L

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