Reddit users have compiled a list of 34 “facts” that people believed for far too long, and the collection ranges from the mildly embarrassing to the genuinely bizarre. The list, titled “Confidently Wrong: 34 ‘Facts’ People Believed For Far Too Long,” includes everything from a roommate convinced that chimpanzees breed with humans to a Sunday school teacher who treated KISS as an acronym for “Knights In Satan’s Service.”
The Roommate Who Wanted a Centaur
One user described a roommate who tried to convince them that isolated tribes in the jungle were breeding with chimpanzees. The roommate argued that the shape of the banana proved God’s existence. When confronted with the fact that penises fit hands well too, the roommate dropped the argument.
Another user’s mother learned a lesson from a friend named Sally. On a popular trail in the UK, a group of Chinese tourists took pictures of sheep. Sally explained that the tourists did so because they had no sheep in China. The group believed her. The user’s mother repeated the fact at dinner, only to have her son Google it and discover that China actually has the largest population of sheep in the world.
The Ex Who Held Periods Like Urine
One woman’s ex-boyfriend insisted that women can hold their periods the way men hold their urine. He did not believe her when she said it was impossible. Another user’s father believed in “nano silver” as a cure-all, citing ancient kings who drank from silver cups and lived long, healthy lives. The professor noted that kings and emperors had mostly short, often disease-ridden lives.
The Band Names That Never Were
The list includes several band-name explanations that are almost entirely made up:
- KISS = “Knights In Satan’s Service”
- AC/DC = “Anti-Christian Devil Children”
- Slayer = “Satan Laughs As You Eternally Rot”
These were all told without irony by a Sunday school teacher circa 1987.
Why People Believe Fake Facts
The list draws on research showing that people often adopt false beliefs simply because they are popular. Studies have found that misinformation spreads faster on social media than fact-based information, traveling six times faster in some cases. The professor’s work suggests that people believe they are good at spotting lies, but they are actually very bad at it.
Professor Georg Weizsäcker, a German economist whose research focuses on microeconomics, experimental economics, financial decision-making, and game and decision theory, wrote a book called “Misunderstandings: False Beliefs in Communication.” He told Bored Panda that people often boast about their ability to detect lies by looking someone in the eye. “Most people are very bad at lie detection. Even specialists like judges are not very good at it,” he said.
The Spork Is the Devil’s Utensil
One user was told that the spork is “the devil’s utensil” because it combines a masculine fork with a feminine spoon, blurring gender lines. Another user was convinced that “mind over matter” meant lifting objects with the mind. When challenged to bend a spoon, the believer admitted her mind was not that good.
Not Everyone Is Innocent
Some people deliberately invent false ideas and pass them off as truth. The professor noted that people think they cannot be misled, which makes other people’s efforts to deceive them even more successful. “If the other person expects that I believe her, then she may have an especially large incentive to lie to me,” he said.
The List as a Reality Check
The list is a reminder that confidence does not equal correctness. It is easy to spread misinformation, but much harder to disprove it. The examples show that people can be absolutely convinced of something that is completely wrong, often because they have not done any research at all.
The list may serve as a reality check for anyone who still believes some of these “facts.” It is a small, personal reminder that conviction alone does not make something true.
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