"Don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back".
"If you make too many funny faces, they'll eventually get stuck."
"Watching too much TV can make your eyes fall out."
Three of the many superstitions parents, teachers, and other authoritative adults tell children in hopes of getting them to behave.
It doesn't take long for children to realize that these are all merely myths.
This doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of well-educated adults who still believe silly myths like these.
In spite of bountiful scientific evidence, not to mention common sense, some people remain convinced that superstitions and folklore, no doubt meant to frighten or entertain, are actually based in reality.
Redditor JoeyDotnot was curious to hear the most ludicrous myths people still believe, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest myth people today believe?"
With A Few Deep Breaths, You Can Get Away With Anything
"'Lie detectors' as a literal thing."
"There's a reason they aren't admissible as evidence in court in most places."- bitew41489
test homer GIFGiphyHow Would That Even Work?...
"My dad had this guy helping him out, think Big Box store DIY curb ready helper, who told him 'If you sleep with your hair wet, you will bleed out of your mouth'."
"And he was 110% sure that was fact."
"We were both just confused and bewildered at this statement."
"What the hell had this guy witnessed?!"- bitew41489
Purely For Dramatic Effect
"There are dumber ones out there, but the one I, as an estate lawyer, deal with constantly is the idea that there needs to be a 'reading' of the will, where the family all gather and the lawyer reads it aloud to them for the first time."
"We don't do that, we just mail everyone their own copy if they want it."
"It's a really stubbornly persistent one because people continue to see scenes of it in movies and TV shows, where it's used for some big dramatic reveal."
"I've even had irate beneficiaries insist that the administration of the estate can't be 'official' until there's a reading."
"Way, way back, like 150 years ago or so, I believe we used to do something like that at times because you couldn't exactly presume literacy on the part of the beneficiaries, but now we feel it's a pretty safe bet that you can either read it or find someone who can."- PigHaggerty
Shouldn't They Also Have To Register Their Legs?
"Black belts have to register their fists as weapons."
"I can't believe I was dumb enough to fall for that."- gorox47927
...Still Best Not To Try It...
"If you drop a penny off a skyscraper, it will eventually fall fast enough to puncture someone’s skull."
"By that logic, raindrops would hurt or straight up kill you."
"Not to mention hail."- UnvwevweOsas
Tyler Labine Penny GIF by HULUGiphyA Balanced Diet Is All It Takes...
"Detox drinks."- Ok-Relief-723
Though We Should Believe This One...
"Tear here to open."- TheDarkSide2187
You Never Know What Your Good Luck Is...
"It is believed in Indian culture that keeping your unibrow means 'good luck'."
"I kept my unibrow for 20 years thinking it is my 'good luck' until I got stage 5th of kidney failure and I did my eyebrows after that because who gives a f*ck about luck anymore."
"Now my eyebrows look cute af."- Full_Sector_1606
miranda sings eyes GIFGiphyThe Reason Everyone Sleeps With Their Mouths Closed
"That you eat spiders in your sleep."
"Spiders will not knowingly walk into a preditor's mouth."
"They can sense both the heartbeat, heat and noise from humans."
"All things that would alert them not to go into our mouth."- messeboy
If Anything, It Might Actually Come Out Faster...
"I remember the myth that gum takes 7 YEARS to fully pass through your digestive system."- QuandiliusDinglebop
You Shouldn't Wait 48 Seconds!
"You have to wait 48 hours to report someone missing."- loxisi5751
No Two Bodies Are The Same
"When I had cancer a few years back and was doing chemotherapy I had people who constantly questioned that I actually 'had cancer' due to the fact that my hair didn't fall out until I was actually in remission."
"Had been off chemo for about 2-3 weeks when my hair started gradually thinning and falling out."
"It's a complete myth that every single person's hair will have the same reaction to chemo."
"Some people lose hair right away, some don't."
"Everybody is different."- DorothyGMilne
Once A Genius, Always a Genius
"That Einstein failed his grade school math class."
"It was the subject of a Ripley’s Believe It or Not column in 1935 and Einstein himself refuted the article."
"In primary school, he had been at the top of the class and by 15 he had mastered differential and integral calculus."- rolis20544
albert einstein GIFGiphyAlways Make Sure That Lid Is On Tightly
"Not sure if this fits here exactly, but the McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit being a frivolous case filed by a money hungry customer."
"That poor lady was a real victim who suffered legitimate injuries who only wanted her medical costs covered."- deneto1043
Always Check With Your Doctor First...
"That magnetic jewelry / healing will cure just about anything."
"A dude named Mesmer the 1780 came up with the idea, and it has been debunked many times."
"Yet it’s still a billion dollar industry."
"Fun fact - the word 'mesmerized' is related to him."- rolis20544
Be it watching too much TV will make your eyes fall out or Windex can clear up any ailment, some people will truly believe anything.
And no amount of convincing will ever change their mind.
@GavinNewsom/X
