22 Popular Beliefs that are Completely Untrue

BELIEFS
POPULAR
COMPLETELY UNTRUE
THAT
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22
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Newsflash: everything you know to be true is actually false.
Oysters aren't aphrodisiacs. You've been drinking 8 glasses
of water-the worst of all beverages-for no reason. You could
have been swimming more. Like, WAY more.
Indeed, the truth ahead could be painful. But if you think
you can handle it, read on...
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company

50% of Marriages End in Divorce 4
You Need to Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day 6
Oysters are Aphrodisiacs 8
You Need to Wait 30 Minutes After
Eating Before Swimming 10
Being Cold Gives You a Cold 12
Women Make Less Than Men for
Doing the Same Job 12
Turkey is to Blame for Your
Thanksgiving Day Nap 14
Bulls are Enraged by the Color Red 16
If You Party in College, You Will Never
get a Well-paying Job 20
The Great Wall of China is the Only
Man Made Object Visible from Space 22
Bats are Blind 24
Dropping a Penny on Someone from
the Empire State Building will Kill Them 26
Lightning Never Strikes the
Same Place Twice 28
George Washington had Wooden Teeth 30
Chameleons Change Colors to Blend
in with Their Surroundings 32
People Don't Leave Their Jobs
Because of Pay 34
It Takes 7 Years to Digest Swallowed Gum 36
Alcohol Make You Warm 38
Employers Talking to Their Employees
About Pay Will Incite a Riot 40
Bathroom Door Handles are
Full of Bacteria 42
Cracking Knuckles Causes Arthritis 44
Goldfish Have a 3 Second Brain 46
Contents

50% OF MARRIAGES
END IN DIVORCE
www.payscale.comwww.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company

According to The New York Times, the oft-
quoted 50% divorce rate is a relic of the 1970's. Today,
it is predicted that nearly two-thirds of marriages will
never involve a divorce, according to data from Justin
Wolfers, a University of Michigan economist. Moral of
the story? Don't believe everything you read in panic-
inducing The Atlantic articles.
Original Source: The New York Times

You need
to drink glasses of
water a day!

No one knows exactly where this myth started, but the best
guess is this 1945 recommendation from the National Food
and Nutrition Board, a government advisory agency, that
stated: “A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters
daily in most instances. … Most of this quantity is contained in
prepared foods.” The theory is that people read this, ignored
the last sentence, and the eight glasses a day (about 2.5 liters)
recommendation was born. Moral of the story? Read ALL the
data, or you may end up peeing every fifteen minutes for the
rest of your life.
Original Source: FiveThirtyEight
Indeed you do not.

oysters are
aphrodisiacs

Original Source: The New York Times
Contrary to popular belief, these infamous bivalves
are not as bow-chicka-wow-wow inducing as we
have been led to believe. This claim was started by
Casanova himself in 18th century Venice, where,
devoid of modern medicine, Casanova ate dozens of
oysters as preparation for his amorous activities.
However, there is no scientific evidence that
oysters are the Viagra of the Sea—and any success is
generally chalked up to the placebo effect. Moral of
the story: Don’t believe everything you read in 18th
century literature. Also, take the money you would
have spent on oysters and invest it in a sensible
401k. Ladies love stability!

YOU NEED TO WAIT 30 MINUTES
AFTER EATING BEFORE SWIMMING

This famous fun-ruining myth is predicated by the idea that,
upon eating, most of the available blood in one’s body would
flood to the stomach to help with digestion. Thus deprived
of proper blood flow, the limbs wouldn’t have enough of the
precious fluid in them to be able to swim. While it’s true that
blood flows to our stomachs after eating a big meal, we have
enough blood to keep all of our other parts running just fine
after a meal. Moral of the story? All this time! All this time, you
could have been swimming.
Original Source: How Stuff Works

BEING
COLD
GIVES
YOU
A COLD

Sorry kids, bundling up won’t completely prevent you
from catching a cold. Colds actually have nothing to do
with body temperature. Colds are a virus, which means
they are contagious. If there are no viruses near you,
then you won’t get sick—even if you’re practically in an
ice box! In fact, avoiding outdoors and staying cooped
up indoors with multiple people perspiring germs is
MORE likely to give you a cold. Moral of the story: Stop
watching Netflix and go outside.
Original Source: Huffington Post

WOMENMAKELESSTHANMEN
FORDOINGTHESAMEJOB

While a pay gap does exist, it is smaller than most people
think. For women and men in identical roles, the pay gap
is 2.7%. This myth originates from the fact that, when all
women’s jobs are compared to all men’s jobs, the pay gap
widens to 74 cents on the dollar, aka 26%, but that is because
more women work in lower-paying fields. Moral of the story?
Forget the pay gap and focus on this jobs gap – bring more
women into leadership roles and high-paying fields.
Original Source: PayScale

ZZ
ZZ
TURKEY IS TO BLAME FOR YOUR
THANKSGIVING DAY NAP

Turkey gets a bad rap as the culprit for all the
Thanksgiving napping, but your over-eating is actually what
is causing you to drift to dreamland. It’s true that turkey
contains a chemical found in the well-known, sleep-inducing
medicine, Melatonin, but just a smidge. That itty-bitty trace
of tryptophan in your drumstick will not cause your snoozing.
Stuff your stomach to the gunnels with mashed potatoes,
dinner rolls, and booze and a food coma induced snooze is
inevitable. If you want to avoid that nap, put down the fork!
Or embrace it and be thankful, after all, it is a holiday. Moral
of the story: gobble all the turkey you want (get it?!)
Original Source: NBC News
Z
Z
Z

BULLS ARE ENRAGED BY
THE COLOR RED

DESPITE WHAT LOONEY TUNES AND DISNEY’S FERNIDAD THE
BULL CARTOONS TAUGHT US, BULLS, AND ALL OTHER TYPES
OF CATTLE, ARE ACTUALLY COLORBLIND. A STATIONARY
RED OBJECT WON’T ENRAGE THE BULL, BUT WAVING A RED
OBJECT WILL. GO AHEAD AND SWAP RED OUT FOR SUNSHINE
YELLOW AND YOU WILL STILL GET THE SAME REACTION.
IT ISN’T THE COLOR THAT ANGERS THE BEAST, BUT THE
ANNOYANCE OF WAVING AN OBJECT IN ITS FACE.
MORAL OF THE STORY? LOONEY TUNES IS A PACK OF LIES.
ORIGINAL SOURCE: LIVE SCIENCE
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IF YOU PARTY IN COLLEGE,
YOU WILL NEVER GET A
WELL-PAYING JOB

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Oh, but you will. In fact, PayScale data found that
graduates of the top ten party schools make an
average annual salary of $89,950, while graduates
of the top ten sober schools make only $84,500
annually. In other words, party school grads were
able to parlay their beer pong prowess into an
additional $5,450 per year. So much for revenge of
the nerds. Moral of the story? TOga, TOga….
Original Source: PayScale

The Great Wall of China is the Only
Man Made Object Visible from Space

Original Source: HowStuffWorks
Turns out, you can see a lot of man-made objects from
space—just not the Great Wall of China. In the glow of night,
astronauts have seen several iconic structures, but not the
Great Wall. Made of rock, the Great Wall tends to blend in
with the rest of Earth—it’s not quite Vegas.

BATSAREBLIND

Nexttimeyou'retold'you'reblind
asabat',takeitasacompliment.
Noneofthe1,100speciesofbats
areblind.Theyactuallyhave
relativelygoodvision,butarejust
sensitivetolight.
OriginalSource:Discovery

DROPPING A PENNY ON
SOMEONE FROM THE EMPIRE
STATE BUILDING WILL KILL THEM

According to Scientific American, a penny is too small,
too flat, and cushioned by too much air to transform
into a torpedo. Far from bludgeoning your enemies
to death, the actual affect of hitting someone with a
penny by dropping it off the top of The Empire State
Building would feel like “being flicked in the forehead,
but not even very hard,” the article stated.This info
should surprise no one because, let’s face it, pennies
are stupid. They are America’s worst currency. On
that note, if you want to kill someone with pennies,
try paying for your morning latte exclusively with
them, until those around you perish of rage and
boredom. Bwahaha.
Original Source: Scientific American

LIGHTNING NEVER
STRIKES THE SAME
PLACE TWICE

There is no double-jeopardy rule with lightning. According to
NASA, lightning is a huge electrostatic discharge searching
for a destination, and it doesn’t matter whether that location
has been hit before. Lightning doesn’t have a memory. Taller
objects, such as trees and skyscrapers, are usually common
targets because there is a shorter distance between that and
the origin of the lightning. The tallest tree in a forest can get
struck several times until the storm passes. In fact, lightning
strikes the Empire State Building around 100 times per year.
Moral of the story? Bad data can kill you.
Original Source: NASA

George Washington had
wooden teeth

George Washington’s teeth were made out of
a lot of things, But, despite popular belief, wood
wasn’t one of them. A far cry from the porcelain
used in dentistry today, George Washington’s teeth
were made of ivory (hippopotamus
and elephant), lead, gold, and actual
teeth from horses, donkeys and humans.
Original Source: Smithsonian Magazine

chameleonschange
colorstoblendinwiththeir
surroundings www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company

chameleonschangecolors.thisistrue.however,it's
nottoblendintotheirenvironment.chameleonschange
theircolorbecauseofheat,towarnneighborsofdanger,
andwhenthey’refeelingalittlefrisky.sometimes,a
chameleonchangescolorsjustbecausethey'reinafoul
mood.moralofstory?chameleonsbecrazy.
OriginalSource:LiveScience

PEOPLE DON'T
LEAVE THEIR JOBS
BECAUSE OF PAY

Not true. In 2015, the number one reason
most people left companies was compensation.
The majority of respondents to the 2015
Compensation Best Practices Report cited
“seeking higher pay elsewhere” as the primary
reason for leaving a company. Moral of story?
Money CAN buy you love.
Original Source: PayScale 2015 Compensation Best Practices Report
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation CompanyPayScale: The Modern Compensation CompanyPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company

IT TAKES 7 YEARS TO
DIGEST SWALLOWED GUM

Not to worry; that gum you swallowed in a panic to
avoid detention did not linger in your digestive track
beyond your high school years. Though the majority of
gum matter is in fact indigestible, the relatively small
size of the average piece of gum allows it to flow freely
through the digestive track and out of your body in far
less than seven years. Moral of the story:
this too shall pass.
Original Source: Scientific American

ALCOHOL
MAKES
YOU
WARM

Though shirtless, painted, rowdy
football fans at Midwestern winter
games appear to assume otherwise,
alcohol will not warm you up. In fact,
because alcohol dilates blood vessels
forcing blood closer to your skin,
alcohol can actually make you feel
colder. Moral of the story: Cover your
tail while tailgating.
Original Source: Business Insider

he makes
HOW MUCH?
My manager lied.
I am so out
of here!
EMPLOYERS TALKING TO THEIR EMPLOYEES
ABOUT PAY WILL INCITE A RIOT

If you aren’t talking with employees about pay, chances are they are
talking to one another—creating their own story of your compensation
philosophy. Not a good thing. PayScale, the compensation software
company, surveyed 71,000 employees to study the relationship between
pay and transparency. The study found that transparent conversations
about money can actually mitigate low pay. So, if an employer pays
lower than the market average for a position, but
communicates clearly about the reasons for the smaller
paycheck, 82% of employees surveyed still felt satisfied
with their work.
Original Source: Harvard Business Review
How much do
they pay you?

BATHROOM
OF BACTERIA
DOOR
HANDLES
ARE FULL
PayScale: The Modern Compensation Company

No need to grab that paper towel to open the
bathroom door, but you may want to avoid the
hand dryer. Turns out the dirtiest places in public
restrooms are the floors (no surprise there) and the
hand dryers! ABC News 20/20 found the toilet seat
and the door handle to be the cleanest spots in a
public restroom. They even went as far as to say that
it may be cleaner to eat your lunch off the toilet seat
than your desk. Eww.
Original Source: ABC News
PayScale: The Modern Compensation Company

CRACKING KNUCKLES
CAUSES ARTHRITIS

According to a Harvard study, though your knuckle
cracking habit may annoy everyone around you,
it likely won’t be the cause of your arthritis. After a
long Harvard-y study of knuckle crackers and non-
knuckle crackers, scientists concluded that there is
no connection between cracking your knuckles and
arthritis. However, Harvard medical researchers did
conclude that cracking your knuckles can cause
swollen hands, reduced grip strength and sometimes
even injury. So if you're working on achieving
that pull-up or just trying to grip the handle tight
enough to avoid falling on your public transportation
commute, it’s best to kick that cracking habit. Moral
of story? Crack is wack.
Original Source: Harvard

GOLDFISH HAVE A SECOND BRAIN
3

Goldfish having a three second memory is the
excuse that we use to feel better about keeping a
fish in a small bowl—each time they circle the bowl,
it’s a new experience! Unfortunately, it's not. Our
friends at Mythbusters were able to train a goldfish
to go through a maze lasting about 45 seconds.
Though their brains are small, they proved to be
mightier than three seconds.
Original Source: Discovery Channel

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22 Popular Beliefs that are Completely Untrue

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22 Popular Beliefs that are Completely Untrue