A friend from Germany sent over to me, at random, a list of common misconceptions as compiled by Wikipedia. In what is shaping up to be a pretty miserable week ahead of weather, I figured a light hearted blog might fit the bill. And with that, I present the most entertaining, if not useful to know, common misconceptions.
- The redhead gene is not going extinct.
- There is no evidence that Vikings wore horns on their helmets
- The claim that a duck’s quack does not echo is false
- Searing meat does not “seal in” moisture, and in fact may actually cause meat to lose moisture. Generally, the value in searing meat is that it creates a brown crust with a rich flavor
- Swallowed chewing gum does not take seven years to digest
- The word “crap” did not originate as a back-formation of British plumber Thomas Crapper’s surname
- “Golf” did not originate as an acronym of “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden”
- It is commonly claimed that meteorites are hot when they hit the earth. This is false. In truth, small meteorites are cold when they hit the earth. In fact, many meteorites are found with frost on them.
- Humans have more than five senses. Although definitions vary, the actual number ranges from 9 to more than 20
- Shaving does not cause terminal hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker
- Napoleon I (Napoleon Bonaparte) (pictured) was not particularly short
- Sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children
- Albert Einstein did not fail mathematics in school
- Vaccines do not cause autism. Although fraudulent research by Andrew Wakefield claimed a connection, repeated attempts to reproduce the results ended in failure, and the research was ultimately shown to have been manipulated
- People do not use only ten percent of their brains.
- Waking sleepwalkers does not harm them
- A penny dropped from the Empire State Building will not kill a person or crack the sidewalk.[262] The terminal velocity of a falling penny is about 30–50 miles per hour, and the penny will not exceed that speed regardless of the height from which it is dropped. At that speed, its energy is not enough to penetrate a human skull or crack concrete
- Sushi does not mean “raw fish”, and not all sushi includes raw fish. The name sushi refers to the vinegared rice used in it
- It is a common misconception that in large bodies, such as the oceans, that the color of water is blue due to the reflections from the sky on its surface
- Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb
- The notion that goldfish have a memory span of just a few seconds is false
- It is widely believed that Macs are immune to malware, such as viruses. Although much less frequently than computers running Windows, they can and do get malware. The reason for the difference is due to the fact that Macs make up only a relatively small percentage of about 10% of the computer market
