‘What’s clearly a myth but is deep-rooted in our society?’ 25 fake facts we really should have left behind by now

People have been sharing widespread beliefs that people cling onto despite them being patently untrue after Redditor Sera0Sparrow asked this.

“What is clearly a myth but is deep-rooted in our society?”

And the fake facts came rolling in. Here are 25 of the most interesting (and just occasionally revelatory).

1.

‘The belief that “lightning never strikes twice in the same place.” Actually it does, and sometimes with great frequency.’
Back2Bach

2.

‘Leaning your head back for a bloody nose.’
ELpork

‘I think we just tell people this so they stop bleeding on everything else and keep their blood in their own throat.’
ginkgogecko

3.

‘The belief that touching a fawn or a baby bird will make the mother abandon it. Complete and utter bullshit. If you find a bird out if the nest it most likely fledged. If not and it is visibly very small it is perfectly fine to pick it up and place it back in the nest.

‘Same with fawns, animal instincts are much MUCH stronger than to just abandon their young because of smell. It has to do more with the fact that fawns hide in tall grass from predators and the mother finds it easier by smell.’
SofaSurfer9

4.

‘That getting caught in rain causes a cold.’
boredsaffron

5.

‘Gum stays in your stomach for 7 years.’
LiterallyAJackal

6.

‘The middle ages were less barbaric and dark than we think.’
BelicianPixieFry

‘As a medieval historian, I agree. The Victorians are who screwed us over on this one.’
lordcaledonia

‘What did the Victorians do that changed our perception?’
02buddha02

‘They made up a bunch of torture implements and put them in museums for people to come look at.’
Educational-Candy-17

7.

‘This is in India. If you pass out / faint, rub the persons feet to wake them up. TV serials taught the population this trick.

‘Now people do this for all passing out, including drownings, heart attacks, and other serious ailments.
sansaman

‘I passed out once in my town at the farmers market and some foreign woman started rubbing my feet, now I know why.’
707NorCal

8.

‘Watermelon seeds will still grow in my stomach. Thanks for ruining my childhood, Angelica Pickles.’
mannyrmz123

9.

‘Adding another lane will make traffic go away.’
jburdine

10.

‘Body hair grows thicker after it’s been shaved.’
ivortheinvisible

11.

‘It’s illegal to have your interior light goin’ in the car lol.’
Redditformeself

12.

‘Hard work always pays off. I know people that work like horses in heat on adderall till retirement and get f-ck all for it.’
EvolvingEachDay

13.

‘That black ladybugs with red spots are poisonous.’
harleyhemp

‘When I was young, I had to give a presentation about lady bugs when someone claimed the spots signify the age of the ladybug in years. I said it was not true.

‘The whole class disagreed with me because, after all, it is common knowledge that a ladybug with 7 dots = a seven year old ladybug and of course a 24-dotted Subcoccinella 24-punctata has to be 24 years old.
I refused to give in until the teacher argued that, since everybody was arguing against me, I was clearly wrong and should let go already.

’19 teens and an adult so conviced bugs could reach the ripe age of 24 years old, nobody agreed with me and some of my classmates kept bullying me about it for the rest of the year. The daftness haunts me to this day.’
Vnze