Things people learned in school that are actually bogus -19 nonsense ‘facts’ to make your head swim

School is a place for learning. Learning what? Doesn’t matter!

Apparently, as long as you’re sitting at a desk, writing things down, and able to regurgitate those things at various intervals throughout the year, all is well.

Netizen u/vn66 posed the following question to their counterparts in the Reddit space:

What historical “fact” did you learn in school, that later turned out to be completely wrong or misrepresented?

Aside from the various education-as-propaganda criticisms that can be levelled at systems of learning in the UK and abroad, there are some examples here of things people learned in school that are utterly bamboozling.

Par example…

1.

Early 90’s in Sweden I learned about ättestupa – the Viking practice of seniors throwing themselves/being thrown down cliffs when they could no longer sustain themselves/contribute to the commune.

They did not.
–xfactotumx

I watched a documentary about this called “Midsommar”.
–plasticdisplaysushi

2.

In 7th grade my geography teacher taught us that China had such a big population because of the Asian monsoons (which basically means the “rain season”).

Didn’t get it?

As my teacher explained, China had a big population because – due to the rain – couples would stay inside more, get bored and get down to it to pass the time, leading to more children being born.

She even asked this in a test.
–nerodidntdoit

My grandfather has this story of a business trip he once took to Finland, years ago. When he arrived he asked his Finnish counterpart what they do for fun in Finland.

The Finn said, “In the summer, we go fishing and we make love”.

My grandfather was slightly taken aback by this response, but he then asks about what they do in the winter.

The Finn replies, “We do not fish.”
–TheWouldBeMerchant

3.

I’m a teacher so I like to check myself when I say something that they’re surprised by.

Recently I found out that Black Widow spiders only eat their mates in captivity and it’s actually not common.
–Can_I_Read

4.

Rosa Parks wasn’t the first to refuse to sit in the back of the bus. Shout out to Claudette Colvin!
–Dirty_Sanchez74656

5.

5th grade, 1990.

Teacher tells the class “All of the Central American countries are Spanish speaking.”

My aunt had just returned from Belize and I rose my hand and said “Belize is officially English speaking.”

Teacher says, “No, they are all Spanish”.
–OleThompson

6.

In the Philippines, that Filipinos invented the fluorescent bulb and karaoke.
–Jaives

7.

I had a teacher in the 90s laugh at me when I said I didnt think currencies needed to be tied to gold.

He didn’t know the gold standard ended decades ago.

“What are countries just gonna say it’s worth something?”
–MxOffcrRtrd

8.

Canadian.

We were taught that the indigenous peoples taught colonizers to grow corn and shook hands over treaties they essentially bargained for.
–Late_Instruction_240

9.

Battle of Wounded Knee. It wasn’t a battle, it was a massacre.

Also, my class only really mentioned the number of American soldiers wounded, not the 250+ Lakota people that were killed.
–Darth-Skvader

10.

D.A.R.E. taught me that people would be offering me free drugs everywhere.

Boy were they wrong.
–Accurate_Interview10