things the masses of people seem to believe that aren't true.

[shortroundd]

I am not talking about conspiracies here that can't be proven with a bit of digging but more false stuff that seems to stick in the minds of the general population as truths.

1. All/majority of lotto winners go broke after 5 years. I have seen this touted out a lot yet there is no known source of it as no such research exists. There is the handful of bad stories that are circulated but this is only a minority out of 1000s of big winners worldwide. Infact, I recall the tabloids doing a feature with winners to celebrate Camelot's 20th anniversary or so and many winners had said their lives were better.

1. Marriage means all assets are split 50/50. Another huge misconception.

1. Prenups will protect 1 in divorce- again I think 2 and 3 come from people watching tv shows and movies that use this as factual when it's not.

1. Elvis sings 'Lonely this Christmas.'

1. The capital of Brazil is Rio.

*If you go for a stress test the treadmill will be stopped if your heart rate reaches 220-age.

It is therefore your maximum exercising rate.*

But it’s a blunt tool no doubt primarily researched in men.

I can quite comfortably exercise beyond my max heart rate (running and spinning) and I know that’s not particularly unusual in women. I spent the London marathon pretty much at my “scientific” max heart rate and I was fit & well prepared.

I have a friend who is a GP and patients come in and ask to be sent to rehab because they’ve seen it on tv and see celebs. They don’t understand it’s not really an option for the general public.

…….. that the top 1% don't pay any tax.

That you’re entitled to a phone call if arrested. Nope, that’s in American TV shows and is not the case in the U.K., where you are allowed to have someone informed that you’ve been arrested and at the discretion of the officer, you may be allowed to speak to that person.

@DropYourSword they are legal tender but a retailer can refuse any form of payment they choose. It's not the law that legal tender has to be accepted as payment. Hence when retailers stopped accepting cash (legal tender) over lockdowns no one was prosecuted!
Stamps are legal tender but your local pub can tell you to do one when you go to pay for your egg and chips with a pile of first class stamps.

@CatJumperTwat

That we only use 10% of our brains. I don't know why people believe it as it makes no sense anyway.

And that everyone is left or right brained and doesn't use the other side of their brains! They would fall over, for a start.

All/majority of lotto winners go broke after 5 years.

That claim is obviously hyperbole, but google found me an article that claims that lottery winners are more likely to go bankrupt in 3 to 5 years than the average American.

They linked to an academic paper which apparently supports this claim, although I couldn't see that from the abstract.

www.cnbc.com/2017/08/25/heres-why-lottery-winners-go-broke.html

direct.mit.edu/rest/article-abstract/93/3/961/57969/The-Ticket-to-Easy-Street-The-Financial?redirectedFrom=fulltext#.VpLMM1J327Q

I'm guessing that the claim is true, but only because lottery tickets are disproportionately bought by the kind of people who are more likely to go bankrupt anyway, rather than because a large influx of money is harmful.

@BSideBaby

That 'ect' is an accepted abbreviation of et cetera.

It is for us Molesworths as eny ful kno.

Chiz.

That they are offering a public service by being a delightfully benevolent buy-to-let landlord, without which people would simply have nowhere to live.

When it comes to listed building, only the elements specified in a listing description are listed.

This is not the true. From the Historic England guidance:

^The list entry will identify the principal building or buildings that are listed. These will be identified by the formal list entry and not the narrative description, unless there is ambiguity in the list. The whole of any principal building is listed, including the interior.

Objects, structures and buildings affixed to a listed building or within its curtilage may also be protected by listing (see below).

These rules may mean that considerably more may be protected by the listing than is obvious from the list entry alone and there can often be considerable uncertainty as to what is covered.^

That cold weather causes colds/illness. It doesn't. It only seems more prevalent in winter because we're indoors and therefore mixing with people more.

that the UN 'created' Israel

Weird one that. The UN doesn't create countries.

That if you have a complaint about school you should copy in the governors or chair of governors straight away. I see it recommended on here all the time. This is not true.
Schools, Governors and the Chair of Governors have a Complaints Policy that has to be followed before you can raise anything with governors.

@BlondeDogLady I wish I'd known that a few years ago when I was forced to repay a debt that my ex accrued in his sole name, even though we had split when they started to recover the money. They said essentially that because he had no money I had to pay it instead because we were married 😡

@WiddlinDiddlin yes exactly. Dogs are 'colour blind' in that they can't see or distinguish all colours but a lot of people seem to think they can't see colour at all and only see in greyscale. Not true 😁

@stuntbubbles

That they are offering a public service by being a delightfully benevolent buy-to-let landlord, without which people would simply have nowhere to live.

Yes this. Instead of inflating house prices and rents.

Most of the world not only doesn't drink cow's milk they actually struggle to digest it.

But Europe, especially Northern Europe persisted until mutation occurred

@Balaboostah

that the UN 'created' Israel

Weird one that. The UN doesn't create countries.

The United Nations approved a plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state in 1947.

My examples are just full on TERFy -
'Feminism is about equality!'
Trans rights activists are feminists.
Trans rights activists only want basic dignity for trans people.
The rate of murder and suicide of this group, especially children.
Puberty blockers are reversible.
It never happens.

That Boris Johnson is a worthy leader.

@LeedleLee

That cold weather causes colds/illness. It doesn't. It only seems more prevalent in winter because we're indoors and therefore mixing with people more.

“Seems more prevalent”? You mean is more prevalent. I’m not sure you can be so dogmatic about the causes either. PP have said being cold makes people more susceptible.

But most people in medieval times didn't have a diet that causes tooth decay to the same extent as a more contemporary diet. Their teeth may be more worn, but not as much decay.

Same drug as flagyl!

Didn't know that, the one I had was a different brand I guess? I had to take it over Christmas and New years period and it did not make for a fun time

Worker bees in a hive are all female. Drones are male and do not leave the hive and are stingless

To be fair, a lot of that is correct, it's only the "don't leave the hive" bit which is incorrect. I don't really expect people to be entomologists.

So what happens to drones after the queen's had her mating flight? They don't have any other use so what happens to them?

Lowering your body temperature does make you more susceptible to bugs and viruses.

You can also have mild flu, or have flu, pass it on and not know you have it. Like Covid, it doesn't have to be severe. Loads of people always say "You can't have mild flu, it's a cold!"

Incorrect.