What's the most outrageous misconception that someone you know firmly believes in?

lonnko · 6 months

My mom still believes that me installing The Sims gave our computers viruses when I was younger.

"All I know is the computer was working fine until lonnko put The Sims on it."

Xeroshifter · 6 months

This may take a moment to explain: When a friend and I are at a restaurant and then he hands me money to cover his share, and I then pay for it with my debt card so that we dont have 2 forms of payment on the same bill, he somehow believes that I've taken his money, and that now I owe him that money.

SOMEHOW he doesn't understand that his money just goes into my account later, and that he was correctly reimbursing me for his share of the bill.

kasperbk · 6 months

I had a friend in HS who believed that pink lemonade came from pink lemons. And that Santa gave the 3 wise men the presents to give to baby Jesus.

Browncoat23 · 6 months

My dad thinks that any browser that isn't Explorer is full of viruses & will slow down your computer.

TheWringer · 6 months

My sister firmly believed that the pacific was the only salty ocean. She also believed that the oceans had no bottom, and simply met up with oceans on the other side of the world.

My sister is not a smart girl.

swolleneyes · 6 months

Had a friend who kept sending money to a Nigerian prince despite all our efforts to convince him otherwise. We sent him to the FBI web page that described the exact scam he fell for verbatim but he convinced himself his Nigerian prince was legit. Even started shopping for a house and looking at expensive car dealerships in anticipation of his windfall.

tschris · 6 months

My uncle claims that he knows "people that would be dead today if they had been wearing their seat belts." He is so against seat belts that he chastises his children and grandchildren for wearing them.

jooes · 6 months

That the beeping you hear microwaves make when they're finished isn't to signal that they've finished cooking, but rather that it's the "cooldown" of radiation. And if you were to open the door before the beeping stops, you're subjecting yourself to massive amounts of radiation.

oh_okay_ · 6 months

My dad used to drive drunk - his reasoning? So many bad things had already happened to him that God wouldn't be so bold as to let harm come to him again. Fucking serious.

Liar_tuck · 6 months

I have an acquaintance who believes that black people have an extra muscle in their legs. Which is why "They run faster". Apparently his track coach told him this 25 years ago and he still thinks this is perfectly logical.

Rivallen · 6 months

my dad refuses to set his widescreen television to the correct aspect ratio and watches everything in 4:3. (resulting in much being cut off due to zooming.) everytime i try to fix it he will change it back claiming that all the sport stars do not seem burly enough.

redditfakeyjake · 6 months

That it makes sense to take out massive loans to go to college and then skip class, sleep in class, and generally do a half assed job.

mrc1ark · 6 months

My grandmother (lives in TX) thinks that Mexico is going to invade the US and that all the illegal immigrants are coming over so that when the invasion starts cities like San Antonio/El Paso/ any city with high Hispanic population will just flip allegiance to Mexico.

afronaut · 6 months

I have a friend who thinks Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus are two different people.

HAMMER_HEAD_SHART · 6 months

My one friend will put food in the microwave for less time than suggested if something was just taken out of it because it's "still hot".

DocFreudstein · 6 months

I have a coworker that--I am being completely serious--thinks that pandas are fake.

She seriously thinks that they went extinct decades ago and that the Chinese government constructed robot pandas to replace them. She says that that is the reason why they "move weird like robots" and that people aren't allowed near them at the zoo: if they were, they would see their true robot forms.

The craziest part is that there's a Facebook page dedicated to this same theory that she had never seen before until I saw it trying to Google if anyone else had this same idea.

So fucking weird...

Hatstrosity · 6 months

That blood is actually green and blue before it "reacts" with the air when released to make it red. Silliest idea ever, but they wont see reason.

nspriggs · 6 months

My brother (18ish at the time) once told our family while we were in the car that "Porcupines can shoot their quills up to three feet!"

I don't know why he thought this, or where that number came from, but he was adamant about it.

Saucefire · 6 months

my one friend thinks that travelling forward in time is impossible because it would cause paradoxes. Please let that sink in for a moment...

BagelKing · 6 months

My father, not unlike many people, is waiting for society to unravel any minute now and for the End Times to begin. I initially misread the question as 'dangerous misconception,' which I think this is. Living one's life in wait for it all to fall apart will sort of kill one's motivation.

He also believes that the rapid development of computer technology was too astounding to be natural. He points to the bit in Revelations that states that all eyes will be on the Antichrist at once and that Apple [whose logo is an apple with a bite out of it (edit: to clarify, much like the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil)] has made that possible, "since everyone is carrying around an iPhone." More directly, according to him, supernatural forces of evil are responsible for the advancement computer technology for the purpose of speeding the end of the world. Interesting thoughts, but I don't think so.

mr_majorly · 6 months

The moon landing was fake.

This one, to this day, coming from anyone baffles me.

I'm prejudiced against ignorance.

omers · 6 months

The number of people that think that forwarding some email, tweet, or Facebook status is going to have any outcome besides being annoying surprises me.

Facebook, Hotmail, Twitter, etc make more money by providing a free service with advertising than they ever would charging money directly, reposting a status is not helping cancer victims in the least, there are no rapists luring victims with a "lost child", I am not going to die alone if I don't forward your email 50 times (you might die alone for being an idiot though), and so on.

captainhobo · 6 months

I have the displeasure of knowing someone who believes gays do not qualify as human because 'they cannot pass on their genes' He also claims bisexuals are 'just greedy'

putin_my_ass · 6 months

That the sky is blue because of the reflection off of the surface of the ocean.

Then why is the sky still blue in places that are thousands of kilometers from the closest sea? Why is the sky red at dusk? Which infernal sea is reflecting red into the sky every night?

timmun029 · 6 months

You have to double click everything. Especially links.

6 months

[deleted]

llort_gnik · 6 months

Falling asleep in a room with a fan on will kill you in your sleep.

Beezlesnort · 6 months

Astrology.

Donkey_puncht · 6 months

That vaccines cause autism or other mental issues; this one really irks me.

PaintedParadox · 6 months

Every time there is an election, my father is convinced that the Democratic candidate is the anti-christ. Every. single. fucking. time.

hoedownmcgee · 6 months

My friend thinks that dinosaurs never existed. And that any grant money spent on such research is a waste because it's supposedly impractical.

He's training to be an MD/PhD -- I can understand frustration about losing potential grant money for your own research because it's diverted to other things, but still. Science is science!

Benthos · 6 months

Cats can steal the breath of babies.

rabidassbaboon · 6 months

I know a guy that thinks he is a successful, well-adjusted, mature adult and constantly bitches about how everyone else is a loser and doing nothing with their life. He's 32, has never moved out of his parents' house, is unemployed, a drug addict, talks about girls that he is banging who mysteriously never come to hang out, and recently stopped talking to all his friends "cuz he heard somebody talkin' shit". He is the absolute most delusional person I have ever met.

DrNarky · 6 months

A lot of people seem to base their daily happiness on the number of upward pointing arrows they get on some internet website. Weird.

eNTe_eXe · 6 months

Former exchange student here. (Went to Texas btw)

Sunday, church day. Talked to some guy about something I don't remember, never seen him before, though. After some time he asks me: "So, where are you from? I hear some kind of accent" Me: Germany. Him: Germany....What state is that in? Michigan?

What.The.Fuck.

10tothe24th · 6 months

My parents still buy homeopathic medicine.

mwatwe01 · 6 months

Came to see all the posts saying "God", "Religion", etc.

Seriously, though? I don't know them, but many Africans believe having sex with a virgin will cure HIV/AIDS. The result? Rampant rape and sexual abuse.

teamatreides · 6 months

That entropy proves evolution can not exist.

What. The. Fuck.

pangcake · 6 months

That we swallow an average of eight spiders a year in our sleep. source

imaunitard · 6 months

that supposedly is pronounced supposebly.

Enigmachine · 6 months

That addiction to video games is a physiological response, and is as devastating as drug and gambling addiction. I'm writing my thesis on this, the evidence is heavily weighed towards the contrary.

The truth is that people who become "addicted" to video games are just using them as a crutch to stave off feelings of depression, loneliness, boredom, and insignificance.

Video game addiction is not recognized by the APA or any other official organization.

m0nster6884 · 6 months

Dont know if this counts but my mom believes in a lot of ridiculous shit Dinosaur bones were planted-- they were real according to her but she doesn't get how their bones are there. Evolution doesnt exist.. shes also not a theist for the record (I dont ask any more). There ARE aliens among us. The government is trying to brainwash us in EVERY POSSIBLE WAY. Flu vaccines are population control. The dentist is for brain washing. ...Im sure there's more. I've had to walk away from our conversations too many times.

karnim · 6 months

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lunahlove · 6 months

Not the most outrageous, but one time a few years ago a classmate looked me dead in the eye and said "People who have depression are just pussies and need to stop being emo." Wanted to punch him in the face for his ignorance.

notyerrington · 6 months

I studied abroad with a girl who didn't believe in dinosaurs. I was pretty taken aback and when she said this (she was serious) because she was so normal otherwise. She recently got married and I reaaaally wonder whether or not her new hubby knows about this belief of hers...and whether he agrees with it.

Abrum · 6 months

"Desktops are so old fashioned!"

No, they're more reliable, more upgradable, less expensive and easier to use than a laptop, netbook, tablet, etc.

[deleted] · 6 months

A friend of mine still thinks she might get pregnant by sitting on public toilets..

That same person also think you can get HIV if you get stung by a mosquito...

XBV · 6 months

Marijuana = heroin

Internet doesn't work? Maybe we got hacked.

AmbushDM5 · 6 months

I know a number of people who think that the seasons are created by proximity to the sun. Summer time means we are closer to the sun and winter time means we are further away from it.

In fact, the Earth is (currently) closest to the sun in the winter time (northern hemisphere) and no one ever believes me when I tell them that fact. I've even known someone who looked it up after I told them and refused to believe it!!

Wick286 · 6 months

Since I work in IT I should know everything about anything remotely technology related.

cjbest · 6 months

My hubby thinks Bing is a good search engine.

witm · 6 months

My mom still tells me to wear a jacket, because if I go outside in the cold, I will catch a cold

brynmellion · 6 months

My extremely christian nature science teacher believes that dinosaurs were man-made gene manipulations. He denies the evolutionary theory. We tried to convince him that there were no humans alive when there were dinosaurs for that whole school year without succeeding. How could he even be a nature science teacher if he didn't believe in the things he was supposed to teach us?

rlakhan · 6 months

That any mobile phone you choose deserves your loyalty.

makingplansfornigel · 6 months

Someone I know: me

Firm belief: yes

Outrageous misconception: Without regard to effort, planning, or desperate means, a vast conspiracy continually thwarts my efforts to get to work on time.

6 months

[deleted]

Armadillo19 · 6 months

My friend's girlfriend, who went to Georgetown and reminds us of this fact during every conversation while making snide remarks about how crappy of a school Syracuse is (which is where we went), went on like a 2 hour long rant about how intelligence is directly related to race, and how black people have been shown to have slower brain waves, and therefore are genetically deficient.

I wish I was kidding.

alias-of-a-girl · 6 months

My mom honestly thinks that vaccines cause autism in children. Thankfully I'm old enough to have been vaccinated for almost everything a child need to be vaccinated against before that study occurred.

ravenouscraving · 6 months

I could easily say religion, but I've been indoctrinated before. It's not really THAT ridiculous.

What IS ridiculous is that my mother and many of her friends still reject the theory of evolution, and then they have a conversation about selectively breeding foxes into domestication.

Reg717 · 6 months

Big one (since I went to a private, slightly religious high school) is so many people assuming all christians believe in creationism.

Were always blown away when I told them the Catholic churches attempt to promote evolution as 1) congruent to the Bible and 2) trying to make it a founding of the church hundreds of years ago, during a time where the Catholic church had a nearly complete marketshare of christianity, thanks to the wonderful contributions of one of their bishops to science at the time (before that bishop told the pope, ever so nicely, to shut up and leave science and religion separate).

LadyPancake · 6 months

That being gay is a choice. I even pimped slapped this person with all the logic I had in my fanny pack, but she still walked away thinking that it was a choice.

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