20 Things People Believed Before the Internet
Here's a nostalgic list of myths and misconceptions that spread easily before instant online fact-checking.
- Chris Graciano
- 5 min read
Before Google searches and smartphones, people relied on word of mouth, TV, and half-remembered “facts” from relatives. Some ideas sounded convincing enough to stick around for decades, even if they were completely wrong. Here are 20 things people truly believed before the internet set the record straight.
1. Swallowing Gum Takes Seven Years to Digest
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Parents everywhere warned their kids not to swallow gum, or it would stay in their stomachs for seven years. The truth is, gum passes through like anything else; your body just doesn’t break it down along the way.
2. Cracking Knuckles Causes Arthritis
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Generations were scolded for cracking their knuckles, told it would lead to painful arthritis later in life. However, medical studies found no connection at all; the popping sound simply comes from gas bubbles releasing in the joints.
3. Bulls Hate the Color Red
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Cartoons and bullfighting imagery convinced everyone that bulls attack anything red, and almost every show made everyone believe this. The truth is that they’re color-blind to red; it’s the matador’s movements, not the cape, that actually provoke them.
4. If You Cross Your Eyes, They’ll Stay That Way
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Parents loved warning kids about this one whenever a goofy face competition broke out. Luckily, the eye muscles always return to their normal position, and crossing them won’t freeze your expression, no matter how long you do it.
5. Sitting Too Close to the TV Ruins Your Eyes
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Every ’80s kid heard this while glued to Saturday morning cartoons on the living room floor, and parents made sure to scare us. Though sitting close might cause temporary strain or headaches, it doesn’t cause any permanent damage to eyesight.
6. Eating Carrots Improves Night Vision
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This belief became legendary during World War II when pilots were said to see enemy planes better thanks to carrots. While carrots do help eye health, they don’t turn you into a nocturnal superhero — it was just clever wartime propaganda.
7. Goldfish Have a Three-Second Memory
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For decades, people assumed goldfish were endlessly surprised, living in a constant loop of forgetfulness. But scientists later discovered that goldfish can remember patterns, colors, and even owners for months, proving they’re not quite as clueless as we thought.
8. Lightning Never Strikes the Same Place Twice
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This saying was meant to comfort people after something unlucky had happened, implying that lightning or bad luck wouldn’t repeat itself. However, nature doesn’t play by those rules; tall buildings and trees often take multiple strikes every storm season.
9. You Only Use 10% of Your Brain
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This myth made everyone feel like a genius waiting to “unlock” hidden potential if they just tried hard enough. In reality, brain scans show that humans use nearly every part of their brain throughout the day, just not all at once.
10. Shaving Makes Hair Grow Back Thicker
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Tweens and teenagers were warned not to shave too early, fearing darker, rougher regrowth of facial hair. However, shaving simply cuts hair bluntly at the surface, making it appear thicker, even though it’s growing at the same rate as before.
11. Dropping a Penny from a Skyscraper Can Kill Someone
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The story went that a penny dropped from the Empire State Building could pierce a person’s skull like a bullet. Scientists later showed that air resistance slows it down so much that it might sting, but that’s the worst of it.
12. Touching Frogs Gives You Warts
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This playground myth made kids terrified to handle frogs or toads near ponds and rivers. The truth is, warts come from human viruses, not amphibians, and the poor frogs were innocent victims of bad biology lessons.
13. Dogs Only See in Black and White
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People used to think dogs saw the world like an old movie, nothing but shades of gray. Researchers have since learned that they see a limited range of color, mostly blues and yellows, which makes their world a bit brighter than we assumed.
14. Hair Grows Faster If You Cut It
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Barbers and stylists repeated this one for decades, convincing customers that regular trims sped up growth. In fact, cutting hair doesn’t affect the follicles underneath — it just removes split ends and keeps it looking thicker and healthier.
15. Watermelons Grow in Your Stomach If You Swallow the Seeds
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Kids everywhere panicked after gulping down a watermelon seed, imagining vines sprouting inside them. Thankfully, seeds pass right through the digestive system without planting anything, though parents probably enjoyed watching the paranoia.
16. Microwave Radiation Makes Food Radioactive
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When microwaves first appeared, people were skeptical and even a little scared of the technology. However, microwaves simply heat food by vibrating water molecules; it’s science, not sorcery, and definitely not radioactive.
17. The Great Wall of China Is Visible from Space
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This “amazing fact” appeared in schoolbooks for decades and became one of the most repeated misconceptions in history. Astronauts later confirmed that it’s nearly impossible to see with the naked eye, as it blends perfectly with the landscape.
18. Eating Pop Rocks and Soda Together Could Kill You
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Every playground had a story about a kid who exploded after mixing Pop Rocks and soda, but we don’t know how that rumor started. The truth is, it only creates a fizzy, burpy mess; your stomach won’t blow up, no matter how much you snack.
19. Owls Are the Smartest Animals
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Because they look wise and mysterious, owls were thought to be nature’s philosophers. However, compared to crows, ravens, and parrots, their intelligence ranks surprisingly low; they’re mostly quiet observers, not geniuses.
20. Lightning Bugs Contain Real Electricity
Akin Cakiner on Unsplash
Many kids believed the magical glow of lightning bugs came from tiny sparks of real electricity. The glow is actually bioluminescence, which is basically a chemical reaction that’s fascinating in its own right, just not electric.