People are sharing their irrational beliefs that have no basis in fact – 17 favourites
People have been sharing the irrational beliefs that they cling onto (invariably from childhood) despite them having no basis in fact.
And a very entertaining read they make too. It all started when journalist @IanDunt shared this on Twitter.
Constantly find beliefs still hanging around my brain that have zero basis in fact, mostly left over unanalysed since childhood. Today's is that if you hold your nose to stop a sneeze you can damage your brain.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) October 20, 2020
I honestly just did this and thought – mustn't do that, it can hurt my brain. And then realised: wait a fucking minute. Some kid told me that in the playground 30 years ago. What the actual fuck am I thinking?
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) October 20, 2020
And it got people sharing their own entirely irrational (but long held) beliefs. Here are our favourites.
1.
When I was a young kid we had a family friend whose left thumb was partially missing from an accident, and my parents told me it was because he sucked his thumb too much and it had shrunk like a sweet does. I was mortified and believed this until at least my mid teens.
— Adrian Brian Thompson 🇪🇺🏳️🌈🌱 (@_adriantweets) October 20, 2020
2.
I had a moment at about 20 when I went… hold on… I don't think there's a viable mechanism by which a change in the direction of the wind could cause ones face to become frozen in a silly position. https://t.co/GV3GouiKj7
— Tim Minchin (@timminchin) October 20, 2020
3.
I still can’t print something off a website without worrying I might inadvertently print the whole entire internet. Thanks to the compulsory class on The World Wide Web my VI form college ran around 1998, I am scarred!
— Novelsanddemocracy (@Polly69848214) October 20, 2020
4.
I had a work colleague whose mother told her she would get cystitis if she didn’t wear her slippers. When, in her mid twenties, her GP told her she had a bout of cystitis she was genuinely shocked asking ” I can’t have, I’ve always worn my slippers!”
— Judith Penney 🖤🇨🇰 #3.5%#GTTO#Wearamask🌹 (@KentTiger61) October 20, 2020
5.
I can’t shake the belief that the rate I pour water from a boiled kettle affects the remaining quantity.
Constantly think ‘not much left, best pour it slowly’
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— nymarkmusic (@nymarkmusic) October 20, 2020
6.
I was taught to believe that boiling water more than once somehow taints it and you must “always use freshly drawn water to boil”. I don’t know if it’s true but I do it anyway!
— Allie Keith (@alliekeith) October 20, 2020
7.
“Don’t sit on radiators. You get piles.” I’ll walk around freezing rather than heat my posterior. All because a teacher drummed that into me as a kid.
— iwannabeacontender (@briansheahan79) October 20, 2020
8.
I was told I’d also get piles from sitting on cold ground, especially concrete.
— Tim Grey (@GreyTim) October 20, 2020
9.
As I kid my mum told me not to stand in front of the microwave but I took it to mean, like *ever*. I used to duck when I walked past it in the kitchen even if it wasn't on. Even now I still occasionally find myself standing to one side of it as I put things in/turn it on. https://t.co/s0BIvodtGr
— Franki Cookney (@FrankiCookney) October 20, 2020