Common Misconceptions

By Caitlin Scarpa

Throughout life, people are told many of these different stories and “facts” about life, and these few things are usually just accepted by all of humanity even if no one really knows why.  These are things like “don't swim after you eat,” or “gum takes 7 years to digest.”  These are usually just old wives tales, but many people seem to believe these as rock hard truth.

One of the most common misconceptions is that “Frankenstein is the Monster.” When someone says “Frankenstein” most people picture the giant green guy with bolts in his neck and greasy black hair.  In the original story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein is in fact the Doctor, not the monster.  Dr. Frankenstein is the creator of the monster, and the monster is never said to have a name itself.  

Another misconception comes from the phrase “Blind as a bat.”  From this phrase many people believe that all bats are naturally blind, this also may be from the fact that bats use echolocation to find food and other bats.  There are about 1,240 different species of bats and out of all of these, none of them are blind.  

As seen in numerous cartoons and movies, it is commonly believed that bulls hate the color red and will charge at anything with that color.  Bulls do not hate the color red, this is common myth because of bullfighting where matadors use small red capes to anger the bull.  Ever since the red capes became tradition it helped to fuel the rumor that Bulls will charge at anything red.

The human brain, as believed by many, can only use up to 10% of its total capability.  This tale is in fact very false.  This myth is most likely believed by many because of numerous different shows, movies and other media that talk about this myth like it is truth.  Humans can actually use 100% of their brain.  

Everyone knows the 5 senses, sight, taste, touch, sound, and sent. These are taught to everyone at a very young age. But, those are only the most prominent ones.  There are actually as many as 21 different senses that humans have, such as itch, thirst, hunger, time, proprioception and many more.  

It is commonly believed that if people go out into space without a spacesuit then they will explode, but this is in fact false.  When people are exposed to the vacuum of space they will bloat a bit from the lack of pressure and lose consciousness, but they will not actually pop like a balloon.  It is also believed that you’d freeze if exposed to space without a suit, but it is actually the opposite.  When exposed to the environment of space you would actually overheat because your body doesn’t have anything to transfer its heat to.

Work cited

"10 Common Misconceptions About Space." Listverse. N.p., 21 June 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2017.

"Does the color red really make bulls angry?" Discovery. N.p., 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2017.

"How Many Senses Do You Really Have?" Mercola.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2017.

"Neuroscience For Kids." Neuroscience For Kids - 10% of the Brain Myth. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2017.