35 Weird Myths We Learned Aren’t True at All
![35 Weird Myths We Learned Aren’t True at All](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/5/0/838450_320x180.jpg)
Okay, we’re not saying that all of these myths and urban legends that have picked up steam over the years being fake is a huge surprise. It’d be difficult to find many rational people who earnestly believe that Miley Cyrus was an employee of Barack Obama, or that Hollywood keeps a bunch of Megan Fox clones around. But some of the following myths have wormed their way into the public consciousness over the years and are generally thought to be true.
They’re absolutely not, though! Stanley Kubrick did not fake the moon landing, and there’s no secret confession about it in The Shining. Jennifer Lopez did not insure her butt. I mean, how would someone even go about doing that? Also, your hair and nails don’t keep growing after you die; the rest of you is just shriveling away because, you know, you’re dead.
To that end, hopefully the following bit of mythbusting brings some clarity to some of the most popular urban legends you mistakenly think are true…
Halle Berry has the correct amount of toes
![HALLE BERRY does not have six toes CRACKED.COM I want to set straight, Berry told Extra. So many people think I have six toes. I do not have six toes. (Note that she does not deny having seven toes.)](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/1/838431.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Tomei DID win her Oscar
![MARISA TOMEI legit won that Oscar CRACKED.COM The rumor: Addled Jack Palance read the wrong name off a teleprompter, giving Tomei an undeserved Academy Award. The story was persistent enough that the Academy and Price Waterhouse have gone on the record that the right gal got the Oscar.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/0/838430.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Michelle Obama didn't murder Joan Rivers
![MICHELLE OBAMA did not murder Joan Rivers CRACKED.COM Professional wackjob Alex Jones reported that Joan Rivers was spreading the word that the First Lady was actually a man. The angry Obamas, according to Jones, decided to take Joan out. Rivers' actual cause of death: A medically induced coma.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/8/838428.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
You need feelings to make decisions
![MYTH: EMOTIONS BLOCK YOU FROM BEING LOGICAL. NO YES FACT: WITHOUT FEELINGS, YOU CAN'T mAKe Decisions. The brain uses emotions to remind us about the consequences of our choices. Patients who suffer damage to the orbitofrontal cortex, the bridge linking our emotional amygdala and the rest of our brain, often become totally rational but can't make decisions - precisely because they don't have emotions to guide them in the right direction. CRACKED.COM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wup_K2WNOr](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/9/838429.jpg)
Sitting close to the TV doesn't hurt your eyes
![MYTH: SITTING CLOSE TO THE TV HURTS YOUR eyes! FACT: THERE'S no science TO BACK THAT UP. If there is a correlation between bad eyesight and sitting too close to the TV set, it's the other way around: People who sit close to the set do so because they already have poor vision. Staring at a screen for long periods of time can make your eyes tired and irritated, but that's because when you focus super hard, you forget to blink. CRACKED.COM https://www.aao.org/eyecare-america](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/7/838427.jpg)
Heart attacks don't always hurt
![MYTH: HEART ATTACKS HURT REALLY BAD. FACT: some HEART ATTACKS GO unDeTecTeD. The Hollywood version of a heart attack, where a person clutches his chest and falls over like he's been shot, is not especially accurate. Some heart attacks feel like stomach pain and anxiety, for example. In fact, the symptoms are so frequently not-pain-in-the-chest that studies have found that 40 to 60 percent of heart attacks go unnoticed. CRACKED.COM http://www. webmd. .com/men/news/20060123/hollywood-heart-attack-vs-real-life#1](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/6/838426.jpg)
Your tongue doesn't have taste sections
![MYTH: YOUR TONGUE IS zoneD BY FLAVOR TYPE. BITTER SALTY SALTY SOUR SOUR SWEET FACT: YOUR WHOLE TONGUE TASTES THINGS. The myth about your tongue being able to taste different flavors with different areas started with a mistranslation of an old German study. Turns out all areas in the tongue are about equally good at detecting different flavors. It's not an evenly distributed democracy of taste buds, but every tongue has different patterns of strength and weakness. CRACKED.COM http://www. livescience.com/7113-tongue-map-tasteless-myth-debunked.html](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/5/838425.jpg)
You have more than 5 senses
![MYTH: HUMAN BEINGS HAVE FIVE senses. TOUCH TASTE SIGHT HEARING SMELL FACT: You've ACTUALLY GOT SOMETHING LIKE 15. Scientists still aren't quite sure exactly how many senses you have, or what even constitutes a sense, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one who believes you have just five. Depending on how they count senses, experts usually wind up with somewhere between 14 and 20. There's your sense of time, your sense of where your body is, and so on. CRACKED.COM http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/question242.htm](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/4/838424.jpg)
There is no left brain or right brain
![MYTH: A PeRSon IS eITHeR LeFT- OR RIGHT-BRAINED. FACT: YOUR BRAIN ISN'T DIVIDED UP THAT WAY. The myth that right-brained people are creative and artistic and left-brained people are logical and mathematical is so pervasive that teachers are instructed to balance the brained-ness of their teachings. The brain does indeed have some specialized structures, but the idea that they cluster on opposite sides of the brain like rival gangs is ridiculous. CRACKED.COM http://www.livescience.com/655-lefty-myths-mysteries-persist.html](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/3/838423.jpg)
One head is better than two
![MYTH: TWO HEADS ARe BeTTeR THAN one! FACT: THAT MIGHT ве TRUE IF we weRe ROBOTS. In humans, the social element of multiple minds working together leads to conformity, which incidentally is kryptonite for creativity. We are social animals first and foremost-our ability to fit in with a group has been our main survival trait for a few hundred thousand years now. So our fear of not fitting in overrides our logical thinking. CRACKED.COM http://www. businessinsider.com/brainstorming-team-building-effectiveness-2012-1](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/2/838422.jpg)
You don't lose body heat through your head
![MYTH: YOU Lose most OF YOUR BODY HEAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD! FACT: YOU Lose HEAT THE SAme ALL OVER. Turns out covering one part of the body has as much effect as covering any other. The origin of this myth can be traced back to a 1950s U.S. Army study that put several test subjects through bitter cold conditions to measure the amount of body heat lost. But the army neglected to give their subjects hats. So naturally they lost heat through their heads. CRACKED.COM https://www. .theguardian.com/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/1/838421.jpg)
Blood is just red
![MYTH: THE BLOOD LEAVING YOUR HEART IS BLUE. FACT: IT'S ACTUALLY DARKER ReD. The myth that deoxygenated blood is blue comes from the fact that through Caucasian skin, veins often look blue. While it's true that those blue vessels you're seeing carry blood without oxygen, the blood itself is actually not blue. The veins aren't blue, either. They primarily look blue because of the way light reflects off the skin. CRACKED.COM http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5607648_blood-look-blue-veins_.htmi](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/9/838419.jpg)
Lorde is not 40-something
![LORDE is not 40-something CRACKED.COM Starting at age 17, Lorde battled baffling rumors that she was actually 45 years old. A birth certificate was produced to disprove the theory, but as recent Presidential candidates know, that doesn't stop some people from whispering.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/8/838418.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Megan Fox is not a clone
![MEGAN FOX is not a Megan Fox clone GRACKED.COM During the height of her Transformers fame, rumors speculated that Fox was being duplicated into several clones that the studios would trade back and forth. For better or worse, Megan Fox technology has not yet reached that level of sophistication.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/0/838420.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Marilyn Manson was not on the Wonder Years
![MARILYN MANSON did not play Paul on Wonder Years CRACKED.COM As all Wonder-heads know, Paul was played by the incomparable Josh Saviano. Marilyn Manson's real name was Brian Warner. For the record, Manson did not play Kevin on Mr. Belvedere either.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/4/838414.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Stanely Kubrick Didn't Fake The Moon Landing
![STANLEY KUBRICK did not fake the moon landing CRAGKED.COM Filmmaker т. Patrick Murray claimed to interview Kubrick three days before his death, with Stan admitting to perpetuating a huge fraud on the American public. A few problems: Kubrick didn't look or sound like Kubrick. And his widow says the whole thing is made-up jibba jabba.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/6/838416.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Jennifer Lopez did not insure her butt
![JENNIFER LOPEZ did not insure her butt for $27 million CRACKED.COM Not true, Lopez told James Corden on an episode of Carpool Karaoke. And what would butt insurance cover exactly? Something happens to it? Lopez asked. It disappears? Somebody steals it?](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/7/838417.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Gene Simmons does not have a cow tongue
![GENE SIMMONS does not have a grafted cow tongue GRACKED.COM The urban legend goes that the KISS rocker had a cow tongue grafted onto his own, creating a super- bovine devil appendage. Not true, says Simmons, though he admits that this is his favorite KISS rumor.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/5/838415.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Hair and nails don't keep growing after you die
![MYTH: HAIR AND NAILS keep GROWING AFTeR DEATH. FACT: THEY Don'T. THE REST OF YOU SHRIVELS. Just like anything else in your body, hair and nail growth require a constant supply of nutrients, oxygen, and blood to keep going. The myth probably stems from the fact that after death, the body starts to dry up and shrivel, and the skin pulls away from the nails and hair in such a way that by comparison it looks like they're getting longer. CRACKED.COM http://www. smh.com au/lifestyle/do-your-nails-and- hair-continue-to-grow-affer-death-20130606-2ntmy](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/3/838413.jpg)
Washboard abs are not good for you
![MYTH: HEALTHY ABS LOOK LIKE DInneR ROLLS. FACT: WASHBOARD ABS CAn ве BAD FOR YOU. As awesome as a stomach you can open beer bottles with may seem, six-pack abs mean precisely jack shit when it comes to health. In fact, they can be downright hazardous. In order to get those muscles to pop out, you'd need to get your body fat to dangerously low levels. Having too little body fat can lead to immune system disorders, heart and nervous system damage, and even death. CRACKED.COM https://www.scientificamerican. com/article/athlete-body-fat/](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/1/838411.jpg)
Tongue rolling is not a genetic trait
![MYTH: ROLLING YOUR TONGUE IS A Genetic TRAIT. FACT: TONGUE ROLLING IS SOMETHING YOU LEARN. Elementary school science teachers like to use tongue rolling as an example when they're teaching about genetics. But it actually isn't an inherited trait. It's learned. It turns out that kids who can't roll their tongues aren't unable to- they just haven't figured out how, yet. And once they know about the trick, they figure it out pretty quickly. CRACKED.COM http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythtongueroll.html](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/2/838412.jpg)
Omega-3 oil doesn't do much
![MYTH: omeGA-3 OIL IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN. FACT: THERE'S no RELIABLE evidence THAT IT IS. The idea of omega-3 fatty acids being brain food comes from the fact that our brains already contain quite a lot of the stuff. However, none of the supposed brain benefits of consuming omega-3 fatty acids have been conclusively proven. In fact, studies that incorporated important stuff like peer review and double-blinds found no brain benefits. CRACKED.COM https://eric ed gov/Pid=EJ878773](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/1/0/838410.jpg)
Games don't improve your brain
![MYTH: CERTAIN GAmes CAn IMPROVE YOUR BRAIN. Memory Attention Speed Focus FACT: THEY JUST mAKe YOU BeTTeR AT THE GAme. Most studies that say brain-training games actually do what they advertise aren't exactly credible. Scientists who administered intelligence tests learned the actual result of playing a brain game: You get better at the game. That's all. But that hasn't stopped the multimillion-dollar brain game industry from making wild, unsubstantiated claims. CRACKED.COM https://www. ncbi nim. nih gov/pmc/articles/PMC2884087/](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/1/838401.jpg)
Shaving doesn't change your hair texture
![MYTH: SHAVING OFF HAIR MAKES IT GROW BACK DARKER AND COARSER. FACT: SHAVING Doesn'T CHANGE HAIR TEXTURE. Facial and body hair is slightly tapered at the end. When you shave it, you're chopping it mid-strand and giving it a blunt tip. That tip might feel coarse or rough for a little while as your hair grows out. But even though the hair might be more noticeable and look darker or thicker, it isn't. CRACKED.COM http://www. mayoclinic org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/hair-removal/faq-20058427](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/8/838398.jpg)
Mr. Rogers was not a Navy Seal
![MR. ROGERS was not a Navy SEAL CRACKED.COM Rumors that Fred Rogers was a Navy SEAL or a Marine Scout Sniper during Vietnam (with a number of confirmed kills) are completely false. For the record, King Friday never served either.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/7/838397.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Walt Disney is not frozen
![WALT DISNEY is not frozen beneath a theme park CRACKED.COM A celeb urban legend classic, some say Disney's corpse is stored in deep-freeze underneath Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride until the day science can revive him. Not true, but something to think about the next time you're on the Depp-ified attraction.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/5/838405.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Stephen King did not kill John Lennon
![STEPHEN KING did not kill John Lennon CRACKED.COM A Florida man interrupted a town council meeting to lay out an elaborate theory concluding horror writer King murdered Lennon. Mark David Chapman begged to differ. In either case, Jodie Foster was not impressed.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/9/838409.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Pam Anderson has all of her ribs
![PAM ANDERSON did not have a rib removed for Baywatch GRACKED.COM While Pam may have had other cosmetic procedures, removing a rib wasn't one of them. Others falsely accused of rib removal: Cher, Liz Taylor, Jane Fonda, Racquel Welch, Tori Spelling, Gina Lollobrigida, Stephanie Seymour, Kate Moss, Janet Jackson, and Britney Spears.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/3/838403.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
Miley Cyrus didn't work for Obama
![MILEY CYRUS was not a tool of Barack Obama GRACKED.COM Political philosopher and Korn front man Jonathan Davis claimed Miley Cyrus was distracting the American public so Barack Obama could implement his plan to become a tyrannical dictator. At the very least, she was distracting America from paying attention to Korn.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/4/838404.jpg)
Source: 14 Outrageous Celebrity Urban Legends That Aren’t Even Remotely True
There is no stomach flu
![MYTH: CAN'T STOP BARFING? MUST ве THE FLU. FACT: THERE'S no SUCH THING AS STOMACH FLU. People who can't stop throwing up are likely experiencing gastroenteritis, which can be caused by anything from a virus to food-borne parasites. Michael Jordan didn't have the flu during the flu game, yet the nickname persists. The myth is so common that people who have stomach trouble after getting their flu shot assume the shot didn't work. CRACKED.COM http://chestertontribune. .com/indiana20News/stomach_flu_is_not_the_flu_but_w.htm](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/2/838402.jpg)
Fingerprints are not that unique
![MYTH: FINGERPRINTS ARE ALL SUPER unique. FACT: THeY'Re ACTUALLY WORRYINGLY SIMILAR. Your fingerprints aren't all that unique - relatives will have matching ridges, for example - and even if they were, there are a large number of variables that can make technically different prints seem very similar. Fingerprint collection is so flawed, and the analysis so subjective, that even experts will get different results from the same set of prints. CRACKED.COM https://www. theguardian.com/science/2007/mar/23/crime.penal](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/9/9/838399.jpg)
Your immune system doesn't fight colds
![MYTH: A STRONG immune SYSTEM FIGHTS COLDS. FACT: A COLD IS YOUR immune SYSTEM. Despite the rhetoric of the immunity-booster industry, a strong immune system won't keep you from getting a cold. Those annoying symptoms are caused by your immune system, and not the cold virus itself. In fact, the cold virus is actually mostly harmless, except for the fact that it causes your immune system to go bananas. CRACKED.COM https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/pg-fcg102408.php](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/0/838400.jpg)
There is no "math brain"
![MYTH: some PeoPLe'S BRAINS ARE JUST BeTTeR AT MATH. Cunlikely /chance)-not h symbol y used which w/ cramers chi square V test for independe aci pants for either rows /cols whichever is smaller VINI X2 (dfrow/col) when was 0.10 motorch 0.07 0.30 0.04 0.50 0 21 by to repr 0.35 I FACT: THERE'S no MATH cenTeR in THE BRAIN. It's true that a certain percentage of your intelligence is due to genetics (exactly how much is almost impossible to quantify) but there is no part of the brain that makes a person better at numbers. It simply seems to come](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/7/838407.jpg)
Healthy teeth are not white
![MYTH: HEALTHY TeeTH ARE GLEAMING WHITE. FACT: THE NATURAL COLOR FOR TeeTH IS YELLOW. You might think white teeth are attractive, but as far as being natural, they're the dental equivalent of fake breasts. The actual color of healthy human teeth is yellow. Know what's unhealthy? Whitening your teeth, either by bleaching or scouring off the enamel. See, tooth enamel is bluish- white. It's the dentin below the enamel that's yellow. CRACKED.COM http://www.sciencefocus.com/qa/are-yellow-teeth-stronger](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/8/838408.jpg)
Thin people don't have quicker metabolisms
![MYTH: THIN people HAVE A QUICK METABOLISM. FACT: THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A SLOWER one. The folks at the Mayo Clinic found out that, when you take weight into consideration, the metabolisms of over- and underweight people are the exact opposite of what we always heard: Thin people actually tend to have slower metabolisms than their heavier counterparts. It's because a heavier body actually needs a faster metabolism to get around. CRACKED.COM http://www.mayoolinic org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/metabolism/art-20046508](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/0/6/838406.jpg)