Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Here are 60 pieces of false knowledge many people misquote as absolute facts.

1. Shaving causes hair to grow back thicker. – Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker.  This false knowledge carried by many people is due to the fact that hair wears down and appears thinner over time.  Thus, new hair looks thinker than old hair and feels coarser due to unworn edges.
2. We only use 10% of our brain. – We may only be using 10% of our total brain at any one given time, but this 10% is nearly 100% of the brain capacity designed to calculate the data sets we are currently working on.  For example, the creative side of the brain isn’t going to help you remember a statistics formula.  It wasn’t designed to do so and it will remain unused during this process.
3. Rice is pure and healthy. – Actually, it’s often contaminated with small traces of arsenic.
4. Milk is absolutely essential to your health. – It’s just one of numerous sources for calcium and Vitamin D.
5. People should eat mostly carbohydrates. – After all, that’s what the food pyramid says, right?  False!  Look around at the average American’s midsection.  An excessive intake of carbohydrates is fattening.  Wholegrain foods containing fiber should be the primary source.
6. Tar and nicotine in cigarettes cause cancer. – Nope, excessive smoke in your lungs causes cancer.  In fact, the Radon and Polonium in the smoke is enough to account for most cases of cigarette related lung cancer.
7. Being overworked can cause a nervous breakdown. – Actually, nervous breakdowns do not even appear as an official mental health disorder in DSM-IV.
8. Depression is purely biochemical. – Depression is more closely related to a specific cognitive state of mind.
9. Male masturbation is unhealthy. – I’m sure most teenage guys will love this.  Research has shown that masturbating early and often may reduce Prostate Cancer later in life.
10. Females are biologically inferior in math and spatial skills. – Statistically, males and females have very similar grade averages in math courses from grade school through doctorate level classes.  Male enrollment, however, drastically out-numbers female enrollment.
11. Based on global warming Earth will be hotter in 2000 years. – Nothing is certain.  In this kind of complex nonlinear system, we could have an ice age.
12. Corn based fuel (biodiesel) is better than gasoline. – It’s more expensive, increases the cost of food and still pollutes the environment.
13. Religious faith alone heals. – This is only true on a physiological basis to a minuscule degree.  Religious faith cannot replace medical intervention.
14. Herbal medicine is healthier than modern medicine. – In numerous cases herbal medicine has been found to have either zero value or undesirable side effects.
15. Chills don’t make you ill. – Wrong!  Getting a chill in your body shocks your immune system, which prevents it from effectively keeping viruses at bay.
16. Highly social people are psychologically healthier. – Not healthier, but usually a bit happier.
17. Nutritional supplements make you live longer. – Quite often the opposite is true.  Many people misuse supplements and end up doing more harm than good to their bodies.
18. Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death. – Hair and fingernails do not grow at all after a person dies.  This illusion is based on the fact that skin dries up and shrivels away from the foundation of hair roots and nails, making the hair and nails look longer than before death.
19. String Theory – There has been zero proof that String Theory relates to the physical universe.
20. The Big Bang was an explosion. – It was an expansion of space, not an explosion.
21. Windows is easier to use than Linux. – Linux, harder?  Only if you are completely against the notion of learning something new.
22. A true free market exists. – Take a hard look at the price of oil and tell me that the recent 100% price spike is completely based around supply and demand and not partial price manipulation.
23. Ozone is healthy. – Ozone is only healthy when used in controlled medical environments.  Outside of that, it is harmful to the lungs if inhaled.
24. Stretching before exercise is a sure thing. – Only if you stretch properly.  Many people injure themselves due to improper stretching practices.
25. Weight belts prevent injuries. – If used properly when lifting extreme amounts of weight, they do help.  The problem is that most amateur weight lifters swing their bodies and hyper-extend their backs while lifting weight with their upper body.  When they wear weight belts for upper body exercises they still swing their bodies and hyper-extend their backs, only this time they use more weight and the injuries are more severe.
26. Soap kills germs. – Plain (non-antibacterial) hand soap does not kill germs.  Instead, it lifts the germs off the surface of your skin, forcing them to be washed down the drain.
27. Alcohol is a great antiseptic for open wounds. – Alcohol is a great disinfectant for intact skin and inanimate, non-living things.  Alcohol is not effective or healthy when applied into open wounds. When used on open, exposed tissue, alcohol actually kills some of the human tissue along with the germs. This can drastically delay the healing of larger wounds.
28. Coffee is unhealthy. – It’s all about moderation and timing.  If you take excessive doses of coffee late in the day, you’ll be up all night, and that’s not healthy.  However, coffee is also a great source of healthy antioxidants.  Coffee consumption has been medically linked to the reduction of certain cancers and chronic diseases.  There have even been controlled studies which have concluded that moderate doses of coffee can be a healthy energy booster for a person partaking is intense physical exercise.
29. Fructose is healthier than Sucrose. – Sucrose (table sugar) is made from sugarcane.  Fructose is usually made from corn (also found in fruits) and is a cheaper alternative to Sucrose.  Once thought to be healthier, fructose actually has many negative downsides.  Some of these downsides include cholesterol increases and digestion difficulty, in addition to the fact that it converts to fat more easily than other types of sugar.
30. Exercise alone increases lifespan. – It increases the quality of your life and the ability of your body, but exercise alone has not been proven to increase lifespan.  A regular habit of eating healthy food, however, will.
31. Time heals all wounds. – Time does heal most psychological wounds, but if the wound is severe (i.e. someone killed your spouse) it may never fully heal.
32. Eye exercises can improve vision. – Eye exercises for improving vision have never been scientifically proven to work.  Results contain significant variance.
33. Cheese is healthy. – Regular cheese contains an extremely high content of fat.  As with anything, moderation is the key.  In smaller doses it can be a decent source of calcium and protein.
34. Tan people look good, so tanning in the sun is okay. – Extremely tan people have burnt skin.  Check back with them at age 60 when they have skin cancer.
35. Swimming in chlorine pools is healthy. – While the chlorine levels found in most swimming pools won’t noticeably hurt a swimmer, continuous exposure is unhealthy for the skin and the eyes.  True saltwater pools are a much healthier alternative.
36. Jogging along a traveled roadway is healthy. – Jogging along a traveled roadway forces the jogger to inhale large quantities of air polluted with car exhaust.  Like secondhand smoke, this can be extremely bad for the health of a person’s lungs.
37. Heading a soccer ball doesn’t hurt the player. – Soccer players don’t just head the ball; frequently their heads collide with another player’s head while trying to head the ball.  In both cases there remains a potential for mild amounts of brain damage, especially when the heading is repeated over a long period of time.
38. Free-diving doesn’t cause brain damage. – Do you really think it’s healthy for the human body to remain in deep water with no oxygen for extended periods of time?   Based on the complications of pressure equalization and a lack of oxygen, free-diving will cause small amounts of neurological damage no matter how you breathe out while ascending.
39. Brain scan imaging tells us lots about the mind. – Understanding the brain by looking at brain scan images is sort of like trying to evaluate a software-based computer problem by looking inside the computer case.  You may locate the hard-drive, but you’ll never know exactly what’s on it.  Brain scans are efficient at detecting gross physical abnormalities, which do save lives. However, much of the claims about reading a persons thoughts and future is complete nonsense.  Brain scanning cannot even reliably detect early stage Alzheimer’s disease as of yet.
40. Rorschach inkblot tests are reliable. – Various studies have depicted the conclusions found by inkblot test administrators as being akin to fortune teller cold readings.  The controversy stems from several factors including the potential variance of interpretation, general verifiability and reliability, the inability to completely baseline testing norms and the limited number of psychological conditions the test is supposedly capable of determining.
41. Positive thinking (and the placebo effect) helps heal cancer. – Medical treatment is the only way to eliminate cancer cells.  Positive thinking does nothing more than help cancer patients mentally prepare for medical treatment.
42. Eggs are unhealthy. – Eggs are a food you should eat regularly, but in moderation.  They are a great source of essential nutrients and high in protein.  Unfortunately, they also contain a high level of cholesterol, which means limiting intake to 1 or 2 eggs a day.
43. Regular dentist visits create healthy teeth. – Dentists repair problems and make suggestions.  Brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing will create healthy teeth.
44. Poor people are lazy. – Money is not always the best measure of personal effort and drive.  Remember, some millionaires are very poor and some people with small incomes are very rich… in happiness.
45. Asians are smarter than Caucasians. – Asian grade schools are typically more disciplined and demanding than public school systems elsewhere (especially the USA).  So while Asians do not dominate over Caucasians in intelligence, many of them come out of grade school with a much better education.
46. You can drink as much water as you want. – It may sound weird, but people do die from fatal water overdoses.  An overdose occurs when an overabundance of water in the body causes regular salt levels in the blood to become drastically diluted.  This dilution can cause swelling in the brain and organs which may result in coma or death.
47. Ivy League students get the best education. – Education is about self-discipline, curiosity and personal drive.  Some of the most educated and successful people on this planet are self-educated.  Strictly from a formal education standpoint, think about the fact that MIT (a top technical school) and Duke (a top medical school) are not Ivy League.
48. Human growth hormone (HGH) increases life span. – In many cases the opposite is actually true.  HGH does tend to improve the quality of life in a person’s elder years by reducing fat production in the body while increasing muscle mass.  However, no critical factors for extending a person’s life span are affected, such as bone density improvements, cholesterol level reduction, lipid measurements, maximal oxygen consumption, or any other factor that would increase a body’s durability.  Regular consumption of HGH has also been linked to various negative side effects such as joint swelling, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and an amplified risk of diabetes.
49. Shouting into a phone helps the other person hear you. – In most cases it will rattle your phone’s microphone and distort the sound of your voice, thus making it harder for the other person to comprehend your words.
50. Tabasco sauce causes stomach cancer. – This is an urban legend.  In reality, researchers have discovered that spicy pepper sauces may actually help fight the growth of cancer cells.  The University Of Pittsburg School Of Medicine found that capsaicin (the hot ingredient in pepper sauce) induces apoptosis in the cancer cells.
51. Karate works better than dirty street fighting. – Sad, but true… The dirty street fighter with a concealed weapon will probably win the fight outside of a formal fighting ring.
52. Expensive CD players produce better sound quality. – If you want better sound quality spend your money on a decent amplifier, equalizer and a high quality set of speakers.  An expensive input device like a CD player is worthless if the other components are not in place.
53. Monster Cables (expensive audio/video cables) are worth it. – In most cases you will hear and see no difference in the quality between a Monster Cable and a standard cable.  The only exceptions occur in extremely high end systems where slight cable attenuation creates a noticeable difference in clarity.
54. Lie detector (polygraph) tests are accurate. – The American Civil Liberties Union released a report in 1996 stating that “…there is no machine that can detect lies.  The ‘lie detector‘ does not measure truth-telling; it measures changes in blood pressure, breath rate and perspiration rate, but those physiological changes can be triggered by a wide range of emotions.”
55. Raw veggies are always healthier for you. – Cooking certain kinds of vegetables such as onions and garlic can actually increase the variety and potency of nutrients that get released inside a person’s digestive track.  In addition, cooking vegetables also eliminates the potential for bacterial contamination such as salmonella.
56. SUV’s are safer than regular cars. – When it comes to vehicles, bigger does not mean safer.  Many SUV models are top heavy and have poor handling.  Several recent accident-related death statistics have shown that fatality rates in SUV’s are no lower than those in standard size vehicles.
57. Soft water is healthier than hard water. – Reverse it.  Hard water is healthier than soft water.  Hard water contains natural minerals and is sodium free.  Soft water has sodium and is stripped of all natural minerals.  So why do people soften water?  Soft water has cleaning benefits.  When soft water is used, soap lathers better and cleans objects more efficiently, kitchenware and shower glass will sparkle and remain scum-free and hair and skin will also feel smoother.
58. Astrology has value. – Astrology is one of the world’s oldest con games.  It’s complete rubbish.  People want to believe that the future can be predicted, which is exactly why the traditions of Astrology still exist in modern cultures.
59. Chiropractic therapy can cure various diseases. – Chiropractic therapy has been medically proven to help with some joint and bone related injuries, comparable to various forms of physical therapy.  However, there is no medical proof to backup the popular assertions from chiropractors claiming that chiropractic therapy is an effective remedy for other diseases or conditions (such as chronic stress headaches).
60. IQ is a perfect measure of intelligence. – IQ tests are only one of many imperfect techniques for measuring human intelligence.  IQ tests don’t measure creativity, social skills, general wisdom, learned aptitude or an entire gamut of other traits most people would consider as a measurement of intelligence.  IQ tests can be used as a measure of basic intellectual potential, but do not reflect accurate measurements in all circumstances.

Not the PlayStation but PAIN Station is a game that you play and get hurt if you lose.
No pain no gain!
Surprisingly the injuries seem pretty severe for a ”game”. This version of the station is
playing the famous Pong game every few seconds its a hit ! Ouch

Have you ever had a hankering to play a computer game that allows you to inflict real pain
on your opponent?
Ever wondered how it would feel to shock, burn and lash your opponent into submission?
Well, wonder no more. Two German designers have addressed this yawning gap in the
gaming industry with a fiendish invention called, appropriately enough, the Painstation. The
concept is simple. Two players eyeball each other over a table console. The left-hand is
positioned on a sensor field — otherwise know as a PEU, or Pain Execution Unit. When both
players have made this electric contact, the game, and the real fun, commences. The game
itself is based on the first-generation PC game known as Pong, or bar tennis, and is followed
by both players through a graphics display in the center of the table. The player’s right hand
controls the bat, and the object of the game is to keep the ball in play as long as possible.
In the original PC game, missing the ball resulted in nothing worse than a moment’s frustration
and perhaps a well-chosen expletive. In this revamped version, missing the ball is not only
annoying, it is also very painful.
Randomly arranged along both sides of the playing field are Pain Inflictor Symbols, each
representing a different sort of pain. Depending where the ball hits, the player will feel
sensations such as heat, punches and electroshocks of varying duration delivered through
the PEU.
The game ends only when one of the players decides that the pain is too much to bear and
lifts a hand off the PEU. All of which sounds straightforward, but in truth games often continue
long past the point where common sense has given way to stubborn machismo.

BATHROOMS: Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything. Just sit and stare.

DOORS: Do not allow any closed doors in any room. To get the door open, stand on hind legs and hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an “outside” door opened, stand halfway in and out and think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season.

CHAIRS AND RUGS: If you have to throw up, get to a chair quickly. If you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so it is as long as a human’s bare foot.

HAMPERING: If one of your humans is engaged in some activity, and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called “helping,” otherwise known as “hampering.” Following are the rules for hampering:

1. When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.
2. For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book — unless you can lie across the book itself.
3. When human is working at computer, jump up on desk, walk across keyboard, bat at mouse pointer on screen, and then lay in human’s lap across arms, hampering typing in progress.

WALKING: As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of the human, especially: on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark, and when they first get up in the morning. This will help their coordination skills.

BEDTIME: Always sleep on the human at night so he/she cannot move around.

LITTER BOX: When using the litter box, be sure to kick as much litter out of the box as possible. Humans love the feel of kitty litter between their toes.

HIDING: Every now and then, hide in a place where the humans cannot find you. Do not come out for three to four hours under any circumstances. This will cause the humans to panic (which they love) thinking that you have run away or are lost. Once you do come out, the humans will cover you with love and kisses, and you probably will get a treat.

ONE LAST THOUGHT: Whenever possible, get close to a human, especially their face, turn around, and present your butt to them. Humans love this, so do it often. And don’t forget the guests.

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Q1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms: The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

Q2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

Q3. A magician was boasting one day at how long he could hold his breath under water. His record was 6 minutes. A kid that was listening said, “that’s nothing, I can stay under water for 10 minutes using no type of equipment or air pockets!” The magician told the kid if he could do that, he’d give him $10,000. The kid did it and won the money. Can you figure out how?

Q4. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?

Q5. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and grey when you throw it away?

Q6. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

Q7. This is an unusual paragraph. I’m curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any coaching!

Q8. You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?

Q9. If you overtake the last person, then you are…?

Q10. (in your head!) Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?

Q11. Mary’s father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

Now how many could you answer?
Scroll down for answers:-

ANSWERS:-

A1. The third. Lions that haven’t eaten in three years are dead.

A2. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry.

A3. The kid filled a glass of water and held it over his head for 10 minutes.

A4. Colour and Freeze them first. Take them out of the jugs and put the ice in the barrel. You will be able to tell which water came from which jug.

A5. The answer is Charcoal. In Homer Simpson’s words: hmmmm… Barbecue.

A6. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

A7. The letter “e”, which is the most common letter in the English language, does not appear once in the long paragraph

A8. If you answer that you are first, then you are absolutely wrong! If you overtake the second person and you take his place, you are second!

A9. If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST person?!

A10. Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100. Don’t believe it? Check with your calculator!

A11. Nunu? NO! Of course not. The fifth daughter is Mary. Read the question again.

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A special thank you to these people for removing themselves from our gene pool.

Eighth Place

In Detroit , a 41-year-old man, got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.

Seventh Place

A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who ‘totally zoned when he ran,’ accidentally jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run.

Sixth Place

While at the beach, Daniel Jones, 21, dug an 8 foot hole for protection from the wind and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach used their hands and shovels trying to get him out but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Fifth Place

Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed as he fell through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth to keep his hands free rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.

Fourth Place

Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed as he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger. Third Place After stepping around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door, a man walked into H&J Leather & Firearms intent on robbing the store. The shop was full of customers and a uniformed officer was standing at the counter. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up and fired a few wild shots from a target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, and several customers also drew their guns and fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt.

HONORABLE MENTION

Paul Stiller, 47, and his wife Bonnie were bored just driving around at 2 A.M. so they lit a quarter stick of dynamite to toss out the window to see what would happen. Apparently they failed to notice the window was closed.

RUNNER UP

Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from a local bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more heated and at least 10 men trooped along thewalkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman’s cable, lay nearby. They secured one end around Bingham’s leg and then tied the other to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle.. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. Bingham’s foot was never located.

AND THE WINNER IS…

Zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt ( Paderborn, Germany ) fed his constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally got relief. Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded. The sheer force of the elephant’s unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground where he struck his head on a rock as the elephant continued to evacuate 200 pounds of dung on top of him.

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Someone didn’t listen when their mother said, “Don’t play with your food.”

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You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.

You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”

There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”

Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.

Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.

“There” is no better a place than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”

Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

Your answers lie within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

You will forget all this.