Brief Summary
This video addresses common misconceptions and myths that have circulated over time, debunking each one by providing factual information.
- The Great Wall of China is not visible from space despite its length.
- The claim that cracking knuckles causes arthritis is false.
- It is incorrect to believe that humans only use 10% of their brains.
- While Inuit languages have many words for snow, it’s a feature of compound words found in all languages.
- The idea of needing eight glasses of water a day lacks scientific backing.
- Tap water is often just as safe or safer than bottled water.
- Gum does not take seven years to digest.
- Blood is red in veins, not blue.
- The belief in fan death in South Korea is unfounded.
- The claim that people swallow eight spiders a year while sleeping is ridiculous.
The Great Wall of China, stretching over 5,000 miles, is widely believed to be the only man-made structure visible from space. However, despite its impressive length, it is only about 30 feet wide at its broadest point. A photo from the International Space Station illustrates that the Wall is practically indistinguishable from other landscape features, often confused with rivers or mountains, proving it is not visible to the naked eye.
Contrary to popular belief, cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis. It might be seen as socially annoying, but there is no scientific evidence to support the notion that it leads to any long-term joint damage or arthritis as a punishment.
The myth that humans only use 10% of their brains is debunked by modern imaging techniques that show activity throughout the entire brain. While the specific functions of many regions remain unclear, all parts contribute to our overall cognitive abilities.
While it is true that Inuit languages have numerous terms for snow, this can be misleading. These languages utilize compound words, combining shorter terms into longer ones, just as many languages do, including German. Thus, while there are many words, it is a grammatical feature present in many languages.
The guideline recommending drinking eight glasses of water daily lacks solid scientific backing. While hydration is important, the actual quantity of water needed varies based on individual circumstances and some research suggests that the eight-glass rule might even be excessive for some.
The idea that bottled water is always better than tap water is misleading. In many countries, health regulations ensure the safety of tap water. Frequently, bottled water is simply tap water that has been repackaged and marked up significantly in price.
The claim that gum takes seven years to pass through the digestive system is a myth. While it's not digestible, gum does not remain in the stomach for that long and will pass through the digestive system like other substances.
It is a common misconception that blood in the veins is blue and only turns red when exposed to oxygen. In reality, blood is always red, regardless of its oxygen content. The blue appearance of veins is due to optical effects, not blood color.
Fan death is a myth particularly prevalent in South Korea, where people believe that running a fan in a closed room can deplete oxygen and lead to asphyxiation. However, this idea is scientifically unfounded, and fan manufacturers include timers for cultural reasons, not safety.
The notion that people swallow an average of eight spiders a year while sleeping is absurd. Spiders typically avoid humans, and their behavior makes this scenario highly unlikely. This myth is simply exaggerated and unfounded.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “10 'Facts' That Are Totally Made Up”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:04 10) The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space. To see something on Earth from space, it would have to be pretty big, which the great wall of China all 5,000 miles of it certainly is. But, it’s only 30 feet across at its widest. Here’s a photo taken from the International Space station, 200 miles above Earth. Can you spot the great wall amid the mountain tops? Here, right? No, that’s a river, the wall is actually here. Even if you guessed the right lines buy pure luck, this photo was taken with a zoom lens, so from the window of the space station it looks more like this – which pretty clearly makes the Great Wall count as ‘not visible.’ As for the man-made part of this misconception our glorious man-made cities blasting light into the void certainly are visible. 9) Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. Socially obnoxious? Yes. Gives you arthritis later in life as karmic punishment?
0:49 No. 8) People Only Use 10% of their Brain If you haven’t seen a medical drama in the past oh, 30 years, you might not be aware that doctors now have machines that can see inside peoples’ brains and, contrary to popular, belief 90% of the neurons don’t sit all day around doing nothing. While scientists don’t yet know exactly what each part does, they do know that all the bits matter. So if you think someone could scoop out 90% of your brain and you’d still be just fine, then perhaps you really do only use 10% of it. 7) Eskimos have Hundreds of words for snow This one is technically correct, but misleading. Some languages, such as German, like to make compound words by running several smaller ones together which is why German words are sometimes absurdly long. Inuit languages use compound words as well so rather than say ‘yellow snow’ as you would in English an Inuit speaker combines the two words into one, but it’s not really a new word, just a quirk of grammar.
1:35 So technically Eskimos do have 100s of ways to describe snow… but then so does every language. 6) You Need 8 Glasses of Water a Day While doubtless some people would benefit from drinking more water and drinking less crap there is no scientific evidence that 8 glasses of water a day is the required amount and some evidence that it might be too much. And while we’re talking about water… 5) Tap Water is Bad but Bottled Water is Good If you live in a paradise free from Government regulations like, say, Somalia, then you might have good reason to prefer bottled water over tap. But modern, functioning countries have something called health regulations which cover both kinds of water. Also, water is extremely dense making transporting it from those pristine mountain tops and glaciers enormously expensive which is why bottled water companies don’t bother. ‘Bottled’ water is often just local tap water with a fancy label and an enormous markup.
2:21 4) Gum takes seven years to pass through your digestive system. This is pretty easy to disprove yourself but it’s understandable why most people don’t try the experiment. 3) Blood in Your Veins is Blue The idea here is that the blood in veins is blue and it only turns red when exposed to the oxygen in the air. Thinking this isn’t unreasonable, after all your veins look blue and medical diagrams show arteries as red and veins as blue, but it’s the same mistake as thinking that mountain dew is green because it’s in a green bottle. Pour it out and you discover that Mountain Dew is really piss yellow, which is probably the reason it’s in a green bottle to begin with. The next time you get blood withdrawn from a veins take a look. What color it is? Red. How much oxygen is inside a good syringe? None. Unless you’re a Horseshoe crab or Plavalaguna you’re blood isn’t blue. 2) Fan Death This misconception is a specialty of South Korea.
3:06 Here the belief is that if you spend too much time with a rotating fan in a confined space, it will use up all your oxygen and you’ll asphyxiate to death. Exactly how the fan made of lifeless, anaerobic plastic, competes for your oxygen is unclear, but hilariously South Korean fan manufacturers – who surely must know better – include timers on fans to prevent them from running too long. 1) People Swallow 8 Spiders a Year While Sleeping Supposedly while you’re in bed, helplessly unconscious with your gob wide open, each year eight spiders find their way into your mouth and you reflexively swallow them. This is plainly ridiculous: spiders love warm, moist places so eight is far too low an estimate.
