Throughout world history and society misconceptions have regularly occurred from some relatively trivial ones to huge ones that people worldwide seem to believe in without knowing the truth. Raking through the associated article in Wikipedia, I decided to share with you some of my favourites or some of the more interesting ones and then add some more to them!
- "There is no evidence that Vikings wore horns on their helmets." - A particular striking one when you consider that this is one of the major stereotypes of the Vikings as well as the fact that searching 'Vikings' on Google Images does alot to assert this misconception. Although horn decorated headsets were seen in the era, especially during religious ceremonies the fact is that the majority of excavations have never found the sufficient evidence to back up this theory except for a few exceptions so it is safe to say that Vikings did not all go to battle in horned helmets!
- "Napoleon I(Napoleon Bonaparte) (pictured) was not particularly short, and did not have a Napoleon Complex. After his death in 1821, the French emperor’s height was recorded as 5 feet 2 inches in French feet. This corresponds to 5 feet 6.5 inches in modern international feet, or 1.686 metres.There are competing explanations for why he was nicknamed le Petit Caporal (The Little Corporal), but few modern scholars believe it referred to his physical stature." - Almost the defining character of 'short man syndrome', this misconception really shocked me as I had always associated the man with his small stature! It seems that the misconception (if true) comes due to the difference in the length of an inch according to French and British measurements. Furthermore, it may have seemed that Napoleon was short as he was surrounded by his Imperial Guard who had rules as to how short they could be.
- "It is frequently rumored that the expression "rule of thumb", which is used to indicate a technique for generating a quick estimate, was originally coined from a law allowing a man to beat his wife with a stick, provided it was not thicker than the width of his thumb. In fact, the origin of this phrase remains uncertain." - A rule said to have been made by Judge Sir Francis Buller in 1782 which has actually never been proved, the phrase has been in circulation in British literature since around 1600. It is more likely that the phrase originates from a tendency to make rough estimations of measurements using ones thumb.
- "Mussels that do not open when cooked may still be fully cooked and safe to eat." - a relatively trivial misconception that I have always followed under the advice that yes, if they are shut then they are not cooked! This is a misconception that did not emerge until the 1970's but that now has almost widespread recognition.
- "The notion that goldfish have a memory of only three seconds is false." - another common misconception in fact it has been proved wrong by several simple experiments. These have included conditioning a goldfish by always tapping on a fishbowl just before the fish is fed leading to tapping the fishbowl afterwards becoming a 'signpost' that they are about to be fed as well as studies of goldfish swimming through mazes where their times to complete it got better each time. So much for memory like a goldfish!
- "Alcohol does not make one warmer.The reason that alcoholic drinks create the sensation of warmth is that they cause blood vessels to dilate and stimulate nerve endings near the surface of the skin with an influx of warm blood. This can actually result in making the core body temperature lower, as it allows for easier heat exchange with a cold external environment" - Interesting, because in my culture putting on your 'beer jacket' is a common expression used when going on a night out during the winter!
- "A popular myth regarding human sexuality is that men think about sex every seven seconds. In reality, there is no scientific way of measuring such a thing and, as far as researchers can tell, this statistic greatly exaggerates the frequency of sexual thoughts" - In defence of men!
- Guglielmo Marconi did not invent radio, but only modernized it for public broadcasting and communication. No single person was responsible for the invention of the radio." - Another one that busted me because I had always associated Marconi with inventing the radio. Interesting!
These were my pick out of a very long list of misconceptions. It is amazing to think how sometimes one small rumour or word of mouth can lead to pretty much universal truths being covered with misconceptions that sometimes beggar belief!
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