What’s a fact that was taught in school that’s been disproven in your lifetime?

34 comments

1. I was told in Kindergarten that Santa Claus is real. Apparently, and this is news to me, he isn’t? I still don’t know….

2. Elephants are afraid of mice. This myth is likely due to the fact that elephants have a very sensitive trunk and can be startled by small animals. However, there is no evidence that elephants are afraid of mice. In fact, elephants have been known to interact with mice peacefully

3. A whole lot of stuff about dinosaurs.

4. That There are 9 planet’s in solar system.

5. If you don’t know maths, you’ll never amount to anything.

6. Pluto is not a planet.

   The Soviet Union doesn’t exist anymore

7. Weed is a “gateway drug.”

8. In the U.K. they taught the tongue had different sections for tasting different things. Like the front would do sweet, middle sour, back salty etc.

9. The government exists with the consent of the governed.

10. That Columbus discovered America.

11. When you get to university the teachers will be much stricter.

12. Women can do everything a man can…

    I’ve never seen a woman open a jar!

13. At primary school, we were told that if we didn’t say grace, our lunch wouldn’t appear in our lunch boxes. Which is weird considering my parents used to prepare my lunch.

14. There is an indicator in the pool that will change color if you pee. I had to bust this myth myself.

15. Up until grade 8, we weren’t allowed to use calculators because they said we wouldn’t be using them in real life.

    I don’t know a single adult that doesn’t use their calculator

16. The entirety of the food pyramid.

17. I was told that i should respect girls because they’re special, finished uni and i still don’t think they were right

18. canada allows immigrants to maintain their identity while the US forces them to assimilate.

    a lie propagated thru the canadian school system for decades

19. Brontosaurus… never existed.

20. You won’t always have a calculator in your pocket

21. Cut an earthworm in two and you get two earthworms.

22. I remember reading in a textbook in 2016 that all the world’s rainforests would be gone by 2015. I think the book was from the 90s.

23. That I’d need trigonometry later in life

24. The food pyramid

25. Perfect penmanship, including cursive, was critical for success.

    Its been 20+ years since I’ve written in cursive. Zoomers look at my penmanship like I have a special powers. But we had hours of class time practicing and were graded on it.

26. The atomic model of electrons flying in nest little orbits. I think that was disproven while I was still learning it though.

27. “Junk DNA” serves absolutely no purpose.

28. Hippos are gentle cow like plant eating animals . Not !

29. The kids with the best grades will be the most successful financially in life.

30. Poor Pluto.

31. Girls should “save themselves” for marriage.

32. I started out in Catholic school, so for the sake of time I’ll just leave it at “a lot”

33. I’m old enough that when I was in school, we were literally taught in Health Class that people being gay was a mental disorder.

34. That the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States.