20 ‘Facts’ People Learned In School That Have Been Disproven In Their Lifetime

Article created by: Greta Jaruševičiūtė

People go to school to learn things, so it’s not that crazy to expect them to be correct, right? Well, unfortunately, sometimes they might not be. Some ideas, whether coming from peers, other acquaintances there, or even teachers, tend to be far from reality, and quite a few redditors seemingly learned it firsthand.

Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently shared the facts they were taught to be true in school, but have been disproven in their lifetime. Their answers covered everything from the food pyramid, to calculators, and even George Washington’s teeth, so scroll down to find them on the list below and see what other topics the false information covered.

• Read More: 20 'Facts' People Learned In School That Have Been Disproven In Their Lifetime

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#20

A little bit before my time and most teachers already knew it was wrong but it was still in my third and fourth grade science books since they were dated to when it was still in vogue in the 70s even though we were told to mostly ignore it, but Global Cooling. I imagined massive ice ages by the time I was an adult since I ignored my teachers and read the passages anyway. I was disappointed to find out how wrong it was. Heh.

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There’s never been a war fought on Australian soil. 1990’s 3rd grade teacher proclaimed it proudly. Indigenous Australians would beg to differ. That I’d fail in life because I was not good at math. I always had a hard time with math and physics and chemistry. Turns out I am just not good with numbers, but succeeded with languages. I have a natural talent for languages. I am a translator and conference interpreter. I work with 5 languages. My math teacher told my mom I’d never amount to anything if I didn’t master math. I was there and her words scarred me for life. I have been terrified of failure ever since. Pretty much everything about Christopher Columbus. The United States government prevents abuse of power through a well-engineered system of checks and balances. If you study well and have excellent grades, you will end up with a nice job and lots of money. That George Washington’s teeth were made of wood. No. It’s so much worse Surgery can be performed on very small infants without anesthesia because pain reception isn't developed yet. You only use 10% of your brain each day. I learned tongue taste maps at school. Turns out it’s complete nonsense. Your permanent record will follow you into adulthood You won't always have a calculator on you. Myers Briggs garbage. I even fought with my professor about it. Turns out in the end I was right. All fat was bad for you, thus fat free foods became a thing for a while. I once asked one of my elementary school teachers what a rainbow was, and she told me scientists hadn't figured it out. I walked around until my early 20s thinking that. Also, I think it was this same teacher who told me Columbus thought the Earth was flat. They were training teachers a different kind of way in the 70s and 80s. It's honestly one of the reasons I'm thankful for the internet, because depending on your teacher or an outdated encyclopedia for answers could be a real roll of the dice. In grade school they told us that the Titanic would never be found. Not exactly a disproven “fact,” but still amusing that technology has advanced so far in such a relatively short amount of time. It takes 7 years to digest gum Blood is blue until exposed to oxygen, then it turns red. Using plastic bags will help save the environment That we would all but run out of oil by the year 2000