Conventional wisdom is a funny thing a collection of odd ideas, outmoded scientific notions, old wives tales and superstitions that, together, form an entirely inaccurate view of the world we live in. Just because everyone believes them, and reinforces those ideas in interactions with one another, though that doesnt actually make them true. Consensus reality isnt real. You might have seen a few articles like this flying around the interwebs over the years, full of practical muggings of received wisdom. Here, were aiming to provide something a little more practical about the world we live in. Its true, for example, that the USA has only forty-six states and not fifty. Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Kentucky are all nominally commonwealths: however, as legally and practically thats a distinction without a difference, its pretty much only good as an icebreaker at parties. Similarly, you can absolutely go swimming straight after eating without cramping up and drowning: its just that, like any vigorous exercise, you really wouldnt want to try it with a belly full of food, its tremendously uncomfortable. Try having sex after Christmas dinner, and youll see what we mean. And just so you know, the only human beings who use 10% of their brain are probably the people that think that human beings only use 10% of their brain
Honourable Mention: The Great Wall Of China Is The Only Manmade Object You Can See From Space
Utter nonsense, of course and as this very popular myth comes from a time before the age of space travel, utterly impossible to prove wrong for years and years. Until, of course, we began to send people up into the outer atmosphere and even further, and discovered exactly how much is visible from up there. It turns out, quite a lot. Its not the size of things that gives them away, but their visibility: how much they stand out from their surroundings. We all know that cities light up at night to help us get about, but it makes them look like glowing spiderwebs of light and colour from high above. Even during the day, though, an astonishing amount of manmade structures are visible from space. One of the things that isnt easy to see, however, is the Great Wall itself. In fact, its pretty hard to see its made of local stone and blends in with its surroundings rather well. Theres also the fact that giant walls tend only to impress people by virtue of perspective: if youre standing at the foot of one looking up, or standing on top of one looking down, were sure that theyre captivating testaments to the indomitability of Man. From space, however, theyre just a few collections of rock. And almost everyone knows this: its a myth that people have been busting for so long that now, its more famous for being a myth than it used to be for being true in the first place. Thats not the case for the following, however
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
