Lies you were told as a kid?
- Most outrageous / unbelievable lies
- Most offensive / dangerous lies
- Most "adult meant it as genuine advice but it's laughably out of touch" lies
- Lies you wish you still believed
- Lies you took as truth and didn't question it until you were way too old
316 replies
Animals don't suffer when we are cruel and violent to them. They don't have the capacity, they're just robots.
There are only five vowels
"I will love you no matter what"
That changed real fuckin fast when i came out as trans
Sorry that happened, mate. One of our older kids is gay. Our 16 year old is non-binary. I don't give a shit as long as they are able to thrive without assholes standing in their way. They are always welcome in my home along with any partners they find happiness with. I'm sorry I can’t be that for every child who lost the people who were supposed to have their back no matter what.
Yea same here, my mother told me that she will never be able to come to terms with my #decision
Ironic, since these parents are choosing to be terrible people filled with hate.
Big hugs friend ...
Just an apropos of nothing ....
I've had two friends tell me how they're sick of this woke shit. I said, I hear more whining about woke shit than any woke shit so you're gonna have to be specific. He said, "Chris' kid thinks he's trans now, like he's too young what the fuck is that?"
I was like, "I've never met Chris' kid and it seems you think they're doing it for attention but what if they are ..?"
It's like ... trans people got their own shit that they're going through and some of my friends act like it's their problem somehow.
The claims of "doing it for attention" are so silly to me. I can think of so many easier ways to get attention
Also, like... so what if they are? Maybe it really is "just a phase" or whatever the fuck else someone wants to dismissively ascribe any behavior to.
Does that really mean the kid is any less deserving of the attention, connection, and understanding ear they are clearly crying out for? Is ignoring, shunning, or otherwise socially punishing them really the best way to address it?
Like you said, there are much easier ways to get attention. If someone is willing to claim to be trans just for the attention, then they are in serious need of a better support structure in their lives. Giving them shit for it isn't going to help anything.
Now that I think about it, this is surely almost always a lie? I doubt many people will keep loving someone once they find out they're a serial killer, pedophile, or worse, a conservative.
Disapproving of someone's choices and actions doesn't mean you don't love them anymore. In fact that's why it hurts more when someone you love does something truly heinous. It's often hard to just suddenly let go when it's your child, sibling, etc.
We can still love each and every one of them, and tell them so during visiting hours. Especially the conservative, as I suspect they quickly become some bubba's bitch.
Right up there with "you can ask us anything". Well they certainly didn't expect neurodiverse questions there.
But to be fair the statement also doesn't include that there have to be good answers.
So sorry the love they had for you was conditional :(
I still have to have that conversation with my parents. It's nerve-wracking!! I need to just rip that bandaid off and be done with it.
🫂
Getting rid of toxic people is first step towards a happier life. You'll sooner or later find like minded people.
I was always careful never to tell my child I would love them no matter what.
If they came out as trans (or any lbgt+) I would still love them.
If they became a maniac killer I wouldn’t.
I'd still love my kid if they became a maniac killer. I would feel so guilty as the parent. I would dedicate my life to anonymously making the victims' lives better. I wouldnt protect the kid from legal justice. I would turn them in myself the moment I knew. But I would still love them. Because if I don't love my kid as a maniac killer, who would? I'm not saying it would be easy.
I love my kid unconditionally. At least I believe I do. I can say lots of things.
🫂
I hope you've got people who love you for you in your life, now.
At least my father never made that promise. But yeah it's amazing how many parents have such a ridiculous condition on their love
"You'll become more conservative as you get older."
I have consistently grown more and more leftist as I've grown older. Rent goes up faster than taxes. [redacted] your landlord.
Heard this one a lot, guess they figured everyone would go the fuck you got mine attitude of the boomers, not realizing that you can’t onboard the youth while maintaining full unmasked racism and marginalizing the value of the same youths perspectives. Another one is “you’ll understand when you’re older” which to the surprise of no one thing he “when you’re older” part never matures in discussions with these types.
And isn’t it fun when rent goes up even when the mortgage does not? And especially when the mortgage is fully paid off?
I was also told that about conservatism. Actually understanding conservatism and capitalism - and how fascism is essentially the corporate state - has bodily yeeted me so far left that I’m two shakes away from being an anachro-communist.
Is this "Conservative" as in the political affiliation though, or "moderate/cautious"? I think one thing is that current "Conservatives" are anything but
"Conservative" as in hating taxes and loving capitalism
You and me both. Plus I suffered a horrendous enough TBI that I should anecdotally love Trump and his diet nazis.
Fuck that noise. Mutual aid and DSA getting a seriously foothold in American politics is a good first step.
"[redacted] your landlord." Hey, some people manage to pay their rent this way
Yeah my beliefs have grown more nuanced as I left my early-mid 20s, but it's a pretty far left form of nuanced. Meanwhile as a teenager I was downright centrist on a lot of issues and conservative as often as I was liberal/left. I didn't stop believing in capitalism until college
I heard this one too. Maybe it used to be more true than now?
Science has shown that how easily you become wealthy determines how likely you are to shift conservative.
Boomers - in America and Canada, at least - grew up into adulthood during the most expansive period of the middle class in human history. There has never before been a time where someone with an 8th grade education could find high-paying employment and become moderately wealthy off of it with just a few basic financial techniques. It really was stupidly easy to live a comfortable middle-class life. Show salesmen and VCR salesmen could do this without any serious financial stresses.
So yeah. While some resisted the shift right, many did not. They climbed the ladder, and upon reaching the top they pulled the ladder up after themselves and told the younger generations, “fuck you, I’ve got mine”.
It's probably true on average. As you get older, chances are some of the things you fought for when you were younger are now the new normal, and further change is something you're more skeptical about.
But definitely not something that's going to apply to every individual, plus when the world is mostly regressing as it is right now, the whole effect should disappear.
I was little and going through that "ask an unending stream of questions to figure out how the world works / determine the limits of your parent's patience" phase. At one point during this my mother, who had up until this point used this as an opportunity to teach me how to research things and overall handled it with grace, began to hit her limit. And so one fine morning when I had perkily jammed myself underneath the toilet in a way that startled the living daylights out of her when she came in and I asked how toilets worked, she said in great exasperation "toilet gnomes, and you shouldn't be down there bothering them". This of course made perfect sense to me - someone had to crew the little boat, and humans would never fit in there.
I maintain to this day that it was an act of class solidarity that I shouldn't be mocked for when, several days later, she found me pooping in the yard because I "didn't want the gnomes to work too hard".
Garden gnomes: "The fuck is this shit?"
"The fuck? Is this shit?" FTFY
"The fuck, is this shit?"
"The fuck is this, shit?"
"The, fuck is this, shit?" - Christopher Walken Gnome
The, fuck, is, this, shit? -William SHATner Gnome
Fuck; shit, this is. -- Yoda Gnome
"The fuck."
[smile]
"Is this shit."
Hard work will always lead to success, which is why anyone can be president.
Some really solid teachers in high school were able to cover why that was bullshit just by proper framing of the material.
Pick 2 for success.
I'm starting to believe some level of sociopathy is also required
At the highest levels, absolutely. But thats also one in a million of those who are successful
only if you want to be a CEO in a major corporation. plenty of successful people who aren't sociopaths, but they typically aren't ceo/business/sales types.
It feels more like an either the top two or the bottom one, more than pick two
Nah, generational wealth can still be squandered if handled irresponsibly.
You can still lose a race with a head start if you start running in the wrong direction.
True, but you don't need to work hard to collect 10% interest annually
You'll be surprised how dumb people can be
Trade schools are for those who couldn't make it into college.
I would have absolutely gone into welding if I had been told the honest truth about what the trades can earn.
Better live in a country where welders qualify for early retirement then, as the welders I've known have all developed issues with their eyesight, often starting in their late 20s or early 30s. Yes there's a mask and every professional welder uses it because they know just how quickly they'd fuck up their eyes otherwise, but even then you're still staring at a spark for a significant portion of your workday.
Health-wise, it's one of the worse trades to get into because of that. Financially, of course... that's probably part of why it pays so well.
Weirdly nurses too we're super high risk for musculoskletal injuries that can really add up over the years. Even if you use 100% prefect lift mechanics every time you logroll or transfer a patient, or help them stand up, the patient often doesn't know proper lift mechanics and will do wild shit like use the back of your neck as a grab handle. Even in psych where our patients are mostly ambulatory it can be even worse because my patients are more likely to intend to injure me.
A lot of welding also releases some really nasty fumes. I wouldn't be surprised if the fumes are also a contributor to eye issues, not to mention Welder's lung being named after the profession
Similar story - binmen. Teachers warning you that'll be you if you dont try hard and get good grades.
Id fucking love to be a binman, way better hours, pay and perks than any other job ive ever worked.
In Germany we have the following system:
And Meister can make bank in the current climate.
Remember who connects your toilet or your lamps legally and what you can do without either.
I read that as "connect your toilet to your lamps" and I thought, ah, yes, a Home Assistant user.
and it's entirely possible you would have washed out as a traders person and never earned that.
very few people make bank in the trades, most make a OK living, but trades have massive drawbacks too.
this whole 'we need people in the trades, it pays so well' is a lot of bullshit, just like 'everyone has to learn to code'
all it mean is they want more competition in the field to drive wages down.
I've noticed that when people talk about not needing a college degree, they always mention welding. I've personally never met a welder, but it seems they're the gold standard of blue collar work. Why is that?
I've been a welder. It's a big field with lots of variety. It all mostly sucks. Super hard on the body. Lots of bad fumes and dust.
If you're actually looking to get into it, learn to weld pipe. Best pay and job opportunities.
Can’t recall where I saw it, but I have run across a welding helmet that doubled as a respirator for exactly those conditions. Looked kinda like a full-face respirator only with a permanent clear plastic front and a welding mask that was in front of that and could be flipped up. Capable of working with beards, positive-pressure so no shroud needed over the nose and mouth that would otherwise muffle the voice.
Now granted: stupidly expensive. But the filter was on the helmet, not on the back or the waist (no hoses to get in the way). And it had a normal power-tool battery slot with adapters for the common ones like Milwaukee or Bosch.
The best set up I came across was a pump that mounted on your waist, it pumped in filtered air and kept a positive pressure under the mask. I snaked the tube up under my leathers between my shoulders. Wasn't too cumbersome.
I've seen the one you're talking about. I thought it was too much weight to be carrying on my neck all day.
But unless you're prepared to go full hazmat you're getting exposed to foul air.
Welding is like sewing. Any old mug can darn a sock… but to repair a historically important high quality silk sock to such a high standard that the repair is invisible to the naked eye takes an elite level of crafts(wo)manship that very few would ever attain. Not a perfect analogy but close enough…
I understand that welding takes skill. But I'm more wondering why I've personally talked to several parents/grandparents with kids about to graduate highschool with poor grades - and nearly everyone of those people has said that college isn't the right choice for their kid, so they're going to go into the trades and become a welder.
So far, none of the kids I'm referring to have actually become a welder. Are those family members saying their kid is going to become a welder because of the skill involved at the highest level of the craft? Is welding the blue collar equivalent of becoming an artist?
I think it might just be a combination of “clean” employment, decent pay, but perhaps most importantly the professional welders I knew were all single and spent months away at a time on jobs. I guess if your outgoings are practically zero then your wage is comparatively that much larger.
My childhood friend became a welder. But my suspicion is that it's a skilled trade that doesn't sound gross (plumbing) or super dangerous (electrician). Everyone knows we need welders, they understand what they do too. All this makes it the perfect thing to assume your kid is going to do when they decide not to go to college. Actually going to trade school and apprenticing on the other hand…
Yeah, I think not sounding gross or dangerous is part of it - combined with the skill level. Personally, my in-laws encouraged my nephew not to go to college, but instead to become a welder - or an electrician as a backup plan.
He did neither and now works for the city cleaning sewers. It's a needed job and pays ok, but no one ever says "you don't need to go to college, you can clean a sewer." It's always "you can be a welder."
Because the argument is bullshit, and most tradespeople are going to struggle, but that doesn't let people romanticize the past and divide the present.
And it's hard on the body and the culture is super toxic just like the materials and environments you may be subjected to.
The only reason I mentioned welding, is I did some welding and plasma cutting in college and actually enjoyed it. I would have gone into the specialty welding like pipe or something like that for the higher wages.
One of my friends switched her career over to welding and she loves it! Never too late!
With liberty and and justice for all.
Well maybe liberty should get rid of the fur ball mascot
Insert video of Limu Emu violently disemboweling Biberty
"Penguins are mammals" said to me as an offhand comment by a friend's older brother. I didn't question it till embarrassingly late in life.
"It's ok we (white people) took the land from the Indians because we make better use of it, and can sustain a much larger population on it." Said by my teacher to the third grade class.
"You'll become more conservative as you get older" heard this one quite a bit from people who didn't wanna face facts about the world.
"Global warming is a myth" oh if only that were true. We're so fucked
See first answer. Seriously, they're obviously birds!
Probably also lead poisoning
Liberal use of the term "sustain."
Lol isn't it just?
"When you grow up, you can be anything you want to be."
I wanna be a homeowner.
To be fair, "grown up" could be 19 or 95 :) so keep trying!
This is really about managing expectations. Have you tried the barbie dream house?
You could, maybe not where you currently live but there are houses around that are super cheap. Or buy a lot and a tent
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/53184-Pine-View-Dr-Springville-CA-93265/300064524_zpid/
Water and electricity plus a septic tank
There's a God, and he loves you.
We were learning Roman numerals in elementary school and the teacher made us work out the current year.
I was the first one to correctly work out "MCMXCVIII" only to be quite smugly told by the teacher that you can just do "IIMM". It took more than a decade until I learned that he was full of shit and my answer was the only correct one.
In Germany you can, but in France you have to do XIX-C-IV*XX+XIIX /s
My parents told me they put our cat up for adoption (it was a feral cat that only liked me) after I left home for university. My brother later accidentally let it slip they had the cat put down. I’ve never really forgiven them for that.
I never would.
I would be devastated. I'm so sorry...
Not a lie in that I think this was the truth for them (because me and my siblings are awesome), but: "having kids is amazing."
Mine are teenagers and I feel horrible saying it but it's still hard for me to be a parent the same way my parents were. I'm not nearly as patient. I don't think I've slept well for over a decade. My sex life with my partner is non-existent for quite a while. I feel like all I do is work, serve, and sleep.
Maybe it'll get better. I'm not having a good time, though. Neither are neurotypical. I don't know if I am either, the more I read about it. Poooooo
But all my friends tell me it’s awesome to have kids while they all have struggling finances and marriages! Because it’s for the kids!
There are plenty of families where it's working out great.
It’s a waste of money and a bs poster for what your life should be. F kids.
Please don't F kids
Yeha we were all kids at same point so don’t say f kids. Instead F the societal expectation of parenthood/natalism. My main reason is that there’s already too many ppl on this Earth and parenthood is hard, very hard with no return policy
I know I was a kid dumbass but fuck children in general I can’t stand being fucking near them. I wish I wasn’t born. Fucking hate living. So hop the fuck off white knight. I don’t care how hard it is. The military was hard and I don’t fucking bring that up for my bad behavior I stay home. Also fuck pedophiles for the asshole who told me not to f kids.
My problem is that I want kids.
Except, I know it's stupid. The insurmountable student loan debt that's currently a yoke around my neck is half of what it would cost to raise my ideal two children to just 18 years old. Climate change is going to destroy our way of life in the next 30 years, I'd be bringing them into a world on the brink of collapse. Society will break down when famine/disease start going unchecked, this is what I want them to experience? All so, what? I can have a little buddy that looks up to me and thinks I'm great for a few years? All so I can get my little kodak moments in between miserable days filled with screaming, crying, no sleep, stress, financial hardship, troubled marriage, and no sex?
And here I am, suffering from major chronic depression/anxiety... Would I even be a good steward of these children? I know I'd like to think of myself as just a baby away from switching into "Dad mode," but would it be enough? Would I be waking up early to get my kids breakfast and lunch together, or would I fall deep into depression and get up at 2PM like I've been doing? Will I even have the energy enough to play with my kids after work? What about building that tree-house, and doing school projects? What about after-school sports and parties and everything else? I am barely holding myself together, am I really going to be able to switch my whole personality like a light switch into becoming the kind of Dad these kids would need?
I would be trapping myself into a job I hate forever, just to have these children, which would also make retirement a fever dream.
So why the hell do I still want them? I just wish my head and my heart could be on the same page for this, and they are just not.
"You're just having a brother fight. You and your brother are going to grow up to be best friends."
No, my autistic brother with FASD who was my rapist, and is a kleptomaniac, sociopath, pathological liar, and borderline pedophile... will never be my friend in adulthood.
Oh...wow
there is a god
race is a biological reality
men and women are fundamentally different
Just world theory
America is a force for good in the world
The Enlightenment makes Western culture superior
The post-war boom where a single income could buy a hose/ car/ and college was a universal reality and not exclusive to white men.
Guns make you safe.
my ex tried to kill herself with pills, i think if we had a gun she would have succeeded. i think every person i have known to die of gun wounds were self inflicted
I'm worried you know enough people to make a statistically significant conclusion.
Prior art confirms: overwhelmingly, the gun you are shot with will be your own. Next is one weilded by someone well-known to you.
i didn't claim to give statistically significant conclusion, my statement was clearly anecdotal, so you can take it as such without being misleading
They were agreeing with you.
They are tho?
I grew up with a conservative father who regularly listened to Rush Limbaugh (may he never rest at all). So yeah. All of.... That.
Oddly enough I took a lot of the lies to heart. Like how the government should stay out of people's private lives, like what/how they worship and who they love, which was my gateway out of that kind of thinking. Went to college, traveled abroad, and now I'm just about as radically far left as you can get without circling back around.
For me, this is the top comment because I was also taught that the government should stay out of people's private lives (what/how they worship, who they love, etc), and I still hold these ideals dear to my heart. What still fucks w/ me to this day is that I was also taught that it was one particular party who represents these ideals, and it took me until well into my twenties to figure out that that was the lie!
The other part of the lie is how hypocritically inconsistent the ideas are applied as well.
You apparently only get to exercise personal liberty if you fit their narrow view of how they think it should be done.
Unless you're a profit-generating enterprise I guess, then you can do whatever the fuck you want as long as the shareholders are happy. And we better not let big scary government interfere with that.
Oh yeah, it's a real mind bender when the blinders come off. Then you spend a while deconstructing and then eventually you realize your crap opinions weren't really yours to begin with and you learn to forgive yourself.... And to do better.
Go vote everyone! Early voting has started and it's literally the least you can do!
My health class was taught by our gym teacher and she was terrible at it. Some points I remembered being taught:
I learned these were wrong after starting secondary school where biology was taught by someone who studied biology. Except for the breastfeeding thing. That one was through personal research.
ಠ_ಠ
I still remembered how very surprised I was when I learned that breast can produce milk without the woman beeing/having been pregnant or taking Hormones. Legit it's my anatomy, how did I learn that basic stuff in some kink context instead of anywhere else. I mean I don't know a practical use of that knowledge outside of that either, but it did fundamentally change how I understand breast/hormones/the body.
I thought people usually chased the dragon, rather than running away.
That's what happens when you do drugs, you end up chasing a dragon, which ends up much worse than running from one.
That's what they meant about being a lie
Oh lmao the spots on your tongue thing is ancient. Transient lingual papillitis, also called "lie bumps". Ton of cultures share the myth that you get them from lying - we don't know what causes them (and fuck do they hurt) and they're rarely talked about, so it's always weird to run into that in the wild; it seems so absurd you'd never expect it to be as widespread as it is.
You have strange parents. Square eyes? Spots on your tongue? Bizarre.
Not all parents. Some were teachers (the Spots on tongue and the Maximise window)
I was told this as well, so I'd try to look as sad, afraid and angry as possible. I'd contort my face for hours, trying to push the corners of my mouth down till it hurt. I wanted it to stay like that, so when I went to school the next day somebody would ask me what's wrong and I could tell them about my father beating the shit out of me every day. Unfortunately, it did not stay and nobody asked.
If the wind changes you'll stay like that
Please don't hurt me but it is literally illegal to do that in my province, and I am aware of many other places where it's illegal. I hope this brings you some comfort
The only way to get somewhere in this life is to get a business college degree.
Burger flippers are worthless.
Trash collectors make terrible pay for dirty work conditions.
I love you.
Funny it's the fattest, fast food eating fucks that say burger flippers are worthless. Idiots.
That's my general response to that. Someone who pays a hooker for their services isn't better than a hooker. Someone who pays McDonalds for a burger isn't better than the guy cooking it. If you're so much better than them, why the fuck are you paying them for their skills? Either you're worth less than the lowest person in your own mental heirarchy, or - an idea - everyone is equally worthy.
Worthless? Do you know how important a good burger is? It's one of the small pleasures in life that make everything else more tolerable. I will always hold good burger flippers in high regard. And if you're a good burger flipper you can hold your head high knowing you've made someone's day just a little better by making a tasty burger for them.
Teachers' ramblings in Turkey and Texas.
(Also uncountably many from my weird matt walsh phase in highschool)
You have to have a college degree or you will be poor and struggling your whole life.
Ah yeah.
My mom told me the crust was the part of the bread with the most nutrients.
So many.
But also a lot of truths I had to learn the hard way (and being ASD exacerbated this).
Crime does pay. Especially if you’re rich. (Wish: no it should not fucking pay)
No. You don’t have to share. Nobody makes an adult share their car with some rando who shows up to the family bbq like we make kids share their toys with some kid showing up. (No, don’t compare this to taxes, that’s shallow and devoid of nuance)
IMO people are not inherently good. They’re not inherently bad, either. They are often shortsighted, apathetic, and self-serving.
I wish that all the fictional lovely futures we’d imagined when I was a kid were real. Clean cities. Flying cars. Clean power. Space stations. Amazing medical care. The ability for everyone to choose a nice life and what to do with it. We’re getting the opposite.
Worst lie currently: “checks and balances in the US government keep anyone from getting too much control.”
There are a lot more. They’re easier to remember when confronted with them.
We are the good guys.
Roundup is safe
BC stands for before Christ (I guess some people still say this but I think its more religious people that do)
Democrats are evil
Humans can't destroy earth because god made that imposisble
Seeing a pattern ?
When my dad didn't know better when I was a little kid, I told him how curious I was to try soy milk after seeing it in a kids' show
He told me to never drink it because then I'll start growing boobs
What really annoys me about this one is that if there really was a drink that would make you grow breasts, surely it would be regular milk, no? The fluid secreted from the mammary glands of post-partum female mammals?
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/is-there-a-soy-milk-estrogen-connection#benefits
It's not entirely unfounded. but the effect is pretty low.
however: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19496976/
cow's milk does absolutely mess with prepubescent kids bodies
"You won't always have a calculator in your pocket."
Out of all the wrong things I was taught in school... A calculator is probably the least complex thing I have in my pocket at all times.
However, understanding basic math, up to algebra and trigonometry is extremely useful on a daily, if not at least weekly basis.
Similarly–
"You're going to have to write everything in cursive so it's important that you learn it"
And it was literally never required in school or life after that.
This one is funny for me. I write almost exclusively in cursive, with a fountain pen, and for a while I drove a stick-shift car and wore a mechanical analog watch.
I do/did those things because I appreciate the extra attention that it takes to do/use them. I think there is a certain fulfillment that you get from doing everyday things in an older or archaic way.
I also think that schools and education for children should be about fostering an innate sense of curiosity and self-impovement/fulfillment. In that light, I think schools should teach some of those outdated, more cultural topics, for the same reason that we teach poetry, or literature. I don't think we should be grading kids on it though, or failing them because they can't read an analog clock.
Oh boy, where do I start? I was raised by racist crack and meth addicts in the rural southern US.
Black people hate white people.
Black people are trying to replace white people on a genetic level (Great Replacement Theory).
Black people have smaller skulls and thus, smaller brains than white people, which makes them more ape-like and prone to aggression.
Black people are taller, run faster, and jump higher than white people because they have three extra muscles in their knee area. Basketball was a white people's sport before they set the slaves free.
Black people drink and play loud music all the time because "that's their culture".
All black people are lazy moochers who cheat the welfare system for free money to drink and smoke crack all day because they feel entitled to it after slavery.
Black people actually liked slavery back in the day because they had a decent, simple life. Many of them begged to go back to the plantations after they were freed because they had nowhere else to go.
The world was a better place when black people were slaves because at least then, they worked. Now, you have them all sitting around, collecting welfare, having white people pay their bills for them. If you think about it, white people are the slaves now.
Just a little crack is fine, as long as you're not an addict like those black people.
Beer is for white people. It doesn't get you too drunk so you can still go to work. Black people don't work, that's why they drink liquor.
Birds have wings because they're supposed to fly, that's what they do. Women have wombs because they're supposed to have babies, that's what they do.
Men are supposed to have as many babies as possible because God says to be fruitful and multiply. But women are only supposed to have their husband's babies to keep the bloodline pure.
I'm sure there are more, those are just the ones I haven't repressed.
Perhaps this is not good etiquette, but basketball was actually invented by a white dude.
Basketball was invented well after the slaves were freed. Basketball came on the scene in 1891 (Juneteenth was 1865).
I suppose that could be true if you accept the false belief about when slavery ended
The classic "if you eat watermelon seeds, one will grow in your stomach."
Haha just told this to my daughter today
my father said you are gay if you don't like sports and you read books.
Turns out it was just a coincidence
It's not that I don't like sports, I don't understand it.
There seems to be plenty of money in the sport. Why can't they just BUY another ball and give one ball to BOTH teams?
I vividly remember my dad telling me football was "too complicated" to explain and so I just assumed it was some mystical unknowable sport and checked out of any conversation involving it.
It wasn't until I was like 25 that I put any effort into understanding the sport and like... He could have just told me "we want the guys in blue to get the ball and run to the other side" and then we could have bonded over that. Weird thing to be lazy about as a dad.
US Football is a little more complicated than, say, hockey.
All you really need to know to enjoy hockey (other than the good guys need to put the puck in the other guys' net) is the blue line. There are more rules than that, obviously, but once you understand that, the stoppage and player behaviors in hockey make a whole lot more sense.
In football, you've got four downs to go 10 yards at a time. You get six points for ending up in the end zone, and then you can either kick between the posts for one point, or try again for two points (not six points this time). You can kick between the posts at any time, too (but it'll only get you three points). Sometimes, they just kick the ball way up and out to the other team. One of the teams can grab onto the opposing players, but not like that, except sometimes that's OK, but never like that. Also jets flyover and a bunch of people play music in the middle of the field. 😵💫
And they still haven't decided what the definitions of a catch, pass interference, taunting, unsportsmanlike conduct, roughing the passer, and holding are.
My favorite foul that happens every season: "Personal foul, number 42 Defense, not allowing a Tom Brady (or the star quarterback of the year) touchdown. Half the distance to the goal line. Repeat third down."
Practically every sport can be boiled down to “2 groups of people disagreeing where a ball should go”.
Idk, in golf and bowling everyone seems to be agreement about where the ball should go, if not who should successfully get it there.
Billiards too, but there are more destination options.
Bowling? Throwing a huge heavy ball at some things that don't move?
Not very sportsman like.
Exactly, WHY disagree?
Cooperative sports would be interesting. Two teams come in, and they need to get a ball through some obstacles together...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinlone
Because then no fighting over ball. Can’t have that, now can we?
Yeah! And why don‘t they ever get it right? Something always goes wrong and they have to do it all over again next year.
I don't like sports, but I don't like books either.
Am I bi?
I like sports and reading. Am I asexual or also bi?
Let’s find out!
By your father’s standards, I am gay.
daddy*
The USA is the land of the free
or home of the brave.
Moving to the US the general level of fear is soooo noticable.
Someone warned me not to hold my bus money in my hand, like the sight of $2 was gonna get me stabbed in Portland 😆
One of my neighbors told me that our middle class suburb was "skid row".
"This will go on your permanent record".
Outrageous lie back in the 80s.
Unfortunately true today with the internet and the surveillance state.
My parent’s friend told me that wind was caused by trees swaying and I looked pretty stupid when I proudly told my class this fact as a high school senior.
Oof.
I still don’t have square eyes even though I was sitting in front of screens my whole life.
Also “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger“ is really bad advice.
I am with you, I think ppl think to literally with that saying and also use it too much... It is dismissive of them if someone tells them about their shity situation and they try to encourage them with "what doesn't kill you...". It also only works for some or takes a lot of time and effort and help for it to make them stronger, I think you should only use it in a jokingly way and nothing else.
"If you put some blu-tak on the top of the SNES version of Mortal Kombat, it will think it's the Mega Drive version and put the blood back in."
Even young me knew this one was weapons-grade bollocks, but it didn't stop kids at school excitedly trying it.
Was thinking it was called the SEGA Genesis one of my dumb beliefs? That was what I knew it as but both this comment and a video I watched recently about the tower of power both just called it the Mega Drive without any mention of "Genesis" in the entire video.
Think it was the Genesis in the US. Mega Drive everywhere else.
Which leads me to wonder what the Mega CD was called in the US... And was it the smart hi-fi style unit or the scruffy-looking side-by-side version?
It was called the Sega CD in the US, and there were 2 versions available: the side-by-side one for the launch version Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, and the stacked one for the second version Genesis/Mega Drive.
Yeah, apparently the Genesis branding was for North America while Mega Drive was outside of there.
The tower of power in North America was the SEGA Genesis paired with the SEGA CD and the 32x.
The first one was the Master System, then after the Genesis came the Saturn and Dreamcast (I think in that order but they were so close together it's hard to tell). And there was the Game Gear portable system, simultaneously way better and worse than the GameBoy. Did any of those also have different branding outside of NA?
No, they were all the same everywhere I think. Just the Genesis was different. Maybe they'd seen Nintendo flipping between Famicom and SNES branding and thinking that might be the secret sauce.
Sega just kept falling between technology generations at the end there. Saturn was so close to being 3D capable, but the PlayStation and N64 were so much better in every way. Then the Dreamcast which wasn't that much less powerful than the PS2, but missed out on DVDs for the extra storage space that proved essential later on. Plus the PS2 played DVDs at a time when it cost only slightly more than a dedicated player.
Just did some reading. Apparently "Genesis" was already overloaded outside of NA and they opted to change the branding rather than possibly need to fight a legal battle.
And the Dreamcast used GD-ROMs because DVDs were open but required license fees, and the standard wasn't fully set when it was in development. Plus they figured it would help avoid piracy using a proprietary disc format, though didn't work out that way.
My parents were super against lying to kids. We'd hear parents in front of us at mcdonalds tell their kids they couldn't have french fries because they were all out and we'd ask "is that true?" And mom and dad would assure us no, it's not true, those parents are just afraid of telling their kids no.
I remember realizing at like 8 that "don't swallow gum because it can't be digested and will just accumulate in your gut" can't be true.
Deranged as my mother was... She would always cut the bullshit with us. She told us at the age of four that Santa Claus is crap it's just Mom and Dad. And don't tell the other stupid kids at school because they'll get upset. Lol mom
When i was in grade 1 we had to write letters to santa, so i raised my hand and said, "I'm jewish so i know santa's not real, do i still have to do this?" I did, and the teacher assured everyone that santa is real. I was confused and disappointed.
Isn't it possible that gum can cause an impaction if you swallow enough of it, especially if you're younger.
Jesus is god
Republicans want what is best for the country too. The world / USA fought the Nazis because of how evil they are
The KKK / Neonazis / White Supremacists are in the past.
Work hard and stay loyal and you will progress in your career.
Uncle ... is just old-fashioned.
The ultra wealthy work so hard to create jobs for everyone else
I don't think my parents even taught me this, but it still felt like "history". Realising how much is still active was a wake up...
My parents heartily believed in honesty. Even regarding mythological figures, they basically said "some people believe in them, some don't" and tried to provide context for me to decide myself whether to believe. My kid hasn't brought this up much but when they do I try to emulate the same behavior.
However, when I was in second grade, my teacher told me there is no such thing as negative numbers. Looking back on it, she was trying to teach remainders. She asked what you would get if you took seven pencils away from five pencils. She intended to say you can't have negative two pencils, which I acknowledge, but that and some other stuff she said and did disillusioned me with public education for a long time.
This is so stupid of that teacher. Because what is debt, if not a negative number? You use $1,400,000 from a bank to get into an entry-level, 50-75yo shitbox of a home in an old neighbourhood which missed gentrification, and what does the bank have on your balance? A negative number that you have to fill back in.
You have a $1.4m home? Dang.
That’s what “starter homes” go for in my region. In CAD, but still.
Looking up the exchange rate, that's between 3-4x my already rather lavish home, which I'm very grateful to occupy and terrified of losing. Canadians must be doing well. Good for y'all!
No, we aren’t. We are just suffering from regulatory capture and really, really wealthy home builders that buy up local politicians like they’re penny stocks.
We desperately need to import the Vienna Model, but then those brainwashed by Cold War era shite will start screaming “communism!!1!”
Edit: Before you reply I want you to know something. I don't care to hear your cherry-picking pushback. These are the lies I was told.
This one is particularly interesting to me. I like how you pointed out the contradictions inherent in this general worldview so often.
I would love to hear a woman's perspective, I did not mean to go off against women! It's just that I am a man, and my male perspective means I heard these kinds of messages and lies.
When I listen to my sister, she has a unique set of bullshit that she herself was told that I was not exposed to.
Yeah I was raised by a single mother and while not specifically told by her any of those points I internalized most of them (mind you, I opted for the word internalize and not believe on purpose). I think society as a whole tells that story, specially on mass media, and women seem to go with it knowing full well it is bullshit (I think it empowers them).
Your final sentiment resonates very strongly with me.
I have felt that nearly universally, the mostly-false stereotypes, statements and accusations made against men fall into the "projection" category. Men being obsessed with sex is the most noteable of them. Second only to the hologram that men are the ones that pressure women to look good when it's in fact almost entirely the abuse from other women who are competing for sexual interest and potential mates.
I don't think cognitive dissonance and projection are unique to women. It's a shared human frailty. But as it relates to projecting their weaknesses/faults on to men it can be egregious at times.
I imagine it has to do with all of the sexual assault that they deal with regularly. Just a guess.
Don't think you are wrong and having that reaction towards men after being sexual assaulted is in my mind very comprehensible. The bigger problem seems to be generalization actually, saying all men, all women, all people of color, etc, is always stupid. Hope we can all learn and grow even with our traumas and scars we take along the way!
I think they think it empowers them.
It does empower them. Until I came to the conclusion that my questions were well founded I had to waste a lot of energy trying things that didn't work based on that narrative.
If you wake up you will see that is all speech and no bite. Unfortunately a lot of people don't wake up and instead opt to play that game, basically creating a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts. People can also have the message so ingrained that even realizing its all bullshit they convince themselves its not.
Same can be said about all dogmatic view points actually.
Reading what is wrong and then reading what is also wrong in the parentheses was confusing.
Women aren't insanely more obsessed with sex and boobs. That should be a given since people are diverse and I can think of several reasons why a woman would be or not be interested in either. I would scratch that.
People should be able to wear clothing without feeling oogled and getting harassed. All genders can get harassed when they should not be.
The system is held up by companies that want to sell you things, you even mention capitalists later on but blame the whole beauty industry on women.
I would not bring up biology, women can be trans or cis just like men can be, even nonbinary. Just not a good point.
These points stood out to me since they were your early ones and I thought I was about to read a misogynistic rant. Toxic masculinity really does a number on the genders across the spectrum.
Life experience will show you that women are completely obsessed with sex to the point that for most, it's the main thing they think about.
I don't want that to be true, but it is.
I'm gender fluid so I move easily between spaces. Ever been to mans night? We talk about hobbies, news, technology, games, hobbies, our kids, career aspirations, etc. Go to woman's night and it's non-stop penises, sexual conquest, shitty exes.
It's just really hard for people to accept that most of what women project on men, is just that, projection. I will not back off that women are vastly more interested in sex than men.
I also really don't need to hear your lectures, I'm telling you a series of lies I was told as a child. I'd like to invite you to calm down, read when I'm saying, and try to understand versus thinking about how it upsets you and why you disagree. I also don't want to hear your regurgitated social media opinions, they are fatiguing and they are pointless and they are meritless.
I am calm and not upset (as ironic as it is to say: I can disagree without big emotions involved). I am not lecturing you, just providing you with actual experiences that are different from yours since I am a bi cis woman familiar with toxic masculinity (the lies you were told). I think you assumed a lot here but I did not mean to come off as upset, angry, lecturing a small child, etc. I would appreciate if you also read my words in a more neutral head space. While we may talk about our relationships when we hang out, we do not obsess over sex like you said and do talk about other things. It's disheartening that you have reduced women and 'girls night' to penises, sex, and exes. These are my actual opinions and life experiences but if you think it's all regurgitated social media that fatigues you then maybe you should listen more to us instead of shutting us out is all I'm saying at this point. You mention being gender fluid so maybe you could hang out in more feminist spaces, there's some on lemmy even and the trans spaces have been very welcoming. We're all just trying to be more kind in this cruel world.
Damn straight for the jugular with that list!
But Reddit mods told me misandry fundamentally cannot exist and it is logically impossible to be sexist towards men while in a patriarchy
So you're lying.
It's not a battle of the sexes thing, nor an unreasonable Reddit experience thing; It is a series of lies that I was told as a child that were damaging to me. I am a man so it leans towards the men's perspective, but I tried to be fairly balanced because there were hideous things I was told about women too.
I think all of those lies are harmful to both men and women, and everyone in between all non-binary too. Children, society. All poisonous ideas that were continuously railed into my head by men, women, leaders, school people, everyone in my life growing up. And so many of these sickening ideas persist to this day.
This thread you created was actually very important to me. Now I know for a fact that safe spaces aren't bullshit. You expressed your opinions that are very controversial and lemmings accepted them, it resonated. I especially agree that tons of lies ingrained on us takes a toll to break
Women absolutely detest facial hair, and if you have any facial hair it's an indication you are nothing more than a bum.
Meanwhile, discovered that women go absolutely bonkers for facial hair, I once had a woman break up with me in our early courting phase because I shaved my beard.
*Groomed facial hair.
My wife much prefers me to have a wild beard. Unfortunately for her I prefer a moustache
I'm going to just disagree with you based on my personal experience. The more unkempt my facial hair is, the more women are drawn to me. And if they are near ovulating, they go freaking bonkers for shaggy facial hair.
In fairness to your point though, even when I'm shaggy I'm still kind of "baseline" groomed so I'm not sure if that counts. I tend to groom by habit a little more than the average dude.
Are we of different species?
I let my beard grow out in the winter, it is not thin or patchy in the least, and since my late 20s I have noticed that I get less attention with a beard than without.
Like, I can grow into a full “mountain man” beard, which matches my stature quite well. Yet… nada.
Now granted, I have also been in a singular relationship since my mid 20s, so I have been thoroughly off the market and not interested in the least in catching the attentions of other women. But I’m taken, not dead. I can still observe reactions and always appreciate positive attention; I just won’t act on it.
What do you mean are you a different species? What call was there for that sarcastic remark?
Have you ever had a conversation with a woman? They will tell you that they become extremely attracted to facial hair when they're ovulating.
I think it is much more important to groom your facial hair if it is… let’s say “sparse”. If I let my beard grow “wild” you just see how patchy it is 😆 If I keep it very short and trim the edges it looks presentable.
I have discovered through a decade of my scientific testing, that what matters is keeping the neck and facial edges trimmed.
Nothing else seems to matter.
The entire thing can be a giant sopping wet bag of hairy soup, as long as your cheeks and neck are not scrubby, you're good 👍
Been many ways, I keep my facial hair versus shaving, because I can trim edges in 20 seconds, and shaving is a huge pain
If I accept this guy, who was born by immaculate conception - instigated by his Father [who ALSO KILLED HIM] by way of an Angel - instead of just creating him - as he did THE REST of EVERYTHING ...... His Father, the all knowing, all seeing who LOVES ALL HIS CHILDREN will accept me into his kingdom. This guy, who made everything and is capable of everything and anything, who allows death and disease and war and suffering doesn't just make life easy for all of who he created. What bull.
I hate to be that guy because I pretty much agree...
But the immaculate conception refers to Mary's birth.
I know, it's weird. I know, it doesn't make sense.
The Jefferson Bible is such a better take on n the story and how it takes the same story and turn it into a more down to earth guy who was like stop being stupid and quit following those old religion rules. You are hungry, in a field of food. It's stupid to not eat because some temple leaders tell us it's evil to eat today. Fuck those same guys who hold markets in that same temple. Be kind and do better people. The sick need help.
But who was Jefferson. Like he didn't do anything worth really understanding.... Unless you're interested in reading something that one of the greatest writers who has just as much impact on us as the other dude
Someone who owned human beings as property? Someone who raped at least one of those humans and then (at least for a time) enslaved the resulting four children?
Yeah, sorry if I don't see him at a moral paragon
Amen. Country was always rotten, from the start
Raised by a hard right parent. Was told that outside the US, every country was basically third world. Even the UK, people there still living in the mud in medieval times under a tyrannical monarchy or some shit.
A more humorous lie I was told was if you swallowed chewing gum, you'd blow bubbles out of your butt. A family friend who told me that said it happened to their dog.
Some older people truly believe that the US is the only civilized country on earth. I was told the same as a kid whenever I complained about anything. They'd say that children born anywhere else in the world would be so much more grateful than me to be growing up in the best country on earth. This was in Kansas too, which in hindsight makes it even funnier.
Mom told me that dragonflies would sew my mouth shut.
Was afraid of them until I was at least 6 or so...
My sister had a practical joke to use on her daughter. When she was only a toddler, she kept saying in conversation that Jessica Simpson was OJ Simpson's daughter. Not all the time, just when it came up. We all thought it was hilarious, and it's pretty minor. The idea is that one day, her daughter will say it to someone else and get corrected.
Then the ease of fact checking that online made it impractical.
Then someone we never counted on - that daughter, being in high school, didn't know or care about either of those people. They don't come up in ANY conversations between high school kids. Or even us, at that point. One day, my sister brought it up and the kid goes "who?" And it dawned on her that it would never pay off. She told her and it was just an awkward silence followed by "um, ok?" Or something like that.
I guess the joke is on my sister for getting old?
That if I walked into a lab and didn't leave when asked I'd get a job
"If you eat too many sweets, you'll get blue intestines."
No further explanation, but I made damn sure mine didn't get blue! Also, I tell the same lies to my kids now.
But what if I wanted them blue?
😅. Like, what do I care about the color of my innards?
Could be true. How do you even know?
Not me, but my partner’s: just walk around handing out your cv and if your handshake is good you’ll have a job by next week. During the 2008 recession. Yeah… sure…
Kids are still getting that advice. Had a 15 year old in a few months back getting his CV out there already for when he finishes school. Dressed in a smart shirt and tie and everything.
Definitely, 100%, no question his 60-something dad was outside in the car.
And yet the best way to get a job remains interpersonal connections, not skills, not job boards 🤷
All I got is weird, but ultimately harmless ones.
If you eat the bread ends, you will grow hair on your chest
Bumblebees don’t sting.
I have to give mom a pass for this one, though. The bumblebees in our yard were huge. It kept me from freaking out, which was probably for the best. Unfortunately, I believed it into my 40s, and repeated it a few times.
They are pretty docile as long as you don't trap them against your skin or threaten their hive. They will bump you if they want you to leave, though.
Yeah. I was a toddler losing my shit. My little brain couldn’t handle subtleties. Bees=sting was all I could manage.
Dinosaurs were all green or gray/drab and they all went extinct.
Dogs get diarrhea if you pull their tails.
that's pretty funny tho
So... The tail is the lever of a diarrhea dispenser?
My mom used to say that if I didn't eat soup I'd get a hole in my stomach
She was putting into the soup the antidote to the poison your father was using to kill you. Good thing you ate the soup.
Oh it was not super effective in getting me to eat my soup as a kid :3
I like soup now tho
How’s your liver?
Mine used to say if I ate too much cucumber I'd get a stomachache. Which is such an odd thing to restrict for an 8 year old...
A not a lie: "if you eat too many carrots you'll turn orange" I did eat too many and I did turn orange. I wonder if I only ate so many carrots to test the statement. Mum said I never believed stuff they told me
"Trans people are just gay men who are willing to become women to sleep with more men." From my mother who had a bachelor's degree in biology.
Not only incredibly transmisogynistic, but also confused me a lot as a transmasc kid hitting puberty and wondering why my body suddenly felt very, very wrong in ways beyond the norm.
My mom told me and my sister, when we were young enough to believe it, that the Ice cream man was just a nice man who drove around playing music for people.
Things can only get better.
wo wo whooaa wo wha whoaa
When I was between 10-12 years old, I attended a family celebration at my grandparents' house. I walked into one of the side rooms where my uncle was chilling by himself on a couch, and I noticed something shiny in the upper corner of the window. I took a closer look and found a wad of aluminum foil smashed into the corner against the window pane and it was somehow affixed there. I pointed to it and asked my uncle what the purpose of it was. He replied, "Papa and Nana believe in aliens. They put that up there so if an alien ship fires a laser at the house, it'll reflect back at the ship." And for some reason, I just believed his sarcastic nonsense. I believed my grandparents were alien fanatics well into my teens.
So? What was the wad of aluminum foil doing crammed into the upper corner of the window?
Maybe just a quick way to fill a gap that had formed between the frame and the glass?
When I asked my grandparents about it years later, they didn't remember doing it and they had no idea why they would've done it. :(
I spent years wondering about the mystery behind the Bermuda triangle. What could it possibly be? Aliens?? Dinosaurs???
Turns out it all was just a hoax.
used to take me to church twice a week, so there is that
I had a neon green batman T-shirt that I loved and my mum didn't (5 years old) when a bunch of our bags got stolen during a move she lied and said it was in a stolen bag then threw it away 😂
Eating watermelon seeds will make you pregnant
My parents told me when I was a kid "If you light the spray from a can of WD40 to make a flamethrower, the fumes will make you wet your pants."
My parents were just trying to keep me from playing with fire.
In high school you'll be required to use nothing but cursive all the time.
That's how it was for my highschool though. Might not have actually been a lie depending on when you were told it.
We can't play in the park / eat McDonald's/ go to the arcade right now. It's closed for renovations.
Lucky you. I always got told we couldn't go because I was bad for [insert any completely normal behavior here].
causing so much destruction at the park/McD's/arcade that required to be close for renovations
Ah, c'mon that was ONE time. Why you gotta go bringing up old shit?
my sister and I were little demons!!!
My pronounced cowlick on right side of my forehead was from when I was a baby and my mom let a cow lick me and the cow spit made my hair get stuck that way. I was probably 4 at the time, believed her, and I was very offended that my mom had been so irresponsible as to allow this and leave me permanent defaced. I didn't really question it again until i was probably 8-10
I was told if you hit a girl you can make it so she can never have kids.
Like if you hit her any type of way. Punch in the arm, slap in the face, kick to the back of the knee…
Of course you should never hit anyone. But I was told this in elementary school and I can’t imagine a hit to the lower abdomen by a boy her age causing that kind of damage to the uterus or ovaries.
Conversely girls that age are taught it’s okay to hit or kick a boy in the balls. Which doesn’t cause sterility.
“We love you”.
My father REALLY enjoyed physically and emotionally us (myself and two younger siblings). The best part being that my sister was already quite messed up from her pre adoption life since she was found starving, dying of exposure and having signs of horrendous physical abuse. “Get the shoe” was my favorite game… if either of us made the mistake of a shoe that wasn’t hard enough to bruise badly, things would go much worse for us.
My mother was a cold narcissist. Well regarded biochemist who didn’t believe in western medicine and was convinced she was a psychic healer. So instead of surgery for a severe TBI at 7 with a significant swelling AND a few rounds of seizures, I was given spinach smoothies and good vibes. My head still hurts. She also had to top me on ANY success, so that helped.
She had a massive stroke in 2022 probably due to knowing better than doctors how to deal with both high blood pressure and VERY high cholesterol. Then died late last year from the flu, most likely refusing to get vaccinated as you do when you’re already in a compromised state.
I shrugged.
My father is in very poor shape, also partly due to her being in charge of his health care after two devastating tropical diseases (yellow fever then dengue), both followed by walking pneumonia. Then later two “stroke like events” that both require hospitalization.
I expect another shrug coming soon.
I don’t think I’m a monster. But having let go of my hatred for these two “parents” left me with nothing but apathy for them.
Solid reference
I'm glad some people are getting it.
I just wanted to share that I’ve been reading “Lies My Teacher Told Me” and it’s really good!
Women are intellectually, emotionally, and physically inferior to men. That one sort of backfired on him because his daughters worked to disprove that bullshit and don't have relationships with him but his son barely graduated high school and hasn't worked ever and lives at home at 40. He's in for a rude awakening when they die because I'm not taking care of lazy men. He'll die without a caretaker.
My dad was told the opposite: that men were inferior to women in every way. When he caught one of my aunts telling me that as a young kid, he nipped that in the bud right away. Shame he had such a tough upbringing though.
Here's to equality.
Yeesh. Where do I begin? Uuuhhhh...
Laws protect the innocent
you are innocent until proven guilty
life gets better
people aren't that stupid
you can do more as an adult
adulting is fun
A man below 100 kg is a cripple.
You're a cripple unless you're morbidly obese?
Your interpretation is along the same lines as what they meant back then, so: Yes.
Whenever one of these questions comes up, all I have to say is my parents were saints compared to so many. I was raised without religion, whenever I asked something they did their best to answer honestly, never forced me to do stupid shit, etc.
My brother, on the other hand...
Much more inconsequential than some of the answers here, but I believed well into my 20s that it was illegal to turn the overhead light on in a car while driving at night.
It is. I'm calling the police right now so they can track you down. /s
Good diet and exercise will keep you healthy.
Now all you need to do is find a good diet.
"You'll be better off when you're older"
Driving without shoes will get you arrested.
I get where it comes from though. Many jurisdictions have laws that require "appropriate footwear" while driving. Many people interpret this at face value and think it means footwear is required. Most of the time though, either a definition within the statute or case law will stipulate that bare feet is considered appropriate. What they're really trying to prevent is people driving in flip-flops, untied shoes, or other footwear that can get caught in the pedals.
"Appropriate footwear" oh you mean "feet prisons"?
commies help the workers
That the rapture was imminent.
That being black means you have to try twice as hard to get half as far.
That "success" comes from hard work.
That heaven is a real place.
That we live in the best of all possible worlds.
Responses, in order:
We made it past the ones I heard about in 1988, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1999, 1 January 2000, and the infamous 21 Decmber 2012. It seems that predicting "the end of the world" isn't best left to zealots. However, climate modelling seems to be fairly accurate so far...
Being black (myself) has resulted in my trying twice as hard. I haven't yet made it half as far. Racism, in point of fact, sets EVERYONE back. Dismantling racism, and every other bigotry besides, gets us to the starting line.
Success — under a sustainable, humanistic, virtue-seeking, equitable rubric — eludes everyone who believes in its attainment within an explotative, supremacist, advantage-imbalanced, wealth-dominated system. There is no point at all in seeking success when drowning is the result of failure. Survival is sufficient for most. Some degree of comfort is luxury. Success, neutral buoyancy or flight beyond the trappings of this capitalist ocean, is a gate-kept and forcibly protected status. As it always has been. Desire for an echelon beyond survival, a measure of "success", depends on building connections to the gate-keepers or building new gates to keep; not "hard work."
Well, hell is real. We keep making it more real and with newer manifestations. Witness Gaza. Every warscape from Ukraine to Iran to South Sudan to Yemen. Every austerity measure. Every policy that disproportionately protects wealth and punctuates poverty. Heaven, on the other hand, is a vanishingly narrow set of possibilities. Basking in the glory of this world, and the universe writ large, could be real. But, again, hellscapes are more profitable.
Time travel, whether by quantum tunnelling or in a phone booth or DeLorean with a flux-capacitor, might permit us to test out possible worlds. Without time travel, or some multiversal panopticon, we are stuck with a singular perspective. We can only try to predict what will work and we can only reason from past patterns. This world, we cannot deny, serves few and harms many. Its progress is, by no means, absolute. Yet, general human behaviour progresses as though and other system yields an increase in chaos and suffering. It is difficult to see how. Modest, incremental change is capable of vast improvements in living conditions. Many corners of the planet choose care in place of villainy during an emergency. Protect the weak, organize resources, exercise patience, build back better. It is time we realize this is the start of a long emergency. Longer, by far, than Covid-19.
Over a decade on the internet and I still don't know what to do when I agree with someone's general point but disagree with their logic in support of that point.
elaborate, perhaps?
I broadly agree with their sentiment but