Common Myths Debunked by Science - The Guardian
Here’s one I remember specifically being taught in elementary:
We only use 10% of our brains
“The myth arose as early as 1907, propagated by multiple sources advocating the power of self-improvement and tapping into each person’s unrealised latent abilities,” say Vreeman and Carroll. “The many functions of the brain are highly localised, with different tasks allocated to different anatomical regions. Detailed probing of the brain has failed to identify the ‘non-functioning’ 90%.”
I’ve always been skeptical of this one.
Shaving causes hair to grow back faster or coarser
This theory may go some way toward sustaining the multimillion-pound waxing industry. But it, too, is an optical illusion: when hair first grows after being shaved, it has a blunt edge on top, which gets worn away over time and results in the fine taper of long hair. Also, the sun naturally bleaches hair over time so hair that is newly emerged may seem darker but is, in fact, no darker than any other new hair growth.
