Just how gullible are people? A proposal.

[fireheart17]

The "tons of sex is good for your mental health" might have some stock to it, but it'd make a damn good internet rumour

[Greenday]

The "tons of sex is good for your mental health" might have some stock to it, but it'd make a damn good internet rumour

Potential RL benefits too!

[Giggle Goose]

Make up a new Rapture date Just kidding....

That's an easy one, but then we'd have to convince people to spend their life savings on signs and vans and buses to go around the country warning people to "repent now!"

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I always wanted to spread the rumor that those annoying squawk boxes they put on gas pumps are a spark hazard.

I mean, how come they aren't? Cell phones supposedly are, and static electricity supposedly is. So how come those annoying boxes that shout incoherent audio ads at you while you are trying to pump gas aren't dangerous?

The reason I thought of going with that is that I've always wondered about it. And it sounds plausible. That's the key...things others might be thinking about, and plausibility in the face of zero facts.

[Kaylyn]

I remember reading on Snopes that the whole "you swallow an average of 8 spiders during sleep in your lifetime" was sparked by a lady wanting to see if she could start a rumor. It worked, because I hear it quoted ALL THE TIME and I'm one of those annoying people that always has to correct urban myths...

[DrFaroohk]

I read a lot of those on snopes...I think another was the chain-mail that included "a duck's quack has no echo" and "a pig's orgasm lasts for 4 hours".

I also heard the cell-phone/gas pump thing was a myth. I've seen some people behave really stupidly around gasoline and gas pumps and I'm convinced it's not nearly as explosive as people say it is.

Some old classics I've always been fond of -

KFC isn't made of real chicken (Hence why it's KFC now instead of Kentucky Fried Chicken - can't call it chicken anymore)

Kennedy referred to himself as a jelly donut.

Lots of cop ones - when cops are parked in a speed trap they have to have their parking lots on and be clearly visible, or it's entrapment. Or if they don't identify themselves as officers when they approach your window you have the right to speed away. Or if they're not wearing their hat. Stuff like that.

[Andara Bledin]

I read a lot of those on snopes...I think another was the chain-mail that included "a duck's quack has no echo" and "a pig's orgasm lasts for 4 hours".

The duck one was on the inside of a Snapple lid. You'd think they'd have someone fact checking their facts. >_<

I also heard the cell-phone/gas pump thing was a myth. I've seen some people behave really stupidly around gasoline and gas pumps and I'm convinced it's not nearly as explosive as people say it is.

Oh, the fumes from fueling are quite flammable, without a doubt. But unless there was absolutely no air movement that allowed them to build up to incredible levels, a cell phone would be incapable of lighting them up. And at that point, dropping your keys would be more dangerous.

^-.-^

[Plaidman]

Despite their labels to the contory, most lemonlime sodas, such as Sprite or Sierra Mist, have more caffine then any other drink due to their citric acid sugar content, which gaves the same buzz as any other caffinated drink, but because it's isn't the true caffine, they can get away with claiming it's caffene free.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I remember reading on Snopes that the whole "you swallow an average of 8 spiders during sleep in your lifetime" was sparked by a lady wanting to see if she could start a rumor. It worked, because I hear it quoted ALL THE TIME and I'm one of those annoying people that always has to correct urban myths...

Same here. Whenever someone emails me an annoying urban myth, I always reply with a link to the snopes article. And I've lost count of the times that I've had to post a snopes link to a topic posted on a forum, where someone's just posted a scare story without fact checking first.

I also heard the cell-phone/gas pump thing was a myth. I've seen some people behave really stupidly around gasoline and gas pumps and I'm convinced it's not nearly as explosive as people say it is.

I work in a petrol station and there are two main reasons that I've been told as to why mobiles are banned round the pumps; firstly, cuz if the phone is dropped, it could strike a spark when it hits the ground and set off the petrol vapour, which is the explosion risk and is heavier than air so is always present close to the ground; and second, cuz a lot of people are unable to concentrate on doing two things at once so there's the risk of spillage if someone's yapping on a mobile while pumping fuel.

In any case, I'm fully in agreement of any rule that gets people off their phones for a while; some people appear to be surgically attached to their mobiles and should take a break now and then. XD

[Andara Bledin]

firstly, cuz if the phone is dropped, it could strike a spark when it hits the ground and set off the petrol vapour...

And, again, your keys are far more dangerous. There still remain absolutely zero recorded cases of cell phones having anything to do with station fires; cloth car seats, on the other hand...

^-.-^

[wolfie]

The duck one was on the inside of a Snapple lid. You'd think they'd have someone fact checking their facts. >_<


Oh, the fumes from fueling are quite flammable, without a doubt. But unless there was absolutely no air movement that allowed them to build up to incredible levels, a cell phone would be incapable of lighting them up. And at that point, dropping your keys would be more dangerous.

^-.-^

If I recall correctly, the publishers of Trivial Pursuit were sued by the authors of a trivia book on a matter of intellectual property, and the proof that they had copied from the book was their use of a "copyright trap" (made-up item that didn't exist except in the book). What was the "copyright trap"? The inventor of the bra was Otto Titzling.

Bit of trivia about fuel vapour - the fuel tanks of piston-engine aircraft are vented in a different manner than the tanks of jets. Gasoline is highly volatile, and in an enclosed space the vapour will quickly reach a concentration that is too rich to ignite, so the tanks on piston-engine aircraft have a simple "equalize inside and outside pressures" vent. Jet fuel is far less volatile, takes a long time for the vapour to reach a concentration which will ignite, and will probably never reach the "too rich to ignite" concentration. The tanks have multiple vents arranged so that in flight, the air above the fuel is constantly being replaced by outside air, and stays in the "too lean to ignite" range.

Vent the tank the wrong way, and you'll either have (jet fuel in piston-type tank) the vapour eventually reaching a concentration that can ignite, or (gasoline in jet-type tank) the "flushing" keeping the vapour from reaching the "too rich to ignite" concentration.

[Lachrymose]

Are we being gullible by falling for this thread?

[Rapscallion]

Heh - interesting concept, but the thread was made with honest intent.

Rapscallion

[Lace Neil Singer]

And, again, your keys are far more dangerous. There still remain absolutely zero recorded cases of cell phones having anything to do with station fires; cloth car seats, on the other hand...

^-.-^

However, the second reason is a perfect valid one. Especially given the stupidity of people in large groups.

[Eisa]

I remember reading on Snopes that the whole "you swallow an average of 8 spiders during sleep in your lifetime" was sparked by a lady wanting to see if she could start a rumor. It worked, because I hear it quoted ALL THE TIME and I'm one of those annoying people that always has to correct urban myths...

I hate that person. Even knowing it's a rumor, it STILL always makes me go shudder and run around in circles screaming incoherently.



I think we should make up a rumor. I just dunno what.