# Ever been shocked at what some people believe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 18, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369 "2012-05-18T22:14:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/121 "2012-05-25T01:04:46Z")
> [@gunnergoz](#): > > I met a woman in her 50’s recently (an employee of a notions store my wife frequents) who is convinced that a major rock band member is in love with her and has been for years, only he won’t admit to their love publicly because his life is in danger from his present wife, who is murderously jealous. This woman attends all the band’s appearances that she can afford to go to, including one recently in the UK…and yet she is so impoverished that she lives in a trailer without running hot water. When asked as to how she knows this rock band player loves her, she replies that she can see him looking at her in the crowd. She admits they have met only momentarily and the pair have never had a private moment together, but this does not stop her from thinking that the man really is in love with her. Because of this, she refuses to make herself available to meet any other men and lives alone. I don’t see the problem. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/122 "2012-05-25T01:08:28Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > If it were true, wouldn’t have less to do with the astrophysics of moon’s effect on tides and people, and more to do with the psychology of people e.g. expecting they should act like idiots during a full moon? I would have thought it’s just a matter of opportunity. More lovers strolling on the beach or in the park or making out at the lookout point, great targets for muggers. And more light for any nefarious activity. But tidal forces, um, no. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/123 "2012-05-25T02:50:01Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > Anywho, he believes the craziest health nuttiness I have ever heard. Apple seeds cure cancer…all cancer, but big Pharma doesn’t want you to know because they can’t make money off of it. There’s also the little matter of the active ingredient in apple seeds that can destroy cancer cells is cyanide. Cyanide is _not_ good eats. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/124 "2012-05-25T02:54:49Z")
So it _is_ fair to say that there is an ingredient in apple seeds that can ensure you don’t die from cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/125 "2012-05-25T04:01:00Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I actually thought this until highschool when my stepfather explained it. 😛 Just so you know, I’m not being snarky at all here, I’m genuinely curious. Did you grow up around animals that were commonly eaten by humans or were you a city kid? Did your Mom do much home cooking? Had you seen a raw chicken before the explanation? That was the example I used with my friend. I would have thought the skin and meat being in contact with each other was as good a visual aid as you could get. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/126 "2012-05-25T04:34:51Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > My cousin told me she thought babies were made via smooshing belly buttons together, and that the belly buttons were a conduit for … something. I believed this when I was a child. I knew that a baby came from a sperm and an egg, but I wasn’t yet clear on how the sperm got to the egg. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/127 "2012-05-25T05:17:01Z")
> [@gunnergoz](#): > > I met a woman in her 50’s recently (an employee of a notions store my wife frequents) who is convinced that a major rock band member is in love with her and has been for years, only he won’t admit to their love publicly because his life is in danger from his present wife, who is murderously jealous. This woman attends all the band’s appearances that she can afford to go to, including one recently in the UK…and yet she is so impoverished that she lives in a trailer without running hot water. When asked as to how she knows this rock band player loves her, she replies that she can see him looking at her in the crowd. She admits they have met only momentarily and the pair have never had a private moment together, but this does not stop her from thinking that the man really is in love with her. Because of this, she refuses to make herself available to meet any other men and lives alone, almost a hermit apart from work. > Seems like some sort of obsessive delusion to me. I am not a psychiatrist, nor do I play one on The Internet, but this sounds as if this woman is suffering from erotomania. > [@](#): > > Erotomania is a type of delusion in which the affected person believes that another person, usually a stranger, high-status or famous person, is in love with him or her. – [Erotomania - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotomania) And, yes, I am aware that this is a wikipedia article but the description matches your friend’s issue. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/128 "2012-05-25T05:23:39Z")
> [@Sodalite](#): > > Just so you know, I’m not being snarky at all here, I’m genuinely curious. No problem. > [@](#): > > Did you grow up around animals that were commonly eaten by humans or were you a city kid? Extreme city kid. Never been hunting or on a farm at that point or been around animals much (never had a pet), so at the age I learned this (14) I knew very little about either food or animals. > [@](#): > > Did your Mom do much home cooking? Not really ever, my grandma raised me for my earliest years and she would cook chickens but it’s not like I paid attention. > [@](#): > > Had you seen a raw chicken before the explanation? That was the example I used with my friend. I would have thought the skin and meat being in contact with each other was as good a visual aid as you could get. I think my line of thinking was that muscles were strong and probably too tough to eat, so they were something like the internal organs, that Americans just throw away and all that remains is the “meat” which serves no function other than being delicious? I can’t really explain why I never knew this until it was explained to me, and I still have a somewhat hard time imagining that meat=muscle, even though I know it’s stupid. Oh, and I remember being about 12 when I realized that I liked plums even though I had an uncanny revulsion to them. When I thought about it I remembered my babysitter telling me when I was about 4, that if you don’t eat a plum it will grow into a butterfly. Once I realized why, I could eat plums guilt/revulsion free. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/129 "2012-05-25T05:24:11Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Aha - Colophon’s Third Typographic Theorem in action. (This states that, for any given web page, the intellectual content is inversely proportional to the sum of different type faces, styles, colours and point sizes displayed.) > > I = 1 / (f + s + c + p) One true weirdness that seems to show up in many of these alternative reality websites is the perverse use of center text alignment. Why do these poor people think that anyone wants to read a block of text that is aligned that way? Is it because of the lingering effects of TimeCube? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/130 "2012-05-25T05:42:07Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > Apple seeds cure cancer…all cancer, but big Pharma doesn’t want you to know because they can’t make money off of it. Also they can cure cancer in Germany right now but the U.S. won’t approve it, not sure why In my father’s case it’s apricot seeds, but yep - cyanide is yet another cure for cancer. And his mystical “other country” belief is - believe it or not - Pakistan, where there is this magical village in the mountains where everyone lives to be 100+ and no-one dies of cancer. > [@aruvqan](#): > > No, sugarcane was present in India and Persia, which was the medieval source for sugar other than honey. I thought they got it from sugarbeet, but I see to my amazement that while endemic to Europe,[they didn’t find out it contained sugar until C16th](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet#History) and didn’t make use of that knowledge until the mid-C18th! Colour me shocked. > [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > The difference between the tidal forces at new or full moon and the moon at other phases is even tinier than that Feel free to correct me, but there is NO systemic difference “between the tidal forces at new or full moon and the moon at other phases” - sometimes it may be larger, sometimes smaller, sometimes the same. What minute differences there are in tidal pull are of course due to the varying distance between the earth and the moon, which (as I understand it) are utterly unrelated to the moon’s phase. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/131 "2012-05-25T06:26:05Z")
When I was pregnant, my MIL didn’t want me to go berry picking, because if I were frightened by a spider, my baby would have a disfiguring birth make. The fact that I’m not afraid of spiders made no difference. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/132 "2012-05-25T07:15:19Z")
Oh my friend believes KFC doesn’t use real chickens anymore, he thinks the meat is grown in a lab. And another one thinks vaccines don’t work and viruses don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/133 "2012-05-25T08:10:15Z")
My father worked with someone who believed that babies could absorb vitamin D from diapers that had been hung to dry in the sun. I once encountered an African-American panhandler who informed me that black people are actually from America, not Africa. Her reasoning? “If we’re from Africa, how come we speak English?” Someone in my high school once told me that black people were trying to take over the country. I asked him how he figured that, and he said, “Isn’t it obvious?” He was a smart guy in many ways, so it really surprised me to hear such racist drivel come out of his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/134 "2012-05-25T08:20:16Z")
I was looking around the internet having heard of a recently released photo from NASA’s _Opportunity_ Rover that I wanted see. In the course of refining my search I came across [this page](http://www.greatdreams.com/mars/opportunity.htm) which begins with what appears to be verbatim quotes of various _Opportunity_-related NASA press releases, then culminates with a final article containing this turd of illogic: > [@nutty website linked in above paragraph](#): > > Both of the Viking Orbiters filmed vast forests on Mars, though no subsequent probe to the Red Planet has shot a single frame of film showing a tree. This was by design. The Viking photographs show more than just a few trees but rather thousands upon thousand of them. These trees appear to be much larger than Earth trees, having a leaf and branch system that is unique to Mars. The foliage spans much wider than a similar plants on Earth do, rising to who knows what heights. Note: At no time, on the page, do I see any _evidence_ of _Viking_-spotted foliage. But it’s there. I mean, if you can’t believe random websites on the internets who can you believe? ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/135 "2012-05-25T08:21:39Z")
> [@pikey\_pete](#): > > I’m a journalist and was recently held at gunpoint by my editors (ok, so it was my paycheck held at gunpoint, but you get the idea,) and forced to write a column on young earth creationism in the US. To quote Brando: ‘the horror, the horror.’ Anyway, I wasn’t amazed by the ludicrous pseudo-science these people use to defend their arguments. I really wanted to interview Hovind, but the BoP denied my requests, but I digress. In the course of my research I found this: [http://www.fixedearth.com/](http://www.fixedearth.com/) and at that point I was finally awestruck by what someone believes. wow that site is like the bizaro straighdope > [@](#): > > The non-moving Earth > > & anti-evolution web page of > > The Fair Education Foundation, Inc. > > Exposing the False Science Idol of Evolutionism, > and Proving the Truthfulness of the Bible from Creation to Heaven… > > Since 1973 - Online Since 1997 > > Marshall Hall, Pres. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/136 "2012-05-25T11:47:37Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Feel free to correct me, but there is NO systemic difference “between the tidal forces at new or full moon and the moon at other phases” - sometimes it may be larger, sometimes smaller, sometimes the same. What minute differences there are in tidal pull are of course due to the varying distance between the earth and the moon, which (as I understand it) are utterly unrelated to the moon’s phase. You are mistaken. The sun also causes tides, so when the sun and moon are lined up, they reinforce each other, and when they are at right angles, they partially cancel each other. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/137 "2012-05-25T13:07:37Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I would have thought it’s just a matter of opportunity. More lovers strolling on the beach or in the park or making out at the lookout point, great targets for muggers. And more light for any nefarious activity. But given the ubiquity of street lighting, and general lack of awareness of moon phases, I doubt there really are more people out at night when the moon is full than there are when it is at any other phase. I suspect weekend versus non-weekend is a stronger predictor of how many people will be out at night than the phase of the moon is. > [@Tony Sinclair](#): > > You are mistaken. The sun also causes tides, so when the sun and moon are lined up, they reinforce each other, and when they are at right angles, they partially cancel each other. This is correct. ISTR that the sun produces tides that are about 1/3 the size of those produced by the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/138 "2012-05-25T17:07:25Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > My cousin told me she thought babies were made via smooshing belly buttons together, and that the belly buttons were a conduit for … something. Because when she saw other girls pretending their dolls were “doing it” they basically rubbed the two dolls’ midsections together. > > Then again, kids pick up all sorts of weird ideas about the birds & the bees. (_Rant about importance of sex ed goes here_.) I thought this because of birds&bees video I saw when I was six. They just showed the couple’s midsection, so I naturally assumed that’s where the action was. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/139 "2012-05-25T18:17:41Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I once encountered an African-American panhandler who informed me that black people are actually from America, not Africa. Her reasoning? “If we’re from Africa, how come we speak English?” Well, that’s arguable. If someone is descended from people who came to the US over 150 years ago, where _is_ that person from? Let’s further suppose that the person in question does not know where their ancestors were before they came to the US. I think it would be quite reasonable for that person to say they’re from the US. Of course, this doesn’t negate the fact that there _are_ English-speaking people in Africa. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/140 "2012-05-25T18:20:03Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > I am not a psychiatrist, nor do I play one on The Internet, but this sounds as if this woman is suffering from erotomania. > – [Erotomania - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotomania) > > And, yes, I am aware that this is a wikipedia article but the description matches your friend’s issue. This kind of stuff scares me because it seems like it’s the type of issue that leads to stalking behavior and “astronaut woman in a diaper” scenarios. My mom has a coworker with an obsession sort of like this except that the object of her affection died in 1972. I’m not sure if that’s more or less creepy. 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369.md?page=8)