I want to start a rumor/superstition just for fun.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This would only be for a laugh, and should not cause any harm. This is all in good fun.

As I was watching a show today about female cops, I noticed that one of them was wearing one of those gas-station wrist bands that purport to give the wearer some sort of magical benefit. Magnet wrist bands and the like are what I’m talking about.

My first thought was that if people were dumb enough to buy a wrist band at the gas station in order to get any benefit whatsoever, they might also fall for a similar ruse and benefit those in the know with a few laughs.

Initially, I thought one could start a rumor about having one nickel in each pocket having a balancing effect on the blood stream based on the properties of nickel alone. In order to sell the idea, a certain year of nickel would be specified (say any nickel from the 80’s) and it would be said that these nickels had properties that today’s nickels do not, hence their value.

This is all a load of BS of course. I hate to use the tired old saying of “If only one person does X, then it was totally worth it”, but if only a few people get taken by this ruse, it will be worthy of a hearty laugh.

The lay person has almost no knowledge of metallurgical properties at all (hence the massive sale of such foolish wristbands). If someone says that something works like a charm, they might not question the logic of the statement at all. This is why people are able to sell “snake oil”.

So, the nickel idea was just a very, very rough draft on an idea. My goal is to create a belief that something innocuous does something it can’t do, in a plausible manner, and in a way that can be seen and enjoyed by those that spread the “fact” and enjoy the results.

If this does not get shot down, I may make a poll out of the best ideas suggested.

My newest thoughts:

If you put your phone in your pocket, make sure the face faces out, otherwise you get radiated.

The first sip of coffee from a chain coffee shop needs to be poured out due to contamination issues.

Leave your mouse upside-down during lunch breaks to clear the cache.

If either Java or Adobe want to update, STOP everything and call IT. They love that shit.

If you have problems taking lunch to work, barter for other people’s lunches. Fight them if you disagree.

Check out your Facebook all you want, but independent companies now provide free logs of all activity during the work day.

2

I want to start a rumor that the Obama administration is going to require Braille on the controls of every new car sold in America.

3

What?

I’m guessing that was an attempt at humor. Better luck next time.

4

Up to 45% of glurge is actually written by the CIA in an effort to domesticate the American population by encouraging magical thinking.

5

Ben “Cooter” Jones, of Dukes of Hazzard fame, gained his nickname via his amazing powers of cunnilingus.

6

After a long, quiet battle with with liver disease, Kieth Richards passed away yesterday evening in a London hospital.

7

If you get yourself a leaf from a horse chestnut tree, make a wish. By the time all of the leaflets have fallen off, the wish will come true.

8

Peppermint can help reduce the severity of influenza.

9

Influenza can kill.

10

When I was little, my grandfather told me that if you kill a rattlesnake, it’s mate would spend the rest of its life hunting you down to exact revenge on you. I still kind of think it might be true, even though I know it’s not. So I think that’s a good one to spread around.

11

Being anywhere near gunpowder causes brain damage and some of the symptoms are paranoia, aggression and hoarding of more gunpowder to feed the addiction.

12

Erm… isn’t this place about fighting ignorance, not trying to spread it? No wonder it’s taking longer than we thought!

13

No, that’s cobras.
Michael Jackson died from a botched anal bleaching.

14

No, that’s true. I saw it on the news.

15

No problem. It’s not like any of these rumors and superstitions can actually reach the public.

I mean, I suppose some person or another might just go up to a more gullible someone and say,“I read on the internet today that a person who has simply been near to gunpowder has a higher risk of brain damage.” That person might also say something along the lines of “having read this at one of the most respected message boards on the web.” And technically these statements would be true. But what sort of person would do such a thing…? Heh heh. What sort of person?

16

"Straight Dope Message Board > Main > Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
So, NASA wants to kidnap an asteroid and place it in orbit around the Moon for exploratory purposes.
#1 Today, 02:44 AM
Leaffan
Guest Join Date: Aug 2005

So, NASA wants to kidnap an asteroid and place it in orbit around the Moon for exploratory purposes.

Story here.

Quote:
Researchers at the Keck Institute for Space Studies in California have outlined a mission to build a robotic spacecraft that will be sent into deep space to grab an asteroid and put it in a high orbit around the moon.

How cool does that sound? I imagine a wealth of information could be gleaned from capturing and exploring a rogue asteroid."

This will of course go off course and destroy the earth.

17

Well, that depends on how that gunpowder got near your brain, you know? Think about it.

ETA: never mind, I misread Bosda’s post. :smack: It’s too damned late.

18

The government has requested records from cable and satellite TV companies to find who watches Fox News in order to confiscate their guns.

19

Chicken Jerky Strips can lead to Death in Dogs and other pets.

20

Finding out that something one read on the internet is absolutely wrong, should be a teaching experience. This should lead to the reader finding Snopes and the like.

There is no lack whatsoever of misconception online. Perhaps briefly believing a falsehood, then finding out it was a farce, might foster critical thinking.

Maybe the act of being “taken” by a harmless joke would cause a few people to investigate facts, rather that take things at face value.

The point of my suggested ruse is twofold. It’s primarily to be entertained by the gullibility of others, but it is also meant to demonstrate that everything you read online isn’t necessarily the truth, once the ruse has been exposed.