# Weirdest belief/idea you've encountered **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485 "2021-12-22T18:09:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/61 "2021-12-28T23:29:27Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > A co-worker once told me that there was “no way my son could ever be gay because I love to fuck women.” Closer to the real-life situation: “Well, judging by your coarseness and ignorance, I’ll bet your son wants to be as little like you as possible.” ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/62 "2021-12-28T23:59:16Z")
~45 years ago I knew a whole family who believed that any two objects dropped at the same time must reach the ground at the same time, regardless of how high they were dropped from. I dropped two pencils from 1cm and 1m to prove it wasn’t so, but ahh! Suddenly the height DID make a difference, they had to be reasonably close to start with … My suspicion was this was some muddled version of two objects dropped at the same time will hit the ground at the same time regardless of weight, not height, putting aside air resistance. > [@Asuka](#): > > My High School History Teacher (AP American History) claimed that Planet X was real and that in the year 2012 it would pass by the Earth and toss the moon into the Earth. This was 2000 and be already told me that he had sold his house and was living much cheaper in a trailer so he could afford to build a small underground shelter in his backyard. That shelter might be small, but if it can protect against falling moons it’s TOUGH! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/63 "2021-12-29T00:07:34Z")
Yeah, he was an odd duck. He didn’t seem to have much respect for anyone of either sex. Whenever we traveled together, I usually ended up having to apologize to someone for his behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/64 "2021-12-29T00:23:09Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > My grandmother, who died in 1990, believed, as did a lot of people of her generation, that it was because of space exploration. Sorry, that what was because of space exploration? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/65 "2021-12-29T00:35:23Z")
Sorry, the increase in severe weather, including hurricanes and tornadoes. ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/66 "2021-12-29T00:49:59Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > it would pass by the Earth and toss the moon into the Earth. And digging a shelter would help, how? I mean, if the earth is destroyed, it pretty much includes all of us. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/67 "2021-12-29T01:07:41Z")
There seems to be a belief (among cartoonists and Hollywood types, anyway) that all cocker spaniels are female. I blame _Lady and the Tramp_. [![](https://img3.looper.com/img/gallery/things-only-adults-notice-in-lady-and-the-tramp/l-intro-1601468054.jpg) ](https://img3.looper.com/img/gallery/things-only-adults-notice-in-lady-and-the-tramp/l-intro-1601468054.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/68 "2021-12-29T15:19:45Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Sorry, that what was because of space exploration? okay, you’ve been here forever. You should have noticed that when someone responds to a post, without quoting, their post shows who they are responding to. At the top of nwh’s post there is an arrow, and a username. If you click on that you’ll see the comment that prompted nwh’s response. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/69 "2021-12-29T19:23:50Z")
One night a few days before Christmas when I was in high school, our church youth were going Chrismas caroling to the houses of various church members. As we were driving down the highway, I was playing with a military flashlight that had different lenses you could use. One college guy told me that the red lens made the light brighter so that you could see it better for signalling. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/70 "2021-12-29T19:31:31Z")
Rest assured, there are still tunnels. The Lehigh tunnel added a second “tube” many years ago. Bad weather continues. Therefore… ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/71 "2021-12-29T19:54:56Z")
I’ve posted this before, but I once was stuck in a car for several hours with a fairly high up official from the State Department who told me, in all apparent seriousness, that he was a direct descendent of Jesus Christ (think the premise from Dan Brown’s Davinci Code - he basically told me the same thing, a few years before the book came out). I suppose he could have been pulling my leg, but I don’t think so. It made for a pretty uncomfortable ride, because although I was not a State Department employee myself, his role vis-a-vis mine was such that he could have easily gotten me fired if I’d offended him. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/72 "2021-12-29T20:39:41Z")
Fair. Though I didn’t know about the clicking part-that’s’ quite neat. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/73 "2022-01-03T18:51:59Z")
Worked with a guy who said aliens were visiting Earth. Also ex wife’s cousin said he was from Venus ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/74 "2022-01-03T19:07:50Z")
I got a text the other day from an old friend/former roommate, and who definitely fits in this thread. When he and I first met, 40 years ago, we were both teenagers. He was quirky and funny, but he didn’t really seem to be that “out there.” As he got older, his beliefs and behaviors got stranger and stranger, and he and I began to drift apart – it was just too hard to have a conversation with him, without the strangeness in his mind dominating what we talked about. I am reasonably certain that he suffers from some sort of mental issue – maybe schizophrenia, maybe something else. Anyway, some of his more noteworthy beliefs: - He believes himself to be an “[otherkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherkin)” – a term used by people who believe that they are not entirely human. In my friend’s case, he is absolutely convinced that he is an elf, a la J.R.R. Tolkien’s elves of Middle-Earth. - He is convinced that he is some sort of nexus point for karma, and that if he is wronged, there will be a karmic backlash, much greater than the slight which he had suffered. For example, twenty years ago, he had wanted to take a couple of days off from work (he works as an art framer at a craft store), so that he and his wife could go to a Renaissance Faire, but his boss refused his request. A week later, 9/11 happened, and he is _certain_ that it happened because he wasn’t given that time off. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/75 "2022-01-03T20:08:56Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > “if you can eat butter comfortably like that it means you will never get cancer.” One time, the homeless guy outside my local supermarket told me that swinging your arms when you walked gave you cancer. That dude was an oncologist compared to your coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/76 "2022-01-03T22:07:37Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2bdEx7fto_w/hqdefault.jpg "BBQ'r") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bdEx7fto_w) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/77 "2022-01-03T22:17:25Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Also ex wife’s cousin said he was from Venus Well he can’t be right because the book I read said that Men were from Mars and Women were from Venus… ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/78 "2022-01-03T22:30:20Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > He believes himself to be an “[otherkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherkin)” – a term used by people who believe that they are not entirely human. I find Otherkin fascinating. Besides all the varieties, there’s the way online communities of these folks reinforce each other’s delusions. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/79 "2022-01-03T22:36:06Z")
I forgot to mention my friend the werewolf. I met him over 20 years ago in college. Besides thinking he’s a werewolf, he has really poor social skills. This keeps most people away. That is a shame (and their loss) because he’s a fine person and you’ll never find a truer friend. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485/80 "2022-01-04T18:51:51Z")
We visited my daughter and grand kids over the holidays. One day, I was passing through the living room and my son-in-law had a Science Channel show on the TV. I wasn’t really paying attention to it, but it was one of those “investigate the unexplained” sort of shows. They were, I think, investigating some mysterious lights that had appeared somewhere or other. An “expert” said that the lights resembled the light produced during an underground nuclear test. Okay. The weird part? The “expert” when on to say that the nuclear test was unexpectedly energetic and violent. It was so violent that it blew a manhole cover off. Yeah. It blew that manhole cover so hard that the metal disk went into orbit. The show said that the first man-made object to enter Earth orbit was this manhole cover. I don’t know if my son-in-law believed that BS, but he’s a Trumpist and a vax denier, so who knows… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-belief-idea-youve-encountered/956485.md?page=5)