# What Urban Myths seem to hold on for years or decades even when disproven **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852 "2026-06-12T19:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/281 "2026-06-19T17:52:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > but also to denigrate the antiwar protest movement. When I was a kid I was told the “spat-on Vietnam vet” stories. Since then I’ve lived through at least a few cycles of conflicts with people trying to reframe “protesting the war” as “disrespecting the troops”, so I find it hard to believe that this wasn’t just another one of those stories. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/282 "2026-06-19T18:26:53Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > Yeah, that’s exactly what I never understood about the sugar and hyperactivity thing, too. Have the researchers ever been around kids? They do realize kids get the zoomies, act up, go to warp 10, etc., all the time for no particular reason other than they’re kids. Well, if a bunch of kids do zoomies and stuff, then run out of energy, and you feed them stuff with sugar- they recover and zoom again. But they would anyway, it’s just quicker. That is where I think the myth came from. > [@Mangetout](#): > > That if you say ‘Yes’, to one of those robo-calls that ask ‘can you hear me?’, scammers will record your response and use it to bind you in a legally enforceable contract. There was even a post or thread about this in FQ, iirc. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/283 "2026-06-19T18:29:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There was even a post or thread about this in FQ, iirc. Yeah, there was a quite long thread about it a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/284 "2026-06-19T20:02:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That was the subject of an Ig Nobel prize. Donald L. Unger spent 60 years cracking the knuckles of only one hand, not the other, to see if it would lead to different outcomes (it didn’t). I can’t believe that there was any noticeable cost to this experiment. Any cost would be in the write-up - - maybe. My dad was born in the 1930s. He performed the exact same experiment because his mother and her sisters were nagging him over it. They weren’t saying arthritis when you’re old, they were saying “it’ll make your joints big and ugly.” So he didn’t extend the experiment beyond a couple of years. He was very pleased with the results. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/285 "2026-06-21T01:32:13Z")
The myth that standing desks are good for you. Standing desks have been around for centuries, but some studies have shown that sitting all day is bad. This has caused a huge increase in the prevalence of standing desks over the last few decades. Unfortunately simply standing at a desk is not really any better than sitting. The dichotomy is between moving around and not moving around, not between sitting and standing. I’m not saying standing desks are useless, I can imagine many scenarios where they fit a purpose, but using a standing desk because it’s healthy is misguided. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2026, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/286 "2026-06-21T01:55:05Z")
If only the Execu-ciser were real: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zhl-AHUS-f4/hqdefault.jpg "Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhl-AHUS-f4) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/287 "2026-06-21T02:05:38Z")
Most people who use standing desks, I don’t think it’s because they’ve read a study that says they’re healthier. I think it’s because those particular people have found that, for them, it’s more comfortable. I’ve also seen some where the surface is easily adjustable, so you can sometimes sit at it and sometimes stand, changing whenever you get tired of one or the other. That’s probably even more comfortable. It’s sort of like weighted blankets. I got one as a gift a few years ago, and immediately appreciated it. Then I found out they were supposed to have all sort of health benefits, and I didn’t care, because the reason I appreciated it was just that it feels good. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/288 "2026-06-21T02:11:48Z")
I suffer from an arthritis of the knees that makes standing up after sitting for more than 15 minutes quite painful. It’s less agony to spend my entire work day standing up…it’s easier to reach things, as well. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/289 "2026-06-22T00:54:30Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Does the one about the drugged or razor-bladed Halloween candy still go around every year? I remember hearing it as a kid in the 70’s, and I had to debunk it with the mother of one of Celtling’s friends in the 2010s. That one definitely had legs, for no reason I could ever discern.a In the S3, E4 _Mod Squad_, called “A Is for Annie,” which originally aired October 13, 1970, and was that year’s Halloween episode. In the ep, a vindictive child played by Jewel Blanch, went after a teacher who had been defending a book in the school library, and the girl only sensed the teacher was unpopular, not why. So the student put a razor blade in her own apple, and cut herself with it then. Immediately she went to the authorities. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/290 "2026-06-22T16:10:08Z")
Standing desks are nicer for my back, but I haven’t found any standing arrangement where keyboard/mouse isn’t horribly uncomfortable, where a fixed static position sitting is much easier. So it’s a tradeoff, but being a keyboard jockey for 90% of my day, I just instead regularly get up from my chair for a walkaround break. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/291 "2026-06-22T20:32:32Z")
“Stockholm Syndrome” – this condition has become incredibly prominent in the realm of pop psychology, but most actual mental health professionals are dubious that such a condition actually exists. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/292 "2026-06-22T22:55:27Z")
I do remember seeing a TV show about a place that made pet food, and animal parts that were not made into human food (lungs, large veins, etc. were dusted with charcoal, which was washed off as well as possible before turning it into dinner for Fido or Muffin. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/293 "2026-06-22T22:57:38Z")
In my pharmacy school days (early to mid 1990s), narcotic syrups were often colored blue, because it was believed that this made them less appealing to people who didn’t need to use them. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/294 "2026-06-22T23:04:38Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > this condition has become incredibly prominent in the realm of pop psychology, but most actual mental health professionals are dubious that such a condition actually exists. As with the Kitty Genovese murder urban myth, the origin of this boils down to cops being incompetent and blaming the victims and/or witnesses to deflect blame from themselves (and being believed by an uncritical press, so their account is what is remembered) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/295 "2026-06-23T00:15:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I recall photos in newspapers in the late 60s to mid 70’s of angry women protesting for “women’s lib” who were burning bras. My college teacher [Rosalyn Baxandall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalyn_Baxandall) was a charter member of New York Radical Women, aka Redstockings. They organized a protest outside the Miss America beauty pageant. They didn’t _burn_ bras, but they brought a large commercial trash can, labeled it “Freedom Trash Can”, and they threw not only bras but high heeled shoes, lipsticks, and other items related to being objectified. She says it was erroneously reported that they were burning these items, and that image stuck. BTW, they weren’t protesting against Miss America _per se_, but rather that the US media refused to cover the women’s liberation movement and its concerns, but the Miss America pageant got plenty of column inches. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/296 "2026-06-23T00:24:42Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > “Stockholm Syndrome” – this condition has become incredibly prominent in the realm of pop psychology, but most actual mental health professionals are dubious that such a condition actually exists. Similar with Multiple personality disorder which is really **Dissociative Identity Disorder** , which is recognized, but not at all like Movies. And controversial. > **[The Debate Over Whether Dissociative Identity Disorder Is "Real"](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psych-unseen/202302/the-debate-over-whether-dissociative-identity-disorder-is-real)** > > Resolving the debate over dissociative identity disorder should focus less on trying to answer whether the disorder is "real" and more on how and why identities are "enacted." > University of Wisconsin psychiatrist Dr. Charles Raison offers an answer that reflects how many psychiatrists think of DID: > > > _“There is no doubt that some people behave as if they have multiple personalities. And not all of them have been to therapists who have trained them to interpret their dissociative experiences in this way. Does this mean that dissociative identity disorder exists? In my opinion it depends on what we mean by “exists.” Yes, dissociative identity disorder exists if by exists we mean there are people who complain of its symptoms and suffer its consequences. Do I think that some people have many biologically distinct entities packed into their heads? No. I think that some people [dissociate](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dissociation "Psychology Today looks at dissociate") so badly that either on their own or as a result of therapeutic experiences it becomes the case that the most convincing way for them to see their own experience is as if it is happening to multiple people.”5_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/297 "2026-06-23T00:29:12Z")
So, they don’t actually have multiple personalities, they just think they do and act like they do? I’m not sure what the distinction is, there… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/298 "2026-06-23T00:38:01Z")
Well, despite my name, I am not a real Doctor, nor a Psychiatrist. But that is not that uncommon- I knew of a person who thought they were Gluten Intolerant, even tho their Doctor said they were not- as 'they felt better"- well, since they were really diabetic, and cutting out Gluten meant cutting out donuts, cupcakes, cookies and such- all of which they used to eat despite what their doctor said, I guess maybe it did make them feel better- but they were not really gluten intolerant. And a woman who insisted MSG gave them migraines, so much so that if after eating some food they used to eat with no issues, someone pointed out the label had MSG in a different name (Glutamate, etc), they instantly got a migraine. So just the knowledge the food had MSG gave them a migraine. The human mind is strange. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/299 "2026-06-23T01:01:04Z")
Another urban legend(well more like a misconception) I still see and hear is people confusing Schizophrenia with Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/300 "2026-06-23T01:26:52Z")
Good one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852.md?page=16)