# What was the weirdest belief you ever personally held? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398 "2026-04-19T15:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/61 "2026-04-21T00:10:52Z")
I don’t know about the weirdest, but I do remember when I first learned about Greenland in school, as part of our “learn the countries of each continent” lessons. I knew about a city with “Green” in the name that we passed through on the way to Meemaw’s house, and we got there by traveling north on the high way. So, yeah, I said, out loud, “oh yeah, I’ve been there many times.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/62 "2026-04-21T00:22:39Z")
When I was a little kid, I thought that if I closed my eyes, no one could see ME, either. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > OK, that’s _your_ weird belief Well, that poster is correct, except that the song did add “the” as in Smokey the Bear. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/63 "2026-04-21T02:27:56Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > And that skyscrapers were planes that left contrails (JFK, maybe 20 miles away). I cannot figure out what this means. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/64 "2026-04-21T05:19:16Z")
As a kid, I thought New York City is in black and white, as in, I pictured it looking just the way it does in old pictures and movies. Same with London. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/65 "2026-04-21T07:03:59Z")
Speaking of which, I thought that the testicles were the butt of the penis because they sort of look like a butt when the scrotum skin tightens. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/66 "2026-04-21T07:21:51Z")
When I was four years old, my best friend’s dad was an under secretary in the Reagan administration. Her dad was easy to talk with, played with us in their yard and seemed like a normal respectable guy. I had a weird belief that, since he was a straight-up fellow, the rest of Reagan’s administration were probably good people. Naturally when the Iran Contra trial came on TV, I realized my belief was way off. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/67 "2026-04-21T07:36:01Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > I also believed what was on TV was real. The Nelson family was on TV. I thought somebody knocked on their door one day and said “Your family is really funny. We’re going to put you on TV.” And there they were. That is in fact what happened. The Nelsons were a real family; Ozzie and Harriet had already had whole careers in showbiz before a fictionalized version of them was put on TV. Oh, by the way, Lucy and Desi were a real couple who’d already had whole careers in showbiz before a fictionalized version of their marriage was put on TV. In both cases the husband was a bandleader and the wife was an actress and their mutual careers in showbiz is what brought them together in the first place. So relax, you had it right the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/68 "2026-04-21T07:49:07Z")
I probably believed far weirder things than this (Heck, I probably still believe weirder things if I only knew) but the weirdest thing I _remember_ believing was that the characters appearing on the television screen could see me as I watched them. I was told this wasn’t true, and I even understood why it couldn’t be, but my 4-year-old brain was just certain that this impossible thing was happening nevertheless. I might be watching in my pajamas or even in my underwear and Lucy Ricardo and Laura Petrie and the Doublemint Twins saw it all ! ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/69 "2026-04-21T07:59:15Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > And that skyscrapers were planes that left contrails (JFK, maybe 20 miles away) > [@needscoffee](#): > > I cannot figure out what this means. I took this to mean that [Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coriolanus) thought the word “skyscraper” referred to airplanes that flew so high they scraped the sky, and those white trails behind them were the scuff marks they left. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/70 "2026-04-21T08:03:57Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > When I was a kid, we called dragonflies sewing needles. I believed my dad when he told me that when someone lies, sewing needles will sew their mouth shut. We had a similar belief. We called them “darning needles,” and were told that they sewed shut the mouths of kids who swore. The “darning” was connected somehow both to the sewing up of holes, and also in some vague way to saying “darn” instead of “damn.” ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/71 "2026-04-21T13:56:47Z")
> [@Nyvaak](#): > > “darning needles,” We also called them darning needles at times. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/72 "2026-04-21T13:59:10Z")
I thought “Princess Di” was the nickname for some singer or actress, because princesses only existed in fairy tales. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/73 "2026-04-21T14:10:50Z")
This is a weird one that’s embarrassing to talk about. When I was a kid in the early 70s, everyone in my family was always commenting on how much I looked like my uncle as a child. My grandmother would even call me by his name and then correct herself. Remember, this was the early 70s and my uncle sported mutton chops and an Elvis-style haircut. So I came to the conclusion that when I grew up I would look like Elvis. The embarrassing part came when I proudly shared this information with my classmates and told them “it was in my genes.” It hadn’t even occurred to me that a 2nd grader would have any idea what genes were, so my pants became the object of ridicule for at least a year. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/74 "2026-04-21T14:18:35Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I thought there was a person inside the pole of a traffic light that changed the lights. [Waves from upthread.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/35) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/75 "2026-04-21T15:10:50Z")
I thought musicians on the radio were actually performing live in a radio station. I remember when I was passed by a tv set as my sister was watching a soap, and a young lady sunning herself at the beach was listening to “Spinning Wheels” by Blood, Sweat, and Tears. I thought, “Wow! Those guys are playing no TV now!.” ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/76 "2026-04-21T19:47:51Z")
Yes exactly, thanks. JFK was a way-point for ocean flying jets, so either they’d fly high and “scrape the sky” with contrails or be low on approach. Living near NYC I soon learned what a skyscraper is. I had a postcard from the Empire State Building where it looks like a 60 stor **e** y tall King Kong is clinging to the ESB and is about to swat it. So I was a bit disappointed when I saw the movie that he was not so tall. In retrospect, it was good that the people on the Island he lived on still built a gate high and wide enough that he could exactly walk through it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/77 "2026-04-21T21:43:54Z")
When I was little, I didn’t grasp the idea of movie stunt people. I thought that if I watched a movie with a car driving off a cliff and exploding into flames, there was a real person driving the car who perished in a firey death. I somehow figured that movie directors found someone who they could pay a huge sum of money, say, for a year and that person would live a blessed life with luxurious houses, cool cars, glamorous friends, world travel, etc. And then the debt would be called in, so to speak, and the person would commit suicide on camera. I was young, what can I say! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/78 "2026-04-21T21:48:19Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > I somehow figured that movie directors found someone who they could pay a huge sum of money, say, for a year and that person would live a blessed life with luxurious houses, cool cars, glamorous friends, world travel, etc. > > And then the debt would be called in, so to speak, and the person would commit suicide on camera. Sounds like the plot of a new Stephen King bestseller! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/79 "2026-04-21T21:55:35Z")
When I was little and my mom & dad kept passing elderly drivers, I had an explanation for why old people drove more slowly: Back when they’d first learned driving, circa 1915? cars didn’t go as fast as modern 1960s models. So they’d just kept driving slower ever since. Hey, it was logical, in a way. Edit: Now I’m 66 and I always drive at the speed limit - Why? Because it’s safer and it feels better. Why am I vegetarian? Basically because it feels better; it is incidentally healthier too. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398/80 "2026-04-21T22:39:14Z")
For close to 20 years, I believed that water striders/skeeters were poisonous, and I was deathly afraid of them. My brother told me to avoid them because of how dangerous their poison could be, and I looked up to him because he was older and, presumably, wiser. I think it was my wife who taught me different - after she laughed at how I was terrified of them. I stopped being afraid of them, but they still piss me off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-weirdest-belief-you-ever-personally-held/1029398.md?page=5)