# What were people scared of in the past that now seems funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653 "2010-10-28T13:24:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/101 "2010-10-29T18:46:21Z")
Not to go all serious in a fun thread, but it seems like anything people used to be scared of is still a source of fear for at least some. I’m amazed at some of the things people are scared of now. Measles is coming back because people are scared of inoculations: they would rather listen to an ex-Baywatch actress and Playboy Playmate than scientific studies. People are starving to death in third-world countries because people are scared of genetically-engineered crops. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/102 "2010-10-29T18:55:41Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:101, topic:558653”] [T]hey would rather listen to an ex-Baywatch actress and Playboy Playmate than scientific studies. [/QUOTE] Oh come on! If you had to spend an hour with someone, who would you choose: the Playboy Playmate, or the scientist? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/103 "2010-10-29T18:56:45Z")
My Polish aunt was ultra-super-duper suspicious of microwaves when they first started being widely introduced into Poland in the 90s. To her, all radiation will kill ya. On a similar note, once when I was in Poland - can’t recall which city, might’ve been Lublin or some other smaller provincial area rather than a big city - I was sitting on a stone wall admiring some little local fountain, when a little old _babuszka_ came up to me and told me in no uncertain terms that sitting on “those cold stones” was going to give me a yeast infection. So, my survey sample says that some Polish women are scared of microwaves and sitting on concrete. People believe all kinds of weird crap. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/104 "2010-10-29T19:00:16Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I’m not sure I believe these. There were depictions of murder on stage and depictions of large faces in art long before the movies. This is similar to something I’ve heard quite often about Edwin S Porter’s 1903 film, [**The Great Train Robbery**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000439/). [QUOTE=imdb] The final shot of a gun being fired toward the camera had a profound effect on audiences. As cinema was in its infancy, many people who saw the film thought that they were actually about to be shot. [/QUOTE] I can’t say how accurate that quote is, but I’ve heard similar statements about it from multiple sources over the years. It could have been made up for publicity’s sake, I’ll admit, but it doesn’t seem too far-fetched either – even 35 years later, people were getting whipped up into a frenzy over a radio show about Martians. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/105 "2010-10-29T19:04:01Z")
There was a time when people were afraid of water. They rarely bathed, and drank wine & beer over water. But their fears may have been justified… ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/106 "2010-10-29T19:08:14Z")
Flying. According to my grade school teacher in Catholic school, there was a time when a Catholic would request his/her Last Rites from their priest before boarding a plane. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/107 "2010-10-29T21:56:04Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > There was a time when people were afraid of water. They rarely bathed, and drank wine & beer over water. But their fears may have been justified… Shitting where you drink will do that to you lol. Beer is a far much safer think to drink, man the good ol days ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Edie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Little\_Edie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Edie)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/108 "2010-10-29T22:45:06Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Organ transplation. A recuring theme in old scifi involves the demand for organs being so great that death becomes the default punishment for any felony (again), minor crimes involve a forced donation of a non-vital organ, people being kidnapped & murdered for their organs, etc. This is actually the only argument I’ve heard, in person, against being an organ donor. And more than once. I’ve read religious arguments against it online, but the idea that doctors will “let you die” if you sign your card is the only case against it someone has told me to my face. And I told them they were idiots, to theirs. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Doing damn near anything when you had your period. Bathing and hair washing were out, girls were excused from gym and swimming. But the box told me I could go horsebackriding! I just wanted to add that the first thing I thought of while watching Jackass 3D was the famous train movie/audience. The puke was coming right for me, I tells ya! ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/109 "2010-10-30T01:08:17Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > It’s a common myth in Korea. China, too. My wife refuses to turn the air conditioner in our apartment on at all. She wouldn’t even go near it when she was pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/110 "2010-10-30T02:44:46Z")
In India there are a lot of people whomumplig the refrigerator at night because they think it will poison the food. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/111 "2010-10-30T03:16:43Z")
I grew up in the 50s with parents that read John Birch Society literature, and were convinced that the “commies” were infiltrating our schools/capitols/churches AND ready to shoot ICBMs at us from Cuba as well as Mother Russia. They didn’t just believe … they _knew_ that our painful deaths at the hands of the USSR were inevitable, and mere months away. I’m actually at a loss as to why Dad never dug a fallout shelter in the backyard. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/112 "2010-10-30T03:21:54Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > In India there are a lot of people whomumplig the refrigerator at night because they think it will poison the food. Before I read this post, I didn’t think that these fears could ever get to me. But now I’m going to “whomumplig the refrigerator”. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/113 "2010-10-30T03:32:30Z")
Is whomumplig related to manbearpig? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/114 "2010-10-30T03:58:17Z")
I … can’t … stop … laughing …! Of course, what I meant to say is “who unplug”! Ragginfraggin tiny Iphone keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/115 "2010-10-30T04:01:41Z")
> [@digs](#): > > …I’m actually at a loss as to why Dad never dug a fallout shelter in the backyard. He’d rather his family be killed in the initial blast that slowly die of radiation poising over the course of a week or two? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/116 "2010-10-30T04:16:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Is whomumplig related to manbearpig? No, it’s where we store cows that have been orked. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/117 "2010-10-30T05:12:45Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Doing damn near anything when you had your period. Bathing and hair washing were out, girls were excused from gym and swimming. It was a great excuse to get out of gym class. > > People acted like if you got one bit of exercize during “that time of the month,” you would drop dead of sheer exhaustion. Oh, and there was also the idea that menstruating made women into some sort of walking blight; that they withered crops and soured wine. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > I remember seeing an old movie from the 70s where a woman’s brother (or possibly boyfriend) was in a motorcyle accident, had unexpected complications during surgery, and ended up in a coma or brain dead. She was got suspicious, and upon further research noticed that a large number of patients operated on in that hospital all ended up in comas, and were all sent to the same nursing home. It turned out the nursing was a fake. It only had a few patient rooms were the patients were kept only when their families visited. Otherwise they were stored on racks in a warehouse-type setup and whenever a rich person needed a transplant a patient was harvested and the family told they died. [Coma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_%28film%29), from 1978? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/118 "2010-10-30T19:33:01Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I grew up in the 50s with parents that read John Birch Society literature, and were convinced that the “commies” were infiltrating our schools/capitols/churches AND ready to shoot ICBMs at us from Cuba as well as Mother Russia. > > They didn’t just believe … they _knew_ that our painful deaths at the hands of the USSR were inevitable, and mere months away. > > I’m actually at a loss as to why Dad never dug a fallout shelter in the backyard. Well I do seem to recall a kerfuffle where we were rather upset that the Soviet Union was installing IRBMs in Cuba, presumably so that we would only have ten minutes warning of a first strike instead of thirty. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/119 "2010-10-30T20:38:42Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Oh, and there was also the idea that menstruating made women into some sort of walking blight; that they withered crops and soured wine. > > [Coma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_%28film%29), from 1978? Yep, just added it to my Netflix queue. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653/120 "2010-10-30T21:53:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Before I read this post, I didn’t think that these fears could ever get to me. > > But now I’m going to “whomumplig the refrigerator”. I don’t believe that’s legal in this state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-people-scared-of-in-the-past-that-now-seems-funny/558653.md?page=7)