Myths?

Haven't we all been exposed to a variety of home-grown and traditionally passed on knowledge from our parents and our parents' parents as well? Infact, I still had belief in many of them, until I read this last night. It made for a very interesting read and I would like to take out a couple of examples which I am sure most of the growing generation must have heard in India.

1. Sitting too close to the television will ruin your eyes.
How many times do we hear that? Well, all of you who hate to hear it every time your mom sees you, cheer up!! WebMD (click to go to the webpage) clearly says that the worst affect of watching television from up too close is a headache. There, now you can sit as close to the television and have it all for yourself, with a balm ofcourse :D

The website also goes on to attack another highly-prevalent myth, that reading in the dark weakens the eyesight. Again, headache is the maximum penalty you might to pay for that and not your eyesight. But yes, carrots do improve the eyesight and looking directly at the sun would indeed damage it - not all of them were a farce :)

2. Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Another of those lines which I've heard innumerable times from someone or the other. Weatherimagery reports this as far away from truth. Did you know that the Empire State Building (Chicago) gets hit 25 times in a year on an average :| Also, the same place could be "enlightened" twice in the same storm. That sure is scary (not that you'd possibly survive after the first hit). Apart from that, the thing about 'it is best to avoid standing under a tree (or a high rising object) because they are the targets of lightning' is specious. Infact, it is very much possible that lightning manages to catch you on the ground avoiding the high trees around you. So now you know that you aren't safe anywhere from lightnings!!

It would be interesting to know some more such myths which have great acceptance in our society. If you know any, please share it here.

PS1: BFW marches on with second win in Thunderbolt ;)
PS2: Yo Good Friday!! :)
PS3: Picture credits - the website of irishhealth (the pic has been modified) and openphoto :)