Here Are 33 Of The Weirdest "Theories" Science Has Debunked Yet Many Folks Still Consider True

It all started a couple of days ago, when the user u/miaangelaa decided to ask readers in the AskReddit community the question: "What’s a pseudoscience that people still commonly believe is real?" In just a couple of hours, a thread has formed that we are pretty sure will soon be a contender for viral status, with nearly 5K upvotes, and 4.3K different comments and counting.

From strange theories to "full-fledged" scientists with licensed degrees and their own colleges, and from talismans and amulets to an obvious disregard for the achievements of modern science in favor of "mystical" considerations - now meet this selection of netizens' opinions, collected for you by Bored Panda!

A special place in this selection is occupied by the so-called "flat Earth theory," which, despite the fact that its peak of popularity passed about a thousand years ago, continues to be believed by millions. At least, according to a survey conducted back in 2021 by the University of New Hampshire, about 10% of respondents admitted that they believed in various conspiracy theories - and in flat Earth, too.

To be honest, I still don't understand why the authorities of hundreds of countries around the world, from democracies to totalitarian regimes, regularly hide from people the "fact" that the planet supposedly has the shape of a flat disk (and how does that even work?), but people believe, and it can be very, very difficult to convince rabid adherents of the opposite.

However, public consciousness doesn't stand still, and those theories that were previously considered frankly vulgar and "pseudoscientific" may well become the cornerstone of modern science in the future. For example, Einstein faced a lot of ridicule for his theory of relativity, and in the middle of the 20th century, genetics was considered a completely false and incorrect theory in many countries.

Does this mean that in a couple of decades, for example, astrology will become an absolute scientific standard throughout the world? More likely no than yes. In the end, science does have a certain flexibility, and the absence of dogmatism is what has always driven scientific progress. To what extent can progress be driven by faith in, for example, ancient astronauts? Honestly, I don't know.

What has always distinguished pseudosciences and false theories is an attempt to match incomprehensible facts to their own level of understanding. For example, people found dinosaur bones thousands of years ago - but of course, there was no scientific understanding of what they actually dug up. Hence the numerous legends and tales about dragons.

We do the same thing today, only on a different level, when we claim, for example, that the pyramids of Egypt or Mesoamerica were built by aliens. At the same time, the adherents of such theories, of course, cannot explain why those aliens actually needed this - so they launch into lengthy conspiracy theories... This, in fact, accompanies almost all of the "theories" described on this list.

It is interesting that the "Five Whys?" technique developed by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of the Japanese company Toyota, works great to debunk such "theories." This technique is usually used in production to identify cause-and-effect relationships between work processes, but it is in fact quite universal.

To use this technique, you just need to ask the question, "Why?" of each problem, and apply it to the answer to the previous question. Usually, five repetitions are quite enough to identify the root cause of the problem - or to make sure whether we are dealing with absolute nonsense. Just try it - perhaps this technique will come in handy to you.

In the meantime, we also strongly recommend that you simply read this collection of opinions and stories to the very end. By the way, we don't guarantee that you will agree with all the points of view given here. Sometimes, you will laugh heartily, and sometimes you'll just become indignant and start arguing right in the comments. Well, don't hold back and let the discussion begin! Ultimately, truth is born from debate.