BELIEFSPOPULAR
COMPLETELY UNTRUE
THAT AREEEEEEEEEEE FFFFFFFFFFF
MPLETEETEPLMP ETEPLEMPOM ETEPLMPEEEFEEEEEEE EEEEEEELIEEIELL EEEIELL EIELEL EEIEEIEFFFEFELEEEELELEEEELIEIELLIELLIELLILILLMYTH
22EEEEEELEEEEELEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEIEELEEEEEELELIIILILLLLLLIILLLLILL
Newsflash: everything you know to be true is actually false.
Oysters aren't aphrodisiacs. You've been drinking 8 glasses of water-the worst of all beverages-for no reason. You couldhave been swimming more. Like, WAY more.
Indeed, the truth ahead could be painful. But if you think you can handle it, read on...
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
50% of Marriages End in Divorce 4
You Need to Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day 6
Oysters are Aphrodisiacs 8
You Need to Wait 30 Minutes After Eating Before Swimming 10
Being Cold Gives You a Cold 12
Women Make Less Than Men for Doing the Same Job 12
Turkey is to Blame for Your Thanksgiving Day Nap 14
Bulls are Enraged by the Color Red 16
If You Party in College, You Will Never get a Well-paying Job 20
The Great Wall of China is the Only Man Made Object Visible from Space 22
Bats are Blind 24
Dropping a Penny on Someone from the Empire State Building will Kill Them 26
Lightning Never Strikes the Same Place Twice 28
George Washington had Wooden Teeth 30
Chameleons Change Colors to Blend in with Their Surroundings 32
People Don't Leave Their Jobs Because of Pay 34
It Takes 7 Years to Digest Swallowed Gum 36
Alcohol Make You Warm 38
Employers Talking to Their Employees About Pay Will Incite a Riot 40
Bathroom Door Handles are Full of Bacteria 42
Cracking Knuckles Causes Arthritis 44
Goldfish Have a 3 Second Brain 46
Contents
50% OF MARRIAGES
END IN DIVORCE
www.payscale.comwww.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
According to The New York Times, the oft-quoted 50% divorce rate is a relic of the 1970's. Today, it is predicted that nearly two-thirds of marriages will never involve a divorce, according to data from Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan economist. Moral of the story? Don't believe everything you read in panic-inducing The Atlantic articles.
Original Source: The New York Times
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
You needto drink glasses of
water a day!
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
No one knows exactly where this myth started, but the best guess is this 1945 recommendation from the National Food and Nutrition Board, a government advisory agency, that stated: “A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters daily in most instances. … Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.” The theory is that people read this, ignored the last sentence, and the eight glasses a day (about 2.5 liters) recommendation was born. Moral of the story? Read ALL the data, or you may end up peeing every fifteen minutes for the rest of your life.
Original Source: FiveThirtyEight
Indeed you do not.
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
oysters are aphrodisiacs
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Original Source: The New York Times
Contrary to popular belief, these infamous bivalves are not as bow-chicka-wow-wow inducing as we have been led to believe. This claim was started by Casanova himself in 18th century Venice, where, devoid of modern medicine, Casanova ate dozens of oysters as preparation for his amorous activities.However, there is no scientific evidence that oysters are the Viagra of the Sea—and any success is generally chalked up to the placebo effect. Moral of the story: Don’t believe everything you read in 18th century literature. Also, take the money you would have spent on oysters and invest it in a sensible 401k. Ladies love stability!
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
YOU NEED TO WAIT 30 MINUTES AFTER EATING BEFORE SWIMMING
www.payscale.comwww.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
This famous fun-ruining myth is predicated by the idea that, upon eating, most of the available blood in one’s body would
flood to the stomach to help with digestion. Thus deprived of proper blood flow, the limbs wouldn’t have enough of the precious fluid in them to be able to swim. While it’s true that blood flows to our stomachs after eating a big meal, we have enough blood to keep all of our other parts running just fine
after a meal. Moral of the story? All this time! All this time, you could have been swimming.
Original Source: How Stuff Works
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
BEING COLDGIVES YOUA COLD
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Sorry kids, bundling up won’t completely prevent you from catching a cold. Colds actually have nothing to do with body temperature. Colds are a virus, which means
they are contagious. If there are no viruses near you, then you won’t get sick—even if you’re practically in an ice box! In fact, avoiding outdoors and staying cooped
up indoors with multiple people perspiring germs is MORE likely to give you a cold. Moral of the story: Stop
watching Netflix and go outside.
Original Source: Huffington Post
www.payscale.comwww.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
WOMEN MAKE LESS THAN MEN
FOR DOING THE SAME JOBwww.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
While a pay gap does exist, it is smaller than most people think. For women and men in identical roles, the pay gap is 2.7%. This myth originates from the fact that, when all women’s jobs are compared to all men’s jobs, the pay gap widens to 74 cents on the dollar, aka 26%, but that is because more women work in lower-paying fields. Moral of the story? Forget the pay gap and focus on this jobs gap – bring more women into leadership roles and high-paying fields.Original Source: PayScale
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
ZZ
ZZ
TURKEY IS TO BLAME FOR YOUR THANKSGIVING DAY NAP
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Turkey gets a bad rap as the culprit for all the Thanksgiving napping, but your over-eating is actually what is causing you to drift to dreamland. It’s true that turkey contains a chemical found in the well-known, sleep-inducing medicine, Melatonin, but just a smidge. That itty-bitty trace of tryptophan in your drumstick will not cause your snoozing. Stuff your stomach to the gunnels with mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, and booze and a food coma induced snooze is inevitable. If you want to avoid that nap, put down the fork! Or embrace it and be thankful, after all, it is a holiday. Moral of the story: gobble all the turkey you want (get it?!)Original Source: NBC News
ZZZ
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
BULLS ARE ENRAGED BY THE COLOR RED
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
DESPITE WHAT LOONEY TUNES AND DISNEY’S FERNIDAD THE BULL CARTOONS TAUGHT US, BULLS, AND ALL OTHER TYPES
OF CATTLE, ARE ACTUALLY COLORBLIND. A STATIONARY RED OBJECT WON’T ENRAGE THE BULL, BUT WAVING A RED
OBJECT WILL. GO AHEAD AND SWAP RED OUT FOR SUNSHINE YELLOW AND YOU WILL STILL GET THE SAME REACTION. IT ISN’T THE COLOR THAT ANGERS THE BEAST, BUT THE
ANNOYANCE OF WAVING AN OBJECT IN ITS FACE.MORAL OF THE STORY? LOONEY TUNES IS A PACK OF LIES.
ORIGINAL SOURCE: LIVE SCIENCE
!
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
÷
+
+
+
+
+++
+ +
+
+
+
+
++
+
+ ++
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
- -
--
-
-
-
÷
÷
÷
÷
÷÷÷
÷
÷
÷
÷
÷
IF YOU PARTY IN COLLEGE, YOU WILL NEVER GET A
WELL-PAYING JOB
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
÷
+
+
+
+
+++
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+ ++
+
+
+
+-
-
-
- -
--
-
-÷
÷
÷
÷÷÷
÷
÷
÷
÷
÷
Oh, but you will. In fact, PayScale data found that graduates of the top ten party schools make an average annual salary of $89,950, while graduates of the top ten sober schools make only $84,500 annually. In other words, party school grads were able to parlay their beer pong prowess into an additional $5,450 per year. So much for revenge of the nerds. Moral of the story? TOga, TOga….Original Source: PayScale
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
The Great Wall of China is the Only
Man Made Object Visible from Spacewww.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Original Source: HowStuffWorks
Turns out, you can see a lot of man-made objects from space—just not the Great Wall of China. In the glow of night, astronauts have seen several iconic structures, but not the Great Wall. Made of rock, the Great Wall tends to blend in
with the rest of Earth—it’s not quite Vegas.
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Next time you're told 'you're blind as a bat', take it as a compliment.
None of the 1,100 species of bats are blind. They actually have
relatively good vision, but are just sensitive to light.
Original Source: Discovery
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
DROPPING A PENNY ON SOMEONE FROM THE EMPIRE
STATE BUILDING WILL KILL THEM
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
According to Scientific American, a penny is too small, too flat, and cushioned by too much air to transform into a torpedo. Far from bludgeoning your enemies to death, the actual affect of hitting someone with a penny by dropping it off the top of The Empire State Building would feel like “being flicked in the forehead, but not even very hard,” the article stated.This info should surprise no one because, let’s face it, pennies are stupid. They are America’s worst currency. On that note, if you want to kill someone with pennies, try paying for your morning latte exclusively with them, until those around you perish of rage and boredom. Bwahaha.
Original Source: Scientific American
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES THE SAME
PLACE TWICEwww.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
There is no double-jeopardy rule with lightning. According to
NASA, lightning is a huge electrostatic discharge searching
for a destination, and it doesn’t matter whether that location
has been hit before. Lightning doesn’t have a memory. Taller
objects, such as trees and skyscrapers, are usually common
targets because there is a shorter distance between that and
the origin of the lightning. The tallest tree in a forest can get
struck several times until the storm passes. In fact, lightning
strikes the Empire State Building around 100 times per year.
Moral of the story? Bad data can kill you. Original Source: NASA
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
George Washington hadwooden teeth
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
George Washington’s teeth were made out of a lot of things, But, despite popular belief, wood wasn’t one of them. A far cry from the porcelain used in dentistry today, George Washington’s teeth were made of ivory (hippopotamus and elephant), lead, gold, and actualteeth from horses, donkeys and humans. Original Source: Smithsonian Magazine
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
chameleons change colors to blend in with their surroundings
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
chameleons change colors. this is true. however, it's not to blend into their environment. chameleons change their color because of heat, to warn neighbors of danger, and when they’re feeling a little frisky. sometimes, a chameleon changes colors just because they're in a foul mood. moral of story? chameleons be crazy. Original Source: Live Science
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
PEOPLE DON'T LEAVE THEIR JOBS BECAUSE OF PAY
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Not true. In 2015, the number one reason most people left companies was compensation. The majority of respondents to the 2015 Compensation Best Practices Report cited “seeking higher pay elsewhere” as the primary reason for leaving a company. Moral of story? Money CAN buy you love.Original Source: PayScale 2015 Compensation Best Practices Report
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation CompanyPayScale: The Modern Compensation CompanyPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
IT TAKES 7 YEARS TO DIGEST SWALLOWED GUM
v
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Not to worry; that gum you swallowed in a panic to avoid detention did not linger in your digestive track beyond your high school years. Though the majority of gum matter is in fact indigestible, the relatively small size of the average piece of gum allows it to flow freely through the digestive track and out of your body in far less than seven years. Moral of the story: this too shall pass.Original Source: Scientific American
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
ALCOHOL MAKES
YOU WARM
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Though shirtless, painted, rowdy football fans at Midwestern winter games appear to assume otherwise,
alcohol will not warm you up. In fact, because alcohol dilates blood vessels
forcing blood closer to your skin, alcohol can actually make you feel
colder. Moral of the story: Cover your tail while tailgating.
Original Source: Business Insider
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
he makes HOW MUCH?
My manager lied.
I am so out of here!
EMPLOYERS TALKING TO THEIR EMPLOYEES ABOUT PAY WILL INCITE A RIOT
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
If you aren’t talking with employees about pay, chances are they are talking to one another—creating their own story of your compensation philosophy. Not a good thing. PayScale, the compensation software company, surveyed 71,000 employees to study the relationship between pay and transparency. The study found that transparent conversations about money can actually mitigate low pay. So, if an employer pays lower than the market average for a position, but communicates clearly about the reasons for the smaller paycheck, 82% of employees surveyed still felt satisfied with their work. Original Source: Harvard Business Review
How much do they pay you?
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
No need to grab that paper towel to open the bathroom door, but you may want to avoid the hand dryer. Turns out the dirtiest places in public restrooms are the floors (no surprise there) and the hand dryers! ABC News 20/20 found the toilet seat and the door handle to be the cleanest spots in a public restroom. They even went as far as to say that it may be cleaner to eat your lunch off the toilet seat than your desk. Eww. Original Source: ABC News
PayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
CRACKING KNUCKLES CAUSES ARTHRITIS
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
According to a Harvard study, though your knuckle cracking habit may annoy everyone around you, it likely won’t be the cause of your arthritis. After a long Harvard-y study of knuckle crackers and non-knuckle crackers, scientists concluded that there is no connection between cracking your knuckles and arthritis. However, Harvard medical researchers did conclude that cracking your knuckles can cause swollen hands, reduced grip strength and sometimes even injury. So if you're working on achieving that pull-up or just trying to grip the handle tight enough to avoid falling on your public transportation commute, it’s best to kick that cracking habit. Moral of story? Crack is wack.
Original Source: Harvard
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
GOLDFISH HAVE A SECOND BRAIN3
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
Goldfish having a three second memory is the excuse that we use to feel better about keeping a fish in a small bowl—each time they circle the bowl,
it’s a new experience! Unfortunately, it's not. Our friends at Mythbusters were able to train a goldfish
to go through a maze lasting about 45 seconds. Though their brains are small, they proved to be
mightier than three seconds.
Original Source: Discovery Channel
www.payscale.comPayScale: The Modern Compensation Company
PayScale is committed to purging bad data from the world, starting with faulty salary data. Learn about
PayScale's innovative crowdsourcing method for providing the most accurate salary data in the world:
CLICK HERE TOLEARN MORE ABOUT PAYSCALE