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Post by OziRiS on Dec 3, 2013 21:17:25 GMT
I thought we'd already made a thread like this, but apparently not, so here goes.
Like I've said many times before, while movies and viral videos and stuff like that are full of stupid and wonderous stuff to test, it's been getting out of hand. I think the show needs to get back to basics and to me that means old wives tales.
I'll kick us off with one that I thought was all but dead until earlier today. My 7-year old son asked his mother at around 3:30 pm if he could have a piece of gum. She told him no. Why? Because she truly believes that it would ruin his appetite before dinner.
So, could it?
I don't think a piece of chewing gum could ruin your appetite, since it's not filling in any way. Even if you did swallow it, which most people don't do, you'd need a lot more than one piece to feel full and thus ruin your appetite. But you're not supposed to swallow it, so what...? The simple act of chewing is supposed to make you feel less hungry?
And that reminds me of a related myth: If you chew your food longer you won't have to eat as much to feel full.
Is there any truth to this or is it just something mothers say to justify saying no to a piece of gum or to explain why her son shouldn't swallow his food after just chewing it twice?
Feel free to throw in your own old wives tales here as well.
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Post by Cybermortis on Dec 3, 2013 23:01:15 GMT
Interesting.
Hum, maybe not going swimming within an hour of eating would be testable?
Beyond that I can't think of any that would be testable off the top of my head. But then I'm not an old wife.
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Post by OziRiS on Dec 3, 2013 23:27:26 GMT
Interesting. Hum, maybe not going swimming within an hour of eating would be testable? I seem to remember seeing that one more than once on the old boards. It's already been refuted many times over the past 40 years (by doctors, among others), but for some reason people still tend to believe it's true. Which may actually be why this particular myth might be worth finding a way to test. |
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Post by Cybermortis on Dec 4, 2013 1:17:48 GMT
I think an Old Wives episode would make a good basis for an episode, possibly a mini myth special as the ideas posted thus far could be tested very quickly. (Eat, jump in pool...pray you don't drown).
Assuming a mini-myth show then we'd need at least another three or so myths they could test - that allows them to pick the ones they find most interesting from a long(ish) list.
Speaking for myself, I'm curious to know how universal 'old wives tales' happen to be. I'd guess that many of the myths would be very similar throughout Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, since these countries share not only a language but a common history if you go back a few hundred years. But I wonder if other countries have similar/comparable myths and/or sayings that could be looked at?
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Post by the light works on Dec 4, 2013 2:18:06 GMT
as for "you'll ruin your appetite" ask your waiter if it will ruin your appetite to have an appetizer before dinner.
about chewing more to fell fuller. it's actually the other way around. if you cram the food down as rapidly as possible, then you can stuff more food into your stomach, before you feel full.
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Post by User Unavailable on Dec 4, 2013 3:37:21 GMT
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Post by the light works on Dec 4, 2013 4:46:41 GMT
I have learned the insider information on the wedding ring tale. it is an ideomotor reaction.
cats do not suck the breath from babies - but they do like the smell of baby breath, and a cat sleeping with a baby may inadvertently cover its face, or put enough weight on its chest to interfere with its breathing.
I've started a lot of trips on Friday. no distinctive correlation to bad luck.
Anyone who thinks it is nto bad luck to walk under a ladder has not walked under mine.
having let milk boil over, I can say for certain it is not auspicious - but mainly because of the cleanup.
the list says your bed should not be placed north to south - yet you are supposed to sleep with your head to the north and your feet to the south.
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Post by ponytail61 on Dec 4, 2013 5:49:02 GMT
the list says your bed should not be placed north to south - yet you are supposed to sleep with your head to the north and your feet to the south. Let Tennessee Ernie Ford show you how that works. |
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Post by ironhold on Dec 4, 2013 6:24:26 GMT
Looking through the websites: Conversations fall silent 20 minutes after the hour.If a party starts on the hour, then it could be that there's simply a natural lull in the conversation as people switch conversational partners and/or go between different activities. This one could be tested by having one or more team members participate in conversations with groups of extras. Some conversations will start on the hour, while others will start at irregular times. If one does the math, this means that there should be a lull either every 20 minutes or every 80 minutes (60 minutes + 20 minutes). Supposed home remedy list*Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can take away a headache. - I can see the Build Team having fun with this one. Shaving can cause the hair to regrow faster and thickerMight be one that can run in the background, like the moss bit. |
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Post by Cybermortis on Dec 4, 2013 13:28:00 GMT
(From the first link Former provided)
I wonder if there might not be something to this. It is easier to recall memories if they are associated with something else, and certainly smells can bring back memories. So why would touch not bring back memories? Or at least make it easier to recall information needed for the test?
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Post by OziRiS on Dec 4, 2013 23:22:22 GMT
as for "you'll ruin your appetite" ask your waiter if it will ruin your appetite to have an appetizer before dinner. about chewing more to fell fuller. it's actually the other way around. if you cram the food down as rapidly as possible, then you can stuff more food into your stomach, before you feel full. It doesn't have anything to do with how fast you feel full. It's about how much food it takes. The tale goes that if you chew more then you'll get full from eating less. As in, cram it down really fast and you might get full off a steak, two baked potatos and a large serving of salad, but take your time to chew it properly and you could get full off a steak, one baked potato and a smaller serving of salad. |
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Post by OziRiS on Dec 4, 2013 23:54:51 GMT
While the website talks about old wives tales, I don't really see any that I would classify as such. Most of it is just old superstitions having to do with good or bad luck - a thing that's completely untestable. When I think of old wives tales, I think of stuff that typically mothers would say to their kids to stop unwanted behavior or to dissuade them from doing something that their mother disapproves of for some reason. Some of these things will contain just enough logic/plausibility that there's something to be tested and some are just downright stupid. Off the top of my head: - Sitting too close to the TV will make your eyes go bad (in some countries they talk about the eyes becoming square like the screen, but that's just downright rediculous) - Eating an apple core, seeds and all, will make an apple tree start to grow in your stomach (also rediculous) - Swallowing chewing gum will destroy your stomach in some way or other (there are many variations on what it does specifically, including that it stays in your digestive system for years, which I believe TLW wrote in a different thread at some point) - Breakfast cerial has less nutritional value than the box it comes in (already tested and busted on the show) - If you go swimming less than an hour after eating you will get cramps and drown - Playing violent computer games or watching violent TV shows or movies will make you violent (a personal favorite of mine and many others) - Running with scissors will inevitably result in you tripping and stabbing yourself (it's apparently impossible to keep your balance with scissors in your hands - it would seem that knives and other pointy/sharp objects are fine, but scissors will kill you! It's just what they do.) - Playing with the lights will reduce the life of the light bulbs - Playing with fire will make you pee your bed (if this is true then the MythBusters must spend a great deal of money on adult diapers) All of these can't be tested of course (some can though), but it's just to give you an idea of what I mean by old wives tales. It doesn't have to be stuff that moms tell their kids though. It can be other stuff too, like the one I posted about soap destroying the non-stick properties of teflon, which I've heard from both my mom, my mother-in-law and a couple of home ec teachers, just to name a few. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 5, 2013 1:34:14 GMT
as for "you'll ruin your appetite" ask your waiter if it will ruin your appetite to have an appetizer before dinner. about chewing more to fell fuller. it's actually the other way around. if you cram the food down as rapidly as possible, then you can stuff more food into your stomach, before you feel full. It doesn't have anything to do with how fast you feel full. It's about how much food it takes. The tale goes that if you chew more then you'll get full from eating less. As in, cram it down really fast and you might get full off a steak, two baked potatos and a large serving of salad, but take your time to chew it properly and you could get full off a steak, one baked potato and a smaller serving of salad. it is more like if you eat slowly and chew thoroughly, you will eat your salad, and steak, and a baked potato, and feel full. if you just stuff it down, you will eat your salad, steak, potato, your friend's potato, and half a loaf of bread and THEN realize you are full and should have quit at the potato. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 5, 2013 1:38:27 GMT
While the website talks about old wives tales, I don't really see any that I would classify as such. Most of it is just old superstitions having to do with good or bad luck - a thing that's completely untestable. When I think of old wives tales, I think of stuff that typically mothers would say to their kids to stop unwanted behavior or to dissuade them from doing something that their mother disapproves of for some reason. Some of these things will contain just enough logic/plausibility that there's something to be tested and some are just downright stupid. Off the top of my head: - Sitting too close to the TV will make your eyes go bad (in some countries they talk about the eyes becoming square like the screen, but that's just downright rediculous) - Eating an apple core, seeds and all, will make an apple tree start to grow in your stomach (also rediculous) - Swallowing chewing gum will destroy your stomach in some way or other (there are many variations on what it does specifically, including that it stays in your digestive system for years, which I believe TLW wrote in a different thread at some point) - Breakfast cerial has less nutritional value than the box it comes in (already tested and busted on the show) - If you go swimming less than an hour after eating you will get cramps and drown - Playing violent computer games or watching violent TV shows or movies will make you violent (a personal favorite of mine and many others) - Running with scissors will inevitably result in you tripping and stabbing yourself (it's apparently impossible to keep your balance with scissors in your hands - it would seem that knives and other pointy/sharp objects are fine, but scissors will kill you! It's just what they do.) - Playing with the lights will reduce the life of the light bulbs - Playing with fire will make you pee your bed (if this is true then the MythBusters must spend a great deal of money on adult diapers) All of these can't be tested of course (some can though), but it's just to give you an idea of what I mean by old wives tales. It doesn't have to be stuff that moms tell their kids though. It can be other stuff too, like the one I posted about soap destroying the non-stick properties of teflon, which I've heard from both my mom, my mother-in-law and a couple of home ec teachers, just to name a few. I've said more than once that with the exception of fishhooks and other things that get mechanically stuck, anything you swallow will come out the other end in about 24 hours, digested or not. here, knives and other sharps are not exempt from the scissors rule. also, if you run with a lollipop in your mouth you will fall and the force will drive the stick through the roof of your mouth into your brain. they did playing with the lights; along with whether it is better to just leave them on. however, it has been independently shown that "soft starting" incandescents makes a difference, and as a PSA, when you buy incandescents in the US, check the voltage rating - some are rated 120V and some are rated 130V - you want the ones rated 130V because they are less sensitive to voltage spikes. |
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Post by Cybermortis on Dec 5, 2013 2:27:34 GMT
The danger comes from;
Scissors being the most common sharpened implement children are likely to be allowed to use without major supervision, especially young kids who in turn are much more likely to run around and fall over. It is unusual for adults (or at least anyone who is remotely responsible) to allow kids to handle knives without them being under very close supervision.
The way scissors are held causes two related problems if you are carrying them that way and trip. If you fall you will instinctively throw your arms out and open your hands to break your fall. With most objects, such as knives, this will usually result in dropping whatever you were carrying. With scissors however they will not be dropped as the loops are around the fingers. So there is a good chance that as you land the scissors will be pointing upward - and even worse are highly likely to be pointing towards the face as it comes down due to the way they are held. Instinct comes into play again here, as people tend to place their hands at the same level as their head when trying to break a fall.
This is why kids are (or were/should be) taught to carry scissors by the closed blades. It is also why scissors made for kids, especially those found in schools, have rounded plastic ends and very thin metal blades that are set well back from the ends - if indeed the cutting edges aren't plastic to start with.
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Post by the light works on Dec 5, 2013 2:43:57 GMT
The danger comes from; Scissors being the most common sharpened implement children are likely to be allowed to use without major supervision, especially young kids who in turn are much more likely to run around and fall over. It is unusual for adults (or at least anyone who is remotely responsible) to allow kids to handle knives without them being under very close supervision. The way scissors are held causes two related problems if you are carrying them that way and trip. If you fall you will instinctively throw your arms out and open your hands to break your fall. With most objects, such as knives, this will usually result in dropping whatever you were carrying. With scissors however they will not be dropped as the loops are around the fingers. So there is a good chance that as you land the scissors will be pointing upward - and even worse are highly likely to be pointing towards the face as it comes down due to the way they are held. Instinct comes into play again here, as people tend to place their hands at the same level as their head when trying to break a fall. This is why kids are (or were/should be) taught to carry scissors by the closed blades. It is also why scissors made for kids, especially those found in schools, have rounded plastic ends and very thin metal blades that are set well back from the ends - if indeed the cutting edges aren't plastic to start with. I remember reading that, somewhere. the key is that they will leave the scissors on their fingers - which enables the dangerous circumstance. and a lot of the neurotic parenting rules come from the fact that kids tend to be careless enough to do things that make them fall for no good reason. |
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Post by ironhold on Dec 5, 2013 3:09:00 GMT
There actually is some danger to sitting too close to a television set, but that comes in the form of seizures and other such issues. At one point, it was common for children in Japan to sit as close as possible to their television sets, preferably with the lights off. This resulted in several hundred children and young adults suffering seizures after an infamous episode of the Pokemon anime known as "Electric Soldier Porygon"; several more also suffered seizures when the offending sequence from the show was later rebroadcast during assorted news reports about the incident. Although video game companies such as Nintendo had been aware of issues with photo-sensitivity for several years at that point, this forced the issue to the public spotlight and very nearly killed the Pokemon franchise on the spot.* For about a good decade afterwords, a number of different anime series had warnings at the beginning asking viewers to sit back from the television set and turn some lights on. The American release of the anime series "Steam Detectives" actually includes the show's warning at the start of each episode, and the English dub of the Transformers: Energon episode "Distribution" maintained the show's parody of such warnings (despite the real warnings never being included with any other episode of the English dub). As for ruining one's eyes, there might be something to be said for eye strain or even light sensitivity (such that bright lights can begin to hurt a person's eyes), but photo-sensitivity leading to seizures or other matters is a far bigger threat. *The Japanese government banned the episode from ever being re-broadcast, and the series was briefly put on hiatus until the negative coverage subsided. The dub team that anime importer 4Kids assigned to produce the English dub of the series reportedly dubbed the episode in its entirety, even going so far as to digitally modify the offending sequence to make it safer. However, the executives at the company refused to put the episode into rotation, ostensibly so as to be in compliance with the Japanese government's "world-wide" ban. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 5, 2013 3:16:05 GMT
There actually is some danger to sitting too close to a television set, but that comes in the form of seizures and other such issues. At one point, it was common for children in Japan to sit as close as possible to their television sets, preferably with the lights off. This resulted in several hundred children and young adults suffering seizures after an infamous episode of the Pokemon anime known as "Electric Soldier Porygon"; several more also suffered seizures when the offending sequence from the show was later rebroadcast during assorted news reports about the incident. Although video game companies such as Nintendo had been aware of issues with photo-sensitivity for several years at that point, this forced the issue to the public spotlight and very nearly killed the Pokemon franchise on the spot.* For about a good decade afterwords, a number of different anime series had warnings at the beginning asking viewers to sit back from the television set and turn some lights on. The American release of the anime series "Steam Detectives" actually includes the show's warning at the start of each episode, and the English dub of the Transformers: Energon episode "Distribution" maintained the show's parody of such warnings (despite the real warnings never being included with any other episode of the English dub). As for ruining one's eyes, there might be something to be said for eye strain or even light sensitivity (such that bright lights can begin to hurt a person's eyes), but photo-sensitivity leading to seizures or other matters is a far bigger threat. *The Japanese government banned the episode from ever being re-broadcast, and the series was briefly put on hiatus until the negative coverage subsided. The dub team that anime importer 4Kids assigned to produce the English dub of the series reportedly dubbed the episode in its entirety, even going so far as to digitally modify the offending sequence to make it safer. However, the executives at the company refused to put the episode into rotation, ostensibly so as to be in compliance with the Japanese government's "world-wide" ban. the boring truth is that staring at anything, including a TV or a computer, for too long will lead to eyestrain - but your eyes will recover with rest. |
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Post by mrfatso on Dec 6, 2013 11:50:09 GMT
I believe that it is due to the fact that it takes around 20-40 minutes for the message that you are full to get from the stomach to the brain, through various responses. If you eat fast then you will get more into your stomach before this takes effect where as if you a meal over a longer period then you will feel full during the meal.
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 6, 2013 14:23:54 GMT
Did they do it with extreme diet cereals?...
Just askin', 'cos one of my friends says something he tried actually tasted like cardboard?...
I am living proof.
I have "Long sight", and I am perfectly fine at distance work, but, if I try close work, my eyes start to hurt.
Therefore, I now HAVE to wear glasses for short distance work....
I do some work on Computers still, pays some of the bills, but I am finding it harder and harder to do close screen work...
I have a compromise, a large full HD Television screen at distance with remote keyboard/mouse (Looooong leads...) to help, but still, I am needing glasses more and more for anything closer than arms length.
Now its arm-and-a-half's length....
I can only blame the hours I have spent staring at a screen and doing close distance work for the degeneration of my eyesight...
Maybe that and age.
Aint none of us gettin' any younger?...
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