15 Facts Everyone Should Know, Yet Most People Don't

October 13, 2014

Someone posted the question, "What fact should be common knowledge, but isn't?" and it received over 1,800 responses. Here are the most popular, backed with evidence.

1. Goldfish bowls are really bad places to keep goldfish.

They're too small to allow for adequate filtration and don't provide enough oxygen. Goldfish bowls are the equivalent to putting your goldfish in the toilet and expecting him to show you his best colors, grow to the size of a softball, and never get sick.

The natural lifespan of a goldfish is years, not weeks. These two facts are related. This goes for Beta fish as well.

2. If you put the lid down in a porta-potty, the smell will vent out that tube in the top and not into the john itself.

Hopefully your next music festival will be a bit less smelly.

3. The sites you see when you Google for something are different from what others see if they Google for the same thing.

Google builds a user profile and shows you sites that align with what you previously clicked on. As time goes on, this positive reinforcement makes you think the world agrees with your ideas more than it actually does.

4. If you are unfortunate enough to need to go to the hospital uninsured (in the US) the astronomical bill they give you is NOT what they intend on you paying. 

Call them and tell them your situation. No hospital expects a patient to come up with 100k for a surgery, the bill is intended for the insurance company because they haggle prices to get to a final bill. They will GREATLY reduce payment if you cannot afford it. Too many people go without care because they think that a hospital visit will bankrupt them when its not true. Some hospitals will even wave the bill completely under certain circumstances.

5. Claudette Colvin was the first black woman not to give up her seat to a white woman on a bus, not Rosa Parks.

Parks was Secretary for the NAACP at the time and when Colvin's actions hit the news the NAACP thought the tactic was a great way to bring eyes and ears to their cause. Since Colvin was merely a child (15 years old) they didn't want to seem like they were exploiting her so they chose Parks as the "face of the movement". When Rosa Parks boarded the bus that day it was under instruction to refuse to give up her seat in the front of the bus; copying Colvin's actions and refocusing the attention on an adult who was better suited to handle the media attention and interviews.

6. Feeding bread to ducks is harmful to them.

Any artificial feeding of waterfowl leads to a surplus of fecal bacteria, poor animal nutrition and even affects migration patterns. White bread in particular distracts ducks from their natural healthy diets and can lead to unhealthy diseases.

7. Ctrl+Shift+T restores your closed tabs in Chrome, and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T restores entire closed windows.

This will save you a lot of frustration. You're welcome!

8. Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses.

So if you have what is probably a viral infection (like a cold or most throat infections) do NOT take them and don't pester your doctor for them. The number of doctors who hand antibiotics out like sweets because patients expect to be given something is ridiculous. You have an immune system. Antibiotics kill bacteria only! 

9. Ιf you plug in earbuds/headphones іn the microphone jack, they'll functіon as microphones.

Internally the components are very similar. Try it!

10. Your blood isn't blue inside your body.

It's always red. It only appears blue because of the way light interacts with your skin.

11. Humans do, in fact, use 100% of their brain.

Just not all at the same time. That would result in a seizure.

12. Alcohol is a drug.

So are cigarettes (nicotine) and caffeine. Anything that alters your state of mind is a drug.

13. Frankenstein is the doctor.

The tall green guy with the bolts in his neck is simply "the monster."

14. Saying "I'm sorry" doesn't mean you're wrong.

It actually means "I'm sorrowful about what happened." It doesn't mean you are admitting guilt.

15. The left lane is a passing lane (in the US).

If you want to drive slow, stay out of the left lane!