Unveiling Falsehoods: The Truth Behind Common Misbeliefs

Would it surprise you to learn that people tend to believe a lot of misinformation?

No? Well, it makes sense. The modern world is complicated and fast-moving. Everyone has places to be, work to do, and bills to pay—most folks just don't have the time to fact-check every piece of information they come across. Luckily for you, I have plenty of free time! So get ready to have your world shaken, because here come some false facts that you might just believe! (upbeat music)

Ninja Shenanigans

Everyone loves ninjas! Throughout medieval Japan, these skilled warriors would stealthily track their targets, dressed entirely in black, before striking at the perfect moment and disappearing into the night. But let's be real, this concept falls apart as soon as you think about it. It's pretty hard to be a sneaky assassin when you're wearing such a noticeable outfit.

"Hey Mike, what do you think of the new guy?"

"I don't know, for some reason, I don't really trust him in that obvious uniform."

See what I mean?

In reality, ninjas would typically choose the least conspicuous clothing they could find. This often meant they dressed like farmers or peasants, blending in with the common folk. Disguises that covered their faces were useful, though. So, ninjas might have disguised themselves as rice paddy farmers wearing large straw hats or komusou monks with their modesty signified by large straw helmets called tengai. Scaling walls in those disguises wouldn't be easy, though.

So, where did the stereotypical slick ninja garb come from? Well, it's an interesting story. In traditional Japanese kabuki theater, prop handlers would quickly assemble and remove different props and backgrounds during performances. To avoid distracting the audience, these handlers would wear all-black attire—essentially, black pajamas from head to toe. Audiences learned to ignore them as they went about their work. Legend has it that in the 1600s, a director had the clever idea to have one of these prop handlers reveal a knife mid-prop change and "assassinate" an important character. If this story is true, it would have been a mind-blowing piece of fourth-wall-breaking theater, especially for that time. Regardless of the specific origin story, audiences associated the all-black uniform with skill and sneakiness due to the nature of the job, and that's where the association with ninjas comes from. Maybe if I suddenly "assassinated" one of my viewers, future ninjas would dress like me. Hey, what's that behind you?

Pigeon Puffs

Imagine this: you've just gotten married, the happiest day of your life. But in the middle of cutting the cake, a pigeon explodes, splattering your pristine outfit—be it a tux, a dress, or even a bathrobe. Talk about a wedding disaster! The myth goes that hungry pigeons devour dry rice, which is traditionally thrown at weddings. After the birds drink some water, the rice supposedly expands in their stomachs until, boom, the poor pigeons burst right in the middle of the best man's speech.

Unsurprisingly, this urban legend is completely untrue. Birds, including pigeons, don't explode if they eat rice. In fact, they don't even get sick. The digestive acids inside their stomachs, just like ours, break down rice too quickly for it to absorb any additional liquids. Moreover, rice expands less in size than bird seed does, and we don't see birds exploding after eating from bird feeders, do we?

Some believe this myth was started by grumpy church officials who grew tired of people slipping on rice at weddings. However, this reasonable-sounding explanation is also a myth

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