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By Emeka Chiaghanam

Breaking myths with proven facts, revealing truth behind common misconceptions.

Not long ago, a man swore by the old belief that shaving your hair makes it grow back thicker. When gently told by his friend that science had disproved this decades ago, he looked stunned. “Then why does everyone say it?” he asked.

That’s the funny thing about myths: they’re sticky and difficult to disregard. Myths have stayed with humans from time immemorial from one nation to nations and in every region of the world, some have become universal that people can’t tell where it originated. Though myths stay long to seem but they don’t survive because they’re true; they survive because they feel true. They appeal to our instincts, our need for certainty, or our longing for control in a world that’s far too unpredictable. And, more often than not, they reveal more about us than about reality.

Come with me let’s pull back the curtain on some of the biggest myths still floating around, beliefs you probably absorbed without question, and uncover what the facts really say.

Myth 1: Humans Only Use 10% of Their Brains

You’ve probably heard this one in films, read in books, or maybe from a teacher or even a friend trying to inspire you of the immense capabilities of a small percentage of the human brain. “Imagine if we unlocked the other 90%!” It sounds thrilling, like there’s a secret superpower hidden in our heads. But here’s the truth: it’s a total myth. A myth that still trends as truth till date.

Neuroscience has shown again and again that we use all parts of our brain. Brain scans light up across different regions even during everyday tasks, talking, walking, daydreaming, you name it. Sure, not every neuron is firing at once (and thank goodness for that), but that doesn’t mean they’re lying dormant.

So where did the “10%” idea come from? Probably a mix of early misquotes and people misunderstanding brain research. But it stuck, because let’s be honest, it’s a hopeful myth, and who doesn't want to be hopeful about any situation. It whispers that we’re capable of more, that greatness is sitting untapped.

The notion that we are capable of more, but not because we’ve got spare brain lying around. It’s simply because potential comes from practice, resilience, and sometimes failing forward, not from unlocking some mythical hidden chamber in our heads.

Myth 2: Goldfish Have Three-Second Memories.

Perhaps you have heard this one from people explaining why the poor family fish sits in a bare glass bowl. “Don’t worry, it won’t remember anything.” That sounds convenient, right? Except, it’s completely wrong. Research shows goldfish can remember things not just for seconds, but for weeks and even months. In experiments, they’ve been trained to swim through mazes, recognise sounds, and even tell human faces apart. Not exactly brainless. The sad part is that this myth has made it easier to neglect them. If we convince ourselves they can’t remember, we feel less guilty.

But really, it points to something bigger: we often underestimate the intelligence of creatures (and people) we don’t fully understand. The fact? Memory is survival. Even “simple” animals like goldfish have sharper minds than we give them credit for. You remember the phrase, ‘’ Goldfish has no hiding place, here the myth that goldfish have three-second memories has no hiding place.     

Myth 3: Sugar Makes Kids Hyperactive

Any connection between sugar and hyperactivity? Every weary parent at a birthday party knows the scene. The kids eat cake, and ten minutes later they’re bouncing off the walls. The easy culprit? Sugar. But here’s the kicker: study after study, including controlled, double-blind ones, and show no solid link between sugar and hyperactivity. What’s actually happening is context.

Birthday parties are already high-energy zones, balloons, noise, games, other sugar-high kids, and we link the chaos to the cake. Yes, sugar affects health in plenty of ways (none of them good), but fuelling hyperactivity isn’t one of them. The real lesson? We’re quick to confuse correlation with causation, and that little slip fuels everything from medical myths to conspiracy theories.

Myth 4: You Need to Drink Eight Glasses of Water a Day

Even health experts once promoted the “8x8” rule, eight glasses of water, every single day, has become gospel. People repeat it like a holy mantra from the belief of dealing with hydration to detoxifying the body among other health benefits. But here’s the truth: it was never based on solid science. Hydration isn’t one-size-fits-all. It depends on your body, diet, activity, and even the weather. A lot of our water doesn’t even come from drinks, it’s hidden in food, fruit, vegetables, even bread. The original 1945 guideline that birthed this myth actually mentioned that most fluids come from food, but that part got quietly lost along the way.

So what’s the reality? Simple: drink when you’re thirsty. Your body’s signals are far smarter than arbitrary numbers.

Myth 5: Cracking Your Knuckles Causes Arthritis
That sharp popping sound is enough to make people across the room wince. For years, the warning’s been the same: “Stop that you’ll get arthritis.”

Dr Donald Unger wasn’t buying it. Annoyed by the constant nagging, he decided to run his own personal experiment: crack the knuckles on his left hand every day for 50 years, but leave the right untouched. Half a century later? No difference. Studies back him up. The sound isn’t bones grinding, it’s just bubbles in the joint fluid bursting.

What’s interesting is why the myth stuck around. Because cracking annoys people. Saying “it’s bad for your health” is a tidy way to shame someone into stopping. In other words, it’s less about science, more about social control.

Myth 6: Lightning Never Strikes the Same Place Twice
This one sounds almost poetic, nature’s way of balancing the scales. Unfortunately, physics doesn’t care about poetry.

Lightning is just electricity seeking the easiest path. Tall objects? They get hit over and over again. The Empire State Building, for example, is struck roughly 25 times every single year.

So why does the myth endure? Because humans crave fairness in randomness. We want to believe the universe distributes its blows evenly. But the truth is harsher: nature doesn’t deal in fairness. It deals in probability.