physics

I used to believe electricity came from lightning.

Anon

My sister convinced me that if I tied each corner of a sheet around my hands and feet, that I could fly like Super Man. I jumped head first out of a two-story window. Luckliy the sheet did slow me down, but it still hurt.

Anon

When I was little I used to think that the ozone layer was clear plastic and that it would open and close at certain times so that the space shuttle had to time it correctly in order to make it through the hole into space. Years later in science class I realized that the atmosphere was held in by gravity!

Steven M

I used to believe that sunlight coming from windows spontaneously generated dust since that's the only place I ever saw it in the air.

Anon

I used to believe that because jet airplanes went so fast, that if you held a large sheet of paper in front of them, they would go right through the paper without making a hole or tearing the paper.

Dave

I used to believe that splitting an atom was done by finding a very thin needle and sticking the needle into the atom.

Uses Mountains To Split Legos

I thought if you are exposed to radiation you would instantly mutate and grow extra arms or something like in the comic books. I also thought it could turn you into part animal-part human creature

Nate

I used to believe that the world spun so fast that cars didn't move. Instead it was the rotation of the Earth that was causing roads to move underneath the tires of the cars.

Anon

When I was about 8, I came up with the idea that no two events could happen simultaneously. I saw time broken up into incredibly short snippets, so that what appeared to be events happening at the same time were actually just one after another, like frames in a film. I would sit watching my family watch TV for a half hour at a time, trying to prove my theory was true. (Misleading choice, because people sitting in front of the TV often look like they aren't doing anything at all). Then it occurred to me that people all around the world were doing things, too, and I'd never be able to watch them all at once.

Jessica

I used to believe that whenever you switched on a light a little man ran (extremely fast) through the wire and turned the lightbulb on. I stopped believing this when I saw how small the wire that the "little man" ran through really was!

Anon

The industrial part of my childhood town had a particular large stormwater runoff drain, at least large enough for one car to drive through, and for many years (I think i was 10 when i started questioning the reality of this gem) i honestly believed that if you stood in the drain you would be cloned. Yes cloned. This was 20 years ago so i guess i must have got the idea from Buck Rogers or some early sci fi crap

Daleen