Understanding Misbelief/How sure are you?

Rate each of the following statements^[1] on a scale from 1 to 7 according to your degree of certainty, where 1 = definitely true, and 7 = definitely false.

Choose from this list of conspiracy theories, or from the list below.

1. A day is exactly 24 hours.
2. A full moon causes more crime or strange behavior.
3. A penny dropped from the Empire State Building can kill someone.
4. Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope.
5. Albert Einstein invented the atomic bomb.
6. Alcohol kills all bacteria in a wound.
7. Alcohol kills brain cells.
8. Alcohol warms you up.
9. An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.
10. Astronauts experience zero gravity in space.
11. Bats are blind.
12. Ben Franklin discovered electricity by flying a kite.
13. Birds will reject their chicks if humans touch them.
14. Black belts in martial arts must register their hands as weapons.
15. Black holes are cosmic vacuums sucking everything in.
16. Bulls hate the color red.
17. Camels store water in their humps.
18. Carrots improve night vision.
19. Chameleons change color to match their surroundings.
20. Chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years.
21. Cleopatra was Egyptian.
22. Coca-Cola can dissolve a tooth overnight.
23. Coffee stunts growth.
24. Columbus discovered America.
25. Cracking knuckles causes arthritis.
26. Daddy longlegs spiders are the most venomous, but their fangs are too short to bite humans.
27. Detox diets cleanse your body.
28. Eating before swimming causes cramps.
29. Einstein failed math as a student.
30. Eskimos have hundreds of words for snow.
31. Fortune cookies are a Chinese tradition.
32. Going out in cold weather causes colds.
33. Goldfish grow only to the size of their bowl.
34. Goldfish have a three-second memory.
35. Hair and nails keep growing after death.
36. Humans have only five senses.
37. Humans only use 10% of their brains.
38. If you touch a baby bird, its mother will reject it.
39. Left-brained people are logical and right-brained people are creative.
40. Lemmings commit mass suicide.
41. Lightning never strikes the same place.
42. Mac computers cannot get viruses.
43. Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake”.
44. Microwaving food destroys nutrients.
45. Napoleon was extremely short.
46. NASA spent millions inventing a pen while the Soviets used a pencil.
47. Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when scared.
48. People in the Middle Ages believed the Earth was flat.
49. Raw cookie dough is dangerous only because of raw eggs.
50. Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.
51. Salem witches were burned at the stake.
52. Seasons are caused by Earth’s distance from the Sun.
53. Seasons are caused by the Earth being closer or farther from the Sun.
54. Sharks must keep swimming, or they will die.
55. Shaving makes hair grow back thicker.
56. Spicy food causes ulcers.
57. Sugar causes hyperactivity in children.
58. The Big Bang was an explosion.
59. The five-second rule makes dropped food safe.
60. The Great Fire of London ended the Black Plague.
61. The Great Wall of China is visible from space.
62. The internet and the World Wide Web are the same thing.
63. The Library of Alexandria was burned in one event.
64. The moon has a dark side.
65. The Sun is yellow.
66. There is no gravity in space.
67. Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb.
68. Toads cause warts.
69. Toilet water swirls in different directions in different hemispheres.
70. Vaccines cause autism.
71. Vikings discovered America first.
72. Vikings wore horned helmets.
73. Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen.
74. Water conducts electricity.
75. Yawning means you are tired.
76. You can see the Great Wall of China from the Moon.
77. You lose most of your body heat through your head.
78. You swallow spiders in your sleep.
79. Your hair and nails grow faster after death.
80. Your heart stops when you sneeze.

1. ↑ ChatGPT assisted in generating this list.