Dumb things you used to believe as a kid

As a kid I thought there was some toy, game, or other cool thing that once I got it, I would be satisfied for the rest of my life and never get bored with it.

Dumb childhood Pokemon moments:

• I thought HM moves were more powerful than other moves, so I taught my Swampert in Emerald Strength, Surf, Dive, and Waterfall. Then I realized why he wasn't able to be transferred to later gens.
  • This practice carried on until Pokemon White. I just loved surfing the regions.
• I also thought legendaries were a surefire way to beat the game, so after catching Dialga and the Lake Guardians in Diamond, I replaced most of my team (except for my Empoleon and Pachirisu) with them. What resulted was endless grinding until I gave up.

edited 1st Mar '15 8:08:59 PM by TroperNo9001

I think I was 16 before I realized that not every song on the charts would eventually get to #1. This was also the time at which I started listening to Bob Kingsley's countdown regularly.

I believed white butterflies were poisonous when I was five, the Bear in the Big Blue House was a stalker when I was a baby, and Santa Claus was real until middle school.

What caused you to think that about white butterflies?

As a kid, I already knew about reproduction through my science books, but it took me a long time to realize how the sperm reached the egg in the first place.

(double facepalm)

What made you think that about Bear?

I used to think I was special because I could actually see rain when it was falling. Then I realized almost anyone can do that by focusing their eyes.

I read that bright things were poisonous in an ancient science book back when I read pretty much everything. And I thought that about the bear because every episode he sniffs the screen and says "I know you're out there."

@Troper No 9001 Same for me.

I believed that there were only two genders.

Please explain. I was under the impression that transgender people were counted under the gender they "felt" they belonged to (or are you talking about hermaphroditism?).

When I was 10, I thought I'd have lots of sex by the time I was 15. I'm a 17-year-old virgin.

There's also people who are what's called non-binary, meaning they're neither gender, and may be another gender altogether or agender.

I think. Someone correct me if I'm misusing terminology here.

EDIT: Oh, and there's also gender-fluid people who have variable gender. I think they also count as non-binary? I'm really not as knowledgeable about this stuff as I should be...

edited 14th Feb '15 6:18:32 AM by Zarek

So gender-fluid people change gender like parrotfish?

I'm pretty sure parrotfish would change sex? I mean do animals even have a concept of gender? So not like parrotfish because they would change gender by what they are feeling.

edited 14th Feb '15 2:26:21 PM by phantom1

@Spinosegnosaurus77 I am talking about non-binary genders. I know a person who is gender fluid for example. There are people who are neither male nor female.

I actually have a question about this, if it's okay to ask?

If a person doesn't feel male or female...is it that they feel out of place in the body they're in, or is it that they just go "I don't feel like a guy or a girl, I just feel like me"?

Because if it's the first I can understand not wanting to be called male or female. But if it's the second...Well, then don't you just go "I just feel like me, but my body has this set of parts, so I guess I'm the corresponding gender"? I mean, that's what I do. It's...not a big deal to me.

...I'm not wording this well...

I'm actually the same way as you in that respect (I like to call it "convenient agender;" I identify as a dude only because I have parts people think of as dude parts), but I think you're over-simplifying things.

The thing is that gender is distinct from sex. Gender is a mental and social construct; we created it ourselves. We created that construct based on sex, which is physical — basically what type of genitals you have. But though gender is based on sex, it's still distinctly different and doesn't always mesh with how people generally think of it.

From what I understand, not all transgender people actually feel uncomfortable in their bodies. It's not a "I wish I was born a girl" type of thing — in fact, that idea is kinda super offensive. Transgender people were born to their correct gender. They just have a sex that we, societally, don't associate with that gender, which they may or may not be comfortable with.

As for the "I just feel like me" thing, there's people who identify strongly as agender, unlike you or I passively being just like "call me whatever, s'cool." So, for them it's uncomfortable to be called "he" or "she" when who they really are is "they" or "xe."

I'm probably not explaining this terribly well. If someone who is not straight white cis male scum would like to try explaining it better, please do. (Or, y'know, we could get back on topic, as interesting and important as I feel this sort of conversation is.)

Ah, thanks! That was a really good explanation.

Ah, yes, the topic of this thread. Uh...I used to seriously believe that that apple seed I took from my apple at after school care, covered in dust and "watered" every day with my cordial would grow...

@Muka I thought the plum pit I planted in my mom's garden would grow too. I'm not even sure if I watered it.

I thought that love handles were actual handles that grew out of a woman's sides when she had sex. The man had to hold on to them.

Zarek - the one issue that always gets blown away from it though is how there's gender as identity, and gender as everything else. The former isn't socially constructed so much but everything else associated with gender is.

It's kind of hard to explain unless you've been in a situation where your mental health comes tumbling down because of how you were born and assigned, but the two are separate but linked.

When I was very very little, I used to think that As Told by Ginger used to air on both Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. I think the reason I thought that was because I thought Ginger and Mike from Mike, Lu & Og were the same character, and thus it was the same show. (They are both red-heads. I guess I thought all animated red heads were the same back then if they weren't Pepper Ann.)

edited 28th Feb '15 5:49:20 PM by kablammin45

When I was little, I thought the brushes on the sides of an escalator sent signals to a hidden camera everytime someone's foot touched them. I kept my feet away from them ever since in case the safety police caught me.

For four months I thought dragons were real.