r/IsItBullshit

I don’t even know where to begin… well actually I’ll begin with I am fairly certain it IS bullshit but am wondering if anyone else has heard this “theory”

I (F 61) just spoke with a 30ish y/o and she was elaborating on the “fact” that human fetuses are being dehydrated and ground into powder to add to our pre packed food and drink in order to keep us stupid, basically giving us mad cow disease. I have NEVER heard this before and I thought I’d heard everything. This woman seems so normal. What the hell are we even evolving into.

I’m just wondering if anyone else has heard someone believe this.

I am speechless.

I’ve seen this claim in flat Earth circles where people say the Davis Besse nuclear power plant can be seen from across Lake Erie, and that this should be impossible on a curved Earth.

The version I saw claims the observation is from roughly 27 miles away, usually from the Michigan side of Lake Erie looking toward the power plant in Ohio.

The argument is basically:

If Earth were curved, the plant should be hidden by curvature.
Since part of the plant is visible, Earth must be flat.

Is this bullshit?

From what I can tell, the cooling tower is very tall, the exact observer location and height matter a lot, and the lower part of the tower appears to be missing in the images people use for the claim. So it seems like seeing the upper part of a tall structure across water does not automatically prove the surface is flat.

I’m trying to understand whether this claim is actually valid, or if it leaves out important details like observer height, tower height, distance, refraction, and the fact that only part of the structure is visible.

I found out about Reddit a couple years back. I've heard about it before but never really knew what it was until I finally tried it out. I can't stand it. I've had questions about things that I asked in several different groups. Each one for some reason removed my post, even though it didn't violate any of the listed terms. I send a message to ask why and never get a response. Other groups I try say I don't have enough karma. How do you get karma? By commenting or posting and getting upvotes. But what if you can't post or comment to get upvotes when you don't have enough karma to even post or leave a comment? It's a ridiculous system if you ask me. I know everyone has their opinion but I find it useless and may be deleting my account soon if my posts in the other groups asking for assistance are deleted.

I’ve been experimenting more with AI tools lately for research and writing, and one thing I keep noticing is how differently models answer the exact same prompt.

Sometimes they mostly agree, but other times the reasoning is completely different even when all the answers sound confident.

Because of that, I started comparing multiple outputs more often instead of trusting one response. Recently I’ve been testing askNestr for this since it lets me view multiple model responses together.

What surprised me is that disagreements between models sometimes reveal weak assumptions or uncertainty way faster than fact-checking one answer alone.

But I honestly can’t tell if this is actually a smarter workflow or if it just creates the illusion of better reliability because multiple AIs are involved.

People who use AI heavily is this genuinely useful, or mostly placebo?

I remember when my mom taught me how to shave my armpits, she made sure to tell me that I should focus the razor only on the hairy part, and to be careful not to shave anywhere around it because it would make hair grow there. So basically, if I did, I'd end up with a huge patch of hair. I've always wondered, is that bullshit?

I’ve been struggling with chronic pain/ fibromyalgia for years and I’m seeking treatment. Nothing from bloodwork revealed anything, I still have a lot of expensive tests yet to take, and with specialists being booked so far out it could take a whole year to get them all done. Someone close to me is adamant that I take a paid online course by Heal With Grace and has been forwarding me messages from her email list. all the emails feel very snake-oil-y, as does the website. She claims to be a licensed somatic trauma therapist and nervous system coach, and all of the info dances around the nervous system coaching as if it’s a cure-all but never goes into *how* she’s attempting to “coach” the nervous system. Might be workbooks or repackaged CBT. I can’t tell if my gut is right or if this is an actual medical route I should look into. Im autistic and have trouble determining truth from fiction and when people are lying to me, so it would be great if I could get some other eyes on this. is it bullshit?

Assuming you can't get out without help because the edge is too steep or slippery. Even if you can swim you'd tire after a while.

I found an article from 2015 in Houyang Village near Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. A woman on her phone was seen on cctv falling into a canal, where she drowned.

According to police the canal was only chest deep but the slippery bottom made it impossible for her to stand up (she couldn't swim, so she couldn't swim to the steps a few feet away.)

Most of the articles in this were in Chinese, so no idea if it was properly autotranslated or not.

I keep seeing these ads over social media for a highland cow plush that "runs" when you shake it. If it works and looks as advertised, it's something my wife would love. But that's a big if. My attempts to Google it keep pointing me at similar-looking but different products, or at TikTok posts about it that I don't count as legitimate reviews.

Has anyone bought one, and if so, what were the results?

Edit: That's what I figured, I just wanted to check. Will not be buying. Thanks.

I have heard this claim everywhere that eating late at night makes you gain way more weight than eating the same food earlier in the day because your metabolism slows down at night. Many fitness influencers push this hard and say you should stop eating after 7 pm. I sometimes eat late due to my schedule and have been wondering if it is actually making a big difference on the scale. Is this timing rule backed by solid science or is the whole thing complete bullshit?

I remember hearing somewhere that back in the early USA days, your average white person did not own slaves, as buying slaves was expensive. So only like the top 5% of white people (top 5% money wise) could afford to purchase slaves.

I grew up hearing that any food left out overnight is basically toxic and will make you seriously sick if you eat it. My family would throw away everything from pizza to rice without thinking twice. These days I see people on social media saying they leave food out and eat it the next day with no issues. Is this rule actually based on real food safety science or is the danger claim complete bullshit?

Specifically for male pattern baldness not temporary hair loss.

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My mom is notorious for buying into snake oil nonsense and she was just recently telling me all about how she paid $800 to have her and my younger kid siblings' genetic testing done on LifeDNA.com. Apparently they are all rife with genetic issues like low COMT and methylation issues. I don't remember the specifics. She is now paying even more money to have the company send her tailored supplements to resolve these problems and make everything \*all better\*.

I read through some of the results and they seem kind of like horoscopes in that the symptoms they are describing could really be a problem for a lot of people to some degree (i.e. sluggishness, PMS, anxiety, attention issues, indigestion) keep in mind, all of my siblings are teenagers and like most teenagers, they kinda suck. They want to sleep all day, struggle to pay attention in school, don't want to eat healthy food, and are still learning to control mood swings associated with having a menstrual cycle.

My concern is that she is getting all of the information about these genetic issues from the company that is selling her both the means for testing and the solution. It seems super shady to me, but I'm having a hard time finding recent data on the subject. Is this legit? She seems to think it's a new era of medicine in which everyone will get healthcare tailored to their specific genetics. It just seems too good to be true.

The Internet and companies say replace your windshield wiper blades every 6 to 12 months, my car is 12 years old and I have never once replaced the wiper blades

ive seen a lot of ads claiming these emf blocking phone cases reduce radiation exposure significantly. they show test results and everything. is there any real science behind it or is it bullshit?

Dentists and ads constantly push electric toothbrushes as a big upgrade that removes way more plaque and prevents cavities better than manual brushing. I have been using one for the past year and my teeth do feel cleaner but I am not sure if it is worth the extra cost long term. Friends who stick with regular brushes seem to have just as good dental checkups. Is the difference actually significant or is this complete bullshit?

It makes sense to me that light would have an effect on our skin. Like when I vacation at a tropical country and come back home, my friends tell me how dark ive gotten.

What I am unsure of is exactly what kind of effect it has, and is it really noticeable? I imagine you are getting a much larger spectrum of light from the sun vs some LEDs. But does that actually matter?

And how long would you need to use RLT (Red Light Therapy) before seeing any noticeable effect? And how do you differentiate this effect from your skin just naturally healing over time? Do they factor in that people using RLT are probably more likely to be using a whole other host of skin products? How do they know it's the RLT doing the work and not some other product?

Genuinely curious about this as I am considering trying it, but I don't want to waste my time or money if it's all BS.