Table of Contents for You Know What They Say...: The Truth About Popular Beliefs

Introduction 1
Don't swim for an hour after eating 9
Women want sex for intimacy; men want sex for pleasure 11
Chocolate causes acne 15
People become more conservative as they get older 17
Lemmings commit mass suicide 20
Capital punishment is a good way to keep the murder rate down 21
Beauty is only skin deep (or You can't judge a book by its cover) 25
Catherine the Great died from horsing around 27
Lots of people are just tone-deaf 28
No two snowflakes are alike 30
Rewards motivate people 31
Spicy food is bad for the stomach 35
Couples should beware The Seven-Year Itch 36
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer 38
Familiarity breeds contempt 40
Women's moods change at "That Time of the Month" 41
When college teams win, the bucks roll in 46
Absence makes the heart grow fonder vs. Out of sight, out of mind 48
Salt raises your blood pressure 49
The full moon makes people crazy 50
The squeaky wheel gets the grease 53
Abused children grow up to abuse their own children 54
Time flies when you're having fun 56
If the Atomic Bomb had not been dropped on Hiroshima, the war would have continued and even more lives would have been lost 58
Boys are better at math than girls 63
Laughter is the best medicine 64
Reading in the dark will ruin your eyes 68
Humans are naturally aggressive 69
Watch out for subliminal advertising 72
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day 75
Actions speak louder than words 78
After the baby comes the blues 79
Competition builds character 81
An elephant never forgets 84
Great minds think alike 85
Carrots are good for your eyes 88
Plead insanity and you can get away with murder 88
Playing hard to get makes one more attractive 91
You can catch cold from being chilled--and cure it with chicken soup 94
Picking up babies every time they cry will only spoil them 99
Power corrupts 102
Boston drivers are the worst 104
You're never too old to learn vs. You can't teach an old dog new tricks 106
Don't marry your cousin 109
Female praying mantises eat their mates 111
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 112
Expressing hostility gets it out of your system 113
Fright can turn your hair white overnight 118
Nearsighted people are smarter 119
He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword 123
No pain, no gain 124
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone 126
Most homeless people are crazy 127
Religious people are more altruistic 129
Women reach their sexual peak after age thirty; men, in their teens 131
Spare the rod and spoil the child 135
Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis 138
Basketball players shoot in streaks 141
More people commit suicide during the holidays 143
Firstborns are different from other children 144
Marijuana today, hard drugs tomorrow 148
Creativity requires a touch of madness 150
People are starving because of overpopulation 154
Like father, like son 155
Kids don't read because they're addicted to television 157
Women are more empathic (and intuitive) than men 161
Grouping students by ability allows them to learn better 163
...Mondays always get me down 166
Marry in haste, repent at leisure 168
Don't have sex before the big game 170
Adoption cures infertility 171
Blind people are blessed with supersensitive hearing 174
Adolescence is a time of turmoil and alienation 176
There's safety in numbers 178
Stress is bad for you 180
Birds of a feather flock together vs. Opposites attract 182
...A woman's work is never done 184
Blondes have more fun 186
Necessity is the mother of invention 188
Ignorance is bliss 190
Commonly misused words 195
References 197
A Note to Readers 229
Index 231