Urban Myths

Have you ever experienced a situation like this? You are having lunch with a good friend, and he or she leans forward and whispers, "This weird thing happened to my sister-in-laws cousin’s son, and she wouldn’t lie to me so it has to be true. He was playing in the Garden behind Burger King and two snakes came out of nowhere and bit him." Or, maybe you are at work and check you inbox and see a mail with a message that goes likes this, ‘Be Careful. Someone I know was driving through a deserted street in the middle of the night and was followed by a car that had no headlights on and there was no one sitting in the car.’

No, you are definitely not alone. There are millions of people out there who are either listening to or reading these same myths everyday. But doesn’t it ever confuse you? Because, these same stories are never displayed on the news, and you never get to read about them in the newspapers. Well, that is because these stories are all urban myths.

Urban myths or legends are those stories that have been developed over the years – their origins are unknown and they are usually unverifiable. Sometimes, these stories are just plain rubbish. They deal with a wide range of subjects and could involve children, women, men, companies, celebrities, famous places and even animals.

Yes, urban myths have been around for a long time now, but have increased over the years since the advent of the Internet. If you take the time to look beneath the surface of each of these myths, you’ll probably realize that these stories are all a lesson in moral science. Most legends warn foolish women about roaming the streets in the dead of the night, or reward those people who venture out to malls or parties with misfortune and death. Some stories tell people to be more careful while other myths take famous legends and add their own little ‘twist’ to it. Though it makes for some very good reading, unfortunately, these little ‘twists’ are all false. Urban myths are powerful, often times provocative and sometimes very dangerous.

However, there are many good websites on the Internet today that are devoted to exposing and disparaging these myths. On visiting these sites, you’ll probably be surprised to learn that so many of those stories that you heard when you were kid are all in fact nothing but urban myths. Most myths are altered to include the name of your town or the neighboring town, or a kid that once lived in your neighborhood.

Yes, most urban myths perch precariously on the threshold of reality and belief, maybe because they have the ability to exploit and awaken people’s fears and hidden superstitions immediately. As a result of which, they will always persist in spite of being exposed regularly.

Scientific employment’s has its own fair share of urban myths. Doctors or PhD’s who eventually end up pursuing a career as a waiter or a taxi driver. Legions of post docs bogged down in fellowships that sometimes last a lifetime. The need for more and more scientists is a certain ‘hot’ subject or sub-discipline, despite there being a never ending supply of scientists on the whole.

Yes, you can’t believe everything you read or hear these days. And no, Walt Disney did not have his head cryogenically frozen!

Urban myths can be fought off rather effectively, but only id you have an abundant of reliable information to prove these stories wrong. But, good and reliable is very hard to come by these days – at least you wont get it all in one place and at one time. It takes hours and hours of research and months of verification to make sure that the information is indeed true. But, the truth is indeed out there!