Resumo de Do Blue Bedsheets Bring Babies? The Truth Behind The Old Wives' Tales

Pop Culture authority Thomas Craughwell sets the record straight on the title question as well as some 100 other combinations of fact and fantasy known as Old Wives? Tales. An Old Wives? Tale can be defined as a descendant of Folk Tale and an ancestor of Urban Legend.The tale in question is stated at the beginning of each chapter along with a scale of 1 (completely false) to 5 (absolutely true) and a short synopsis of scientific studies which support or refute the truth of the tale. For instance the title question rates a solid 3. Blue is considered a calming color. A calm man is more likely to perform than a nervous one. But men are more likely to be color blind than women, so he might not be able to determine the color of the sheets and would not be influenced at all. The Luck section is the longest chapter in the book. Several of the other tales ?Walking Under a Ladder Is Bad Luck? (true, found in Safety); ?Its Bad Luck to Change A Boat?s Name? (false, found in Sports); ?Its Bad Luck To Kill A Bee? (true, found in Household Management) and ?Its Bad Luck To Buy A House Where A Murder Took Place? (false, found in Crime) concern good or bad luck as well.The most famous tale of all is ?Friday the 13th is Unlucky? (statistically shown to be true!) This tale combines the fear of the number 13 with the fear of Friday. Fear of 13 is based on the belief that 12 is a complete number. Twelve is the first number with more than two factors other than 1 and itself. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs in the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles of Jesus. An even dozen is as good as it gets. Add one more and the whole becomes unbalanced.The fear of Friday can be traced to the Bible. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday (or so the legend goes). Cain slew Abel on a Friday; the Flood began on a Friday; Solomon?s temple was destroyed by Babylonians on a Friday. In ancient Rome, Friday was the day set for executions. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. There were 13 people at the last supper.As with any belief, the truth is all in a person?s head. In Modern times, so many people regard Friday the 13th as unlucky that they refuse to leave home or make major decisions. An average of 52% more people are admitted to emergency rooms on Friday the 13th than other Fridays in the year.The collection is divided into 13 separate and unequal sections: (General Health, Pregnancy, Weather, Sports, Love, Safety, Marriage, Household Management, Food, Crime, Human Body, Luck and Animals).Some of the sayings mingle common sense and urban folklore. For instance, both ?Reading in Dim Light Will Ruin Your Eyes? (false) and ?Listening To Loud Music Causes Deafness? (true) found in the General Health section are almost as well known as ?People Only Use 10% of Their Brains? (false) and ?No Two Snowflakes Are Alike? (true). ?Shave Your Hair and It Will Grow Back Thicker? (false) is listed under the Human Body section as is ?Chocolate Cause Acne?. ?Men Have One More Rib Than Women? (false) is listed in the Marriage category. ?Powdered Rhinoceros Horn Improves A Man?s Virility? (false) can be found under Love rather than Animals like ?Ostriches Bury Their Heads In The Sand (false). The true, the mostly true and the patently absurd are given equal time in this enjoyable anthology that entertains and enlightens as it sheds new light on old sayings.

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