A
misconception that has spread to
the general populance. A
popular misconception generally starts as a rumor, then rapidly spreads through
gossip. PMs can last for thousands of years, and sometimes no amount of proof can disperse them. Also, PMs are related to
common misconceptions, though technically are not the same thing.
Popular misconceptions are:
Blondes are stupid.
Black people are stupid.
Spinach makes you strong.
Everything from Microsoft is bad.
The sun revolves around the Earth. (this held on for a looong time)
These conceptions are all more or less assuredly wrong. Still, they hold on with certain groups of people for undeterminate lengths of time. Another problem with popular misconceptions is that sometimes part of the misconception IS true or the fact is just not proven otherwise. Say in the example of "Fish is brain food and makes your brain grow.". Fish IS healthy and is linked to being good for your brain. But the brain doesn't directly GROW from eating fish. And for that matter, it isn't entirely PROVEN that fish is good for your brain.