When I was little, I used to believe that instead of people moving when they walked, the earth moved in the direction they wanted to go, and the people were stationary. I never did figure out how so many people could walk in separate directions if the earth was moving. I never really though of it - I just knew that when I walked, the earth moved, and when I stopped, it stopped, and it must be the same for everybody else!

Ella Wonderwinkle

From years of watching Gilligan's Island, I knew that quicksand (which frightened me) was common on islands. When I learned that Manhattan was an island, I was terrified by the thought of an upcoming trip there. I comforted myself by planning to stay only on pavement or in buildings AT ALL TIMES, fortunately pretty easy in Manhattan. I survived.

Anon

well when I was little, I thought we lived inside the earth, like in the core. one day I asked my mother how astronauts broke through the earth to get to outer-space. A also wondered how they could fix the holes that must be there. I was horrified when i found out we don't actually live inside...

Anon

When I was a kid, I believed islands floated on the ocean like a boat. The first time my family ever drove to Statin Island in our car, I sat in the back seat terrified that we would sink at any moment or drift away from the mainland.

Anon

Until I was about 15 I honestly believed that the atmosphere was a tactile layer that held us inside the earth. I believed that if we walked on the outside of the earth that we would just float away. It took my step father telling me the truth to make me understand that I was very mistaken :-)

Dawn

When I was very little, my Dad took me to his friends church where they said something along the lines of our being surrounded by God's presence. In my imagination, I pictured the world as being inside God's belly, and much like a snow globe, the sky was the top of His belly (from the inside), and the ground was along His back. When He drank something, it rained; when He coughed, there were earthquakes; when He moved around, the tides rolled in (like when you move in a full bathtub) and when He had gas, the winds would blow. You get the idea. It changed the way I looked at the sky and made me feel just a little claustrophobic.

Silverchild

When I was young, about 5, my mom told me that a bog was a place where when you go in and come out you turn into a mummy. The visualization I got from this was a hole 3x3 feet big, with green fog coming out of it, and mummys coming out of it.

John

I used to think that volcanoes and geysers was the earth vomiting or taking a shit (especially because a lot of geysers i saw when i went to yellowstone for vacation smelled horrible. I didn't know it was because of sulfur)

Shawn

i used to think that hills and mountains were dried updead giants that used to live a long time ago

jammin

When I was little, I believed the hills were giant dinosaurs, waiting to awaken. This scared me to no end on trips to the local snow fields. I still don't know if this is true or not

James

I was about 4 when my mother told me the world was round. I then had this picture of a circle of terraced housed floating in space, with the sweet shop in the middle.

Janet

When I was in kindergarten, I'd walk home from my bus stop every day BUT stop at a large rock and talk to it, telling it all about my day and my deepest, most secret feelings. I did this the whole year and thought it was my best friend.

Gina

after i learned that the globe was spherical, i was very confused. I thought that the moment iget to the poles (north/south) i would definately fall, and i wondered how ocean waters never fall in space.

kenny

When I was a little girl I used to believe that Islands floated and were attached to the bottom of the ocean with a bath chain and plug

Jessica Louise

I used to believe that the world was God's snow globe, and that that we all lived in this snow globe...when I would look up at the sky I saw that it was round, so I knew it had to be a snow globe..So I never wanted to do anything bad because I knew that he was watching

Rossy G.

I used to believe that the creek and wooded area behind my house led to a far away land where magical things went.

That creek was a special place to me in my childhood, we went there often with the neighbor kids and played in it. It was my own wilderness oasis.

Heather

I used to believe that rocks could breathe because when you put the ones with cracks in them in a bucket of water, bubbles would come out of them.

I remember telling my mom and dad, and them saying "No, thats not right." And I said "Yes! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Heather