We were taught about AIDS before we were taught about viruses. We learned about viruses in middle school. But, of course, even in middle school, they had to teach us about AIDS first. Pretty much, all we knew about AIDS was that it had something to do with RNA and Helper T-cells, since those were the words they kept using. So up until high school, I always associated RNA as a diseased DNA.
So they described the process of how the AIDS virus spreads: the virus attaches onto a white blood cell and injects some of itself into the cell. The little viruses multiply and become more viruses until the cell is so stuffed with viruses that it explodes with lots of little AIDS viruses.
Very smart of them to teach us about AIDS before teaching us about viruses IN GENERAL.
See, the way AIDS infects the body is THE SAME WAY ALL VIRUSES INFECT THE BODY. But I didn't know that. So for years, I thought that all viruses that spread like that (which would be all viruses) were AIDS!
A childhood belief about chemistry
others believed things like this
- I used to believe that you could catch AIDS from just looking at a nud girl. Good thing I was WRONG— Mbm4615
- Yep I thought the Zephyr song was fly away on my cell phone— Jenny
- I thought the women in Prisoner Cell Block H were actresses banged up in prison themselves.— Reb Kean
- I used to think that teachers lived in school and they slept there and just woke up to teach us.— tammy
- I thought that wars had to last four years... just like high school and college.— A. Falk
- My mom used to think "preschool" was called "pretty school" until a few years later.— Molly