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What's a traditional / archaic concept that actually happens to be right, just not for the reason originally thought? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've been looking into feng shui lately, specifically the concepts about what makes a person feel more safe or at ease in a space, such as relaxing or sleeping facing the entrance / exit.

While reading, I came across the guidance that you should always shut your toilet seat to prevent your good fortune from being flushed. The real reason you should keep it shut is so it can't mist shit-water all over your toothbrush every time you flush. Also so your pets don't drink out of it.

What other things did humans throughout history accidentally get right?

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I looked this up for those of us who have no idea what this person is talking about:

Lamarckian inheritance, the idea that traits acquired during an organism’s lifetime can be passed on to its offspring, was largely dismissed for a long time. However, with the discovery of epigenetics, we now know that environmental factors can indeed cause changes in how genes are expressed, and these changes can be inherited. This means that while the DNA sequence doesn’t change, the way genes are turned on or off can be influenced by experiences and passed down to future generations, making Lamarck’s idea somewhat true in a modern scientific context.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

It's stretching it to say epigenetic marks are inherited across multiple generations. The influence weakens quickly.