What were some misconceptions you had about the world when you were a child?

[Simfan34]

Yeah, I used to think that when you deposited money in the bank you were actually putting the money in a vault (well, safety deposit box) somewhere, so I was utterly baffled as to how ATMs worked. I eventually came to the conclusion that ATMs were a sort of loaning system- that you could withdraw what you pleased and some guy would come later to your individual box and physically take out the amount you had withdrawn.

Later I was able to conceptualise some mechanism that allowed one to note the amount of money in the (physical) account, thus removing the loaning aspect (you couldn't withdraw more than your balance), but still keeping the idea that your money was physically in a box somewhere. And that a check involved someone going to the payer's bank account, taking the cash, and physically depositing it in the payee's bank account.

I actually don't think I ever "realised" I was wrong about this, I just eventually dropped the idea that a physical account existed.

[Simfan34]

For a while, I was under the impression that Americans admired Mexico because of its ancient civilization and its beautiful colonial architecture.

Well, some of us do.

[Simfan34]

When you arrive at the airport the lady puts your luggage on a conveyer belt which dissapears, when you arrive at your destination your luggage comes up from underground on a conveyer belt, to my 5 yo mind this meant your luggage didn't go on the plane with you, it stayed on the incredibly fast conveyer belt and followed the plane underground all the way.

O_0

I thought that too. I wondered why people weren't putting two and two together and taking the conveyor belt

That actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it (from the limited knowledge of a child, that is). I wonder if I thought that.

I didn't realize that pickles were made from cucumbers until age 6 or 7. 

More like 16-17 for me, if not later.