Urban Legend

An urban legend appears mysteriously and disperses many different ways. It incorporates elements of humor or horror, and usually is told for storytelling. Urban legends do not have to be false, but most turn out to be.

• The first urban legend I had never heard of but thought was interesting was when a class decided to teach their teacher about conditioning, and 'teach' him to lecture by the trash can. This is done by paying attention when he is near it, and be loud and disruptive when he is away from it. I think people could fall for this because it is not too extreme, and creative. Perhaps this is an example of something that people want to believe, so they do.

• The next urban legend I read was about a man that took his dog out for a walk every night. However, he was sick one night and the women had to do it. The dog lead him to an attractive female's house and there was a piece of meat waiting for the dog, and it showed her husband cheated on her every night. Again, this could be an example of people believing the story because they want to. A dog could also be conditioned after going there every single night to leading the wife there, so this could be true. Many people are caught cheating on their significant other, so people could believe this is just another true story of someone getting caught.

• The last urban legend I examined was about a virus named 'An Internet Flower For You.' It gives a warning not to open an e-mail labeled this because your computer will not be able to boot up if you do. This is definitely one I would see people believing to be true, although it is not. There are many viruses through the web, labeled with names like the one proposed, that are true. This is one urban legend that I would probably believe.

I read through many different urban legends, however I could not find very many that I have heard before. Most urban legands that I have easy access to are on the internet, and sent by e-mail. However, I have a tendency to just delete these e-mails because I get way too many forwards that I am just not interested in reading. However, I found one that I had heard of. This urban legend was about 2 students who missed their exam, and told their professor that they had a flat tire. Their make-up exam then just asks one question, "which tire'?”. I have heard of this one, and I thought this was a clever story that was just made up. There is no proof that this happened, but it is something that could have been concocted and followed through with.


I believe the Internet is so prone to urban legends because it is so easy to access and send them. The ones I have read have been easily sent through e-mail, and it's easy to read them as opposed to researching in books and such for them. People can read what is sent to them or what they read online, and whether or not it is true they can send it. Urban legends are something that are not stopping anytime soon via the web, and I believe they are going to get even more fictional and crazier.