Hints that are not taken are equivalent to no hints. Explanations that are not understood - and very few are really - amount to no explanations. Reality is more mysterious than legends, which often offer simple though unrealistic explanations.

A classical legend tells us who is the good one, e.g. "our people" in WWI or in religious conflicts. Urban legends do not offer such a meaning, but often a full scientific-looking explanation such as a spider hatching in a wound.

Those who want to understand their fellow human beings, at least to some extent, must first learn not to be too sure about anything, e.g. about the quality of their marriage. The best stories teach us that.