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30 Times People Tried To Share Their Knowledge Of History Online But Embarrassed Themselves Instead
We humans spend lots of time studying and analyzing the most essential moments of our history. After all, many of us strive to better understand our past and the world we live in. But knowledge also includes failure. While some people keep their factual mishaps low-key, others loudly declare their silly (and usually false!) opinions, making people smack their foreheads in disbelief.
Whether it's thinking that the Berlin Wall worked or that learning about WWII is bad for your mental health, some people clearly had a hard time with history, and it shows. Enter the subreddit r/FacePalm, self-described as "a gallery of inexplicable stupidity". The moderators ask the members to share screenshots of human idiocy, all for your amusement.
Bored Panda has selected the best examples of people making a complete fool of themselves and rightfully getting shamed for it online. Continue scrolling and upvote the ones you enjoyed most! And if you’re in the mood for some more stupidity of individuals both online and in real life, check out our previous posts here and here.
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#1
Burnnnnnnnnnnnn
RELATED:
#2
Dear Athiests:
#3
Won't Somebody Please Think Of The
Since its creation in 2009, the Facepalm subreddit has been steadily growing and becoming a true powerhouse of more than 6.1 million members ready to document people’s stupidity from forums, social media sites, or just real life. It comes as a great source of entertainment, and a dedicated moderator team stands right at the center of it.
One person who looks after this online group told Bored Panda in a previous interview that they moderate it "according to Reddit's content policy and that means that most of the comment moderation we do is to remove bigotry and racism," they said. "The subreddit's community is fine, for the most part. A lot of people come here to have a laugh at whatever silly thing is being posted and that's ok."
#5
The Deadly Argument For Going Natural
#6
“If Masks Were Necessary We Would Have Evolved One By Now” Lmao
When it comes to the topics that are well-liked by the community, the moderator said they can change quite fast. "[What's popular] really depends on what is on people's minds at the time. Currently, a popular topic is the insane lengths people go through to deny the facts about Covid."
You see, there’s truly no end to human stupidity. Some people will always be ignorant and believe they can become experts in politics, science, and whatnot overnight and blare their ideas online. Well, thanks to the members of this community who hunt down ridiculous posts, they do everyone a public service by shaming them online.
#7
Yeah I Think Native Americans Know More About The Land If They Lived Longer In It(Forgot To Add A Flair)
#9
Ironic Idiots
Thorsten M. Weisner 3 years ago
And the country that defeated it started by european colonization
There’s a myriad of scientific evidence that proves humans are poor judges of their quality of performance and abilities. Well, people believe they are smarter and more capable than they really are and often claim to know a lot when, in fact, they have very little knowledge about the subject.
A 1999 study in which David Dunning and Justin Kruger, psychology professors from Cornell University, showed how people tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities. The researchers asked participants to do four tests to assess their humor, grammar, logic, and then evaluate how well or poorly they thought they did.
The results revealed that most participants overestimated their performance, but the ones that scored in the bottom quarter were much more likely to overvalue themselves. "Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it," the researchers wrote.
#10
Wait Hold Up A Sec
Peppy Piplup 3 years ago (edited)
Ouch. It must sting when someone who you think is on your side tells you that you're an idiot.
#11
Failed The History Class
#12
Know Your Place Trash
"The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club," David Dunning told Vox. "People miss that." Our brains tend to hide our blind spots from us. That’s why we often feel more confident about our skills, knowledge, and abilities than we should. And often, we’re completely unaware of our overconfidence.
#13
Facebook Making Memes Unintentionally
#14
Maybe Rethink That Again...peter
#15
“A Bioweapon Against God”
"The work is about [how] when people don’t get it, they don’t realize they don’t get it," the professor explained that this is a phenomenon that visits all of us sooner or later. "Some of us are a little more flamboyant about it. Some of us aren’t. But not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition. The problem with it is we see it in other people, and we don’t see it in ourselves," he said.
#16
Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions.
#17
On Dinosaurs
#18
Redefining History
To become a bit more skeptical, modest, and aware of our cognitive blind spots, David Dunning recommends you to ask yourself where you could be wrong if the decision is an important one. "Think that through — it matters. Think about what you don’t know. That is, check your assumptions."
"On a more general level, a lot of the issues or problems we get into, we get into because we’re doing it all by ourselves. We’re relying on ourselves. We’re making decisions as our own island, if you will. And if we consult, chat, schmooze with other people, often we learn things or get different perspectives that can be quite helpful," he explained.
#21
You're Standing Right In Front Of The Best Example In The Whole World That Proves That Walls Don't Work.
Nadine Bamberger 3 years ago
Not only did it eventually come down and has been considered a cruel historical mistake since they built it, it was only part of what they called the "Todesstreifen", path of death. People were shot at and killed long before they could've climbed the wall. At least 140 have been killed in Berlin alone. It's a symbol of shame not an accomplishment.
#22
Numbrs... I Don't Know What I Say...
#23
She Forgot A Very Important Bit Of Information
#24
Big Brain Time
#25
Picasso Was Alive When Snoop Dogg Was Born.
Roadkill The Brave 3 years ago
Back when I was in high-school this was the ultimate 'omg that blew my mind' moment for a lot of people. The only reason I knew about it before then was my mom's ex was into art and she adored Picasso and Dali. Dali died in '89 I think.
#26
Someone Skipped 5th Grade History
#28
Absolute Genius
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
It is normal for students in Slovakia to visit Auschwitz around the age of 16 to see the brutal history of WWII with their own eyes. It's haunting. 17 years passed and I still remember the rings, shoes, hair, luggage, but most of all the eyes in the photos.
#29
The Image They Don’t Want You To See
#30
This Is Why The World Has Been Doomed…
Nadine Debard 3 years ago
Yeah the white blond-haired Mary of Israel. Very accurate portrait, though. *Facepalm*
Aroha 3 years ago (edited)
It's amazing how these people forget that Jesus and Mary literally were Middle Eastern, non-Christian refugees...
Not Proud British 3 years ago
Yeah cause a Jewish woman from Israel had pale white skin, blue eyes and blond hair....
lgbt_squid.12 3 years ago
like said above. say you havent read the bible without saying you havent read the bible.
SoozeeQ 3 years ago
I think somebody's been reading too many Dan Brown novels.
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Shelby Jackson 3 years ago
For the love of all that is holy PLEASE do not compare that nitwit to Mary. Wrong EVERYTHING.
over it already 3 years ago
Trump-loving Christian right = absolutely no lessons learned from the golden calf
Paul Davis 3 years ago (edited)
Didn't know Kayliegh McEnany was a Semitic Jew until now. Did she get her skin bleached or what?
Luther von Wolfen 3 years ago
I assume I "carry the same facial features, eyes, eyebrows, nose, lips etc" in the sense that I have eyes, eyebrows, nose lips etc. I have no reason to suspect that I actually look like any ancestor from 2000+ years ago.
Jill Chambers 3 years ago
I hope I'm not the first to point out it's not a contemporary painting!
Chava Bahle 3 years ago
C'mon, that is an actual unretouched photo of Mary. The resemblance is ... uncanny.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 3 years ago
Ah yes, my family carries the noble bloodline of white-bread, blonde-haired, sparkly white-teeth, Viking Jesus. Sometimes I wonder how these idiots have managed to survive so long.
John Baker 3 years ago
Ray, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you're ten kinds of idiot.
Brian Stanton 3 years ago (edited)
Only reason modern Jews are often light skin, a little thing call exile. Mixed ancestry
Derek Clark 3 years ago
My name's from the Bible and is Aramaic, and people often go: Oh but I thought it was something Middle-Eastern. Right.
Mosheh Wolf 3 years ago
People here are both right and wrong. While the people of the areas were very definitely not blond and blue eyed, they didn't (and don't) look how people imagine. What did thy look like?, well, you can think of Tony Shalhoub, who played "Monk", of Ralph Nader, or Murray Abraham. Both Steve Jobs and Seinfeld have a parent from Syria (Jews in Syria have been there as long as anybody else who lives there).
Jo Iverson 3 years ago
I thought I was bad talking about "hot Jesus". This is the same person who said Trump doesn't lie "he's guilty of imprecision".
Riley Quinn 3 years ago (edited)
Folx, here we have still another "Christian" who hasn't bothered to read the only efn book required of them.
Leesa DeAndrea 3 years ago
No record exists of what Jesus & Mary looked like or even a description of what they looked like. But since they were both semitic Jews they probably looked a lot like your average Arab.
DetongLhamo 3 years ago
So they’re saying Mary died her hair blonde, bleached her skin and got contact lenses. Wow- how did I not know this…?
Kylie Mountain 3 years ago
So much to unpack here, but leaving aside the entire issue of Mary being an Isrealite and definitely not blonde, and the lunacy of comparing people to random portraits of biblical figures... that is not how genetics work. At all. People are not an exact copy of an ancestor from 3500 years ago.
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
Eeehm. To the best of my knowledge Jesus did not have any siblings, nor did he have any children, so I guess his and Mary's bloodline pretty much ended with them. But some of you religious people might know the story better than I do, and can enlighten me (please stay on topic, and do not see this as a carte blance to start preaching).
Alexander 3 years ago
you know - when you really are into ancestry and stuff - that you "can" trace jesus ancestors (of corse depending on what source you use - is the bible a valuable source? ) back to the lines of ham and Shem, the pharao seth and the culture of kush at the lower nil...... (today sudan) So..... there is a good probability that not only his ancestors but jesus himself were very very black (:D you hardcore white christian idiots out there)
Kantami Blossom 3 years ago
I know the Big Yin works in mysterious ways and can do all sorts of "miracles" but finding a natural blonde in the Middle East is still some trick😂
Earl Grey 3 years ago
According to Genesis, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. You do the math. Take your time…
SoozeeQ 3 years ago
They also had Seth, who was born after Abel was killed by Cain. (Genesis 4:25) After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. (Genesis 5:4)
Load More Replies... #31
In My Defence I Never Did History (Double Facepalm)
Nadine Debard 3 years ago
We just need another sick megalomaniac prick with a good old nuclear weapon. And there's a bunch of them all over the world.
#32
"R/Facepalm" Can't Even Read The Url
#33
Tik Tok Is A Gold Mine
Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago
Imagine the look on the ancient Sumerians faces over 6000 years ago when the earth was created underneath their feet /s
#34
This Girl’s Presentation At My Local University
#35
Someone Wasn’t Paying Attention In History Class...
#36
I Love The State Of Canada
#37
Time To Hate White People For (Checks Notes) Walking In The Rain?
#38
History Professor Has A Very Rosy View Of The Hunter-Gatherer Life
Demi Zwaan 3 years ago
Too be fair, he is right. Agriculture wasn't good for our health, work, equality or the environment. I'm not saying being a hunter-gatherer was nice, but agriculture wasn't all that good either.
#39
Antivax Forever
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What do you think ?
Tracy Sellars 3 years ago
I love how currently under your post is one of those spam post. It's just proving your point.
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Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
This stuff reminds me of a person who recently claimed that dinosaur fossils exist because Earth was created by God around 6000 years ago from *pieces of other earths that did have dinosaurs milions of years ago*. How they can function remains a medical mystery. That's too much "WTF" to be survived.
ZAPanda 3 years ago
Look TBH jellyfish don't have brains and they survive.
Load More Replies...
Random Anon 3 years ago (edited)
This is what happens when education becomes politicized, turned into some propaganda tool and used as a commodity for profit.
Damon Tripodi 3 years ago
You know, while fun, the fake ones are just annoying, especially if people think some of these are real
Faith Hurst-Bilinski 3 years ago
Learning is really mentally straining. I know. Teachers are so abusive for making you think serious thoughts.
Leslie Burleson 3 years ago
Ugh, more stirring up dumb people into fighting online and possibly carrying the behavior into real life with real life consequences. Can we not ?
Ronnie Beaton 3 years ago
The ignorance of people about history - not just of their own country, but of history *in general* - is pretty much the sole reason I can't watch TV quiz shows any more. I just wind up shouting abuse at my TV and throwing things at it.
Tracy Sellars 3 years ago
I love how currently under your post is one of those spam post. It's just proving your point.
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
This stuff reminds me of a person who recently claimed that dinosaur fossils exist because Earth was created by God around 6000 years ago from *pieces of other earths that did have dinosaurs milions of years ago*. How they can function remains a medical mystery. That's too much "WTF" to be survived.
ZAPanda 3 years ago
Look TBH jellyfish don't have brains and they survive.
Load More Replies... Random Anon 3 years ago (edited)
This is what happens when education becomes politicized, turned into some propaganda tool and used as a commodity for profit.
Damon Tripodi 3 years ago
You know, while fun, the fake ones are just annoying, especially if people think some of these are real
Faith Hurst-Bilinski 3 years ago
Learning is really mentally straining. I know. Teachers are so abusive for making you think serious thoughts.
Leslie Burleson 3 years ago
Ugh, more stirring up dumb people into fighting online and possibly carrying the behavior into real life with real life consequences. Can we not ?
Ronnie Beaton 3 years ago
The ignorance of people about history - not just of their own country, but of history *in general* - is pretty much the sole reason I can't watch TV quiz shows any more. I just wind up shouting abuse at my TV and throwing things at it.
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