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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
J. F. 3 years ago
They found ancient roman vases in South America and American plants in ancient egypt graves. Even claiming Vikings were first is quite wrong
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Why cant white people accept that non-white people didn't *need them* to do great thigns!
Jasper Cool 3 years ago
I can only speak about white people in the U.S. But our school history books are full of inaccuracies about Indigenous culture and civilization in the Americas. Then you have that manifest destiny/religious ideology of Christian white people being given dominion over the land that propagated expansion further west. How do you justify murdering and stealing land unless you can pretend to be superior. And then there's US ideology of "democracy" and capitalism which is how excuses got made to subjugate or exploit. Our world history classes rarely if ever covered Asian or African history. In my state it is required at the high school and college level to take classes about Native culture or history and it's becoming more common to have Native instructors and textbooks. My kid's school district has pretty forward thinking education goals but we talk a ton at home about the beauty and accomplishments of different civilizations and the unvarnished truth regarding colonialism.
Load More Replies... 
Andy Frobig 3 years ago
I read an article today about a cave in northern Yukon that has evidence of human occupation 24,000 years ago. Even without this, the date of humans racing the Americas has been pushed back well before 15,000 years ago.
Riley Quinn 3 years ago
Then there is this evidence of Africans making it to the "New" World before Columbus or the Vikings. https://www.lahc.edu/studentservices/aso/bsu/knowyourhistory/10PiecesofEvidenceThatProve.pdf
Jo Iverson 3 years ago
Sh*t almost every civilization was in the US before Columbus. They don't acknowledge it in case someone else wants to lay claim to us.
#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*
#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.
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.
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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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