Human idiocy, just like our creativity, knows no bounds. Whether it's a temporary brainfart or something more severe, it seems that we always find a way to push the limit.
And you couldn't find better proof of this than the subreddit r/facecpalm. Created all the way back in 2009, this online community describes itself as "a gallery of inexplicable stupidity" and currently has over 6 million members constantly looking for new 'artworks' for its 'collection.'
Over the years, they have collected plenty of examples of people making a complete fool of themselves both online and in real life, so we thought it would be interesting to make an exhibit, featuring the most memorable ones. Continue scrolling and enjoy!
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Well You're Not Wrong
It Is Insane
We reached out to the people who look after r/facepalm and one of them agreed to tell us more about the community.
"We moderate according to Reddit's content policy and that means that most of the comment moderation we do is to remove bigotry and racism," they told Bored Panda.
"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."
What About Nurses Who Wear Them 8 To 10 Hours A Day
In Fact, It’s Happened 7 Times
You can see a lot of different themes on the subreddit, and the mod 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."
But there's a way to determine what we can expect from r/facepalm. According to research, people see actions as stupid for three primary reasons: the actions reflect a foolhardy level of risk, an absent-mindedness and lack of practicality, or an impulsive lack of control.
So even though the word 'stupid' sounds subjective, scientists have discovered that people are very quick to identify it.
"People don't spend time on judging if something is stupid or not," study researcher Balazs Aczel told Live Science. "It comes instantaneously, and as our results showed, they have high agreement. If one person calls something stupid, there's a high likelihood others will do the same thing."
The First Women In The Epitome Of Stupid
This is inhumane on so many levels.... Please never ever say things like this... these days, even babies get raped... old women are getting rape... the fact is a sick mind can do such a thing and will think of any excuse possible...
You Can Still Breathe Idiot
"Let's Spend 10 Grand On Jewelry"
Scientific Name = Poison
It might seem unusual or even strange to investigate how people decide that something is stupid. But scientists love a challenge and researchers who study decision-making had no information, beyond anecdotes, as to how people decide whether an action is stupid.
So the team collected news stories and other online content that someone had described as stupid.
One example was a news story about a robber who set out to steal cellphones, but lifted GPS devices instead — and failed to switch the devices off, allowing the police to discover them (and him) immediately.
Next, the researchers invited 154 different students to gather examples of stupidity from their day-to-day life and read the stories, asking them whether each qualified as stupid.
The students (who were all Hungarian) then chose possible reasons from a long list as to why they'd decided each example would qualify for the label.
Hint Hint
Logic
Who Ever Runs That Station Is Dumb
"It harms everyone, but it harms some vulnerable people even more, so it is, worth it" is not stupid. Nobody is that stupid. That's just evil.
Now Your Own Decisions Belong To A Man You Haven't Met
This makes me very mad. Even after I had 2 kids I still had to fight to get my tubes tied because "what if you and your husband wan't more kids?" Grrrrr
The reasons fell into three categories. The first, dubbed "confident ignorance," is when someone tackles something high-risk without the required skills. The cellphone/GPS caper was a prime example of this kind of stupidity.
The next category was "absent-mindedness," which applied to situations where people knew the right thing to do, but for some reason weren't paying close attention. Aczel said one example would be walking out of the store without paying for your groceries.
The third kind of stupidity was described by a lack of control. It occurred when people knew they shouldn't do something but couldn't resist their impulse to do it anyway. Reaching for the third slice of cake when you know you'll get a stomachache later is an example of this kind of stupidity, Aczel explained.
I Get It Now
Ditto everytime I used the expression "avoid it like the plague." I was wrong. Shockingly, I've learned people don't avoid plagues.
Well Well Well... How The Turntables
The American pride still baffles me after all those gruesome things they've done... All countries have a bloody history, but few have such a misplaced pride
Russia and china have done far worse and have way more national pride. Just saying.
Load More Replies...A truth will remain a truth even if no one believes it, a lie will remain a lie even if it convinces everyone.
Seriously the amount of death that has happened as " revenge" have multiplied exponentially the amount of deaths necessary for that tragic event. Do you really think killing off innocent children and people in villages will make you feel better because some American people died? Suddenly now all the innocent lives that are lost that aren't American don't matter, this is a sick back and forth and as an American person I'm fed up with it. Let the memorial stay just that, a memorial and quit holding grudges and causing more deaths
It's always been that way here. Growing up in the 70s & 80s, whatever international tragedy was occurring, they just had to say how many Americans died out of the x total, as if ours mattered more. Never liked that
Load More Replies...Down vote me all you want but this was a sweet reply according to Charlie kirk logic.
It's actually a whataboutism. A logical fallacy.
Load More Replies...Charlie Kirk is another level of moron. He's Ben Shapiro wrapped in Alex Jones with a sprinkle of Tomi Lahren.
If a yeast infection was a person, it would be Charlie Kirk.
Load More Replies...Ignorant right-wingers who get all their "information" from Fox "News" actually believe Portland, Oregon was completely destroyed by BLM protestors - which I'm sure would come as a surprise to the people who live there.
Load More Replies...It won't bring him back, but maybe the wave of rage will prevent future George Floyds because the police will actually be held accountable. People have peacefully called for change and it never worked. If you don't want violence, then stop the violence at it's source.
true i agree with Omar, but I also agree with charlie, they did attack us, i understand why; we were on their border fighting on their land, if they do that on American soil we would do the same if it were the Russians, but killing? Why not just ask them to stop; religion, race, gender, whatever, you have no right taking the lives of others unless its eye for an eye with a specific someone,everyone in this world is taking it too far! Stop k-lling innocent people and just bring justice on those who did it! Why do you adults have to do everything so stu-id? THINK WITH YOUR BRAINS YOU HAVE THEM THERE FOR A REASON! Your dragging EVERYONE including US CHILDREN AND MINORS in YOUR MESS! We don't want to be in it! Just do your dang job right! Stay in your buisness , and leave kids and others alone unless they need it! LEAVE US ALONE FOR PETES SAKE! Like, your supposed to be more ma-ure than us yet you act lower??? Kids make better decidions! JUST. STAY. IN. YOUR. LANE!
The fact is no cities were "burned to the ground. " the fact is we did start a war and destroy a nation under false pretenses.
But large areas of many cities were torched. All over the country.
Load More Replies...WMD was on the table, at one point. Seriously. Almost started WWIII.
How come the ONLY ONE country in the history who used atom bomb on people assumes the moral and power to control who may have nuclear weapons.
We saw how deadly they are and unlike other countries our leader can't just press a button. He has to have permission.
Load More Replies...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yet he has a world stage, makes millions and you troll on a European website.....classic
Load More Replies...The war against Afghanistan was to stop further attacks by a terrorist run nation who would be stopped no other way. The Blm riots were all about revenge. Most of the people worst hurt were other innocent African American bystanders. That's what made the Blm motive ring hypocritically hollow to the rest of us. Revenge is no worthy cause for a fight, but preventing more deaths is.
A country can rebuild a building. Not so easy to rebuild a human being.
It will not bring him back, nor did did the police who should have or the city he was living in which did not appear to be burning.
Why bring up one tragedy to counter a point about violence in a city?
I think it's particularly bizarre that he thinks that the protestors think that they knew why they were rioting.
George Floyd was a career criminal but he has now been made into a sort of folk hero and a lot of other lives were lost because of this people are very odd.
the 2 are not the same. First floyd was a criminal doing a crime while being high on drugs and had medical problems. He resisted arrest which got him in a bad position with cops who may have over did their procedures. The twin towers was an act of war with terrorist that would continue to do this if we didn't try to stop them.
What about the Obiden administration leaving our soldiers behind to die in Afghanistan ?
Another false equivalency. Iraq and Afghanistan were a product of terrorism and inflicted by the government. The blm riots were products of false narratives but still homegrown terrorism
Which cities Tom?? Burned TO THE GROUND? go fearmonger elsewhere with your b******t hyperbole.
Load More Replies...I assume you're referring the the lazy self-centred criminals who profit off the oil obtained by destroying a country...?
Load More Replies...I Wonder Why America Is So Unhappy?
As an america we need to learn and evolve from other countries example
She Didn't Deserve It
According to Aczel, stupidity is an interesting concept because it doesn't always track with intelligence.
Even people who possess a very high IQ can make extremely dumb moves. The research revealed that judging a behavior "stupid" reveals the observer's expectations of how someone should behave, he said. But the person doing the stupid thing might be operating according to a different set of expectations or goals.
Gun Ownership
Apparently Canada’s Healthcare Is Bad
It Was Media Control All Along
Checkmate
Clearly you havent been burdened with an over abundance of brain cells
On a more practical level, you might be wondering if any of this matters. But understanding why people call something stupid might provide better ways to call out dumb behavior, Aczel highlighted. For instance, it might be more helpful to tell someone they're being overconfident than that they're being stupid.
They’re Everywhere Man!
"Going Everywhere"
70,000 Covid cases came directly as a result of Donald Trump's rallies. We don't need propaganda, we have the votes.
They're Confused
Math Is A Myth
After the research, the team said they plan to concentrate on the cognitive mechanisms people use to monitor others' behaviors. One mystery, Aczel said, is the question why people find stupidity so amusing, a fact that drives more and more people to become members of r/facepalm.
"People want to watch other people doing something stupid as a source of amusement," he said. And it's hard to argue with that.
An 8 Year Old Shouldn’t Have To Do This
Yeah, How Dare He
Yes, shame on him for kissing and probably saying "I love you, I'm proud of you" to his son.
Just Your Average Pro Life Hypocrite
She is apparently answering her own question. She is not pro life, just anti abortion.
Cops Pepper Sprayed Their Own Senator Without Realizing He's An Authority Figure
For Me It Feels Weird To See 6:00 Instead Of 18:00
How Can People Break-Up For Such Stupid Reasons!
"Risk ginger grandchildren" - wtf. But a boyfriend who dumps his woman on command of his mom is a bullet dodged, no matter what.
Having A Functioning Circulatory System
No, perverts are criticizing women for not having the photoshop boobs they usually jerk off to.
Hospital Bill
Sorry Buddy, It's Not Christmas Yet
It's A Great Time To Be A White Debt Collector
It Is Pride Month
Slayed
“If Masks Were Necessary We Would Have Evolved One By Now”
But Nasa Uses The
Antivax Logic
The State Of The World
Most people make decisions unconsciously, because of feelings or bias or whatever is floating around in the depths of the brain... and then they look around for facts to validate a decision that's already been made without benefit of facts. This is why sane people make decisions that seem irrational, and it's also why the Universal Basic Intelligence Test is seeing whether a person will change their mind about something when provided with information that proves a previous decision or opinion wrong. Intelligent people change their minds according to the best information available, stupid people cling to stupid decisions.
Technically The Truth
High Iq Destruction
I know plenty of people who didn't learn a language, didn't read a poem and didn't memorize a fun fact ánd have no muscles to show for it.
Not A True Catholic!
It-It's Almost As If Services Become Easier With A Modernized World? And That Baby Boomers Laughing That Millennials Can't Use A Rotary Phone Is-Pathetic?
What If We Made An App That Would Endanger Lots Of Women?
Apparently There’s Something Wrong With Using A Stock Photo
Ah Yes, Chemistry
She has exploding, vagina-smelling candles. And people buy them. People are stupider than I thought...
Yoga>homeless People
Note: this post originally had 130 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
🤦🏻♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏿♀️🤦🏻🤦🏼🤦🏽🤦🏾🤦🏿🤦🏻♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏿♂️ (Idk which one is you)
Load More Replies...I haven't even read this yet but I'm willing to bet that 80% of them are dumbass Conservatives.
I was wrong. I admit it. Only 70%. The rest are dumbass conservatives commenting.
Load More Replies...Is this a repeat of another BP post or three? I swear we've seen most of these before.
Most of these post are done by left wing liberals whining because not everyone wants to be exactly like them.
Such overt propaganda with no alternative views actually given any respect. You don't want to listen to any countering ideas because it doesn't fit your narrative. Well done you close minded fool.
Which one triggered you the most? Perhaps these hit a little too close to home for you?
Load More Replies...Well, Q-anon has a lot of followers so that makes them sheeple too, right?
Load More Replies...Because prevention is better than cure. Because natural immunity means that at risk population will get it and clog healthcare services. Yeah natural immunity worked for the plague too, millions of deaths later. Just get vaxed already
Load More Replies...🤦🏻♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏿♀️🤦🏻🤦🏼🤦🏽🤦🏾🤦🏿🤦🏻♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏿♂️ (Idk which one is you)
Load More Replies...I haven't even read this yet but I'm willing to bet that 80% of them are dumbass Conservatives.
I was wrong. I admit it. Only 70%. The rest are dumbass conservatives commenting.
Load More Replies...Is this a repeat of another BP post or three? I swear we've seen most of these before.
Most of these post are done by left wing liberals whining because not everyone wants to be exactly like them.
Such overt propaganda with no alternative views actually given any respect. You don't want to listen to any countering ideas because it doesn't fit your narrative. Well done you close minded fool.
Which one triggered you the most? Perhaps these hit a little too close to home for you?
Load More Replies...Well, Q-anon has a lot of followers so that makes them sheeple too, right?
Load More Replies...Because prevention is better than cure. Because natural immunity means that at risk population will get it and clog healthcare services. Yeah natural immunity worked for the plague too, millions of deaths later. Just get vaxed already
Load More Replies...