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The experience of just being alive is as wonderful as it is terrifying. The odds of our tiny planet spinning around a giant fireball being just right for habitation are minuscule, yet here we are. And while the world is a beautiful place, some aspects of it are truly horrifying (humans are to thank, in most cases).
Ignorance really is bliss, but curiosity often wins. Would our lives be easier if we weren't aware of the scary and disturbing things happening? Maybe, maybe not. Those things would still exist, whether we knew about them or not, but once you learn something, there's no way back. But hey, maybe then you could do something to change it.
One Reddit user wanted to learn some horrifying facts that shouldn't be true but are, and people made sure to deliver. Over 13k comments later, Bored Panda selected the most disturbing and chilling answers. From scary animal facts to the worst crimes humans have done, and continue to do - the facts on this list are eye-opening. Scroll down and upvote the most interesting entries, and if it gets too heavy, we have plenty of cat lists on hand.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
*Anyone* can have a child. We have tests for driving cars, you have to have certain qualifications for multiple professions, and yet there are absolutely no tests, checks, exams, nothing to make sure you're suitable to raise a human being before you bring a thinking, feeling person into the world
Of course, I don't know what the hell such a test would look like, but the existence of abused children who grow up into messed up people who may or may not perpetuate such abuse is just...sad
AndThenICommented 3 years ago
No 👎 Im sorry but this is a terrible idea. The reality is that there’s plenty of us who were abused by those that would have passed a test with flying colours - they know the right answers but twist themselves in reality. My dad and ex step mom were very charming, successful people. They were monsters behind closed door. Having a test really doesn’t matter. Education, mental health support, and lessening the largest stressors that lead to a large portion of abuse is far more effective.
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#2
In 2009 a paralyzed Belgian awoke from a **23-YEARS-LONG** coma, and it was discovered he was fully conscious and could hear everything around him the entire time.
Like.. What. The. Actual. F!?!? Just imagine lying there not being able to move for two decades but also being aware of your surroundings. That's all kinds of messed up nightmare fuel right there.
#3
Since 1978 in the US, the average CEO's pay has increased 937%, while that of the average worker has increased 5.7%.
#4
There is more actual lemon juice in lemon-scented Pledge spray than there is in Country Time Lemonade.
rosegoldmindset 3 years ago
so if i want a lemon taste that is strong but don't have a lemon, I should spray lemon-scented pledge spray in my mouth? sounds good.
#5
Being gay is illegal in 69 countries.
In 7 of those countries homosexuality is punishable by death.
Becca Kuehn 3 years ago
It's heartbreaking that this is true. I'll NEVER UNDERSTAND why some people hate someone based on something that they can not change. It's absolutely ridiculous!!!
#6
The existence of people who believe that the earth is flat, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that it isn't.
#7
The final moments of Andreas Prodromou, one of the flight attendants on Helios 522 that crashed in Greece in 2005. The pilots failed to flip a switch on the plane that would allow the plane to pressurise itself, not noticing it was switched to manual rather than auto. During the flight, the pressure in the cabin dropped, meaning the passengers and crew were slowly being drained of oxygen, and they soon lost consciousness. Andreas Prodromou managed to find a back up supply of oxygen, and even though he was suffering from hypoxia too, for a while he was the only one conscious as everyone was passed out and slowly dying around him.
As he held a UK pilots license, he entered the cockpit and sat down in the empty captains seat (Im not sure why the captain left his seat) in what investigators believe was an attempt to save the plane, but unfortunately his training was not enough, as he was only trained to fly small planes, not Boeing 737’s like the accident flight. He also called “Mayday” FIVE TIMES into the radio, but because it was tuned to the wrong airport, nobody could hear him. Soon after he entered the cockpit, the plane ran out of fuel, and the engines flamed out, so even if he could’ve flown the 737, there still was nothing he could’ve done. The plane crashed into the hills outside Athens, killing all on board.
Being the only one conscious whilst your colleagues and passengers die around you, not knowing what’s going on, and trying to help but not being able to do anything is just nightmare fuel to me.
#8
A lone pilot was flying in Australia in 1978. He reported to air traffic control that he was accompanied by an aircraft above him. When asked to identify the aircraft, he replied "It isn't an aircraft". His plane disappeared, and was never to be found again.
#9
Google fired two of their leaders in the AI ethics team for publishing articles about the dangers of an AI Google supported:)
#10
When you have scurvy, all your old scars and wounds open up, due to the vitamin needed to maintain scar tissue.
So for me for example, I had my jaw dislocated and my gums cut open from check to check to remove wisdom teeth.
If I got scurvy I would bleed uncontrollably from the inside of my mouth out.
What would be your most horrifying scar?
#11
Virtually everybody has the capacity to kill, they just haven’t been put under the circumstances where it would be a preferable option.
Joy JoyJoy 3 years ago
this is just like saying everyone can potentially eat sh*t but normally you wouldn't want to...
#12
Pigs can dispose of a body with relative ease
#14
in the NT (Australia) I remember seeing a government warning that crocodiles inhabit the area. Among the few bullet points of advice on the sign, the last one read "If they see you, it is already too late"
#15
How dark the BTS of the Wizard of Oz is. In Judy Garland's(Dorothy) own words "... they had us working days and nights on end. They'd give us pep-up pills to keep us on our feet long after we were exhausted. Then they'd take us to the studio hospital and knock us cold with sleeping pills- Mickey sprawled out on one bed and me on another. Then after four hours they'd wake us up and give us the pep-up pills again so we could work another seventy two hours in a row. Half of the time we were hanging from the ceiling, but it became a way of life for us."
#16
Snails have thousands of teeth.
Powerful Katrinka 3 years ago
For some reason, this doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I'm glad to know that snails have teeth.
#17
You could die at any moment without any notice and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
HelluvaHedgehogAlien 3 years ago (edited)
Well, you’re a nice little bright ray of sunshine aren’t you :(
#18
Human trafficking makes 150 billion a year in money
Becca Kuehn 3 years ago
Sad and Infuriating There are people who are raped repeatedly on a daily basis.
#19
There are more slaves today than there were during the transatlantic slave trade era.
Joolee 3 years ago
There are way more humans though, so stands to reason. Nothing else changes.
Red PANda (She/They) 3 years ago
Can someone look up the ratio of slaves to free people now vs. then? That would be more accurate to what this post is trying to convey.
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TomCat 3 years ago
Africa has many slaves: Slavery in the Sahel states of Mauritania, Mali, N***r, Chad and Sudan in particular, continues a centuries-old pattern of hereditary servitude. Other forms of traditional slavery exist in parts of Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria.
Phil Green 3 years ago
There are currently in excess of 42 million slaves in the world. Many are in Africa, calculated to be about 20 million.
Hannah M 3 years ago
Mostly because there are more people in general. But this should be no surprise: slavery was not unique to that era and culture. Slavery has been practised in every single period in history, by virtually every culture. What's unique about slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is the men like Wilberforce who recognised its evil and fought to stop it
Kay Phillips 3 years ago
Percentage is literally per capita (or per 100 capita), and the post doesn't say anything about it being a percentage
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RafCo (he/him/ele) 3 years ago
So I tried to find numbers on this, but the counting is a bit hard to process. There are 46 million enslaved people today. But that includes prisoners who are forced to work as part of their punishment. Finding numbers of enslaved people during the slave trade is tricky. At the height of slavery in the US, there were 3.5 million people in bondage, but the US was nowhere near the largest slave population. 40% of all enslaved Africans brought to the new world ended up in Brazil alone. So I'll just have to take your word for it.
Olof T 3 years ago (edited)
The thing is that the people moralizing about slavery are the same people that buy cheap items produced by slaves. When the industrial revolution started in Europe we depended on cheap raw materials, such as cotton, from the US. When the US banned slavery we started to colonize Africa. When Africa revolted we started to buy from China. It just moves around. But the principle stays. Slaves makes slave owners rich and the rest can buy cheap goods. Very few people handle the slaves. Millions or billions of people are involved in the production or consumption of products where slaves have been used somewhere in the process.
Allen Packard 3 years ago
I try to explain this to people. They just can't wrap their heads around it. I know it sounds wrong but is totally true.
Janet Graham 3 years ago
Partially because there are more people. I do believe that the percentage of the global population is about the same. Even during the transatlantic slave trade era, that only accounted for a portion of the global slaves.
Peter Ledoux 3 years ago
Certain countries allow it. A particular religion has no problem with it.
RafCo (he/him/ele) 3 years ago
Which religion are you referring to? I can think of five that have been used to justify slavery, and all three Abrahamic religions traditionally allow the practice of slavery, and openly refer to slaves in their holy texts. Then you've got the pagan religions, which don't really seem to care one way or the other. The only religion which I'm aware of that specifically prohibits the practice of slavery is Sikhism. The founding guru of the religion specifically preaches against the practice, but that is a rather young religion (founded in the 15th century). Still hundreds of years before the practice was banned in the West, but young in comparison to other religions.
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JayWantsACat 3 years ago
I wonder if the massive increase in population since then has anything to do with it. /s Nether situation is good, obviously, but that factor is always left out by people who try to spin the 'positives' of slavery.
Eliza Osenbaugh-Stewart 3 years ago
I call bull****. There are plenty of people working for c**p wages in dead-end jobs but that's not the same as being legally owned by another person, which is actual slavery.
StarlightPanda! 3 years ago
You have that wrong. It's "biased" to single out one race out of the many different people of the HUMAN race itself!
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#20
An estimated 1.5 billion disposable masks entered the oceans last year, and that's on top of a dramatic increase in other single use plastics.
Ed Brandon 3 years ago
We're the disease that really needs curing, and we're well on our way to doing so. Shame we have to take so much with us as we go down, but the earth will be fine in the end.
#21
Antibiotic resistance
#22
There are 18 genocides taking place right now on this planet, and dozens have happened since WWII ended.
#23
The Indian Cheetah and Sumatran Rhino were among some of the species that went extinct in 2019 along with;
Chinese paddlefish.
Yangtze giant softshell turtle.
Spix Macaw.
Catarina Pupfish.
Indochinese tiger.
Elita One 3 years ago
The Spix's Macaw isn't extinct. It was labeled extinct in the wild, all the remaining birds were captured and taken to a facility to be put in a breeding program. The program has been very successful and some of them have been released back into a secluded, heavily monitored and guarded area back in Brazil.
#25
Some monks used to endure a spiritual practice whereby they eliminated all their body fat through diet and exercise, ate wood lacquer tea to kill off internal bacteria, then sealed themselves in a tomb holding a string attached to a bell. A year after the bell stopped ringing, the tomb was opened and if the monk’s body was found to be uncorrupted they were revered as a saint; if not, they were re-buried.
The process took years and as they continued the monks required more and more help from their brothers until they entered the tomb. And the whole time you’d hear bells ringing from the nearby tombs as the monks inside slowly wound down the last days of their lives, voluntarily poisoned, starved, and buried alive for a chance at sainthood.
#26
Something is eating the Milky Way galaxy - no, it isn't the plot for a Star Trek episode, it's really happening.
In 2009, researchers found a cluster of galaxies moving at an extraordinary speed towards a small patch of sky between the constellations of Centaurus and Vela. Some unknown force is tearing away chunks of the galaxy, and astronomers still have no clue what exactly is causing it. It's been named 'Dark Flow.' There is something big out there, far bigger than anything in our known universe. Such a behemoth would impose a kind of “tilt” on the universe, causing matter to move in one particular direction – as observations of the dark flow suggest. Could be anything - upto and including another universe.
Shyla Bouche 3 years ago
Well, considering the earth only has about six billion more years, I don't think humanity is in a position where we need to worry about this.
#27
If a person gets bitten by an animal who has rabies, he will continue to live on a normal life for 12 weeks, and after the symptoms develop, there is no way he's making out alive. You'll know you're gonna die.
Icecream Sarang 3 years ago
People do survive rabies. Though rare, placing the person in an induced coma and letting the virus run its course has been known to work.
#28
An unbelievable number of people who die of dehydration do so with a fair amount of fresh water in their possession.
#29
In Mississippi and some parts of Florida, there is a Bacteria in the water at the coast that will literally eat your flesh off of you. Florida is much safer than Mississippi though. At least, in that aspect.
There is a mosquito in Florida that, when it bites you, can make your brain swell inside your skull and can possibly kill you.
#30
For me the fact that maybe we'll never know what hapenned to flight MH370 is kinda disturbing at least
#32
Within three days of death, the enzymes from your digestive system begin to digest your body.
#33
You might feel like the healthiest person in the world and yet still randomly die in your sleep. Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome is just one example. There are tons of small obstructions and irregularities that your heart could be suffering from that go completely unnoticed by you, your friends, and your doctors. You might be at an increased risk of just passing on when you go to bed tonight, and no one would even suspect as much until you actually died.
#34
you have a higher chance of dying to a swarm of bees than of winning the lottery
#35
There are many countries in the world where you can be put in prison or killed by the state for non-violent speech.
Shark Lady 3 years ago
Just look at Iran, peaceful protesters have been arrested and not seen again.
#36
There is a parasite that will eat your brain. It's called [Naegleria fowleri] and it lives in warm water lakes in the sand and silt in the shallows. It will swim up your nose and proceed to eat your neurons and your brain. Usually symptoms occur around 4 hours after infection and include headache, sensitivity to light and nausea. If you experience any of these after swimming in a lake you need to go to the hospital ASAP. If undiagnosed, you'll be dead within 24 hours. To diagnose it, you'll have to get a spinal tap and pray the tech working knows what to look for.
#37
The supervulcano under yellow stone is still active and can errupt. The chances are very low but If it does, It can cause devistation in whole USA. Spreading ashes over the whole Country and parts of Canada.
#38
- Long-dormant bacteria and viruses, trapped in ice and permafrost for centuries, are reviving as Earth's climate warms - Gamma-ray bursts can kill all life on earth without any warning - Asteroids can mess earth up
Mary August 3 years ago
And there is little I can do about #2 and #3 so I don't waste my energy worrying about them.
#39
The average American consumes over 150 pounds of sugar every year.
That’s approximately 187g of sugar per day for my metric system friends.
#40
UK is trying to ban protests deemed "annoying".
Shyla Bouche 3 years ago
I find protests annoying, too. *protests protests* Darn it all, now I'm annoyed and my arms hurt from holding up this sign.
#41
I don’t know how horrifying this might be, but if you get water between your contact lens and your eye and don’t clean it for a long period of time, there’s a chance some form of bacteria can get into your eye and will eat away your vision until it’s gone. Apparently doctors won’t know if it’s there until it’s too late as well. Always use solution folks!
rosegoldmindset 3 years ago
bro i need contacts.....i was gonna get contacts...... I'm not gonna get contacts
#42
Every single year, there are thousands of people in the US alone who disappear. Most of them show up again; usually the next day but sometimes a few days, a few weeks or even a few months later.
However, out of these thousands of people, there are roughly 150 people - every single year - who disappear and... simply never appear again. Nobody knows what has happened to those people. They might be dead, they might not be, we simply don't know.
Shark Lady 3 years ago
There was a map that showed a correlation between where people went missing from and Cave structures in the US.
#43
We all have mites in our eyelashes
#44
Pelicans and related birds, when they're too hot, push their spinal cords out through their mouths to vent excess heat.
#45
In just 1 kiss, over 80 million bacteria are exchanged
#46
Anesthesia Awareness. Babies don't have kneecaps. You have the ability to bite through your tongue but you brain is stopping you.
ISeeWendiGo 3 years ago
Babies have kneecaps, they're just made of cartilage (cartilage patellae) until around the age of 5-6.
#47
There’s a tree out there growing that’ll eventually be your coffin.
What do you think ?
Stardust she/her 3 years ago
Fun fact: there’s a hypothetical type of matter known as “strange matter” made up of strange quarks as opposed to regular matter made up of up and down quarks. Strange matter is so stable that if it touches a bit of regular matter, it may convert the regular matter to strange matter leading to a release of energy and more strange matter that goes and infects more matter
Stardust she/her 3 years ago
There’s a very small chance that a field known as the Higgs field could be in a false vacuum which means that we think it’s at the lowest possible level of energy but it’s actually more higher. If that’s the case then there may be a sudden drop in the energy to a more stable state that will create a sort of bubble of destruction that grows at the speed of light, detsroying all matter on the way. Inside the sphere, there may be a different universe operating on different laws of physics.
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Bluetoyou 3 years ago
Texas Parks and Wildlife on the Saturday morning show said over ten years ago that there are alligators in every body of water in the state. Even the lake in the middle of Dallas and Grapevine lake to name a few.
freakingbee 3 years ago
grapevine lake is sooo dangerous even without alligators
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Junebugjump! 3 years ago
I missed an opportunity to post! The sound of lava is like crushed glass!
Junebugjump! 3 years ago
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/21/magazine/voyages-travel-sounds-from-the-world.html
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Rinoboyrich 3 years ago (edited)
UNfun Facts: Since we know that quantum states can change (wave vs. particle) merely by being observed, some scientists believe that looking back at the beginning of the universe can trigger the total collapse of the universe. Some also believe that the Hadron collider experiments could disrupt the Higgs boson effect for the tiniest moment (think .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 of a second or less), altering the behavior of the universal constants in that moment, and destroying the entire universe instantly. Hope that helps!
Rinoboyrich 3 years ago
There’s a “Your mother…” joke in there somewhere…
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Delight Disaster 3 years ago
Not for reading before bed - avoid if you don't want those can't sleep freak out moments
albernistuff 4sale 3 years ago
Go view "Through the wormhole" series. Set aside a budget for therapy if you do. Took me years to recover from the existential angst.
Rinoboyrich 3 years ago
That movie was funded by therapists in an effort to increase business…
Load More Replies... Disgruntled Pelican 3 years ago (edited)
Yeaahhh...my depressed and anxiety riddled äss should not have read this so early in the day...
Jp@nda 3 years ago
Eh at least i know what I'm going to have anxiety about today instead of just being anxious about everything lol
Load More Replies... Stardust she/her 3 years ago
Fun fact: there’s a hypothetical type of matter known as “strange matter” made up of strange quarks as opposed to regular matter made up of up and down quarks. Strange matter is so stable that if it touches a bit of regular matter, it may convert the regular matter to strange matter leading to a release of energy and more strange matter that goes and infects more matter
Stardust she/her 3 years ago
There’s a very small chance that a field known as the Higgs field could be in a false vacuum which means that we think it’s at the lowest possible level of energy but it’s actually more higher. If that’s the case then there may be a sudden drop in the energy to a more stable state that will create a sort of bubble of destruction that grows at the speed of light, detsroying all matter on the way. Inside the sphere, there may be a different universe operating on different laws of physics.
Load More Replies... Bluetoyou 3 years ago
Texas Parks and Wildlife on the Saturday morning show said over ten years ago that there are alligators in every body of water in the state. Even the lake in the middle of Dallas and Grapevine lake to name a few.
freakingbee 3 years ago
grapevine lake is sooo dangerous even without alligators
Load More Replies... Junebugjump! 3 years ago
I missed an opportunity to post! The sound of lava is like crushed glass!
Junebugjump! 3 years ago
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/21/magazine/voyages-travel-sounds-from-the-world.html
Load More Replies... Rinoboyrich 3 years ago (edited)
UNfun Facts: Since we know that quantum states can change (wave vs. particle) merely by being observed, some scientists believe that looking back at the beginning of the universe can trigger the total collapse of the universe. Some also believe that the Hadron collider experiments could disrupt the Higgs boson effect for the tiniest moment (think .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 of a second or less), altering the behavior of the universal constants in that moment, and destroying the entire universe instantly. Hope that helps!
Rinoboyrich 3 years ago
There’s a “Your mother…” joke in there somewhere…
Load More Replies... Delight Disaster 3 years ago
Not for reading before bed - avoid if you don't want those can't sleep freak out moments
albernistuff 4sale 3 years ago
Go view "Through the wormhole" series. Set aside a budget for therapy if you do. Took me years to recover from the existential angst.
Rinoboyrich 3 years ago
That movie was funded by therapists in an effort to increase business…
Load More Replies... Disgruntled Pelican 3 years ago (edited)
Yeaahhh...my depressed and anxiety riddled äss should not have read this so early in the day...
Jp@nda 3 years ago
Eh at least i know what I'm going to have anxiety about today instead of just being anxious about everything lol
Load More Replies...
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