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Your teacher, mom, and virtually any adult with a thoughtful mind would never approve of Twitter as a learning tool. And how would they with this whole infinite source of the not-very-serious side of the internet where memes, jokes, and burns are roaming free?
But people are proving them wrong by sharing incredible facts brought to them by Twitter that should have been put in the textbooks. From realizing the symbol “&” is a ligature for the word "et" to finding out that an 18-inch pizza has more of a good thing than two 12-inch pizzas, these are some of the facts that could have been part of my wisdom bank this whole time.
So scroll down, upvote your faves, and after you’re done with this post, check out our previous list of 30 random facts that will make you feel "today years old."
This post may include affiliate links.
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#2
hispanic! at the disco 5 years ago
And still today, Natives are being harassed by police for protesting there peacefully. Nothing much has changed..
#3
Fireflower 5 years ago
4% of 75 = 75% of 4. 4% of 75 = 4 x (0.75) 4% of 75 = 4 x (3/4) 4% of 75 = 3 Proofs are easier to visualize, I hope this helps!
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Captain Legible 5 years ago
An easy way to look at this: per cent means "per hundred" or "divide by a hundred", and "of" means "multiply" when fractions are about. So 4% of 75 is (4/100)x75 and 75% of 4 is (75/100)x4, so they're both just (75x4)/100.
karin s. 5 years ago
how can this get down votes - it is the correct explanation and proof of the hack.
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Jesse 5 years ago
It used to be part of the daily life skills curriculum taught at schools. But beginning in the 1970s curriculums were commercialized and "tricks which do not explain or utilize core concepts" were sidelined. There's a solid argument there, but that's the case with many bad ideas. At the end of the day the academic "tricks" used so successfully to build the post war infrastructure and economy were discarded in the name of commerce to sell textbooks.
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Louloubelle 5 years ago
Something a little similar. I had a friend that couldn't figure tipping. I know some of you are from outside the US, but 15-20% is considered usual. My friend and I tend to be good tippers at 20%, plus it's easier. I told her just figure 10% and multiply it by 2. 10% is much easier to figure on a bill than 20.
Alex Newell 5 years ago
I did a similar trick when doing mental math in highschool. I'd move the decimal once for the 10%, then move it again for 1% and multiply by 5. People probably thought I was a witch.
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Noel Bovae 5 years ago
For those still confused: 50% of something is easy, right? 50% of 20 is 10. But trying to figure out 20% of 50, now that sounds a bit more difficult. This trick is showing you that the answer is still going to be 10. Because 50% of 20, is exactly the same thing as 20% of 50.
Kisses4Katie 5 years ago
So 3? Is 3 4% of 75? I need to get good at math. I'm about to go to school for science! 😮
Nevaeh Milton 5 years ago
i didnt learn this yet but it looks like somting i will never use in real life
Dorothy Cloud 5 years ago
Now, that is something I will be able to use in my life. Why wasn't that ever told before?
Nothanks L. Walk 5 years ago
See this is the problem with murican diseducation : kids memorise & regurgitate, but learn nothing. This is not a life hack, this is basic understanding of how multiplication works and why. Half the things I should have learned in middle & high school, I had to teach myself later in life because I discovered I was using memorised times tables instead of understanding mathematics, and memorised spellings instead of an understanding of linguistic structure.
Fern Shoemaker 5 years ago
Omigod math i scary! That have me house bumps. You'd better not teach me anything else. Just to be safe.
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
How is that a hack? It's just the definition of fractions. E.g. 1/3rd of 2 is 2/3rd of 1. Percents are just fractions of 100.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 5 years ago
I would have done a lot better in maths if I had known this.
Jace 5 years ago
Could’ve had a better explanation. I’ve a literal math disability... so I’m still iffy on this.
Jace 5 years ago
Thanks for the down-votes. My dyscalculia is a real thing, but whatever...
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Kenny Oesch 5 years ago
why dont you just calculate y times 0.xx percent? thats the easiest way....
Look, I am not saying we should believe all that Twitter has to offer. But it turns out, the things we were taught at school are not so innocent either. Some facts we still believe to this day are complete myths, and they had better be laid out bare before you become "today years old" to realize they aren’t true.
You probably would place a pretty high bid on the fact that Columbus discovered America. You’re not the only one. A 2005 survey showed that 85% of Americans believed Columbus discovered the continents and only 2% correctly answered that he couldn’t have discovered America because it was already inhabited by Native Americans.
#5
Gareth Graham 5 years ago
The London Underground maintain several stations that trains never use. They are reserved for TV and movie locations so as not to close down functioning stations
Another fact which turns out to be a myth is the tongue map idea, which suggests that different parts of our tongues identify different kinds of tastes. However, the University of Florida Center for Smell and Taste stated that “the locations of those taste buds aren't in accordance with the 'tongue map.'” And even if taste buds are indeed receptive to certain types of tastes, the difference in reality is tiny.
You've probably heard how Einstein failed math in school and was not an A student in general. It turns out, the only exam he failed was an entrance test to the Zurich Polytechnic he had to take in French, which he didn’t speak well at the time.
#8
#9
స్టీఫెన్ ఆండ్రూ 5 years ago (edited)
Let's just ignore the human rights abuses suffered by the Nepali minority group...
#13
chi-wei shen 5 years ago
A small group of wooly mammoth existed on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until about 2000 B.C.
#17
Mishte Tine 5 years ago
She’s also small and behind a ton of protection. She’s beyond amazing.
#20
Sergio Bicerra Descalzi 5 years ago
Read a funny story about him. He used to pay meals with checks. People didn't cash them cause Dali's signature was more worthy than the pay, so he got many free meals doing so. Not sure if its true, but like this story.
#21
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
Did you know you can get free extra pizza slices if you cut your pizza into 8 pieces instead of 6? ;)
#22
Aisha Boudy 5 years ago
Googol Plex (it's a number) is so large that if u wrote each of its zeros on separate atoms in the universe, there won't be enough space to finish writing all the zeros.
#23
Saurin Apriliawan 5 years ago
My identical twin cousin just told me that, although wearing exactly the same clothes and has quite similar voice, their toddlers can still tell them apart.
#26
#29
#31
CrunChewy McSandybutt 5 years ago
5th cousins is a really large gap as far as genetics is concerned.
#35
#38
littlesaresare 5 years ago
Penguins also release air trapped beneath their feathers to boost their speed while jumping out of water. It is a very cool thing to see in person.
#40
Martti Laurson 5 years ago (edited)
Not the other side of the galaxy, but opposite side of where earth is now. The whole galaxy turns, therefore could have not been on the other side of galaxy. All stars have rotated. If a cat sits on a roomba and that makes a half turn, the cat still sits on the same spot on a roomba, but in a different location in the room, not on the other side of the roomba.
#44
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
I have a funny story about the little pocket. One day we were at a family BBQ, my younger brother who was around six went up to my mum and asked what the small pocket was for. She said go ask Poppa, big mistake. My Poppa said it is to put condoms in, in which my brother asked what a condom is for and my Poppa replied that it is to put your w***y in. My brother walked away looking puzzled until about 10 mins late he asks “But how do you get your w***y in there”. He thought he had to put his w***y in the actual pocket.
#47
Amanda Reicha 5 years ago
My dog must be an outlier. She sometimes faces the mountains, which are to the west of where I live and sometimes faces the valley, which is to the east.
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Steve Barnett 5 years ago
You know I was taught a bunch of stuff in school, but I kinda wish that I was taught life skills; how to deal with loss, a broken heart, finances, rudimentary DIY, etc. You know everything that actually happens to you after you leave school.
Anne 5 years ago
We have some schools now that do (Netherlands) including growing food, but yeah, those are important survival skills
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Tom Hardeveld 5 years ago
fun fact, if you would put all the bloodveins in your body in one straight line... you would die
Irina Rachow 5 years ago
I always felt there should be a Life101 course in high school to teach people lots of survival skills like: how marketing works on you, the banking system, credit card lures and traps, living within your means, how to shop and cook, negotiation skills, etc. etc.
Vernice Aure 5 years ago
In Middle School (US, grades 6-8), we had Home Economics (cooking, sewing, nutrition) and Industrial Education (basic tool use, fun industrial projects). In 10th grade we had General Business (letter writing, banking, budgeting, basic laws, comparison shopping).
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Jennie-Lind Normand 5 years ago
So as a Canadian I wonder why we weren't taught that a Canadian invented peanut butter, we were taught about insulin and basketball being Canadian (among other things), but not peanut butter (I find that weird)
Dianna Siever 5 years ago
Americans are taught that it was George Washington Carver, one of the first and most prominent black American Scientist, who invented peanut butter.
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Lea S. 5 years ago (edited)
These are all interesting facts - I love lists like this. But on another note...poor teachers. They barely make a living, they're constantly disrespected and defunded, they are now looking at going back to school at the height of this pandemic. There's also lists everywhere of things you should've been taught in school. Are we incapable of learning ANYTHING ourselves? What makes this a list of things I should've learned in school? They are supposed to teach us this ever-evolving list of 'life skills' everything from cars and appliance repair to cooking, planting a garden, etc. Forget that necessary life skills are relative to who/where/what you do/want to do. The history of every civilization where everyone used to live, everyone's different points of views about history, every important historical figure (good or bad) AND all the different diseases/conditions/disabilities a person has. Where does it end? WHY the things on this list - please someone give me some insight.
Tracy 5 years ago
There are several here that I wouldn't expect to learn in school, like the cost of movie theater popcorn vs filet mignon, who designed chupa chups, and how many faces a chicken can recognize.
Lea S. 5 years ago
I swear it's in vogue right now to lament all the things you weren't taught in school. As if once you graduate that's it, you're done. You can't learn anything at all now - just have to go through the rest of your life confused.
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Theron Roberts 5 years ago
oops. accidentally pressed enter. meant to say that some of these are cool but aren't really necessary to learn in school.
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Steve Barnett 5 years ago
You know I was taught a bunch of stuff in school, but I kinda wish that I was taught life skills; how to deal with loss, a broken heart, finances, rudimentary DIY, etc. You know everything that actually happens to you after you leave school.
Anne 5 years ago
We have some schools now that do (Netherlands) including growing food, but yeah, those are important survival skills
Load More Replies... Tom Hardeveld 5 years ago
fun fact, if you would put all the bloodveins in your body in one straight line... you would die
Irina Rachow 5 years ago
I always felt there should be a Life101 course in high school to teach people lots of survival skills like: how marketing works on you, the banking system, credit card lures and traps, living within your means, how to shop and cook, negotiation skills, etc. etc.
Vernice Aure 5 years ago
In Middle School (US, grades 6-8), we had Home Economics (cooking, sewing, nutrition) and Industrial Education (basic tool use, fun industrial projects). In 10th grade we had General Business (letter writing, banking, budgeting, basic laws, comparison shopping).
Load More Replies... Jennie-Lind Normand 5 years ago
So as a Canadian I wonder why we weren't taught that a Canadian invented peanut butter, we were taught about insulin and basketball being Canadian (among other things), but not peanut butter (I find that weird)
Dianna Siever 5 years ago
Americans are taught that it was George Washington Carver, one of the first and most prominent black American Scientist, who invented peanut butter.
Load More Replies... Lea S. 5 years ago (edited)
These are all interesting facts - I love lists like this. But on another note...poor teachers. They barely make a living, they're constantly disrespected and defunded, they are now looking at going back to school at the height of this pandemic. There's also lists everywhere of things you should've been taught in school. Are we incapable of learning ANYTHING ourselves? What makes this a list of things I should've learned in school? They are supposed to teach us this ever-evolving list of 'life skills' everything from cars and appliance repair to cooking, planting a garden, etc. Forget that necessary life skills are relative to who/where/what you do/want to do. The history of every civilization where everyone used to live, everyone's different points of views about history, every important historical figure (good or bad) AND all the different diseases/conditions/disabilities a person has. Where does it end? WHY the things on this list - please someone give me some insight.
Tracy 5 years ago
There are several here that I wouldn't expect to learn in school, like the cost of movie theater popcorn vs filet mignon, who designed chupa chups, and how many faces a chicken can recognize.
Lea S. 5 years ago
I swear it's in vogue right now to lament all the things you weren't taught in school. As if once you graduate that's it, you're done. You can't learn anything at all now - just have to go through the rest of your life confused.
Load More Replies... Theron Roberts 5 years ago
oops. accidentally pressed enter. meant to say that some of these are cool but aren't really necessary to learn in school.
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