If you read ancient folklore - fairy tales, fables and legends... no, not carefully edited versions for children in the 19th or 20th centuries, but the original texts - you can be surprised and even amazed at how scary and bloodthirsty they sound. Almost any old fairy tale is quite capable of causing some kind of phobia in a modern person.
But the good thing about the modern world is that today we are trying to understand the true essence of things and people, without always succumbing to their mass perception. And it turns out that certain things, phenomena or groups of people are not as scary as they have been portrayed as being for many years. And then we go to this dedicated thread in the AskReddit community... or read this collection that Bored Panda prepared for you.
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Vaccines
Vaccinations are wonderful feats of medical innovation. I strongly recommend them for those who are able to take them.
In terms of how much we thought it would affect us, probably quicksand.
In my childhood I thought quick sand was a real and present danger, I thought it was everywhere. I was terrified of it. I should add I have lived in Michigan all my life. Michigan isnt known for quicksand lol. Oh and the Bermuda Triangle stories, pure nightmare fuel.
Strangers. Most of the violent crimes you hear happen between acquaintances.
Kidnappings are predominantly by family members, murders of women predominantly by their male significant other or former signifigant other, and rape (of women and men) is predominantly by someone they know. Strangers abduct less than 1% of missing kids, only around 8% of femicides (child or adult) are by strangers, and around 8% of adult female rapes and 15% of adult males rapes are by strangers. I would include stats for my non binary friends but while I can find some related to overall risk for violent crimes I can't find any separating out stranger vs known assailant.
Definitely - look at all the priests. Strange but definitely not strangers!
Let's not forget to add preachers, Boy Scout leaders, and coaches.
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Yeah, I used to work with a paranoid redneck guy who always carried around the largest knife you could legally carry. Always suspicious of strangers, especially black and brown. He was stabbed to death by his nephew after they got into an argument at a bar.
It's too bad he didn't live to learn from that experience.
Load More Replies... As a child in the 80's stranger danger was taught to us, heavily and constantly. It got to a point I wouldnt go outside to play in my own yard without my older sister. The 80's were something else. Note: I am in no way downplaying stranger danger, I was just saying they pushed it hard while i was in grade school. Like really really hard, and DARE.
It's weird that stranger danger was a thing but at the same time we were largely trusted by our parents to go out and play without supervision. My mother drilled "if a stranger approaches you and tries to get you to go with them, scream" into my head and considered me safe. I was then good to go into stores, over to friends houses, or into the woods behind my house all alone.
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In the 70's, we just went. No thoughts of danger from us or our parents. When I was about 12, my uncle and his wife came back from his posting in Germany. I went for a walk while visiting, and somehow, I ended up in the home of a little old couple down the street. Apparently they didn't get much company. They fed me tea, and talked my ears off for what felt like hours. I wasn't sure how I was going to get out again. No one knew exactly where I was. I was starting to get a bit nervous, when my uncle knocked on the door, and said his brother needed his kid back. I was VERY happy to see him!
The greatest threats are generally family members and romantic partners.
in that case, shouldn't I be scared of strangers so that they DON'T become my acquaintances?
Most of the fear of strangers probably comes from the documentaries/stories about meeting people online and being abducted or murdered. Things like the "Craigslist killer" and such.
It definitely predates the internet. There was massive publicity and subsequent paranoia about child abduction sexual abuse, including that committed by strangers, in the '70s and especially the '80s.
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Be leery of the stranger on the bus and be especially alert for red flags from lovers and family
Can I add homeless strangers? I've met many and by and large they are very interesting people with epic stories. Obviously, as with any stranger, you can't just run up to people and expect to be instant friends. I've had the pleasure of many a conversations with homeless people and they are just trying to live with their issues just like the rest of us.
It's often about drugs, gang turf wars, cheating, theft, or some petty, drunken argument, or a noise dispute between neighbours.
No, we in no way want to claim that, for example, absolutely all snakes are completely safe, or that you will never become the victim of a plane crash. But the contemporary world is full of data, and on its basis we can conclude that certain species of snakes that live, let's say, in an area where we are planning to travel to are, in fact, not venomous.
Or that the likelihood of getting into a plane crash today is really extremely low. “If you take one flight a day, you would on average need to fly every day for 55,000 years before being involved in a fatal crash,” Executive Flyers quotes Arnold Barnett, who has calculated the chances of a plane crashing, and is an expert in the field of aviation safety and risk and Professor of Statistics at MIT. And now all that remains is to believe in the truth of the statistical data.
Drag Queens
Snakes. People get so freaked out, but come on. It's a noodle with a face. Almost all snakes are non-venomous, and even the ones that are are NOT coming to hunt you down. No snake is coming to get you. If they attack, it's only out of defense - imagine if some gargantuan creature the size of a skyscraper was coming after you! Just leave them to live their lives in peace and they'll do the same to you. They're a huge part of a delicate ecosystem... plus they're cute as hell! Look at a hognose's upturned snoot or a ball python's little puppy dog face and tell me they're not.
The Bermuda Triangle, particularly with modern navigation equipment.
Stories of the Bermuda Triangle terrified me as a child. Pure nightmare fuel. Oh and quick sand. I thought quick sand was everywhere. Ive lived in Michigan all my life, its not known for quicksand lol.
“Our belief in scary stories actually comes from ancient times, when fear was the most important driver of survival for people,” says Volodymyr Nemertsalov, a teacher and school principal from Odessa, Ukraine, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. “Ancient people could hardly be convinced by logical arguments, but the classic 'The night is dark and full of horrors!' worked perfectly. Especially in cases where the listeners were small children - by default, more impressionable and gullible.”
“Hence all the numerous horrors of ancient fairy tales. Because, having told the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, the narrator then always added that it is unlikely that the kids would be as lucky to have people passing near their grandma’s hut... and therefore, it is better not to walk through the forest wilderness at all. This worked quite successfully for many centuries, but today it plays a cruel joke on us, because we are accustomed to believing in scary stories - even if they are actually not scary at all," Volodymyr concludes.
People who have no/few friends
Most of the time they're either weird, shy, socially awkward, quiet, or simply just prefer to be alone
People made fun of me because i had very few friends. The friends I had were extremely close, loyal, good friends. I didnt know I was an introvert until the Millennials normalized it. Im GenX also, so a latchkey kid too.
Immigrants wanting a better life…
What's even more amazing is immigrants simultaneously take all the jobs and don't have any jobs and are all on social welfare.
Trick or treating on Halloween. Kids are not getting poisoned by candy from strangers.
Or getting drug candy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, no one is giving little Timmy their drugs because that sh!t is expensive.
In addition, many myths are often supported at the corporate or even state level - for example, about the risks of nuclear energy. At one time, large oil and gas exporters skillfully took advantage of the accidents at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, and especially in Chernobyl, so that, for example, many European countries closed their nuclear power plants altogether.
At the same time, the impact of fossil fuels on the environment, as we can now see, turned out to be almost worse than from major accidents at nuclear power plants. Moreover, modern nuclear power plants are built with unambiguous consideration of the negative experience of their predecessors. But fears - fears have not gone away...
Swimming after eating - I used to fully believe I would drown in seconds if I didn’t wait a full hour before getting back in the water.
In 1982, little Timothy Walker threw up the 4 hot dogs he had previously wolfed down into the pee-laden waters of our community pool thus causing a day long pool closure. We called him Timothy BarfDog for the rest of the summer.
Well, in any case, we expect you to read this selection to its very end, and always remember that any concern should ideally have a rational basis. And be based on facts. Otherwise, it will be like sticking your foot out from under the blanket at night with childhood fears. Although... who knows, maybe it’s better to buy a bigger blanket. Well, you'd just better read and discuss everything in the comments, but as for the blanket - it’s better to just play it safe, isn’t it?
Trans people
Here's my thing. I am in no way trying to offend anyone. But I don't think it's fair for female athletes to compete with Trans women. Especially in the Olympics. I am all for Trans rights, except this. Maybe we could have a new category? Unisex, or Trans? (Please don't down vote me if you disagree, I don't want to get banned. If you disagree, please just reply. We could have a nice discussion)
Leaving your foot hanging out of the bed covers.
Nope. Can't chance it. Must have absolute protection against the monsters. You lift your feet up and tuck that blanket under your feet, then wrap yourself up like a burrito.
Travelling alone as a woman. So many people looked at me in shock when I told them about my solo trips. Sure, it's not without a risk, but nothing in life is and I'm not gonna miss seeing the world and living life just because I haven't got someone to go with me. And so far I haven't made a single negative experience. The world isn't always as evil as some make it out to be.
It can be dangerous you just have to minimise the risks through common sense and some research
Flashing your high beams at someone who doesn't have their headlights on at night. I've done it hundreds of times and I've never been gang-style assassinated
Honking at someone who isn't paying attention at a green light is a different story lol. I usually do a quick harmless honk, almost every time I get the finger. Why are you mad at me 😂, you're the one busy on tiktok/snapchat lol..
Hiking. I’ve been shocked at the amount of people who think a bear is about to get them. This even happens in places where bears don’t exist.
Public transportation. It’s insanely safe by number of miles traveled and most of the security issues come with too few people using it.
1,4 B rides was taken in 2022 in Sweden from regional traffic. Trains, busses, boats is the main thing. I think I read the report correctly..
Foreigners
Immigrants in the US are less likely to commit a crime than Americans
Alligators.
Yes, people do get eaten sometimes but as someone who grew up in Florida, they are everywhere and if they were that dangerous there would be an attack every day.
Turning the light on in the car.
I think every parent of my generation told their child that they would get a ticket if the light was turned on after dark lol
Swallowing gum
Chicago. They’re barely even in the top 100 most dangerous cities anymore (98th). And yet they’re still the default example of a dangerous city in a lot of people’s minds.
This is another based on false statistics. There are less murders in Chicago, which is what the OP probably saw and equated with 'dangerous'. It still has a ton of shootings, crime and violent crime. This list that looks at all aspects puts it at #10 in the country https://propertyclub.nyc/article/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us
Note: this post originally had 37 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Passive smoking. In smoking and lung cancer, it's well known that there is no significant elevated risk until you've smoked daily for 20 years. Passive smoking is a serious danger for spouses and children of heavy smokers, and for people exposed at the workplace to daily cigarette smoke for at least 20 years. But not casually passing a smoker.
In The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett, the list of non-dangerous Australian animals reads, in its entirety, "Some of the sheep."
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Drag Queens don't usually get dressed up unless they are in a performance of some type. They play a character. It is not who they are. And I would call reading a book at a library a drag show.
Sorry.. typo: I wouldn't call drag queens reading at a library a drag show. And if it's just their character reading then I have no issue with it, but if they add their politics, or anything risque into it then I would. I've seen both versions. After all they are human. Some have no agenda other than reading to kids, while others do insert their own agenda.
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Don't forget: gravity is the #1 killer in falls! Sudden contact with the ground...
Passive smoking. In smoking and lung cancer, it's well known that there is no significant elevated risk until you've smoked daily for 20 years. Passive smoking is a serious danger for spouses and children of heavy smokers, and for people exposed at the workplace to daily cigarette smoke for at least 20 years. But not casually passing a smoker.
In The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett, the list of non-dangerous Australian animals reads, in its entirety, "Some of the sheep."
Load More Replies... Drag Queens don't usually get dressed up unless they are in a performance of some type. They play a character. It is not who they are. And I would call reading a book at a library a drag show.
Sorry.. typo: I wouldn't call drag queens reading at a library a drag show. And if it's just their character reading then I have no issue with it, but if they add their politics, or anything risque into it then I would. I've seen both versions. After all they are human. Some have no agenda other than reading to kids, while others do insert their own agenda.
Load More Replies... Don't forget: gravity is the #1 killer in falls! Sudden contact with the ground...
