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.
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.
The "nobody wants to work anymore" people should welcome them.
The "United" States is literally built on immigrants. We're all descendants of immigrants
What really upsets me in that the vast majority of people in the U.S. are descendants of immigrants INCLUDING those complaining about immigrants.
damn those immigrants coming over here getting jobs and paying into the system *shakes fist furiously*.....they undercut wages "well not in the UK as we have a national minimum wage no matter the employment everyone gets the bottom line,how does that undercut wages you moron" I've had this conversation before often followed by silence or hushed mutterings
Especially considering most of us are descendants of immigrants...
Immigrants are always welcome. There are citizens leaving this country all the time, our population is aging out rapidly and the amount of youth and young adults are decreasing. There is ample space in the vastness of North America.
"Why are they streaming across the border?" Chairman of Home Depot..."no one wants to work anymore"...residents of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.."Wanna bet?"
Yup. I fell for this one back in the mid-2000s, when Fox was sounding the alarm that the U.S. was being invaded across our southern border.
They totally ignore the fact that somewhere in their history, there were immigrants. "I'm an Americun" is only true because your forebears were immigrants.
Within a few generations their offspring will be chanting about the immigrants taking their jobs and living on well-fare. So many lies and liars out there.
while Americans sitting in front of the tv collecting welfare bitc h because someone took a job they would never do
The problem is that many people are quick to label all immigrants the same. The reality is there are different types. There are political immigrants escaping countries because their lives are in danger because of their views. There are conflict immigrants escaping war to save their lives. There are financial immigrants looking for a better life than their country can offer (who amongst us would not do that for our families?) Then there are criminal immigrants. Those sneaking into countries to carry out criminal actions or escape punishment in their own country.
You are confusing asylum seekers with migrants (legal and not) and immigrants... different kettles of fish.
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Having read all the comments below, yes, we are all immigrants except for Native Americans. However, being. Descended from some of the Original immigrants in the 1500's, MY ANCESTORS didn't come here and immediately get free housing and food, and medical care. We came here for religious freedom, after having ancestors burned at the stake for their beliefs. We had to BUILD houses, NOT get free apartments. We had to PLANT crops and hunt,.........and there was no free food, and free medical care. We fought against tyrany and taxation without representation. There was no free lunch for my ancestors , I I resent my tax dollars used to feed , clothe, house, and treat medically people who never had to fight for this country. If you are going to come here, there should be a mandatory law that you serve in our military and defend our shores. Just like there is a law in France that people must serve in their military to become citizens. We need to restrict immigration greatly.
Immigrants are not the same as migrants... the first are people who legally move between nation states. I was an immigrant to Canada because my parents immigrated there in the 70s: there are criteria you have to meet to immigrate. Migrants often move to other countries on a temporary basis (that may in time become permanent) in order to carry out work that a workforce needs to be imported for- like the seasonal picking of fruit(these folks are sponsored by a company)The migrants most people have a problem with are the illegal migrants who use people smugglers to enter countries "under the radar". I am currently a Dutch expat who's lived in the UK for more than 20 years).
Yeah it really sucks that being acceptant is in reality not that easy to achieve. Not sure why people downvoted you lol. When I was younger I would just think everybody who is not pro immigration is a terrible person but in reality it's a little trickier than that. Well they're still not great if they're not looking for solutions to these issues but many of the people who are not supporting immigrants are not racist indeed. The world and the human thinking is a bit more complex than that.
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I'd love you to say that to the hundreds of men and women who flee unspeakable gang violence in parts of the world like Honduras.
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Anyone regardless of their immigration status should be welcomed with open arms. There's a reason that wall was never built. Humans matter.
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I'd say you are a racist, living in a 55% black capitol city myself.
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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...
