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When it comes to trivia, you most likely won't benefit from knowing why James Michael Tyler got to play Gunther the barista in Friends or why a super-rich Swedish man bought a chunk of the Amazon rainforest. But on the off-chance that your local pub quiz master decides to ask about these things, better come prepared!

And an excellent place to do so is at "Mind Blowing Facts." This internet project shares tidbits of information about the world we live in and also includes complimentary photos to help these tiny lessons stick in our memory for a little longer. Continue scrolling and check out some of its most popular posts!

More info: mind-blowingfacts.com | Facebook | Instagram

Surprisingly, going through (and applying) random facts can also be good for your mental health. Experts say that playing trivia games can provide a dopamine rush much like gambling, but without the negative effects. 

Even if the actual games differ, the benefits are there nonetheless. Whether we're playing Trivial Pursuit at home or attending a pub trivia night, the basic premise remains the same: we experience the thrill of providing correct answers to questions about lesser-known facts.

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Mad Dragon
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have a similar gang here. They also accompany bullied kids to school to let their bullies know that a biker gang has their back.

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"You get a rush or a neuroreward signal or a dopamine burst from winning,” John Kounios, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of the doctoral program in applied cognitive and brain sciences at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, told Healthline. “I think whenever you’re challenged with a trivia question and you happen to know it, you get a rush. It’s sort of like gambling.”

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Perry Sologia
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, I think that cub is eating his leg while mama bear distracts him......

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Connie Wade
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait, I thought polar bears were deadly. Is this photo real?

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A B C
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Especially when they have cubs. I'm wondering, too. It IS an awesome photo though...

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kaycee14
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Um, polar bears will and do eat humans. If mama is hungry and caring for cubs, she'd eat the man, not whatever it is he's offering her. This photo is either faked, or there's a story that needs explaining.

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Jo Choto
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Polar bears hunt and kill and eat humans. This seems like a bad idea!

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Nikki Sevven
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMFG!!! You forget to censor the word "killing!" And absolutely nothing bad happened!

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SusanS
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh great now all the idiots out there will feed the bears and they will become expectant for humans with food and attack when they don't get. SMDH

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Jodie Johnson
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Aww, the bears are cute, especially the baby chewing on the guy's kneecap, but this is such a baaaad idea. Where I live the saying is "a fed bear is a dead bear." Fed bears lose their life saving fear of humans and develop habits that can result in them being put down when they associate food with humans and seek it out in inhabitated areas. What bears need is habitat and for polar bears that means dealing with climate change. THAT is how we need to save these gorgeous animals. Since they are an apex predator they are especially important for the health of the arctic ecosystem. Fight climate change!!

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Jaaawn
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

'Okay son- you distract him with your cuteness and I'll go for the jugular. We'll make a meal of him yet.'

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F. H.
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Feeding a bear while one of its cubs hugs your leg makes you an idiot. A dead idiot.

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Altea
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Either the bear is trained or this is fake. Polar bears are so dangerous that for people living in the artic circle is mandatory to go out of town with a gun.

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Christy Smith
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm confused, polar bears are extremely vicious, even more so when it comes to their cubs ... the term is 'Momma Bear' for a reason. Does anyone know the story behind this particular pic?

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Christy Smith
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

** Jesus, it's real - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/man-feeds-polar-bear-picture/

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Joe
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

F*****K THIS!! I'll never understand why some people play with their lives like this.

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backatya
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

not a badass but a brave and well intention human being

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Iva Kazalova
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

On the case of probabilities, it would also make you pretty stupid, getting close to a bear with cubs is a pretty darwin award idea

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RoseAnne Hutchence
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do NOT take this as an indication that feeding bears is safe or responsible behaviour!

ddw2945 avatar
Curry on...
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hmm? Wild bears? Can one really get that close? Serious question.

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Jose Manuel Lopez
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Look at how mama bear is staring at his leg... A picture most likely taken a few seconds before disaster

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Temperance Raziel
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This guy will win a Darwin Award. There are few more dangerous animals than polar bears.

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April Caron
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Predictable plot twist: This is the food photo that mama bear will prominently display on her social media accounts highlighting what she’s about to eat/ate for dinner. 😂

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D K
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The idea of this photo is nice but in reality… nope.

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Seabeast
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Feeding wild animals, especially large carnivores, is actually not a good idea. They lose their fear of humans and can become dangerous.

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Mazer
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m sorry, a human fed bear is a dead bear. They quickly associate humans with food, which usually ends up with the beaf dying at the hands of man.

m24 avatar
M 24
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This can't be real.. either that or that bear has been around humans since birth and well fed 🧐

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Pascale Pierloot
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is rare and polar bears are known to be extra dangerous but there are times when animals are out of character and those are magical moments. ❤️

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Pat Bond
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Very few are on the "facts" feed. Rather an assortment of extreme general knowledge you would struggle to use in a pub quiz. I guarantee none are "mind-blowing" either.

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John Baker
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Old bear hunters tip: when you shoot a bear but aren't sure if it's dead or just waiting for you to look the other way. Put your rifle barrel against it's eyeball, if it blinks pull the trigger.

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frrrrrrr
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this pic is certainly photoshoped as bears are wild animal afraid of man. A bear would certainly not let the cub "play" with the leg of a man : it would mean to him he is i danger, and then would not accept food from the man but would attack (as self defens)

diegomani avatar
frrrrrrr
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this pic is certainly photoshoped as bears are wild animal afraid of man. A bear would certainly not let the cub "play" with the leg of a man : it would mean to him he is i danger, and then would not accept food from the man but would attack (as self defens)

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Tee Witt
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Killing a bear certainly does make you a badass unless it is specifically for food or to save someone

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Kounios said the benefits can also be similar to those of playing a video game.

However, unlike gambling and even video games, Kounios said trivia is generally not a problematic habit.

“I don’t think there are any pitfalls,” he said. “Like anything else that’s fun, it takes up time.”

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Mark Fuller
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine if other countries did that! It would revolutionise the world!!

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Aran Lindvail
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Would be even better if they had a social and healthcare system that allowed them a few days off to take care of a sick spouse. After 30(!!) years of hard work that needs to be possible without having to worry about daily income. You shouldn't have to rely on stranger's charity for that.

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Sometimes we think of the brain as an endless library, whose shelves house our most precious memories as well as our lifetime's knowledge. But is there a point where it reaches maximum capacity? In other words, can the brain get full?

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The short answer is no. Brains are more sophisticated than that: a study published in Nature Neuroscience revealed that instead of just crowding in, old information is sometimes pushed out of the brain for new memories to form.

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Katy McMouse
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know a few billionaires in this country who could take a page from this guy.

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Katy McMouse
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This kills me. It just kills me. Gratitude, it seems, is forever for some.

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Scientists wanted to investigate what happens in the brain when we try to remember information that’s very similar to what we already know. (This is important because similar information is more likely to interfere with existing knowledge, and it’s the stuff that crowds without being useful.)

So they examined how brain activity changes when we try to remember a target memory, that is, when we try to recall something very specific, at the same time as trying to remember something similar (a competing memory).

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Researchers taught participants to associate a single word (for example, the word sand) with two different images – such as one of Marilyn Monroe and the other of a hat.

They discovered that as the target memory was recalled more often, brain activity for it increased. At the same time, brain activity for the competing memory simultaneously weakened. This change was most prominent in regions near the front of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex, rather than key memory structures in the middle of the brain, such as the hippocampus, which is traditionally associated with memory loss.

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Samantha Lomb
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How horrible that everyone in that kid's life failed to provide basic information or support

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The prefrontal cortex is involved in a range of complex cognitive processes, such as planning, decision making, and selective retrieval of memory. Existing research shows this part of the brain works in combination with the hippocampus to retrieve specific memories.

If the hippocampus is the search engine, the prefrontal cortex is the filter that determines which memory is the most relevant — this suggests that storing information alone is not enough for a good memory. The brain also has to be able to access the relevant information without being distracted by competing pieces of data.

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Mia Jensen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Just because I am alone, does not mean I am lonely." One of my favourite quotes but I cannot remember who said it.

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However, don't be scared. In daily life, forgetting actually is actually beneficial.

Imagine that you lost your bank card. The new card you receive will come with a new PIN. Research in this field suggests that each time you remember the new code, you gradually forget the old one. This process improves access to relevant information, without old memories interfering.

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Auntriarch
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So, next time you think that you can't do anything big because you are too small....

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Mia Jensen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Very few people would have the guts to do this. I hope he was not harmed in any way.

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Call Me Mars
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was fortunate to see Notre Dame before it burned. I am glad its beauty has been restored.

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Mad Dragon
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, so the doc threw on a gown and shoes and ran to her room to help.

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julie son
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And I just discovered that one of my friends who barely finished high school is an antivaxxer who "refuses to put poisons in his children's' bodies" because clearly barely graduating high school gives you a superior understanding of science than that of the people who dedicated their lives understanding how organic chemistry works!

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Hans
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"shot at in 1904" documents that in all times some humans were around who lack the very definition of being humane.

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Samantha Lomb
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its so sad the US refuses to implement social programs like free child care and free higher education because it fears "socialism" when it's clear these programs make huge impacts. But there is always money to bomb some poor brown people

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Don Golosso
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

R.I.P. Everyone who died in 9/11 and in the years after as victims of the US retaliation of 9/11.

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Mia Jensen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

https://worldoftanks.eu/en/news/history/Mariya-Oktyabrskaya-story/ For more info.

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Note: this post originally had 120 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.