If you're a regular Bored Panda reader, you've probably seen a post or two that we did on the subreddit r/OddlySatisfying, a place where every perfectionist comes to remind themselves that there's still order in this world.
But today, let's try something else. Created back in December 2013, there's a subreddit with a name that differs by just a few letters yet has the complete opposite content. r/OddlyUnsatisfying and its 20.3K members are devoted to crooked lines, messed up patterns, and, as their introduction section says, all the other disgusting, annoying things that make your day inexplicably worse.
So continue scrolling to check your nerves and see how far down the list you can go!
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This Fork That Was Never Cut
We All Scream For Ice Cream
As you probably can see, whether it's in architecture or someone's garden, asymmetry can feel really off.
In fact, we're so used to clean and orderly patterns that a quick scan of Instagram will reveal accounts dedicated entirely to symmetrical images.
These accounts range from Symmetry Breakfast, an Instagram account with 677,000 followers that posts images of matching breakfasts, to Geometry Club, an account with 33,000 followers that shares photos of buildings shot from the street up, two sides converging on the apex in what looks like the perfect triangle.
The Peas Are Upside Down
Screams In Comic Sans
Oddly Unsatisfying
And this is not something new. We've long been bathing in these aesthetic symmetrical delights.
In the 20th century, numerous abstract artists adopted it, from Sol LeWitt and Josef Albers in the US to Robyn Denny in the UK.
As did Aleksandr Rodchenko, some of whose photos of Moscow's buildings after the Russian revolution wouldn't look out of place on Geometry Club even now.
It Triggers My Ocd Every Time I Walk By It In The Park
This Really Wound Me Up
If Sadness Was A Cookie
Oh Well
Before these folks, there were generations of Islamic artists who thought symmetry reflected the harmony of heaven, and whose work duly aimed to bring artist and viewer closer to God.
Mosques all over the world from Mecca to Manchester all bear a nod to the tradition of geometric patterns, with one of the most famous being the stucco and tile work inside the Alhambra palace in Granada.
My Wife Said She Was Cleaning Out Her Email Inbox And It Was Taking A Long Time… 😲
Every Sink In This Bathroom Has A Different Faucet
Whoever Made This Clearly Shouldn't Have
The Way That All The Other Fanta Bottles Are Filled Evenly And Then The Blue Bottle
According to the American scientist Alan Lightman, human brains actually strive to see things symmetrically.
"The reason must be partly psychological," he said. "Symmetry represents order, and we crave order in this strange universe we find ourselves in... [It] helps us make sense of the world around us."
And when the order is disturbed... It reminds us of chaos. The loss of control.
Really?
It's Literally Outlined Where It Should Go
This Baseball Park
Took a swing at it and I guess I missed. Should have measured 🤷♂️
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THIS IS NOT A MISTAKE!!! They just don't care what it looks like by air. They are constrained by a previously developed parcel near the top-center, and by the roads. From the ground, the odd shapes probably actually seem organic and pleasant. (Baseball fans HATE symmetry, by the way.)
exactly, they maximized the area of grass they could have for the different sports and classes
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Looks like a pizza delivery that got jumbled in the box in transit.
"Yes, I KNOW that doing it that way makes the most efficient use of space ... but what will it look like to a satellite???"
There's a little piece of water melon in the bottom left of the picture/pitcher!
There's a ball park like that a few hours from where I live, it's a great way to use a limited space but you need to invest you mesh netting in the seating area so people don't get hit
I'm off to the camp transformation centre.... Transform me with campiness...... (Top right)
Why does this remind me those optimal packings of 11 squares in one bigger square?
I had to look it up on the map, it really does look like this. Great reviews for facilities and food!
We even notice symmetry in people's faces. The dominant scientific explanation for the attractiveness of facial symmetry is sometimes called 'Evolutionary Advantage Theory.' If the grand choreography of developmental gene expression is perfectly executed, the result is perfect symmetry.
Therefore, anything less than perfect symmetry indicates some kind of dysfunction, however small.
Not Sure How I Didn't Notice This Earlier
Whoever Designed This- I Just Wanna Talk
There is a trend to try to make big box buildings not look like big boxes. In some places I think local code requires it. I think this is an attempt at that. Locally I've seen examples where it was fairly well done and others that were - not. I think this is a 'not'. Two other things you see in this building - making a section stick out farther and painting it a different color - are also things I see locally.
Smooth Bernie Sanders
What The Hec Is This Supposed To Be?
Interestingly, the preference for symmetrical faces is not limited to sexual attraction and mate selection. Facial symmetry appears to influence how we pursue friends and allies too.
However, nothing in this world is perfect. And r/OddlyUnsatisfying is the perfect reminder of that. Maybe if we accept this fact, stuff like misplaced tiles won't bother us anymore? When you think about it, life would be easier that way. After all, there are plenty of more important things going on.
At This Point My Mom Just Doesn’t Deserve To Be French Anymore
This Doesn’t Line Up
Come On
Local Playground Glitch
The Color Pencils Aren't Lined Up With The Box Image Ones
After Taking The Metal Film Off This Toothpaste, There Was Still A Clear Plastic Film On The Head With No Tab For Me To Take It Off With
F In Chat
This Makes Me So Uncomfortable
A little five o'clock shadow, weird fuzzy lips, weird fuzzy split tongue, gold teeth, fish hook in upper lip and yucky black heads in nose!!! Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!
Note: this post originally had 41 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Turns out I don't have OCD. I can tolerate imperfections and kind of like these abnormalities sometimes.
There were a few where I thought "I'd do this..... and my mother would HATE it"
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I very much regret going into this spiral, thank you. My OCD gremlin is no longer talking to me after the first few pictures.
Our Brains are coded to recognize and use patterns. If something is breaking out of a pattern, we instantly notice. People with OCDs get more upset about these like your regular human, but we all prefer neatly sorted stuff.
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Turns out I don't have OCD. I can tolerate imperfections and kind of like these abnormalities sometimes.
There were a few where I thought "I'd do this..... and my mother would HATE it"
Load More Replies... I very much regret going into this spiral, thank you. My OCD gremlin is no longer talking to me after the first few pictures.
Our Brains are coded to recognize and use patterns. If something is breaking out of a pattern, we instantly notice. People with OCDs get more upset about these like your regular human, but we all prefer neatly sorted stuff.
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