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“Depression Levels Correlate With Intelligence”: 48 Facts People Wish They Didn’t Know
Facts make the world go round. They keep us engaged, informed, entertained and can even help us feel a little more interesting or smarter when we're forced to make small talk with strangers.
While some facts quench our thirst for knowledge like a glass of ice water on a hot day, others are like accidentally stepping on a piece of Lego and wishing we’d had the foresight to go the other way. They’re the ones you randomly come across by chance and immediately want to unlearn.
Someone recently asked, “Tell me the scariest fact you wish you didn’t know,” and people didn’t hold back. From realizations like the brain named itself and is studying itself, to the freaky thought that one day (if we haven’t already), we will unknowingly pose for the photograph that will be used at our funeral… These are just a few of the unsolicited facts people would rather not think about.
Bored Panda has put together a list of the best answers for anyone brave enough to explore the cold, hard facts of life that make some others want to run and hide. We've also included some info on how your brain filters out unwanted information. You’ll find that between the images.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
We are not scared of being alone in the dark. We are scared of not being alone there.
Did you hear or read something that you no longer want to know? Just remove it from your brain. Yes, apparently it's as simple as that.
Researchers have recently revealed that people can consciously remove specific information from their memories by "dampening the brain circuits that initially stored it."
Jiangang Shan and Bradley Postle, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are the experts behind the study, which looked at how the brain actively removes memory content it doesn't need.
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#2
I just read a neuroscience article that said the brain holds on to negative comments for 20 years but compliments start to fade after 6 weeks.
Tucker Cahooter 1 day ago
I think they need to revise that. I can pinpoint negative comments in my head from 50 years ago
#3
There is no guarantee that everyone sees the same color.
Tucker Cahooter 1 day ago
Well because colour blindness is well known, we already know they don't
Their paper, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, explains how they got 30 participants to perform a memory task while recording their brain activity. The group was first given two items to remember.
"Experimental conditions either did or did not encourage participants to actively remove the memory of one of these items. Following these conditions, they were given a third item to remember," reports Neuroscience News. "Finally, participants were tested on their memory of the relevant first and final items."
The researchers found that the brain uses a "mechanism" to consciously remove information from a memory. "Brain scans showed that removing memory content involves reduced excitability in the neural circuits tied to the unwanted information," explains the site.
#4
Depression levels correlate with intelligence. So basically if you know too much you’re going to permanently struggle with depression because you can’t forget things.
#5
The human mind is so easily influenced, that you (or someone else) can create memories in your mind that never even existed.
#6
"We are either alone in the universe or we're not, both are equally terrifying."
#7
Some people don’t have an internal monologue & that’s so bizarre to me.
Did I say that out loud? 23 hours ago
I found this strange too when I first learned about it, and some people can't picture images in their heads either. I have both going on constantly.
#8
The fact that there is no purpose in existing itself.
BeesEelsAndPups 22 hours ago
The purpose of "existing"? As in the existence of something, rather than nothing? Such a thing needs no purpose. It exists because of it didn't it wouldn't. If it's your own purpose, it's to find what happiness you can find on your short time on this planet.
#9
Around 85% of the universe’s mass is dark matter, and we have no clue what that is or what it’s made out of.
#10
If you have PTSD (like me) you can pick up on bad people or bad vibes quicker then most and also can kind of like sense danger before it happens.
#11
The older you get, the more familiar you become with the passage of time, so it seems to move faster. Think how long a year or a summer seemed when you were a kid.
Phantom Phoenix 1 day ago
The older you get, the smaller a year is as a fraction of your life... You're also more aware of more events. People's birthdays, anniversaries of all types of events, public holidays etc. that as an adult you're in on the planning for and you're already busy so there's not enough time, and what time there is just evaporates and it's not helped by the supermarkets who put up Christmas decorations in September/October that for your sanity you have to ignore but before you know it, you've ignored them a little too long and it's mid-December and somehow Christmas and New Year's all in a blink, it's time to get back to work; that was your break. It's done. Breathe. Breathe.
#12
Honestly the fact that the brain named itself and studies itself scares me.
van_shika_708:
Brain is the most important organ of our body according to the brain...
JB 1 day ago (edited)
All the organs of the body were having a meeting, trying to decide who was the one in charge. "I should be in charge," said the brain , "Because I run all the body's systems, so without me nothing would happen.". "I should be in charge," said the heart, "Because I circulate oxygen all over so without me you'd waste away.". "I should be in charge," said the lungs" Because you wouldn't even get that oxygen of it weren't for me!" And on and on they argued, until the little rėctum piped up, "I should be in charge," said the r****m, "Because I'm responsible for waste removal." All the other body parts laughed at the rėctum and insulted him, so in a huff, he shut down tight. Within a few days, the brain had a terrible headache, the stomach was bloated, the legs got wobbly, the eyes got watery, and the blood from the heart was toxic. They all decided that the r****m should be the boss. It goes to show, even though the others do all the work.... The ásshole is usually in charge!
#13
Pseudocyesis, also known as a false or phantom pregnancy, where the body shows real pregnancy symptoms (like a growing belly, missed periods, morning sickness) but there's no fetus. The brain is INSANE.
Serial pacifist 1 day ago
Wait, I have a growing belly, no periods and some morning sickness from last night. I am a guy though, but still...
#14
The Titanic sinking was in pitch black because there was no moon that night. It wasn't like it was in the movie.
#15
Our bodies constantly create cells with potential to become cancerous, and the immune system usually detects and eliminates them before they can form tumors. The first time I heard this, I was scared because what you mean every day is a potential day to have cancer.
Bonnie Blue Bird 1 day ago
Also means that your body is constantly healing. Your body from a few years ago is not the same one you have today. There is positivity there also.
#16
Some serial offenders don’t feel fear or guilt at all, and their brains never light up where empathy should be.
#17
For me it’s the dark history of brutal experimentation behind the medical knowledge and procedures we learn.
#18
While giving birth, women think to themselves they are never doing that again. However, their brain slowly forgets about that pain only bringing the desire to go through the process all over again.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 1 day ago
Happily, I chose to be child free and so never needed to discover if this was true.
#19
If we look back around 25 to 30 generations in our family tree, we start to all share common ancestors, meaning everyone one of us are very distantly related to each other.
Corwin 02 1 day ago
Around the year 1400, the global human population was estimated to be between 350 to 400 million people so that common ancestor thing is a bit of a myth that short ago now 900,000 years ago breeding numbers dropped to roughly 1,280 individuals for over 100,000 years, potentially due to climate collapse so yeah there we have a lot of common ancestors.
#20
It takes light to travel from the sun to the earth in 8 minutes. That means if the sun exploded we wouldn't know until 8 minutes later.
#21
One day you will unknowingly pose for the picture that will be used for your funeral.
#22
We can psychologically condition people to be scared of something or love something.
#23
Prion diseases, like mad cow/rabies/brucellosis/chronic wasting disease, etc, can live dormant in your body for over 10 years depending on the disease. So you could be currently infected and you wouldn't even know it. Not until you start showing symptoms... and there is no cure for any of them. It's crazy cause we don't have "absolutes" in medicine, but one of the only exceptions is that Prion diseases are 100% fatal..
#26
Ovarian cysts can grow hair and teeth, saw images on Google and I'm forever traumatized.
George Costanza 15 hours ago
Teratoma. They can grow into any cell line in the body. Teeth is rather rare, skin the most common. But there's almost always some neural/brain tissue in there as well. Do they think? We don't know. But the teratoma knows.
#27
A cockroach can live without its head for weeks.
Tucker Cahooter 1 day ago
That's why I deal with them using a big shoe and not try to delicately remove their head with a scalpel
#28
Human perception. Everyone perceives things differently, interprets it differently, even what you think you see/perceive may not be real, it's always distorted.
#29
An item or feeling can be the peak of happiness one moment and absolutely nothing in an hour.
David Paterson 1 day ago
I'll always remember the happiest time of my life. It was right before my near-fatal accident.
#31
I once got CPR while fully conscious. I can't even describe it. Did you ever hit that funny nerve in your elbow? Imagine that in your whole body and head+the pain and you feel like your neck is gonna burst open.
Samantha H 23 hours ago
I am an ex EMT. I defibrillated a lady who came back and told me 'I would rather die than have that again'.
#32
The fact that when we're looking at the stars, we are most likely looking at their past when in reality, theyre probably not there anymore because their light takes so long to reach us. This is kinda scary to think of.
#33
Black holes aren't stationary. They can move in any direction.
#34
The fact we know more about our Galaxy above us than about our Oceans.
Sarah Suelzle 21 hours ago
Both are true...per Google :: We have a better observational understanding of space's vastness, but humanity has physically explored a greater percentage of our own ocean's floor and its immediate environment. The deep ocean remains Earth's last great frontier, with more unknown species and phenomena than currently understood.
#35
The fact that if we try and put the whole story of the planet earth in one book, us humans would only appear at the very last page, and just a tiny little piece of bottom right corner.
#36
Trillions of neutrinos are passing through our body every second right now from the Sun, distant supernovae, cosmic rays, and we can’t feel them, stop them or detect them in any way.
#37
Early onset schizophrenia is a thing and can begin in childhood. It's characterised by fatigue, forgetfulness and lack of motivation, so is often diagnosed as depression.
#38
Your skin is constantly shedding cells, turning pieces of you into dust without you ever noticing. It’s a slow, invisible process almost like Sandman dissolving into grains.
Every day, parts of you disappear… and are quietly replaced
Geoffrey Scott 23 hours ago
If this concerns you, NEVER have a Kirby vacuum salesperson do a demo.
#39
Humans can see light from ~380nm to 700nm. This is less than 1% of the existing light spectrum. We’re basically blind.
#40
History is nothing but someone's pov we are manipulated into believing.
#42
You never see the present.
Your brain shows you the world about 80–100 milliseconds late so it can edit reality.
You are always living in the past, just enough to survive.
David Paterson 23 hours ago
Consciousness can sometimes be seconds behind unconscious observations.
#43
The blind people can’t see a dream.
Clown fish 1 day ago
People born blind can't see a dream. People who become blind can and my friend said it's weird to wake up not seeing again
#44
That everyone is doing struggle for the life that can be ended at any point and he doesn't even know the time when it will happen.
#45
Isn't it scary that we see memories in a third pov while it actually happens us to in first pov.
#46
About 3% of kids aren’t raised by their biological father, that’s terrifying to me.
Kirsten Kerkhof 1 day ago
Why? At least these kids have a father figure in their lives. Unless, of course, you are one of those men who will ask for a paternity test no matter what because "Men just can never be sure." in which case you have issues of your own.
#47
In the 1980s, it was widely believed by medical professionals that babies could not feel pain, with medical procedures such as surgeries being regularly performed without anesthesia.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 1 day ago
Hasn’t this been debunked multiple times, in that doctors struggled to find safe levels of anaesthesia, of course they knew babies felt pain.
#48
The fact that manifestation and placebo effect is real, they're proven with psychology and neuroscience. You actually have the power to shift realities just by thinking about it.
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What do you think ?
CP 20 hours ago
I would be curious if you could point out 5 non facts without being uselessly pedantic. Many of these things are just realities people can't accept.
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CP 20 hours ago
I would be curious if you could point out 5 non facts without being uselessly pedantic. Many of these things are just realities people can't accept.
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