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In a world that’s in a constant state of change, you can never stop learning. That’s why many of us are always hungry for tasty knowledge bites and nibbles of information to help us better navigate our surroundings. However, as much as it is easy to be amazed by what humanity and nature are capable of, there’s also a darker side we often overlook.
So quite recently, Redditor RefrigeratorDry495 decided to learn more about it and reached out to AskReddit to start up a thread about simple yet incredibly disturbing and scary facts. People from far and wide rolled up their sleeves and started typing out responses that really are not for the faint of heart.
From creepy stuff about our past to alarmingly unsettling statistics, we at Bored Panda handpicked some of the most popular answers from the thread. So if you’re ready to witness how real life can be far more terrifying than fiction, continue scrolling and share your thoughts with us in the comments! A small note of warning, though, some of these facts can seem a bit overwhelming, so if you’re in great need of something lighter, take a look at our recent post full of wholesome stories right here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Sharks have been around for at least 420 million years, meaning they have survived four of the “big five” mass extinctions. That makes them older than humanity, older than Mount Everest, older than dinosaurs, older even than trees. Yet we could potentially see them extinct in our lifetime
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#2
If a biological trait is common in almost every human, then it evolved for a reason. Almost everybody has the same response to the "uncanny valley," or in other words we are made uncomfortable by things that look almost human but not quite. This implies humans once had a reason to fear something that looks human but isn't.
#3
Egyptian mummies wouldn’t be so rare today if the Victorian British hadn’t eaten most of them.
If there’s one thing that never ceases to amaze us, it's the amount of knowledge in the world. We can spend a lifetime trying to make sense of our surroundings by gathering new information every chance we get. One additional perk is that we get to spice up dull conversations and come up with new brilliant ideas to make this planet just a tad better.
More often than not, however, we applaud and celebrate the technological breakthroughs that we humans manage to create and also the mesmerizing beauty of the natural world. Let’s be honest, the disturbing and scary facts about real life may catch our attention, but they’re bound to send shivers down our spines. Sure, it’s better to be safe than sorry, but who really wants to know about massive super volcanos or missing nuclear weapons that have never been recovered? That's nightmare material right there.
#4
You have no way of really knowing if everyone experiences reality and consciousness the same way you do.
#5
Statistically speaking, if you are a woman and get murdered, it was most likely by a family member, partner or ex-partner, in your own home.
If you are a man and get murdered, it was most likely by an acquaintance or stranger, in a public place.
Katie Lutesinger 3 years ago
I watch a lot of true crime, and when a woman gets murdered it's actually surprising when it turns out NOT to be the boyfriend/husband.
#6
Maximum part of oxygen came from sea/oceans. But people always talks about protecting trees not sea/oceans.
And i was like WTF!! 3 years ago
If i am not mistaken (correct me if i am) algae and corrals do most of the work converting Carbon dioxide to oxygen
But it looks like turning a blind eye to the uneasy side of life is not that easy. You see, there’s one thing we humans are wired to do — seek out the gloom. As daunting as that may sound, we have this tendency to give more significance to negative thoughts than positive or neutral ones, something the experts call the negativity bias.
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., psychologist and author of Hardwiring Happiness, explained that humans evolved to be fearful, and it helped keep us alive. "This vulnerability to feeling threatened has effects at many levels, ranging from individuals, couples, and families, to schoolyards, organizations and nations," he wrote and stressed how important it is to be aware of how our brains become wary if we want to regain some amount control in the way we perceive the world.
#7
the world invests more money in viagra and botox than in the study of Alzheimer
#8
Moving back the start time for school in an area resulted in 70% less car accidents. Similarly at each daylight saving, heart attacks and accidents decrease with an hour of extra sleep and increase with an hour less of sleep. Sleep is crazy important.
Jenny Michelle 3 years ago
Moving back the start time would mean less sleep though right? ..I'm just confused on that part because it resulted in less accidents when school was earlier but similarly the extra hours sleep meant less heart attacks and accidents..sleep is important but wouldn't you be losing sleep if the school run was earlier ?
#9
Cotard's syndrome, also called "walking corpse syndrome," is a condition wherein the patient believes they are dead, dying, missing parts of their bodies, or don't exist.
Some people with Cotard's syndrome may stop speaking or eating since they believe they're dead.
Hanson stated that the nervous system has been evolving for 600 million years. "Our ancestors had to make a critical decision many times a day: approach a reward or avoid a hazard,” he wrote. People had to find food, have children, and hide from predators to survive and avoid threats.
However, if our ancestors missed out on food one day, they could easily find some more the next. But if they failed to dodge potential dangers, they didn't get the chance to pass on their genes to future generations. "Consequently, your body generally reacts more intensely to negative stimuli than to equally strong positive ones," Hanson explained.
#10
You can condition someone with zero personal/family history of mental illness into having some very severe mental illnesses within about a week.
Bobby 3 years ago
And unfortunately that same illness someone got in a week could take years, if ever, to reverse
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Lola 3 years ago
I’m not surprised at this. Think of all victims of abuse who can’t leave their partners. A lot of them are made to believe that they are crazy.
DannyGirl 3 years ago
Gas lighting is horrific for this .. to this DAY, even though an actual professional told me “you are being abused , here is the proof, here is more proof , you are STILL being abused” and I could even start seeing the patterns myself I STILL have doubts all the time that I’m just crazy .. ( and due to marrying into a rich and powerful family and away from my supports and family everyone in the community ALSO believes this as a result of a very successful smear campaign )
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DrLivingstonipresume 3 years ago
My MIL did this to my husband because he had the nerve to get his own life, get married, and have a baby. 10 years ago we moved across the country and we cut off all contact with her 9 years ago. He has been working, tirelessly, for 9 years to heal and he is finally, finally in a healthy place for the first time in his life. His mother will die alone and miserable and she deserves every single drop of that pain and misery.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 3 years ago (edited)
At the start of the pandemic I heard so many harrowing news broadcasts saying that depression and anxiety were at an all-time high even in people who had no history of mental illness. I wonder if we are going to have some odd collective trauma after all that we have been through they past 2+ years...
Lori Sandoval 3 years ago
The past two years have been rough and we are seeing the effects with the increase in total lack of impulse control in many people.
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Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago
One surefire way to trigger a psychotic episode is to keep them awake for a week. There are other ways to break people. It’s called abuse, terror, torture, amongst others. The things people do to other people can be horrific—-and most of them can still go about their lives, and even be considered pillars of their society, yet in private they’re just f****d up sick SOBs who should be locked up and never ever let out.
Boreedout of my mind 3 years ago
No joke when I stayed up for cramming I ended up hallucinating
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Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago (edited)
Torture. Things like lack of sleep, different types of abuse, threats, being shown confronting images and much more.
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Id row 3 years ago
Humans are very suggestible. It's why advertisers pay so much, because it's so effective.
Lisa Intally 3 years ago
Especially when they are not aware of being influenced.
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Uriel Grey 3 years ago
This isn't shocking to anyone who has experienced trauma but it breaks my heart to think of how this information was discovered :(
Ahmed AbuGhadeer 3 years ago
No, I can not. _ May be some people can, but I can't. _ Well, may be within a month or two. But not a week. _ ؛؛؛؛
Sian Edwards 3 years ago
And it's really easy to do. From narcissistic family members subtly gaslighting you to things that would be considered as torture under the Geneva convention.
Angie Scanes 3 years ago
KernTroll : Seriously sort it out. Exposure to differing cultures can be nothing but a benefit to their decision making. Think how proud you'll be if their thorough education about the range of members of our global society leads them to independently conclude that your specific generetic heritage is the superior one!
Zero 3 years ago
Gaslighting is a specific manipulation tactic that doesn't always end in a mental condition. It's designed to make you doubt your memory and sanity. There are many others that work as well - playing a song or message on repeat 24/7, various physical tortures/abuse, Stockholm syndrome, sleep deprivation, repeated exposure to trauma, repeated jump scares (that was a crazy unethical experiment done on babies decades ago), catchy ads, love/hate reward/punishment cycle, etc.
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Red 3 years ago
Maybe that's what happened to me! Definitely, my family is very healthy and well adjusted, that's why none of them is in therapy. They all love to berate me and tell me I'm the weird, sick and crazy one. Yeah. Not dysfunctional at all.
Zero 3 years ago
Repetition of any message affects you even if you are consciously aware. That kind of talking down to you could definitely negatively affect you.
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Gary Sansom 3 years ago
"You" ? Who is this magical "you" ? Joe Bloggs who works in McDonalds? Can Joe condition a healthy person they have a mysterious "mental illness " ? Don't spread unsubstantiated misinformation. No evidence, all BS..
Helen Witten 3 years ago
That is sort of the reason I started realising that if you have to live with someone with a serious psyche issue you will start coming down with something yourself. Not necessarily the same thing but something will develop I believe. So if anyone is in a situation like that get away from them as fast as you can.
Riley Quinn 3 years ago
Any one seeking professional therapy up until just recently already knew this. Therapists relied far too heavily on antipsychotics and antidepressants back then, which, in far too many cases, brought on psychosis.
Lisa Intally 3 years ago (edited)
Brainwashing in the form of persuasion is done all the time. Literally, all the extremely expensive ads you are exposed to every day are the result of very highly paid psychologists and marketers who are experts on human behavior. No political ad gets by until it's been subjected to focus groups, et. al. They are all intended to change your natural behavior into doing or thinking something they want. As one of my advertising teachers said, television is an ideal medium because you are already half-hypnotized by the act of watching it. That makes it easier to accept the messages without judgement. And this explains why outlets like Fox News are so effective at getting messages through that most people find abhorrent. Ask yourself: why in the world would people decide to forgo a free life-saving vaccine to risk a deadly disease? It's not because they are thinking critically. They are receiving messages to do so.
Hugh Cookson 3 years ago
Yup, it's called torture - as practised by every government that's locked up political prisoners (or people who object and speak out) worldwide - the US and UK are world leaders in this ....
Claire Law 3 years ago
Very true, it's called sleep deprivation (all mental health staff have seen this and also seen how a good night's sleep sorts it right out).
Michelle Papuga 3 years ago
The fact that this is a "fact" is disturbing. I feel bad for the test subjects
Melissa Peck 3 years ago
Just have them work for my former manager. That will mess them up fast.
LaToya Mack 3 years ago
It takes three days to drive people insane. The key is to depra the senses. Same as sure for homeless people for them you could be homeless for less than a month and a half and tend to lose your marbles.
#11
The entire planet could be immediately destroyed by any one of a number of cosmic events that we have no way of seeing or stopping like rogue black holes.
Worse...there are some events we can very much see coming, but do absolutely nothing about.
Karri Berkowitz 3 years ago
Like killing Earth. Last I knew of we can't just move to another planet.
#12
I read somewhere ( don’t remember where) that you are more likely to be bitten by someone in New York than to be bitten by a shark.
"The alarm bell of your brain — the amygdala (you’ve got two of these little almond-shaped regions, one on either side of your head) — uses many of its neurons to look for bad news: it’s primed to go negative in most people," the psychologist continued. "Once it sounds the alarm, negative events and experiences get quickly stored in memory — in contrast to positive events and experiences, which are not prioritized in the same way."
But while this is a great way to pass on gene copies, our quality of life has been improving significantly and proving we don’t actually need to feel afraid or anxious all of the time. To lead a healthy and fulfilling life, we need to better grasp this tendency to focus on the negativities and understand that things are usually not as bad. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the discomforting things around you, try to pay attention to what’s in front of you.
#13
Yellowstone is a giant super volcano. If it blows, things on this planet will go really bad really fast.
Libby Tailor 3 years ago
Is there any geologist here? How many super volcanoes do exist on the Earth?
#14
Every time you move your eyes from one spot to another, you go blind for the instant your eyes are moving. It’s called “Saccadic masking”, it’s an evolutionary trait to stop us from getting motion sick. Your brain fills in the blank spot with whatever you end up looking at and context clues. It’s why when you first look at a clock, the second hand seems to take longer to click the first time
#15
Chimps don't attack to kill. Instead they aim for the genitals, face, and fingers and will leave the opponent alive.
There have been many people who have owned chimps who have turned on their owners and left them incredibly disfigured. One case, the chimp ripped a man's junk off. In all cases, faces were mutilated and fingers were chewed off. It's pretty much how they instinctively fight in the wild.
So if you think that chimp is going to be a cute pet, better think twice. Even if you raised it since it was born, they'll turn on you at any second. A disfigurement roulette waiting to happen.
Vile creatures.
Ann Pattinson 3 years ago
I think anyone who keeps a chimp as a pet is rather asking for problems. They aren't meant to be pets!
"Focusing on the things we can control alleviates some of the fear. Change is a part of life. It is in acknowledging this fact that we can live a healthier, less stressful life from day to day," Shari Botwin, LCSW and author of Thriving After Trauma, explained to Bored Panda in an earlier interview.
"It is natural for us to go into flight or fight mode when we feel scared or in danger," she said and added that it’s best to take a minute and assess the situation you are facing. "Ask yourselves, 'Is the fear I am experiencing in my mind and body matching the current situation, or am I also reacting to other events that left me feeling traumatized or stranded in the past?'"
#17
Despite literally all war propaganda from every country saying otherwise, you are not going to make an individual impact in glorious battle and die valiantly in a hail of bullets. Statistically, you are overwhelmingly more likely to be killed by an explosive device launched miles away by a vehicle you will never see, long before you ever get a chance to pull the trigger.
El Dee 3 years ago
And literally EVERY country runs its own propaganda in all wars. That includes OUR side in the Ukraine war. Some things are not reported, some things that are reported are not true and some is exaggeration. Some of it isn't even news but is designed to make you support the war itself. Keep your eyes peeled for it. Harder to do when the propaganda involves limiting the outlets for news to their own side only. You have nothing to compare it to..
#18
idk why this freaks some ppl out, but gelatin is made out of bones. That's right - your melted marshmallow in your hot chocolate is melted animal bone. It's good stuff.
That's why the traditional marshmallows aren't vegan or halal...
The trauma specialist suggested that it is best to respond to your fear with words of reassurance and compassion. "Try and put the fear in perspective. Don't go through these feelings alone. Call a friend or talk to a family member. Process what you are feeling so you can sort through where the fear is coming from. Remind yourselves it is perfectly normal to feel afraid at times. It is an emotion that comes and goes, especially if you have experienced anything that left you feeling afraid," Botwin advised.
#19
If it's sufficiently dark, you will hallucinate your reflection as a different entity and it will appear to start moving on it's own.
#20
A male honey bee's ejaculation is so strong it makes his d**k explode, killing him.
#21
I’m friends with a professor of soil ecology here in the Midwest. She says that if we don’t change our current farming practices, much of the Midwest’s soil will be infertile with one to two generations.
#22
Capgras Syndrome is a mental delusion where you believe that the people closest to you have been replaced by impostors
#23
Squirrels carry all the same diseases as rats but humans don’t mind because their cute.
#25
The leap in technological advancement from us to a race that could *actually* traverse the galaxy/universe is astronomically ludicrous. We are absolutely nothing in comparison to any race that has created ways to reach us. Meaning any race capable of finding us would be so advanced and so much more knowledgeable than us that they could observe us without us ever knowing. They would have technologies, weapons, etc outside our realm of understanding and would be able to annihilate us with ease, just given the fact that their ability to generate/harness power would be unparalleled. If any alien ever came to earth with hostile tendencies, short of a miracle, we’d be doomed.
InfiniteZero 3 years ago
Good thing they only come here for the a**l probing. Speaking of which...
#26
Alligators can climb trees
Katie Lutesinger 3 years ago
Thank goodness there are no alligators here in Australia! *crocodile the size of a van appears* D'OH!
#27
6 nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered since the 1950s.
Katie Lutesinger 3 years ago
By the time someone thinks to check out the mysterious object stashed under my house, it will be too late to stop me. MWAHAHAHAH!
#28
Your eyes have a seperate immune-system from the rest of your body. Once your body's immune system discovers you have eyes, it will attack and inflame the blood vessels in the back of your eyes. This can lead to your vision decreasing or even going blind.
#29
The odds of dying in a car accident are 1 in 107. Not only that you can die in a car only going 40mph and something like 30-percent of the people driving after 10pm are driving drunk. Driving is super dangerous and most people take it for granted.
Turt_Le 3 years ago
I recently learned of 'floppy' physics which explains the phenomena of drunk drivers escaping from fatal accidents with minimal injuries because the alcohol is a relaxant and stops them reacting and tensing during the crash. Other non-intoxicated occupants/pedestrians are not so lucky
#30
Dell computers were so bad that there was a website where you could click a button and it would show someone's random webcam without them knowing.
#32
If you have a parasite in your body, there's only a slim chance you'll know about it before it pops out of your skin or leaves through the back door. Also, some parasites pop out of skin.
thEBOrdeSTpaNDA 3 years ago
I had a nightmare about a worm coming out of my leg when I was like 6 or 7. Still remember it
#33
You can be seriously Injured from a sneeze
Scagsy 3 years ago (edited)
I was washing up and had plates in both hands when a sneeze came at me. I didn't want to drop the plates so I braced myself for an uncontrolled sneeze. It put my back out. I thought I had slipped a disc and was bedridden for two weeks! The pain was tremendous and I couldn't walk. I had to crawl to my bed. Beware of sneezes, yes they spread diseases but nobody ever talks about the injuries they cause. Beware.
#34
1/3 of US murders go unsolved.
#35
We have trace amounts of iron, gold, nickel, and silver within our bloodstream which means with enough people you could drain them of their blood, dilute it down to separate it, and eventually be able to make a full ingot of iron, gold, nickel, and silver.
#37
If chronic wasting disease jumps to humans, the Zombie Apocalypse may become a real thing.
Josurf 3 years ago
Enough with the vampires and zombies already... can't you guys come up with something original... like a virus ... no not a virus, ... a crazy warmongering president...no, not that either...a....let's see... what didn't Hollywood or the World come up with yet...? Aliens, revolting monkeys, sharknados, tornados, tsunamis, World freezing, World burning, giant worms, giant insects, dino's, nuclear catastrophe, asteroids .. damn, not much left.... There I know: a black hole coming in close...
#40
Body integrity disorder. The PubMed.gov website describes it as "the extremely rare phenomenon of persons who desire the amputation of one or more healthy limbs or who desire a paralysis," adding: "Some of these persons mutilate temselves; others ask surgeons for an amputation or for the transection of their spinal cord. Psychologists and physicians explain this phenomenon in quite different ways, but a successful psychotheraputic or pharmaceutical therapy is not known."
Nemo 3 years ago
I once saw something about this. A guy had the feeling his leg shouldn't be there. Lost other leg in an accident and joked about losing the wrong leg. He eventually got the foreign feeling leg amputated. The discomfort of being disabled was worth that his body finally felt like it should. It still baffles me
#41
NASA simulated the response effort to a killer asteroid and determined they would need a minimum of 5 years notice to have any chance of deflecting it—more realistically 10. We’d basically have to identify the thing leaving the ~~Oort Cloud~~ Kuiper Belt.
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
And the lead time we usually have after the discovery of extinction-level asteroids is measured in hours. Sweet dreams everyone!
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What do you think ?
mammaM 3 years ago
You would think they'd get their s$%t together by now..
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John Baker 3 years ago
As is the case with all of BP's "facts lists", some of these are questionable to say the least.
I like……. food 3 years ago
Honestly the New York one is pretty believable tbh
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RafCo 3 years ago
This is a 100% true fact. 97% of the time 72% of people are spending 23% of their attention on made up facts. Like this one.
Emmett O'Brian 3 years ago
I'm surprised. I didn't know four of these. I collect factoids so this is up my alley
WoodenLion 3 years ago
myself and my brother. yesterday i sneezed 13 times in a row. i never, ever sneeze less than 3 times and sometimes as much as 18. i have had to pull over while driving if they decided to come rapid fire.
Ryan Collins 3 years ago
Here's one: There are these tiny little creatures called pinworms that infect about 20% of children. Here's the process: 1) A child swallows a pinworm egg. 2) The pinworm hatches and chills out in the child's intestines. 3) The female pinworm exits the child's a*s while they sleep, and lays eggs around it. 4) This itches, so a child will likely scratch their a*s 5) Eventually after that, a child is likely to touch their mouth, getting the eggs back into their digestive tract. This cycle continues forever :D
Aisling Raye 3 years ago
I'm surprised no one posted about how the human body contains about as many microbial cells as it does actual human cells.
RafCo 3 years ago
Accurate: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2016.19136#:~:text=It's%20often%20said%20that%20the,to%2Done%2C%20they%20calculate.
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Lynne Hammar 3 years ago
Please, BP, stop with the "unalived" euphemism!!! It trivializes the trauma, plus it's way more jarring than just saying "killed"
Jill Tremblay 3 years ago
Most all of these really bothered me. Hurt my heart. Very sad things here.....
mammaM 3 years ago
You would think they'd get their s$%t together by now..
Load More Replies... John Baker 3 years ago
As is the case with all of BP's "facts lists", some of these are questionable to say the least.
I like……. food 3 years ago
Honestly the New York one is pretty believable tbh
Load More Replies... RafCo 3 years ago
This is a 100% true fact. 97% of the time 72% of people are spending 23% of their attention on made up facts. Like this one.
Emmett O'Brian 3 years ago
I'm surprised. I didn't know four of these. I collect factoids so this is up my alley
WoodenLion 3 years ago
myself and my brother. yesterday i sneezed 13 times in a row. i never, ever sneeze less than 3 times and sometimes as much as 18. i have had to pull over while driving if they decided to come rapid fire.
Ryan Collins 3 years ago
Here's one: There are these tiny little creatures called pinworms that infect about 20% of children. Here's the process: 1) A child swallows a pinworm egg. 2) The pinworm hatches and chills out in the child's intestines. 3) The female pinworm exits the child's a*s while they sleep, and lays eggs around it. 4) This itches, so a child will likely scratch their a*s 5) Eventually after that, a child is likely to touch their mouth, getting the eggs back into their digestive tract. This cycle continues forever :D
Aisling Raye 3 years ago
I'm surprised no one posted about how the human body contains about as many microbial cells as it does actual human cells.
RafCo 3 years ago
Accurate: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2016.19136#:~:text=It's%20often%20said%20that%20the,to%2Done%2C%20they%20calculate.
Load More Replies... Lynne Hammar 3 years ago
Please, BP, stop with the "unalived" euphemism!!! It trivializes the trauma, plus it's way more jarring than just saying "killed"
Jill Tremblay 3 years ago
Most all of these really bothered me. Hurt my heart. Very sad things here.....
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