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Despite the fact that most of us see multiple thunderstorms a year over the course of our lifetimes, the chances of being hit by lightning is incredibly low. But like winning hands in blackjack or dying in a plane crash, even a low probability isn’t the same as impossible.
Someone asked “What do people not realize has an extremely low chance of happening?” and netizens shared their most improbable examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own examples and experiences in the comments section below.
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#1
Being attacked by a trans woman in the bathroom. The chances are so low it essentially doesn't happen. Transwomen are much more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators.
David 1 year ago
What I find weird about that is assuming any gender / sexual orientation is likely to make you an attacker. Gay men use male restrooms / lesbians women's restrooms. But it's not like straight men and women are all, "Gee I'm afraid to go potty because the other person who looks like me might be gay and attack me. I'm not wording it well I'm saying being 'different' from the norm doesn't make you a monster or attacker.
RELATED:
#2
Gun owners overestimate the chance that they'll use the gun for self defense and underestimate the chance that the gun will be used to k*ll its owner.
Data1001 1 year ago
You must be new here, lol. Bored Panda is notorious for using the silly pseudonym "unalived" in their posts.
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Rabbit Of ill Portent(she/her) 1 year ago
Any decent, right thinking gun owner would hope to the gods that they'd never have to use it
Rilmar 1 year ago
Facts. My buddy has a few guns and he only ever wishes to shoot them at paper targets on his range. He told me that if he ever has to use one in self-defense, he will get rid of all of his guns because he won't he able to bring himself to touch a gun again.
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Foffy Skrimshaw 1 year ago
Biased anecdote but true anyway. My little sister, 19 was alone in the house when someone smashed her window out beside the front door, she heard it and ran down to see what the noise was when she saw a guy trying to break in. She pointed a gun at him and he ran away. After she called the cops to report the attempt they saw a wet yellow puddle on the porch.
TheLocalRedneck 1 year ago
Eh, I don't really expect to use my guns for self-defense. I'll use them to defend my animals from predators (mostly coyotes) or for hunting or for recreational shooting at the range
Douglas Tucker 1 year ago
Facts and stats are readily available for all sides concerning our firearm concerns but many tend to only believe and accept the information that supports their team. If I were to say the the NRA was pushing for real gun safety and checks on gun sales back in the 1960s, mainly due to organizations like The Black Panther Party wanting the same 2nd Amendment rights as others, many here might say that is B.S. And those who feel that bump stocks, firearm muzzlers, or large ammo magazines are not covered by the 2nd Amendment may discover that our current court system may disagree with them. The concept of self protection by the need of multiple firearms says a lot about the U.S. versus other countries. The notion that "they" want to take all our guns away also says a lot about our U.S. politicians, the gun lobbyists, and the firearm owners who feel that they have a God given right in regards to guns. Stay safe boredpanda readers.
Phil Hoyt 1 year ago
The stats sourced from a CDC-commissioned study finding that instances of defensive gun use occur between 60,000 and 2.5 million times per year. References to that study were deleted from the site following private meetings with gun control advocates in 2021. So a study that Obama ordered, the CDC found to be valid, was removed from the site by liberals who re-wrote history, facts and conclusions because it didn't fit their agenda. And some people still think the government works in our best interests.
Douglas Tucker 1 year ago
Phil Hoyt, I understand your concern based upon the many interpretations of information on any CDC study. After this study, gun magazines, gun companies and political groups used these numbers from gun owners declaring what you are saying, that guns have been used to stop a lot of bad events from happening. I question as one should, how were the answers provided in this study verified? And what else pops up is the study stating defensive gun usage was between 60k and 2.5 mil. per year. The gap between those two numbers from a statistical data collection view should very concerning, period. My point is as stated earlier, which team can get the most mileage out of a study such as the one you speak of. Phil Hoyt, thank you for a great recap of the initial study.
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Nathan Hayes 1 year ago
And antigun advocates are notorious for ignoring how often guns are used to deter/prevent crime
Bex 1 year ago
And overestimate how many guns they need. My neighbor owns over 35. They're all handguns. He doesn't hunt. He works as a deli manager at a grocery store. It's only him and his wife in their extremely tiny 500 square foot house. None of these guns are antiques or collectibles. He says he needs them all so he can be ready if someone breaks into his house. He's a f'ing idiot. (And before anyone harps on me, I am pro-gun in a safe, responsible way. But over 35 is not safe or responsible when your only objective is to have them so you can stop a burglar.)
Foffy Skrimshaw 1 year ago
At that point it's just an enthusiast and collector. My father is the same way. I have exactly one gun , it's all I need and care to own.
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Paul Gerrard 1 year ago
High chance it will be used in a crime the owner commits. Its like ARs. They are not a defensive weapon. They are a assault rifle worse than a german machine gun. Good luck with a defence in court explaining how it was located, unlocked, loaded then used to slaughter a unarmed victim.
HolyDiver 1 year ago
Tell me you have zero firearm education without telling me you have zero firearm education.
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Jane Hower 1 year ago
That's BS - what gun owners know is that when you need help in seconds, police MIGHT be there in an hour. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. If that's not clear then you have NO brain at all.
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
One of the many reasons I'm not a gun person. I may be American, but I'm not a gun toter lol
Sven Horlemann 1 year ago
Well, whatever weapon you have on you, be prepared it gets taken away and used on you.
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
"...kiII its owner" and possibly their loved ones, too. The number of incidents around kids playing with daddy's gun, misfortune (like "intruder" actually being wife), alcohol related shenanigans, carelessness, , or irrational moments (wife cheated, kid gets terminal diagnosis, road rage, ...) that quite literally triggered catastrophies is legion.
#3
People handing out m**ijuana edibles to kids on Halloween. Literally, no one does that. No one would be careless enough to do that. That s**t is expensive, and people want to get high off them.
#4
One Presidential candidate being shot and the other one dropping out inside of a 10 day span.
#5
Drowning in quicksand. I spent far too much time as a child thinking this was going to be an adult concern.
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
I got stuck in quicksand when I was 14 years old. That was the same year I got struck by lightning and bitten by a rattlesnake. Occasionally I just suddenly stop and think "Wow, my life has been so bizarre."
#6
Being k*lled by a serial k*iller. I was a sociology major in college and in my Deviant Behavior class, this is what my teacher said at the beginning of a lesson about serial k*llers: "None of you will be k*lled by a serial k*ller. I'm telling you as a statistician that the likelihood of it is nil. Even the most prolific of serial k*ller's victims make up a fraction of a percent of people who die from m*rder."
Sadly you are much more likely to be k*lled by someone you know. same goes for sexual assault and trafficking. It's actually very unlikely to be a stranger.
#7
Being thrown from a car during an accident, and coming out unharmed. I know people to this day that don't wear seatbelts because they think it's safer to be thrown out.
Anne Nielsen 1 year ago
I have a state trooper friend. He said in a survivable accident, he has never pulled a dead body from a seat belt. But has picked up plenty of dead people, from the road who did not wear their seatbealt
#8
Random child abductions are extremely rare, most of the time it's one of the parents. Of course you should teach your kids stranger danger, but the way some parents behave they think there's kidnappers hiding behind every bush.
nottheactualphoto 1 year ago
Even when it isn't one of the parents, it's usually some other adult the kid knows: relative, priest, scout leader etc.
#9
A third party ever winning an election in the us.
nottheactualphoto 1 year ago
The winner-take-all system ensures that there will only ever be two parties that "matter."
#10
Winning the lottery - but hey, a girl can dream right?
Doug McKenzie 1 year ago
A lottery ticket is a weird gift to give someone. It’s like saying, “Here. This has a 99% chance of being disappointing. I saw it and thought of you”.
#11
Change someones opinion on the internet.
#12
Contracting a brain eating amoeba from swimming - it happens but only on average 3.3 cases per year in the entire world, but to my kid on the spectrum anytime he goes near water it’s gonna happen to him, poor guy. We are working on it.
#13
Your 11 year old becoming a professional baseball player.
StrangeOne 1 year ago
Your kid is most likely going to develop an injury that will put them out of the sport before they graduate High School.
#15
People often overestimate the chance of a plane crash, but the odds are about 1 in 11 million for a commercial flight.
#16
Having an adverse reaction to covid vaccines
Some people lose their mind over it.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
I actually DO HAVE moderate to severe reactions to the COVID vaccines. My second booster put me at a 105F fever for two days. The ones since have only hit 103F. But do you notice something about that? I keep getting my shots.
#17
Actually coming out ahead in gambling, if you do it often enough.
Of course, anyone with a decent brain knows that typical gambling is negative value every time, but if you do it often enough, it's even less likely that you'll come out ahead (as the number of events being looked at approaches infinity, the outcome will approach the mean - which is negative value).
That's one reason why if you put on a 'cheeky bet' and end up winning, just quit while you're ahead. Or don't bet in the first place (it's fine if you can consider it an entertainment expense, but all too many people try to use that as a justification when the truth is that they're really hoping to buck the odds, and the maths doesn't care about how much you wish it would bend to you).
Jacob B. 1 year ago
We once went to Laughlin, not much to do at night. So I bit the bullet, gave my wife $20 (which she lost) and I played the Black Jack table with the same amount. Made out very well by estimating probabilities. Didn't play with my winnings. Once my initial $20 was gone, grabbed my chips to cash them in. Guy next to me said, "why are you leaving, you are doing really well". I said, "I just made a 500% return, nothing in Wall Street could get me that, I'm getting out while I'm ahead".
#18
Surviving after CPR. It's roughly 7-10% if you're outside the hospital, and even less when you're a senior citizen.
It's also very brutal, as many people aren't prepared to see 200 pound men putting their body weight onto grandpa and grandma's chest, breaking all their ribs, instead of just letting them pass peacefully.
Bahija Just 1 year ago (edited)
Ill take the 7% Losing my mom at just 63 was incredibly painful. It’s heartbreaking to think that knowing CPR could have made a difference. I wish everyone had the opportunity to learn this lifesaving skill. It could mean the world to someone you love."
#19
Becoming an Internet influencer.
Ben Aziza 1 year ago
Chinese influencer "farms" are a dystopian nightmare. influfamrs...d-jpeg.jpg 
#20
Making a living from YouTube or playing video games.
Edit*
I agree with alot of us saying it requires an uncontrollable amount of luck, despite the quality of content. I'm a teacher and it k*lls me to hear how popular this idea has become lately. More so, how unfair and fickle it all seems to me at times. I see small youtubers poor their heart and soul into their content,like literally building an entire drift car project,but barely manage to build an audience. Other times I see what I believe are just e-beggers making millions from mediocre content, playing games poorly or worse people who simply steal content and do voice overs. Man, must be nice to make millions stealing internet videos and doing some obvious voice over narration but that's a whole different subject.
#21
Hollywood stealing your idea because you told someone in a bar it'd be cool if Batman fought Deadpool.
#22
Growing up I was sure that grown ups were constantly on fire, sinking in quick sand, and offering free d***s to every kid they see/sticking if in random pieces of candy...
#23
Becoming a professional athlete. I see so many parents grooming their kids to go pro but don’t really give them life skills so when they inevitably don’t make it, the child ends up lost in life not knowing what to do.
#24
Making money at an MLM or pyramid scheme, 95% of the people entering those things will lose money, and they know it, the only thing is that promotors convince them that they will be part of the 5%. They won't.
#25
Finding your soulmate
Imagine every person is a puzzle piece. There are 8 billion pieces. Do you think the 3-4 pieces you fit in perfectly with are going to be in your immediate area? Find one that’s close and make it work. There are plenty of remarkable pieces that fit pretty well even if they’re not the *one* and you might even make a neat picture in your tiny part pf the world.
#28
Dislocating your kneecap when you sneeze.
Happened to a coworker of mine. Their doctor said that it's not common, but it isn't unheard of.
#29
Being “awake” under anesthesia. People worry about it often thanks to Hollywood or a story someone told them. The reality is that true awareness under anesthesia is close to 1 in a million, and most anesthesiologists will never see it in their entire career. Real awareness under anesthesia means that you a paralyzed as the surgeon is actively working. It is traumatic and associated with PTSD.
People often say that they were “awake” under anesthesia, but this is usually due to a few things. Poor communication by the anesthesiologist — the patient thought they would be asleep, but they will only get sedation. They remember things prior to surgery — like being in the room, seeing the equipment, and/or having a mask on their face. This is fairly normal. Lastly sometimes patients say they “woke up early”. Some practices wake people up in the recovery area, but it’s also common for patients to be woken up in the room. Sometimes this occurs as a dressing is being applied. Again, this is normal.
It is really rare to have true awareness under general anesthesia. Good communication preoperatively helps patients to know what to expect during the surgery.
GB 1 year ago
I have Pseudocholinesterase deficiency, a rare disorder that makes metabolizing succynicholine (a paralytic administered to a patient to allow the insertion of a breathing tube) take much longer than normal. It usually takes only about 15 minutes to wear off, which means that by the time surgery is finished, a person can be extubated and breathe fine on their own. But for me, it takes hours and hours to wear off. Unfortunately, because it's so rare, they don't regularly test for this issue beforehand. I found out the hard way; i.e. I was extubated after surgery but still completely paraylized. I couldn't breathe, nor could I speak or gesture to indicate that I couldn't breathe. But I was totally awake, and aware that I was suffocating. Luckily they monitor your vitals the whole time. Once they saw my oxygen level plummet, they immediately sedated and re-intubated me. It was more than 9 hours before I was able to breath on my own again. It was a terrifying experience.
#30
Becoming millionaires affected by the tax raises they vote against
Edit: there might be a problem with semantics in my original comment, but you guys need to stop assuming everyone is American.
#31
That we are going to be able to survive unchanged after AI progresses a little further and the “average” person will not be able to determine fake video from real video. Worried about “bots” on twitter or Reddit now? Just wait.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
Already happened. My perants were debating just 10 minutes or so ago weather or not a picture of a cat with markings that resembled a smaller cat was real or AI. A photograph is no longer evidence of anything
#32
If you drive to the airport to catch a flight, congratulations, you won. The odds of you dying have significantly and infinitesimally reduced. You have better odds at the lottery than you do dying on that plane, compared to the rolling death trap that is a car.
#33
Being killed by a terrorist or immigrant. According to the CDC cancer, heart disease are coming for you.
#34
A lot of people here are falling for the logical fallacy of small probabilities. "Since the probability of x is so small, it's an invalid fear". But while the probabilty of you dying today, for example, is small, according to some sources,166,859 people still die every day, the probability of you dying today is modulated, in part, by your choices and behaviors, and the probability that you will die eventually is 100%. A lot of things affect only a small percentage of the population but their absolute numbers are still high enough to be significant issues. Covid is a good example of this. Most people did not become seriously ill or die of covid even before the vaccination but covid was still a public health nightmare due the strained community resources and took an unprecedented number of lives. .
#35
Being buried alive.
I can't believe how many smart people I know that think this can actually happen. I always ask them how they plan to survive being embalmed first and they give me a blank stare.
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago
Nowadays it's rare. In the past it was frighteningly common...
#36
Prion Disease, or CJD -- you don't need to eat contaminated meat or otherwise be exposed. We all have about a one-in-a-million chance of spontaneously developing one.
R Dennis 1 year ago
The one from meat is vCJD, it was nvCJD when I wrote a research paper on it. It is contracted from BSE infected cows. Other versions are iatrogenic, hereditary, and sporadic. Sporadic is most common because all unknown causes are lumped into that category, so it is considered "spontaneous".
#38
Making money at a casino. If you go, go to have fun and keep your losses to a specific number. If you think you’ll make money, absolutely do not go.
#39
The person most likely to k*ll you is... yourself. More people die from s****de than from wars, natural disasters combined
#40
I guess a lot of young dudes will hate me for that, but Im truly sure that nowadays it is a chance of becoming a famous rapper starting from zero, it's possible if you already have money and professional production behind you, but it's impossible to become a star from your parents' bedroom, sorry.
Becca not Becky 1 year ago (edited)
I would say it takes a ton of luck unless you already have connections. The right people have to see you and the chance of that happening on Tik Tok or YouTube is extremely slim.
#41
Aliens want to visit and trade with us as friends.
Fishpanda (fish/panda/it) 1 year ago
Aliens visited some time ago and then went "nevermind" and flew off.
#42
Making enough money to ever feel financially stable in todays economy.
#43
In the US, a constitutional amendment. It’s virtually an impossibility at this point.
Paul Gerrard 1 year ago (edited)
Most people think amendments cant or should not be amended. The 2nd A was an amendment and could just as easily be amended out or modified to use present day circumstance. Slavery was amended out. Its quite easy if intelligence is used. Courts focus of preserving what was once right and should be made to consider change to meet present needs
#45
Themselves living to 100.
Pieter LeGrande 1 year ago
The trick is to get to 130. Then you are set. Have you ever heard of a 130yo dieing?
#46
Any one of the natural disasters big enough to create any real extinction event. Super random, rare and not likely in your life by the current projections.
#47
Where we think we will be in 10 years.
nottheactualphoto 1 year ago
In 10 years? I'll settle for being alive and in reasonable health. As long as we're dreaming, let's also say neither homeless nor broke.
#48
A sinkhole opening under you house.
#49
Crowded restaurant in a foreign country, stranger eating alone offered to share their table, found we had mutual friends.
#50
That you can die by doing *anything*.
What do you think ?
Apatheist Account2 1 year ago
Indeed - winning a sweepstake you didn't enter is a scam, nothing more, nothing less. All one has to do is ignore the message. Shark and meteorite are potentially fatal, the other two are possibly mildly inconvenient.
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Captive 1 year ago
Yes planes are very safe. Yet I absolutely hate it when they shake mid flight due to turbulence
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
The good news is turbulence is extremely unlikely to cause a crash, and becomes less likely the bigger the plane is. It’s hard to damage a plane by dropping altitude alone and the bigger the plane, the more force it would take to impact it, especially enough to be a problem. It still doesn’t make turbulence fun, but might help with any anxiety
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Dan Flo 1 year ago
Well we are lucky that every major war has been won by the good side... 😏
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Steve Gilbert 1 year ago
Only one person in all of recorded history has been stuck by a meteorite. Thousands of people have been attacked by sharks throughout history. People win sweepstakes every week. Very few people have found hidden treasure of any really great amount.
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
One person that was recorded by history or at least for whom we have surviving written records
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Dan Flo 1 year ago
Looking at the world today, they would starve pretty quickly from the lack of brains to eat.
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Apatheist Account2 1 year ago
Indeed - winning a sweepstake you didn't enter is a scam, nothing more, nothing less. All one has to do is ignore the message. Shark and meteorite are potentially fatal, the other two are possibly mildly inconvenient.
Load More Replies... Captive 1 year ago
Yes planes are very safe. Yet I absolutely hate it when they shake mid flight due to turbulence
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
The good news is turbulence is extremely unlikely to cause a crash, and becomes less likely the bigger the plane is. It’s hard to damage a plane by dropping altitude alone and the bigger the plane, the more force it would take to impact it, especially enough to be a problem. It still doesn’t make turbulence fun, but might help with any anxiety
Load More Replies... Dan Flo 1 year ago
Well we are lucky that every major war has been won by the good side... 😏
Load More Replies... Steve Gilbert 1 year ago
Only one person in all of recorded history has been stuck by a meteorite. Thousands of people have been attacked by sharks throughout history. People win sweepstakes every week. Very few people have found hidden treasure of any really great amount.
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
One person that was recorded by history or at least for whom we have surviving written records
Load More Replies... Dan Flo 1 year ago
Looking at the world today, they would starve pretty quickly from the lack of brains to eat.
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