Our brains just love symmetry! So much so that when we see a fine example of things just falling nicely into place just as they should, it satisfies us deep within our souls.
Of course, when we encounter the opposite - the wonky, the askew, the lop-sided - it triggers a vague feeling of discomfort. This reaction is stronger in some than in others, but even those of us who would consider themselves chill about imperfections can get fixated on certain mistakes.
Can't understand what I mean? Well, as a follow up to previous efforts here and here, Bored Panda has collected another list of things that aren't quite right and are sure to set the alarm bells ringing. Scroll down below to check them out for yourself, and let us know how they made you feel in the comments!
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What The Actual Mother ******* **** Is This *******
So what lies behind this fascination with all things symmetrical? Well, according to an article in HowStuffWorks, it comes from the fact that most objects in the real world are symmetrical. "This is particularly true of nature: the radial symmetry of starfish or flower petals, the symmetrical efficiency of a hexagonal honeycomb, or the uniquely symmetrical crystal patterns of a snowflake," they write. "In fact asymmetry is often a sign of illness or danger in the natural world."
People Whose Desktops Look Like This
Preth Any Button
"And, of course, human beings are symmetrical, at least on the outside (some internal organs like the heart and liver are off-center). Decades of research into sexual attraction have proven that both men and women find symmetrical faces sexier than asymmetrical ones. The leading explanation is that physical symmetry is an outward sign of good health, although large-scale studies have shown no significant health differences in people with symmetrical or asymmetrical faces."
"The simple explanation for our attraction to symmetry is that it's familiar. Symmetrical objects and images play by the rules that our brains are programmed to recognize easily."
This Neighborhood I Saw On Google Maps Really Hits Me Hard
Well You're Not Wrong
In an essay called The Symmetrical Universe, Alan Lightman, American physicist, writer, and author of The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew, writes:
"Symmetry leads to economy, and nature, like human beings, seem to prefer economy. If we think of nature as a vast ongoing experiment, constantly trying out different possibilities of design, then those designs that cost the least energy or that require the fewest different parts to come together at the right time will take precedence, just as the principle of natural selection says that organisms with the best ability to survive will dominate over time."
How The **** Does This Happen?
It’s Like They Want Me To Have An Aneurysm
So try to relax whilst perusing this list - your sense of discomfort or even anger at the asymmetry of things is fully justified, and is an appropriate human reaction to these design outrages. Good symmetry is good organization and our brains are hardwired to appreciate that!
This Chandelier At A Restaurant I Ate At Bothers Me So Much
This Stove
this would drive me nuts. would end up only cooking half of my food...
That. One. Pole.
Someone Thought It Would Be Funny To Do This At The Corner Of Every Page Of This Notebook
This Teacher Doesn’t Erase The Board Fully And Continues To Use It
These Lights
Just Re-Pave The Damn Road At This Point
My Grandfather Doesn’t Peel The Plastic Off Of Anything And Won’t Let Me Peel It Off. I’m About To Have A Heart Attack
When You Play The Sims But Forget To Rotate
Meanwhile In Supermarket
The Way This Pizza Has Been Cut
Okay What The Hell
My Friend's New Front Door
Even worse the new door and the sidewalk don't line up. You would step wrong every time use went through the door.
911 - I'd Like To Report A Crime
that's a clue, in a find the treasure game. You can imagine that was more effort to insert that piece in that position than to place it perfectly
At My Closest Train Station. I Think I Need To Move
ON Is Red, OFF Is Green
I Was High In The Road And Was Not Sure If It Was The Weed Or Not So I Took A Picture For Later
You Had One Job
This Building Where Nothing Lines Up
Looked Down During My Shower Today. Can’t Unsee It Now
I'm Literally Screaming Inside
Finished Laying The Bricks, Boss
Did they literally just throw it on the wall and see what stick.
This was a common style of laying bricks in the arts & crafts movement. Google "clinker bricks" and look at images, you'll find many examples.
This happens when bricks used, were already used in another building. Some of them were no properly separated from one another, so they put the as the fit. This was very common before.
Nah, you missed the point. It's just a climbing wall so that you (and athletic burglars) can enter by the window when you forget your keys...
This is a common style of brick laying ... I've seen it in many different places.
I would literally blow this building up. Or actually, that looks like what's already happened and this is how all the pieces landed afterwards.
That really.is a style and costs more. I saw it in a Tudor style neighborhood.
There are a two buildings in Minneapolis with bricks that are sort of out of line. I love one because it's an occasional thing and done well. I can't look at the other one. I really, really feel nauseous. I'm getting dizzy thinking about it now. Really.
Consider how hard it must have been to do that! The blinds in the right side windows are a mess, too.
They were either a bit rushed, in training or just didn't give anymore f***s that day.
This actually would have taken a lot longer to get everything to line up so the top, bottom and sides were square and windows and doors fit. . . WHY, WHY, WHY?
This was popular in the 60s -- I've seen "Mock Tudor" junk like this all over Denver and California -- including interior fireplaces. I've never seen this c**p in England.
Actually that's deliberate. Some buildings with large areas of brickwork were intentionally "broken up" to provide some visual texture--1920s-30s, I think. Note also the use of 'clinkers,' malformed bricks that burst in the kiln--also to provide texture. This can only be done, however, with curtain walls--that is, walls that merely enclose a structure, but do not in fact support it (that's the job of an interior framework).
By looking at the windows, I don't think the people who live there care what the outside looks like!
built by an alien who couldn't make sense of the instructions so he did what was logical to him.
As odd as it seems, this was a design thing and pops up occasionally. These are CLINKER bricks. They exploded in the firing process. They become a design statement in examples like this.
I like it. Wonder how difficult it is to do it that way, and whether it has adequate structural integrity. Any bricklayers on BP?
That makes my stomach hurt and I think my brain just exploded.
My brain can skip over 'Why did they do that?' but I can't get past the 'How?'
I've seen a few places like this. A few in Rhode Island and a few in California. Was it a "Thing" once?
I'd really like to know where this is and its history. Notice the bricks are different and there's some stone, too - like rubble left over after a bombing.
Our public library is built with these, but not so messy! 98520 Aberdeen, WA. The bricks are called clinkers. Ugly.
I find this amusing - I would enjoy living near it and walking past it...
What bothers me more is that one window is missing the climate gadget
a mistake should consist in one, or two, if they are all means that that was the pattern, people will go there and take pictures, trying to understand, there is nothing to understand everything was deliberate
Not Only Is The First Light Different, The Last Light's Fixture Is Upside Down
Why Write The ‘S’ Like That? The More I Read It, The More It Mildly Infuriates Me
The Way My Mom Watches TV With Things Obscuring The Screen
How These Pipes Were Installed
Askew Angles
Cut It Wrong. I Think They
I Am Forced To Look At This Every Time I Get Up
I Put The Manhole Cover Back, Boss
But How?
Found This In Louisiana
Doesn't suprise me. I lived in LA for a year and people there are not very bright.
Why Not "Intense Raspberry"?
YOu have to know your european chocolate history ^^ The brand "Intense Raspberry" is the property of "Côte d'Or" who is the belgian equivalent of "Lindt" who is Swiss :p Thanks for listening.
This Apartment Building
If I Could Not See Them At The Same Time I Would Not Care
The Door On This House
Why?
This Stripe On My Friend's Car
Why?
Well Done
If this is a manhole cover like the other one, can't it just be pulled back up and put down correctly?
I'm Just Gonna Leave That Here
Do I Even Have To Say Anything
Horrible Cut-Out
Note: this post originally had 128 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Me too! ... or maybe I am just a masochist who likes to view aggravating pictures of stupidity.
Load More Replies...It's an absolute nightmare trying to find replies to comments now as it just sends us down here so it hardly seems worth it to search back through over a hundred posts.
I'm waiting on approval on a post asking BP to fix this. We'll see if it works.
Load More Replies...Most of these construction projects look like they hired me to do them.
Why did they change the title to "slightly annoying"? Those were actually super annoying!
quietly sobs in a corner rocking back and forth, so entirely triggered
yes, at least 4 twitches, 5 groans and the rest are urges to put my hands through the screen and turn those mislaid tiles/manhole covers around to where I can relax again.
Most of these pictures evidence laziness, stupidity and incompetence of the designers or workers. As evidenced in one of the pictures: "No job is too simple that it cannot be done wrong" !
Im glad i they dont bother me. But Im kind of a slob.
Load More Replies...I have it when people call 'someone they know' to do work around the house (usually family), because something is bound to go wrong and you can't say a thing so you don't ruin family relationships. Long story short, my mother-in-law's uncle (!) layed tiles in my husband's flat, I wanted to hire a proper contractor, but nooooo, why bother when the abovementioned person can do the job. I can put pictures in 2 days (away from home atm), but trust me, that is going to haunt me for the rest of my life (or marriage lol).
This post just goes to show that people have no pride in their work anymore - they just could not be bothered. Unfortunately there are more of them than those of us who do care and give a fly....g f.....
Me too! ... or maybe I am just a masochist who likes to view aggravating pictures of stupidity.
Load More Replies...It's an absolute nightmare trying to find replies to comments now as it just sends us down here so it hardly seems worth it to search back through over a hundred posts.
I'm waiting on approval on a post asking BP to fix this. We'll see if it works.
Load More Replies...Most of these construction projects look like they hired me to do them.
Why did they change the title to "slightly annoying"? Those were actually super annoying!
quietly sobs in a corner rocking back and forth, so entirely triggered
yes, at least 4 twitches, 5 groans and the rest are urges to put my hands through the screen and turn those mislaid tiles/manhole covers around to where I can relax again.
Most of these pictures evidence laziness, stupidity and incompetence of the designers or workers. As evidenced in one of the pictures: "No job is too simple that it cannot be done wrong" !
Im glad i they dont bother me. But Im kind of a slob.
Load More Replies...I have it when people call 'someone they know' to do work around the house (usually family), because something is bound to go wrong and you can't say a thing so you don't ruin family relationships. Long story short, my mother-in-law's uncle (!) layed tiles in my husband's flat, I wanted to hire a proper contractor, but nooooo, why bother when the abovementioned person can do the job. I can put pictures in 2 days (away from home atm), but trust me, that is going to haunt me for the rest of my life (or marriage lol).
This post just goes to show that people have no pride in their work anymore - they just could not be bothered. Unfortunately there are more of them than those of us who do care and give a fly....g f.....