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30 People In This Online Group Share Unexpected Features That Make Them 1% Of The Population
Mothers around the world definitely mean it when it comes to letting their kids know that they are special. But it seems that some people are special to the point that they make it to 1% of all the human population. Some people are in 1% of the world’s humans for having an extremely rare blood type, sporting a third nipple or being allergic to sudden temperature change. And there are people who are in the more obscure and tongue-in-cheek part of the extremely little part of the world, such as the fastest typers with 100wpm or, well, top 1% of Pink Floyd listeners on Spotify.
The online group /AskReddit made sure to gather all of the weirdest, quirkiest and funniest 1% of the world and below is a list of the best ones.
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I was addicted to heroin for a decade. I got clean and stayed clean, 5 years later. I've never relapsed and never see it happening.
They say 10% of addicts get clean and stay clean. That number has proved to be high, from my personal experience.
I've been to 38 funerals in 4 years. None were anything but overdoses.
I'm still here. I'm one of the ones who made it out.
I figured I have to be in the top 1% of deaf guitar players worldwide. I heard completely fine for like 25 years and spent 19 years of that to practise guitar playing. Been legally deaf for 3 years now and still can play well (muscle memory). I kinda want to start a band called Deaf Metal or something.
I drive a BMW and always use my turn signal, even pulling out of my driveway.
Not me but my husband. He has a brain tumor on the pituitary gland. Before treatment his body pumped out pregnancy hormones, so he was hormonal and moody AF for ages.
Just before it got really bad we managed to get pregnant. When our baby was born his chest had that let-down sensation new moms feel (a heavy weighted feeling in your boobs).
When our baby cried, HIS boobs started leaking breast milk same time MINE did. He actually had to pump milk out to ease the pain in his chest.
...He got the treatment he needed and he no longer can squirt breastmilk at me if I piss him off.
Edit: **thank you so much for the rewards! Absolutely touched!! ** ❤❤❤
It was officially diagnosed as Prolactinoma. I know it's not exactly 1% but still pretty rare.
On addition to medication to shrink the tumor I also had to give him hormone injections deeming him infertile for a few years. Male birth control. It broke his heart.
Light at the end of the tunnel we were able to get him off the injections and we're trying for baby #2 after 7 years. We were successful, briefly, but it didn't last. Crossing fingers for next time.
"and he no longer can squirt breastmilk at me if I piss him off" - wait, what?!?
Not sure if it's the 1% or not but know its very rare. Womb twisted itself back to front when I was pregnant, fetus should really not have been viable but she's now a very energetic and beautiful 20 month old. They were going to induce me early because the twist (that we didn't know about at this point) was causing me so much pain. Thankfully a nurse felt something was strange with my cervix cervix ordered another scan. Cut to emergency c section. Surgeon had no idea what he was looking at when he opened me up, consultant called in. Noone in the hospital had ever seen anything like it, they took photos, every nurse said they wanted to see them. We were lucky, the consultant said that afterwards she had done some research and only found a handful of records and the outcome of the surgery was not good. At least one of us shouldn't be here. If I had been induced I would have died in incredible pain, unable to deliver and baby would have probably died from stress. We are now a case study and have changed the way that hospital responds to pain in pregnancy.
I was born with a cardic rhythm disorder. Normal heartrate for a newborn is like 130 per minute, mine was like 30. I heard from my mother my case was so rare that several cardiologists from all over the country ditched their conferences to fly to the hospital I was in and to see how to fit a pacemaker into a newborn.
I am in the 1% of musicians who actually made a living playing music.
Notice I did not say “a good living”.
Also didn’t say “good music”.
I had a life threatening reaction to a common prescription drug. It literally caused huge patches of my skin to fall off and my internal organs to begin liquefying. This reaction is so rare that they don’t even have to list it as a potential side effect (six cases have occurred with over ten million people taking this drug). I don’t like to name the drug because the problem was with my body, not the medicine itself. I don’t want to scare people away from a lifesaving drug that isn’t to blame for what happened. I’m fully recovered now, by the way.
Got my wisdom teeth pulled. One side grew back over a year from a fragment left. Dentist published an article about it and was so happy. I was not with another oral surgery.
What on earth is a "Dental Spa"? You get a massage, sauna, and root canal? Relaxing "rainforest" sounds while they pull teeth?
when Spotify released listening statistics at the end of 2020, I was on the top .1% of weird Al yankovic listeners
I have small intestinal cancer. The type is the same as colon cancer. But where it's located is less than 1% of world wide diagnosis per year.But I've signed papers for 11 different oncologists to be able to access my records to see what works what doesn't etc. because they just don't get enough examples of it. Kind of hit or miss on procedures to work with, which treatments first, which type of chemo, etc. Ive also said that if it ever reaches a point where I'm terminal and common treatments just won't/don't work anymore, I'm willing to go all guinea pig.
Depending on exactly where it is, because of the veins coming off of your mesentaric artery to feed the small intestine, it usually isn't operable. So you are strictly on chemo and radiation. If the heavy levels don't do it, then you get to go on low dose chemo daily for however long it works. Then it eventually doesn't.Currently according to my last PET scan, the tumors have disappeared. They won't say remission, just that it seems to be "dormant" right now. I'll take it.
I have AB- blood, which is found in less than 1% of the population.
I have aphantasia. I can't form images in my mind. If I read a book, for instance, I wouldn't be able to tell you what the characters look like. My brain just doesn't work like that.
I found out at 30 that other people actually visualize things in their head. I always thought it was kinda like a figure of speech or something...
I can't imagine reading a book without visualizing. It's just so bleh...
Actually, it's not! I don't see images, either, but I respond with very strong feelings. I love books, and I appreciate good writing, and good descriptions. If, for example, the author describes a beautiful day at the beach I respond with the 'feel' of the beach: basking in the sun, the touch of a breeze caressing my skin, the way my feet feel so happy when I wiggle my toes in the water...And it's not separate, sequential feelings, it's an amazing amalgamations of all these sensations put together. It's the same way you 'see' the color of the light with your eyes closed in the sun: it's not a clear image, but it's golden, and warm, and you feel your soul breathing, and unfolding, and this slow spread of just... gentle happiness in every cell of your body! Not seeing images doesn't mean you are somehow deprived: we generally have a different way of processing information, that's all.
Load More Replies... i have aphantasia too! I'm not sure how its like for you, but for me, i have to think of the words to describe it and then like write them down or something to "see it." Its weird, I was the same, I thought it was a figure of speech too heh.
I only found out about this a few weeks ago. Totally mind blowing! For those who don't understand I will try to explain better. If I asked you to imagine your mum standing there holding a cake you construct an image in your head. You make up the colour of the dress, the size and type of cake and can see your mums face. People with aphantasia just can't construct that image inside their head or see it. There is actually an artist who works for disney and has to use a mirror when drawing expressions because he can't see it in his head.
So I think I kind of have this. I've literally spent the last 10 minutes trying to figure it out. I always have had a vivid imagination but I think these things. I've just realised I don't see them. I've been trying to visualise a Ruby red apple and I can't see it
I'm 68 and just discovered that I have it too. I never knew that when people close their eyes and imagine an 'apple', that they can actually visualize an apple. I thought it was a figure of speech. All I see is black and have to use my brain to remember what an apple looks like from actually seeing one. I feel like I've missed out on a big part of life!
Now I'm weirded out a bit, I don't see anything either. I feel like I can smell and taste different kinds of apples, but I don't see any.
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Are there degrees to it? Because I definitely have a problem with picturing things in my head but I wouldn't deem it impossible.
I... I'm so shocked and baffled by this... I can't imagine being, like, cranial picture blind. Do you folks enjoys reading books? Because for me - and I'm guessing so many - the beauty of reading is the visuals your brain creates via the words. (AND it suck that you found this out so late in life. Guess it's not something kids are tested for...) I'm so intrigued .
Books are still fun. You must not forget, we never knew it could be different. I found out at 35/36 that this was not the way most people work.
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For me, I was talking to a friend who has a really good imagination. We're total opposites in a lot of ways and I joked that that was another 'opposite' to add to the list. She was totally shocked that I can't see anything; I was totally shocked that people actually could.
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I just recently realized I have this, from either tt or here on BP and it have visual examples of the levels of a minds eye. It's just one of those things, you think it's normal until you learn what other ppl have.
I have this too. I was about 34 when I listened to a podcast and discovered that other people can actually see images in their mind. Since then I've been training myself to do it, and sometimes I can visualize simple shapes, I even managed a detailed face once.
Okay, I'm curious. For people who can visualize, is it like you can actually see a picture of whatever you're imagining when you close your eyes? I mean, I have vivid dreams and stuff, but I don't see the red apple I'm trying to imagine.
I can't imagine NOT seeing a red apple in my head. You mentioned it and it's there. So you see it with your eyes, but your brain doesn't replicate it in your mind. (And I thought synesthesia was interesting!)
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I don’t either, literally just figured out people see things in their head
My boyfriend told me he has this too. He doesn't see pictures in his head when he reads or when thinks about something.
I can only imagine what this is like (lol). I'm always imagining things. The only thing is when I concentrate too hard and something in the scene I'm imagining starts glitching out--no, seriously. Something random, like a table or a door, will just start wiggling around and twisting itself and I cannot stop it for love nor money.
I can spin on my ass really fast like probably around 20 full rotations in one go. I start standing up, then I put my left hand on the ground and I throw my right leg towards my left, finally I retract my legs and put my Hands on my knees and i go spinning like a motherf****** beyblade. I've been doing this since i was 3 or 4.
Dude, that's really cool :D You should go on America's Got Talent or something aha 😅
I have an autoimmune disease that’s so rare nobody knows what it is. Genetic testing is currently underway to see if I have a recently discovered genetic defect that about ten people have been diagnosed with.
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games 2008 pole vault. When i was 8-11, i had the 2nd highest score in the world. That has most likely changed
Holy moly macaroni!!! I’ve done something similar on a mobile game app. I was like top 5 in the world at 11. Nice job!
I'm part of the 1 (to 2) percent with red hair.
(Except in my house where I'm part of the 80%. Me and my kids are redheads, my wife is a blonde.)
I'm a test tube baby. That's like 0.001% of the population.
I have a cousin who is a test tube baby too. It's just a weird name to in vitro fertilisation babies.
Not that I've looked it up, but I've run over a fish in my car. Whenever I tell the story, no one has heard anything like it.
I am allergic to temperature extremes. Taking a hot shower or touching an ice cube will give me hives
Anyone's birthday must be under 1% of the world population. Congrats everyone!
2 eye colors (blue and brown) This is what my eye looks like, it's sectoral heterochromia.
Ive died and had 6 wisdom teeth, and ironically those 2 things are related
For context, my heart stopped during my wisdom teeth extraction surgery. I don’t remember for how long but the anesthesiologist said he had the needle of adrenaline in his hand when my heart started beating again. I remember them waking me up and just saying “you gave us a little scare there” before putting me back under and completing the surgery. After i came to and was sitting in the waiting room i had to text my dad (because I couldn’t talk) “I think i died”. In which my dad obviously freaked out because they never even told him.
I think it's like 0.1–0.5% of women or something but I have a double uterus. Medically called a didelphys uterus. A septum separates my uterus which kinda made them form into two separate ones and the septum continues down into the vagina so I also have a left and right side. NOT fun to deal with but I'm too scared to get the surgery for it.
im part of the 1% of people being ambidextrous
Me too. I can also write backwards in cursive, if writing with both simultaneously.
I was in the first 1% to watch "What Does the Fox Say?" on youtube.
Income.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/02/27/were-all-the-1-percent/
To make it into the richest 1 percent globally, all you need is an income of around $34,000
Type 1 diabetes.
It's a s*** club.
Mauritians living in the uk. We often refer ourselves as Martians
At the end of Detroit: Become Human they tell you the percentage of people who got the same ending as you. Mine was 1%
Note: this post originally had 43 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I saw one of these posts the other day on BP and realised I fitted one of them. Have two rows of eyelashes! Didn’t know it was uncommon before
I would have been a little jealous of you, but then I also read about the issues you can have with double lashes
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I have oglidontia. It occurs in .2% of the population. It's a genetic defect that causes a person to have at least six less permanent teeth than average. I only have fourteen, yes fourteen, permanent teeth. My lower jaw is mostly baby teeth. I'm also missing a part of bone in my jaw, the part where they usually screw in implants. Between that surgery and implants they told my mom it would cost $100,000 to fix my teeth. At the time they planned to shave bone off my hip to implant in my jaw. It never happened and now it's too late. After the age of 27 bone doesn't grow back.
I'm 27. Now I'm wondering if I need to take bone from some part of my body and put it on another and I've lost my chance. Can you tell it's 4:30am here?
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I'm more common...one of the 10%ers. I survived a grade 5 brain aneurysm and stroke. Next month will be the six year anniversary of The Day I Fell Down. :-)
I was born with an optic nerve pit on my retina (hole letting brain fluid into my eye. It was picked up in the standard eye test you get when you start Primary School. I was examined by many doctors, including a whole group of about 20 med students. They decided to use the relatively new eye surgery technique using laser. I was the youngest ever child (6yrs old) to have laser eye surgery. They used it to seal the hole and encapsulate the fluid. As it was a new technology they found that the laser wasn't actually strong enough the first time they did it so had to repeat the procedure with a stronger laser. Apparently it was mentioned in a case study in a medical journal but I have been unable to find it.
When I was in my mid 20s I found my vision deteriorating again, because of the fluid that was encapsulated in my eye. They decided to do a vitrectomy to scrape back the vitreous fluid and then cut into my retina to drain the brain fluid, then seal it again with the laser and let the vitreous fall back into place. Again this was a new technique and the surgeon needed to invent a new tool that would cut the microscopic hole in my eye.
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Idk how rare this is but I have had 2 separate strains of influenza at the same time
I have RLS, I don't think it's very rare but it's really annoying when your job requires 8 hours of sitting, when you travel long distances or when you try to sleep every night. It's sounds like a joke but it can make your life pretty miserable.
Following a vasectomy there is a small chance you will develop a hematoma, basically a pocket of blood under the skin from persistent bleeding. I couldn't find any statistics about developing two of them, but I can tell you that it sucks. Spent an entire week walking around like a sumo wrestler.
Just want to say, I tell my daughter mutants run in the family. Just not in the fun way. They tried to get my mother to abort me because I didn't have a tailbone. They said it meant I had spinal bifida. I don't. I say I'm just more evolved and didn't need it. My daughter had brain cancer (ependymoma) that is usually in a part of the brain they can't operate on. She had it on the top of her brain, between the 2 hemispheres, where the St Jude doctors had never seen it. That was when she was almost 3, she's now 16 and cancer free. She was upset: she was hoping for super powers lol
We're mutants too! We have family members born with missing organs, extra organs, extra digits too. We blame the local- now shut down- uranium mine. I'm hoping the next generation has wings...
Load More Replies... I'm probably the only person in the world who is both a professional land surveyor and recognized Principle Investigator for archaeological digs (meaning I am recognized as being legally allowed to organize and oversee digs on protected land such as parks). I'm also probably the only person in the world who arranged an archaeological dig at a famous historical site in order to impress my girlfriend at the time, who ended up finding an artifact so rare only 1 other has ever been found. Its since been featured in articles around the world.
I thought not that rare on the first, but then you mentioned the historical site and also your gf finding an extremely rare artifact. Are you happy for her or maybe just a little bummed out that she oficially found it and you didn't?
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My sis has raynauds disorder, idk how rare that is but yea. Also my mom was on birth control when she had me and my sis, which I think is pretty rare. (Btw we aren't twins or anything, the birth control just failed to work on two separate occasions)
There are two types of Raynaud's; the primary type when it occurs on its own, and the secondary type. I have the secondary type, because I also have an autoimmune disease.
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I have a rare inherited metabolic condition called Phenylketonuria. It occurs in approximately 6 people per 100,000 worldwide. We're a pretty small community in the UK and not many people have heard of it at all. I think it's perhaps better known in the States due to population size.
Also I just wanted to say something about the mental orgasm thing. I do think it's rare for anyone to achieve it just like that, but also anyone and everyone can learn to do this, sort of like how you can teach yourself to lucid dream. I wish I could explain exactly. Unfortunately I haven't studied the subject and I'm the worst explainer/teacher in the world, but I'm confident that everyone can do it, if you just know how. The World Wide Web is vast and wide, it will ubdoubtedly provide you with all the information you need
I saw one of these posts the other day on BP and realised I fitted one of them. Have two rows of eyelashes! Didn’t know it was uncommon before
I would have been a little jealous of you, but then I also read about the issues you can have with double lashes
Load More Replies... I have oglidontia. It occurs in .2% of the population. It's a genetic defect that causes a person to have at least six less permanent teeth than average. I only have fourteen, yes fourteen, permanent teeth. My lower jaw is mostly baby teeth. I'm also missing a part of bone in my jaw, the part where they usually screw in implants. Between that surgery and implants they told my mom it would cost $100,000 to fix my teeth. At the time they planned to shave bone off my hip to implant in my jaw. It never happened and now it's too late. After the age of 27 bone doesn't grow back.
I'm 27. Now I'm wondering if I need to take bone from some part of my body and put it on another and I've lost my chance. Can you tell it's 4:30am here?
Load More Replies... I'm more common...one of the 10%ers. I survived a grade 5 brain aneurysm and stroke. Next month will be the six year anniversary of The Day I Fell Down. :-)
I was born with an optic nerve pit on my retina (hole letting brain fluid into my eye. It was picked up in the standard eye test you get when you start Primary School. I was examined by many doctors, including a whole group of about 20 med students. They decided to use the relatively new eye surgery technique using laser. I was the youngest ever child (6yrs old) to have laser eye surgery. They used it to seal the hole and encapsulate the fluid. As it was a new technology they found that the laser wasn't actually strong enough the first time they did it so had to repeat the procedure with a stronger laser. Apparently it was mentioned in a case study in a medical journal but I have been unable to find it.
When I was in my mid 20s I found my vision deteriorating again, because of the fluid that was encapsulated in my eye. They decided to do a vitrectomy to scrape back the vitreous fluid and then cut into my retina to drain the brain fluid, then seal it again with the laser and let the vitreous fall back into place. Again this was a new technique and the surgeon needed to invent a new tool that would cut the microscopic hole in my eye.
Load More Replies... Idk how rare this is but I have had 2 separate strains of influenza at the same time
I have RLS, I don't think it's very rare but it's really annoying when your job requires 8 hours of sitting, when you travel long distances or when you try to sleep every night. It's sounds like a joke but it can make your life pretty miserable.
Following a vasectomy there is a small chance you will develop a hematoma, basically a pocket of blood under the skin from persistent bleeding. I couldn't find any statistics about developing two of them, but I can tell you that it sucks. Spent an entire week walking around like a sumo wrestler.
Just want to say, I tell my daughter mutants run in the family. Just not in the fun way. They tried to get my mother to abort me because I didn't have a tailbone. They said it meant I had spinal bifida. I don't. I say I'm just more evolved and didn't need it. My daughter had brain cancer (ependymoma) that is usually in a part of the brain they can't operate on. She had it on the top of her brain, between the 2 hemispheres, where the St Jude doctors had never seen it. That was when she was almost 3, she's now 16 and cancer free. She was upset: she was hoping for super powers lol
We're mutants too! We have family members born with missing organs, extra organs, extra digits too. We blame the local- now shut down- uranium mine. I'm hoping the next generation has wings...
Load More Replies... I'm probably the only person in the world who is both a professional land surveyor and recognized Principle Investigator for archaeological digs (meaning I am recognized as being legally allowed to organize and oversee digs on protected land such as parks). I'm also probably the only person in the world who arranged an archaeological dig at a famous historical site in order to impress my girlfriend at the time, who ended up finding an artifact so rare only 1 other has ever been found. Its since been featured in articles around the world.
I thought not that rare on the first, but then you mentioned the historical site and also your gf finding an extremely rare artifact. Are you happy for her or maybe just a little bummed out that she oficially found it and you didn't?
Load More Replies... My sis has raynauds disorder, idk how rare that is but yea. Also my mom was on birth control when she had me and my sis, which I think is pretty rare. (Btw we aren't twins or anything, the birth control just failed to work on two separate occasions)
There are two types of Raynaud's; the primary type when it occurs on its own, and the secondary type. I have the secondary type, because I also have an autoimmune disease.
Load More Replies... I have a rare inherited metabolic condition called Phenylketonuria. It occurs in approximately 6 people per 100,000 worldwide. We're a pretty small community in the UK and not many people have heard of it at all. I think it's perhaps better known in the States due to population size.
Also I just wanted to say something about the mental orgasm thing. I do think it's rare for anyone to achieve it just like that, but also anyone and everyone can learn to do this, sort of like how you can teach yourself to lucid dream. I wish I could explain exactly. Unfortunately I haven't studied the subject and I'm the worst explainer/teacher in the world, but I'm confident that everyone can do it, if you just know how. The World Wide Web is vast and wide, it will ubdoubtedly provide you with all the information you need
