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“This Person Is Out Of Touch With Reality”: 40 Delusional People Who Proved They Don’t Understand A Thing In This World
As we experience our surroundings, we come to have questions about them and usually go above and beyond to seek answers. After all, learning about our world and understanding how it works propels humanity forward. At the same time, there are people who decide to put on rose-tinted glasses and create their own tiny naive bubbles to glide through life without a care in the world.
But even if ignorance may be bliss, it won’t get them very far at the end of the day. So jonallenmaking decided to ask Reddit users to open up about the moments somebody said something so ridiculous that it made them think, “This person is out of touch with reality.” Over 18.6K comments later, we get to be reminded there are plenty of folks out there leading very different lives from most of us.
From hilariously delusional to painfully upsetting, these stories serve as proof that no amount of logic will make these people realize what’s right in front of them. Bored Panda has collected some of the most perplexing answers from the thread, so keep scrolling and upvote as you go. And if you have any similar encounters to share, be sure to tell us about them in the comments!
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#1
A guy at a party was talking about how great technology was. I agreed. He then proceeded to talk about how there are people made of computer chips walking among us and we don't know who they are. I took the opportunity to say, "I know. You could be one of them." And walked away. I stared at him from across the room off and on the rest of the night. Good times.
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#3
An American tourist I met (I live in South America), when I asked her how it felt to be so far from home, told me that she really isn't that far because these "so-called foreign countries" are actually located within the United States and they just fly the plane in circles for hours and hours to convince you that you're in another country.
#4
A friend's uncle, who is a spiritual healer of some sort, claimed one day he would be known as the first man to cure cancer with "spiritual healing techniques" whatever that mean.
The woman he "treated" stopped her treatments because she was "cured" and died inside six months. Apparently no one saw fit to bring that guy to justice.
His explanation was : "She died from a different cancer that was at the same place with the same symptoms at the same time and the first cancer was hiding the second one so he couldn't treat her properly because, you know, I couldn't feel the second one...."
I wish he would go to prison.
#5
Overheard from a girl at college freshman orientation in 2008:
"I'm definitely worried! The economy is SO bad my parents had to sell our vacation home! Well you know the second one we don't visit as often...."
Yeeeeeeaaahhh.... don't mind me with my flat of ramen...
#6
I watched my grandmother shove a load of books off of a shelf at the bookstore the other day because she wanted one that wouldn't come out. When she walked away and left a pile of them on the ground, she looked at me and said "It's okay, it's their job to pick that stuff up." Speaking from a retail experience, no it's not. You're just adding extra work.
#7
I am a waitress and someone wrote “get a real job” on the line for my tip. It was a $150 tab with an incredibly demanding table. I work another job and I go to school full time, but whatever floats your boat.
#8
"If you're depressed, just cheer up!"
Woah, if you're drowning, just drink the water! Duh!
#9
I was struggling to pay bills and a friend was like, "Don't worry, your mom and dad care about you, they'll pay them for you". I told her I wanted to be a self-sufficient adult and my parents didn't have the money to cover my bills anyway. Her mind was blown.
#10
A family friends son has autism.
I overheard my grandfather say, “when’s the kid gonna snap out of it and get a job?”
Chucky Cheezburger 2 years ago
Eff that S****. with a broomstick in a cornfield under the full July moon...
#11
My grandmother tried to get me to participate in a self-exorcism. She said I was posessed by "socialist demons".... because I visited Canada.
Suzy the observer 2 years ago
Well, we do have Universal Health Care and a lot of other social programs so... Not sure about the demons tho.
#12
Someone seriously asked me“Wow, howd you get your baby so tan?” My Native American wife holding the baby. I always avoid this person when i can...how can you be so dumb.
River Webb 2 years ago
ikr the answer is sooo obvious, doesn't everybody use johnson and johnsons baby tan?
#13
I work as a psychologist at a school. One student had missed nearly 30 days of school in one term (55 days), so I was asked to investigate. The mother straight faced told me that she didn't want to drive the 2 minutes from their house because they had to cross a train track, and she thought having to wait for a train to pass was simply unacceptable. I thought she was joking. She was not.
#14
My assh*le of an uncle once told my grandmother that it was her fault my grandfather got Alzheimers because she didn't take care of him well enough.
#15
My dad retired last November. After being out of work for a few months he decided he needed a simple job to keep him busy. He applied at Total Wine as a cashier and asked for $20 an hour because that’s what he thought minimum wage was up to.
#16
My mum. She once told my husband - a guy that's been working to help support his struggling parents since he was 13 - that we should just have kids and God will provide for us. Her rationale was that she had seven kids and never once struggled.
Thanks mum, we can't all just quit college to marry a multi millionaire a decade older than we are.
#17
I grew up in a rich town not being rich. I will never forget this one girl saw me with my iPhone 3G in highschool (and I was super lucky to have it), and the iPhone 4 had come out the weekend before. She then asked me 100% seriously "Why don't you have the new iPhone?". She didn't really understand not everyone could afford the new iPhone every time one came out...
#18
A colleague and I both had our laptops out at work. He had some movies on his that he was offering to share onto mine for later viewing. I suggested an ad-hoc wifi network as a means of quickly and painlessly transferring the files.
"Oh no I don't believe in Wi-fi".
Sorry what?
#19
"You know, if a baby is born underwater, it can live it's whole life underwater!"
I laughed a bit because it's a fairly well known dark joke, but then told her not to joke about that stuff because our coworker was pregananant. She was confused when I told her not to joke.
"It's not a joke, it's a fact!"
After some debate, I learned she genuinely believes if a baby is born underwater, it will grow gills and learn how to breathe underwater.
Same lady, 6mo later.
"Yeah, I'm saving up right now to buy a car. I have my eyes on this great 2007 Holden"
Her: "Why don't you just buy a new one?"
Me: "I don't have a lot of money, I wouldn't be able to afford a new car. I'm stretching the limit with this one as it is."
Her: "Ugh, it's not even that hard to afford things. Just budget!"
We were on the same salary, but she sold drugs on the side, her grandpa paid her $200/month phone bill, and her mom gave her a $250 a week allowance.
She was also GIVEN her car, by her parents, and was constantly complaining about how old it was and she wanted them to buy her a new one.
#20
My grandmother (who doesn't live with us) told my out of work brother that he needs to "stop doing work around the house" because I, being female, should be the one doing it all. Never mind I'm the only one with any sort of income, lemme do all the housework too, k thx. We had a good laugh at that one.
Emmy Dumont 2 years ago
My fil actually thinks the same and expect me to wait on him when he stays at my home. My husband put him back in place and told him to get up his ass and do it himself.
#21
A girl from my town thought the average income in America was 500k and that she was lower middle class.
#22
“All it took was a small loan of a million dollars.”
“Why can’t poor people just get better jobs?”
“Everybody who get shot by police must have been a criminal.”
“Just go in there with your resume and don’t leave until you have a job!”
Disclaimer - these were said by different people.
#23
The Guatemalan lady who lives near me who said she supports Trump and thinks that because she voted for him he won't have her illegal relatives deported.
#24
My rich friend complaining that "the cleaner broke her back so I had to do the hoovering myself and feed the dogs! ". It was actually comical to listen to his hysterics, no regard whatsoever for the poor cleaner's well being!
Cactus McCoy 2 years ago
"Having" dogs and not care about them yourself is a red flag in a person.
#25
Used to have a friend who was really into crystals. She dropped 300 dollars on a thumb-sized piece of rose-quartz because it "is totally aligned with [her] body's natural frequency". I didn't even try to tell her she had been scammed.
#26
I have a few health conditions that my parents and grandmother never allowed me to disclose to my family or friends because "it would be difficult to get me married".
#27
Worked with a guy that was a major conspiracy theorist.
He said Zip codes are used in the case that the government wants to drop bombs on US soil.
Yeah. Because they wouldn't ever use coordinates, right Matt?
#28
My sister’s mother-in-law told her that my niece can’t naturally be left handed and that if she is that it is part of my sisters job as a parent to teach her the “correct” way.
Cecilia Herrera 2 years ago
I wonder how many lefties, were screwed up over the years, by people that had / have a similar mind set?
#29
“I get a lot of info from dr. Phil and dr. Oz, they are a great resource without having to do more than turn the TV on”
#30
A very close friend “my money is my money but my partner’s money is also my money”.
To clarify she wasn’t going to accept her partner having access to her money but only her to his.
Also she’s single.
#31
I worked at a little all-local, all-organic grocery store for a bit.
A lady comes in with a friend, they are looking at the eggs. She goes "Are these eggs organic?"
"Well, they're not certified, but these are grown here in town by someone who feeds them a non-soy, non-gmo supplemental feed. But they're on pasture most of the time."
"So they eat bugs."
"Well, yes, quite a few of them, it's good for organic pest control in the gar..."
(to her friend) "Those bugs could come from anywhere. This is why you have to ask the hard questions about your food, and really know what you're putting in your body. King Soopers has actual organic eggs."
#32
My mum once said that the sun couldn’t be a star because ‘stars only come out at night’. She hasn’t lived that one down haha
#33
Former friend. He was the stereotypical "nice guy." Always going off on how he couldn't understand how girls weren't flocking to him cause he was so nice and intelligent. So one night a bunch of us are at a restaurant getting dinner and he proceeds to tell us how if he can't get a girlfriend, his backup plan is buying a mail order bride from Ukraine. Says he has it all planned out.
When we all try explaining that mail order brides are essentially human trafficking, he was devastated. His whole plan for getting a girl was ruined, lol.
Eventually he blocked us all from his social media and stopped talking to us, but that was more because he couldn't stand that we wouldn't bend over backwards for his every whim
#34
The grandparent of the child I nanny says things that make me think this all the time.
My nanny family doesn’t use any physical punishment at all. Well she said if we don’t start spanking the kids a (3 and 1 year old) they’ll become unruly demons.
Despite the no spanking policy she still spanks the 3 year old. We stop letting her babysit after that. She still wants to babysit and after a lot of begging we finally let her have the 3 year old for the weekend.
Well the 3 year old came back and was obviously spanked. Also despite her being potty trained she came back in a diaper too. Somehow she managed to undo days of potty training in a weekend. Now the 3 year old is back in diapers full time because she refuses to use the potty now.
Most older generations are so out of touch with reality when it comes to childcare.
#35
I worked at a vet clinic, and a woman came in with her dog who had a horrible skin problem stemming from a flea infestation. Before I could even say anything, she claimed someone was after her, and had been stabbing her and her dog in their sleep with tree bark. It took me a few seconds to process that one.
She also told me that she knew we hadn’t actually euthanized her old dog (that she had YEARS ago) but that we had sold her to Hollywood. Apparently she saw her in a commercial and that was her proof. The dog would have been like 20 by that point so no, we didn’t “sell her to Hollywood.”
Honestly kind of sad, but the only person I have ever directly interacted with who was truly out of touch with reality.
#36
My Aunt is a really nice woman, and very giving to everyone, but she once said, "I don't know how anyone survives on $100k per year." This was probably 15 years ago. For reference she lives in a $10MM house.
#37
A woman I work with once said "I'm convinced I'm immune to cancer because neither my mom nor my grandmother had it."
Said lady has smoked more than a pack a day for 30 years but uses the above "evidence" as a reason why she's never had her lungs checked.
Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
Not condoning this kind of insanity (a full-time smoker for 30 years KNOWS they could have cancer, they just don't want it confirmed), but cancer is a weird b***h. Hubby's just recovering from a 10 year struggle with Stage 4 throat cancer. Never smoked a day in his nearly 60-year-old life.
Tamra Stiffler 2 years ago
When you say "recovering", I hope that means he's cancer-free. I really hope he's doing well. A ten year fight...man, that's intense.
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Mark Miller 2 years ago
I have colon cancer and never smoked nor dipped. Have a friend who dips and won't get checked because "he doesn't want to know."
Anna Turner 2 years ago
Lungs get other disease besides cancer .. they aren't a picnic because they aren't cancer
TheEndIsNigh 2 years ago
Weirdly, quite a lot of smokers don't die of lung cancer. Mainly because they die of A LOT of crazy things related to blood clots and blood flow first such as heart attack, Buerger’s Disease that can lead to gangrene and amputation of the limbs, stroke, and so on.
Leesa DeAndrea 2 years ago
My mom thought the same thing because her grandpa was a heavy smoker who lived into his 80s. She was a pack-a-day smoker & died of lung cancer.
iseefractalz 2 years ago
My great grandmother smoked 2 packs a day, unfiltered, everyday. For 80 years. She lived to 104.
Susan Hepp-Cymbalista 2 years ago
You have to remember that back in "the old days", cigarettes were just literally tobacco leaves dried up, and rolled into cigarettes. In our day, there are THOUSANDS of chemicals added to the process. That's a huge difference as to maybe WY she didn't get cancer.
Load More Replies... #38
This girl I went to middle school with wouldn't wear a tampon because that counted as losing her virginity.
Brunettechameleon 2 years ago
Tbh I feel bad for her she was probably taught that by someone :(
#39
When the new store manager was introducing themselves to our team she started off with "i love retail, the reason I started my career in retail is because at the age of 14 I wanted a second horse".
One of the worst managers ive every met. Incredibly out of touch and just a bit racist.
#40
“I mean, it’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost, 10 dollars?”
What do you think ?
jknbt jknbt 2 years ago (edited)
Here is a pretty good example of textbook "delusional": I taught junior college for 7 years. One semester I had a waitress sign up for a night class. She asked if I would work with her since her schedule would present special problems for her to take the class. I agreed with the provision that she do all the work anyway and learn all the material. Sure enough, she only attended three times during a 16-week semester class. I emailed her the assignments and mid-semester test which I never got back. I even sent her the final exam to take as a homework type assignment for a final grade. She took 3 weeks to send this back to me. She did not bother to complete the final exam and earned an "F" on it. How can you fail an open-book, take-home final???? So she earned a very failing grade for the class. She was outraged. Her position was that she had attended three whole times while breathing, and therefore deserved at least a "D" for a passing grade. I said no, she didn't do the work, and she didn't learn the material. She complained to three levels of management to these professional educators. They supported me and agreed she should fail the class. She never took a class in that college again because she was so offended at how unreasonable everyone (especially me) was in their treatment of her.
Nightshade1972 2 years ago
Years ago, I had one class which conflicted with my work schedule. Since I had the same professor for different classes, he was willing to let me just read the coursework at home, do the coursework at home, etc, even if I couldn't physically attend the class. If I had any questions about that night's work, I'd ask him about it when I saw the prof in class the next morning. I passed all my classes with flying colors, and it never once occurred to me that my grade for the class I couldn't phyiscally attend should be a "gimme" out of the goodness of my professor's heart. I, you know, actually did all the relevant coursework and took all the relevant exams. What a concept!
Load More Replies...
Elissa Korsakov 2 years ago
I mentioned how fast the clouds were moving while walking to class with a room mate in college. She said, "Its not the clouds that are moving, its the Earth that is moving so fast today"..I didn't say anything back.
Linda 2 years ago
I also thought I could see the Earth spinning! But in my defense, I was 5 years old and sat on the edge of the sandbox looking at the clouds.
Load More Replies...
Jaqi Hegland 2 years ago
We've survived a lot of ignorance before, it's just easier to see now because of the internet. We're not actually more ignorant than before, it just looks worse.
Load More Replies...
Becca Hauck 2 years ago
My mother's brother told me that the reason my mother was unhappy with my physically and mentally abusive father was because she reads too many romance books. My grandpa (Mom's dad) told me that the reason so many couples are getting divorced is because women are allowed to drive. I told him that women will not leave a good husband simply because she has the ability to get away from him. My sister told me that I shouldn't keep a family member ,who is a suspected child molester, from having alone time with my 2 year old daughter because even if he did molest her, it wouldn't kill her.
Chassi 2 years ago
…You and your child need to run far, far away from this toxicity
Load More Replies...
Unslaadahsil 2 years ago
"Being homosexual is a mental illness" "Only n***as and illegal foreigners are criminals" "The covid vaccine is not safe because they made it so quickly. All the other vaccines were made over decades, so they're safe" "What's the point of being a woman if you don't have kids?" All things said by my aunt at one point or another.
Chassi 2 years ago
I guess she never heard of the polio vaccine and how quickly that was made in top of the lack of rigorous testing. I’m so sorry you had to hear all of that.
Load More Replies...
Res Earch 2 years ago
When I was in high school, gas was getting extremely expensive. A girl in my 9th grade history class said one day "I don't understand why someone doesn't just charge 50 cents per gallon for gas." When we told her they would lose money she said "no because they would get a lot of customers so eventually they would make a profit." It took twenty minutes to get her to understand that the business has to pay for the gas before the customer and more customers would mean more money lost than gained.
Monica Pryts 2 years ago
I need more information about how you got God to pay your medical bills.
Catherine Gomez 2 years ago
I invited my soon to be mother-in-law to travel with us. She pointed to her shoulders and said she couldn't go because humans don't have wings and aren't meant to fly.
Jaqi Hegland 2 years ago
That's probably just fear of flying with a easy excuse.
Load More Replies...
Samara Morgan 2 years ago
Number 34 made me mad. You knew about abuse and gave the kid to this person again? F**k you.
jknbt jknbt 2 years ago (edited)
Here is a pretty good example of textbook "delusional": I taught junior college for 7 years. One semester I had a waitress sign up for a night class. She asked if I would work with her since her schedule would present special problems for her to take the class. I agreed with the provision that she do all the work anyway and learn all the material. Sure enough, she only attended three times during a 16-week semester class. I emailed her the assignments and mid-semester test which I never got back. I even sent her the final exam to take as a homework type assignment for a final grade. She took 3 weeks to send this back to me. She did not bother to complete the final exam and earned an "F" on it. How can you fail an open-book, take-home final???? So she earned a very failing grade for the class. She was outraged. Her position was that she had attended three whole times while breathing, and therefore deserved at least a "D" for a passing grade. I said no, she didn't do the work, and she didn't learn the material. She complained to three levels of management to these professional educators. They supported me and agreed she should fail the class. She never took a class in that college again because she was so offended at how unreasonable everyone (especially me) was in their treatment of her.
Nightshade1972 2 years ago
Years ago, I had one class which conflicted with my work schedule. Since I had the same professor for different classes, he was willing to let me just read the coursework at home, do the coursework at home, etc, even if I couldn't physically attend the class. If I had any questions about that night's work, I'd ask him about it when I saw the prof in class the next morning. I passed all my classes with flying colors, and it never once occurred to me that my grade for the class I couldn't phyiscally attend should be a "gimme" out of the goodness of my professor's heart. I, you know, actually did all the relevant coursework and took all the relevant exams. What a concept!
Load More Replies... Elissa Korsakov 2 years ago
I mentioned how fast the clouds were moving while walking to class with a room mate in college. She said, "Its not the clouds that are moving, its the Earth that is moving so fast today"..I didn't say anything back.
Linda 2 years ago
I also thought I could see the Earth spinning! But in my defense, I was 5 years old and sat on the edge of the sandbox looking at the clouds.
Load More Replies... Jaqi Hegland 2 years ago
We've survived a lot of ignorance before, it's just easier to see now because of the internet. We're not actually more ignorant than before, it just looks worse.
Load More Replies... Becca Hauck 2 years ago
My mother's brother told me that the reason my mother was unhappy with my physically and mentally abusive father was because she reads too many romance books. My grandpa (Mom's dad) told me that the reason so many couples are getting divorced is because women are allowed to drive. I told him that women will not leave a good husband simply because she has the ability to get away from him. My sister told me that I shouldn't keep a family member ,who is a suspected child molester, from having alone time with my 2 year old daughter because even if he did molest her, it wouldn't kill her.
Chassi 2 years ago
…You and your child need to run far, far away from this toxicity
Load More Replies... Unslaadahsil 2 years ago
"Being homosexual is a mental illness" "Only n***as and illegal foreigners are criminals" "The covid vaccine is not safe because they made it so quickly. All the other vaccines were made over decades, so they're safe" "What's the point of being a woman if you don't have kids?" All things said by my aunt at one point or another.
Chassi 2 years ago
I guess she never heard of the polio vaccine and how quickly that was made in top of the lack of rigorous testing. I’m so sorry you had to hear all of that.
Load More Replies... Res Earch 2 years ago
When I was in high school, gas was getting extremely expensive. A girl in my 9th grade history class said one day "I don't understand why someone doesn't just charge 50 cents per gallon for gas." When we told her they would lose money she said "no because they would get a lot of customers so eventually they would make a profit." It took twenty minutes to get her to understand that the business has to pay for the gas before the customer and more customers would mean more money lost than gained.
Monica Pryts 2 years ago
I need more information about how you got God to pay your medical bills.
Catherine Gomez 2 years ago
I invited my soon to be mother-in-law to travel with us. She pointed to her shoulders and said she couldn't go because humans don't have wings and aren't meant to fly.
Jaqi Hegland 2 years ago
That's probably just fear of flying with a easy excuse.
Load More Replies... Samara Morgan 2 years ago
Number 34 made me mad. You knew about abuse and gave the kid to this person again? F**k you.
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