“What Fact Became Terrifying To You As An Adult, Which You Didn’t Notice As A Child?” (30 Answers)

Contrary to a common misconception, fear isn't something we're born with, it's something we develop over time. In fact, babies don't exhibit it for the first time until they're around 8 to 12 months of age.

That means that most of our fears are learned at some point in our lives, and they're not all learned in the same way. Some fears, as psychologist Dr. Vanessa LoBue points out, can be learned by conditioning, or by having a negative experience with something. For instance, you might learn to be afraid of dogs if you’ve been bitten by a dog, or you might learn to be afraid of bees after getting stung. But we can also develop the jitters to things by watching someone else's fearful reaction. For example, instead of growing to be afraid of dogs by being bitten, we can also develop a fear of dogs by watching a friend freak out at the sight of a snarling Chihuahua. Likewise, we can learn to be afraid of dogs by hearing negative information as well, like hearing from your mom that little dogs bite.

So Reddit user Mahouswen decided to investigate this further and asked people on the platform to share what they find horrific in adulthood that didn't even bother them in childhood.

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The extreme stupidity of the vast majority of humans.

Earthling1a , Ryoji Iwata Report

Final score:

163points

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BoredPossum 6 months ago

This is very scary. Luckily, I'm a possum.

46points

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How expensive grocery shopping is.

CaptainAwesome0912 , Mick Haupt Report

Final score:

110points

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The Doom Song 6 months ago

Now I know why my mum had a budget. Groceries are dang expensive

13points

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The fact that monsters do exist, they are people.

Bork_Knuckle Report

Final score:

110points

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Janet L 6 months ago

“They tell you monsters don’t exist, Ripley”.

19points

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How unfair the life actually is.

DavidRoyran , MART PRODUCTION Report

Final score:

106points

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Nina 6 months ago

Yes, and how little influence you actually have on how it pans out. People think their life is malleable to their wishes, but we have way less influence than we think we have.

33points

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Capitalism is by far the most evil and psychopathic system in human history.

The rabbit hole never ends.

Allergic2thesun Report

Final score:

91points

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Nina 6 months ago

It is indeed. While corporations make massive profits and ceo's get ridiculous amounts of money, there is "no space in the budget" to raise the wages of the employees.

31points

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The fact that it doesn't take as long to get old as you think it does when you're a kid.

Or that you have less freedom as an adult than you do as a child (as you wish to be grown so you can do whatever you want whenever you want).

AnonRedditGuy81 , Daria Obymaha Report

Final score:

90points

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ORSOrama 6 months ago

I think adults really did have more freedom back then, when I was a kid. They had much more money and free time then me and all the people I know now.

24points

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Just how common SA is. I was not at all prepared for how inevitable it was that I would be SA/harassed as a woman.

CalendarAggressive11 Report

Final score:

88points

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Tempest 6 months ago

This!! There’s a statement which says that every woman has experienced sẽxual harassment in their life and it’s no joke! Sometimes you don’t even realize that your experience was sẽxual harassment/abuse. I was 12/13 years old when an uncle nonchalantly groped me during a carpooling session with my dad sitting right next to me (dad was probably nodding off). I didn’t realize that this was messed up until much later in my teens when I started having an unexplained queasy feeling whenever he was around. This is the first time I’ve openly admitted this because I feel so ashamed of it. No I’ve never mentioned this is anyone else because I know my family will never believe me.

56points

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*I'm* the adult now. There isn't anyone responsible for me. I need to be the responsible one. And I have to be the adult responsible for my kid. Who thought it was a good idea to put me in charge?!

ninjaneeress , Muhammad-Taha Ibrahim Report

Final score:

81points

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BoredPossum 6 months ago

Especially when the world gets too much to handle.

10points

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Ain't nobody actually in charge. Everyone is faking it in front of the kids. Should've been much more of a little s**t as a kid. Those adults knew nothing.

topherysu27 , Caleb Oquendo Report

Final score:

79points

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Max Fox 6 months ago

Wrong. There are people in charge, alright, they just don't know what they are doing.

9points

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#10

Most people are one paycheck away from becoming homeless.

Interesting_Good_157 Report

Final score:

75points

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Laughing otter 6 months ago

Last week I heard a Republican state senator say that “being poor is a sin.” Of course, he’s an evangelical Christian.

40points

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#11

As I get older, one thing that terrifies me more and more, the more I think about it is...

HOW EXPENSIVE EVERYTHING IS.

You could BURN through $100, $200 in the blink of an eye, and all you've done is bought groceries and household stuff. You haven't even bought clothes yet, or paid electricity, internet, phone bills, you haven't added anything to savings...and then you think of stuff like credit-card bills...

How fast you could absolutely ANNIHILATE $1,000 just by trying to STAY ALIVE is truly horrifying to me.

I don't care WHO you are - $25.00 an hour is NOT a living wage ANYWHERE anymore.

Dippycat149 Report

Final score:

72points

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Nichole Harris 6 months ago

Dear Lord sooooooo this!!! The ONLY thing that keeps me from having a heart attack every time I do the budget is the knowledge that I can't afford that either

38points

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#12

The age of my parents.

w_ff , Matthias Zomer Report

Final score:

68points

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The Doom Song 6 months ago

This. My folks are approaching the 70 mark and it's scaring me

18points

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#13

You never really know someone and their true intentions. The friendly neighbor Gary could actually have a couple bodies in his basement or is a pedophile. Or your co-worker or friend that seems to like you actually hates your guts and is jealous.

InsightJ15 , Ricky Esquivel Report

Final score:

56points

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RamiRudolph 6 months ago (edited)

I knew it! I always suspected Gary was up to something... 😮

24points

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#14

Life is short.

Confident-Shelter-70 , Brett Sayles Report

Final score:

55points

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Tamra 6 months ago

I'm convinced we enter a strange time warp after a certain age, where it seems to pass at a faster rate. Can't say I'm enjoying it much.

29points

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#15

How my mom treated me, and my entire childhood in general.

WeirdConnections , Daria Obymaha Report

Final score:

54points

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Karina 6 months ago

How we in turn become grown ups that dont react to obvious issues.

10points

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#16

The ATM doesn’t just give you money.

Aggravating-Fee-1615 , Timeo Buehrer Report

Final score:

53points

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Nina 6 months ago

Ooh that would be so nice 😆

15points

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#17

How easy it is to die young. Lost a few peers right out of high school in automotive accidents - no d***s involved, just 'freak accidents'. Its terrifying out here.

voidybug , Pavel Danilyuk Report

Final score:

49points

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Karina 6 months ago

I have been to more funerals for (teens)from suicide, car crashes and murder than I have been to funerals for normal death in total. Being young is brutal.

12points

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#18

As a kid, you always feel like there's a safety net: no matter what happens, someone will pull you out of trouble and take care of problems.

When you hit your 20's and slowly realize that's not true, it's a bit panic inducing. People will literally allow you to collapse in the street and let you die if they see helping as too big of a hassle. You can become homeless, starve, get sick...and after a certain age there is nobody there to pull you out.

Fritzo2162 Report

Final score:

49points

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Ace 6 months ago

You had a privileged upbringing then. I learnt that you could not rely on anyone else from around the age of 9 or so...

17points

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#19

That everything poses a risk of death or injury. Driving. Running down the stairs. Weather.

Round_Trainer_7498 , Tobi Report

Final score:

47points

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FrogMan 6 months ago

Driving down the stairs in weather…

48points

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#20

Getting bullied and excluded for being weird was fine as a kid, I just ignored those kids or played along and told them I believed all kinds of insane things just to see if I could get them to believe I was crazy. Everyone told me when I was an adult it wouldn't matter. Then it turned out the meanest kid at your school is nothing compared to the person who makes the schedule at the average hourly wage job, and three of them equals one girl from HR. I don't really think people go into middle management for any reason than a desire to sadistically torture other people while wearing a big fake condescending smile.

4URprogesterone Report

Final score:

42points

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Janet L 6 months ago

Can anyone tell me one benefit of the HR system? Highly paid people who sit around and think of ways to make life difficult; hopeless in a crisis or professional dispute; take weeks to get the simplest tasks done. Maybe we should all work in HR. I met a very senior HR manager socially and she was the meanest b***h I’ve ever come across.

15points

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#21

Aging: I have severe back and shoulder joint problems.

Illustrious-Host6853 , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:

41points

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featherytoad 6 months ago

When I hit 50, I became much more conscious of how my body is just going to start failing and will give me nothing but problems in the years to come. When you're younger and healthy, you just don't think about it.

6points

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#22

That your parents don't know everything and were making up it as they went because now I have kids and I don't know s**t and am making it up as I go.

thanoshasbighands Report

Final score:

39points

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Michael Largey 6 months ago

As a kid, the day I realized this about my parents was the funniest day of my childhood.

5points

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#23

How a lot of money is really only a little money.

QueerTree Report

Final score:

39points

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#24

As a kid, I didn’t realize you could seriously injure your back by simply sneezing.

Capable-Ground8272 Report

Final score:

37points

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Nichole Harris 6 months ago

I've thrown my back out getting out of bed

6points

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#25

Thunderstorms became scary once I owned a home near trees. Loved them as a kid.

ServantofProcess , Pixabay Report

Final score:

36points

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Shane S 6 months ago

Totally relate to this. We are required to have insurance but punished financially if we use it. How is that peace of mind?!

11points

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#26

They give nearly everyone a car license. We all just trust that everyone else sort of knows what they are doing on the roads and won't plow into you and kill you.

delayedconfusion Report

Final score:

36points

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R.C. 6 months ago

I always drive assuming everyone else on the road doesn't have a clue.

17points

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#27

Life expectancy.

When you're a kid, everyone is old. I never thought much about the ages my grandparents were when they died. It's frightening to think about now as I get older.

They were 59, 62, 65, and 69 when they passed.

Gold_Cover2256 , Brett Sayles Report

Final score:

32points

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Paul C. 6 months ago

My Grandfather died at 59, my dad 58, his brothers,59 and 61. Me? Oh I'm 69. Worried about it? A bit, but hey p!ss off 👻 I'm not ready yet.

18points

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#28

Just how cutthroat things tend to be in college and in the adult “at-will employment” world. I’m suspicious that this is a contributing factor to the mental health crisis.

SwankySteel Report

Final score:

31points

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Elchinero 6 months ago

or "at won't"

0points

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#29

Very few of us leave this world fully intact. I had a horrific wisdom tooth removal just as covid hit. It was extremely deep rooted, and the dentist was kind of a butcher (I did NOT have insurance so the job went to the lowest bidder). Took about an hour for the extraction; he had to break it into several pieces, and had to go back in AFTER sewing me up because he left some behind.

I do NOT do well with change, particularly changes to my body. It took me a few years to psychologically recover from the experience (a global pandemic and my overuse of cannabis at the time really didn't help any). I still have anxiety episodes every once in a while thinking about what part of me will fail or have to be removed next.

Also, American healthcare is a joke and a scam. That's pretty damn terrifying.

AndyM110 Report

Final score:

30points

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Libstak 6 months ago

Yes, after age 50, I lost my uterus to cancer and then 2 years later I had a gall bladder infection the inflamed my liver, pancreas and kidneys, nearly went septic. I am wondering what else I will lose.

4points

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#30

Adults don't know what they're doing either.

mossadspydolphin Report

Final score:

30points

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Patrick Linnen 6 months ago

This is popular culture really. Most comedy Shows from early on capitalized on 'Adults not having a Clue'

5points

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Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

What fact became terrifying to you as an adult, which was unnoticed or ignored in childhood?

Tempest 6 months ago (edited)

Something that I realized all too late as an adult was just how selfish people really are, especially the adults. It’s always them trying to better themselves even at the cost of other people’s lives. When I was at school I was deliberately exposed to only the nicest kids (my parents always got in the way whenever I sidetracked to hanging out with trouble-makers) and then I went abroad for university where I was suddenly exposed to all sorts of people. I was so naive to people’s nature that it took me a friend asking me to open my eyes and see the people for who they are during my final year to realize how desperately selfish most of them are. I know it’s not everyone but the majority are this way and it’s not easy to find the few who have no ill intentions.

8points

Game Guy 6 months ago

In fairness in our society you almost have to be. Give $1000 to a charity instead of putting it into your 401(k) when you're 25? That's $45,000 you won't have when you retire, and no one will care if that means you can't afford to stay in your house. We have no safety net, and anything we donate is money we don't have to live on. Unless you're Bill Gates, that matters because no one is going to save you if you run out of money.

1point

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DB 6 months ago

That most people vote with their emotions and not their intellect

Duvet Woman 6 months ago

Death. Most kids think they're invincible.

2points

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“What Fact Became Terrifying To You As An Adult, Which You Didn’t Notice As A Child?” (30 Answers)

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