Hindsight is 20/20. If you were to analyze all the things you believed were true one, five, or ten years ago, you’d see how not all of them hold up anymore. Maybe you admired a celebrity that has now fallen from grace, or bought a ticket to Fyre Festival, or believed that NFTs are a good investment. We’re all allowed to make mistakes, and we should aim to learn from them.
Still, one cannot deny that some of those mistakes are painfully hilarious, especially when they’re not ours. Looking at them can make us go “oh, honey,” and “I might act silly sometimes, but at least I’m not that stupid.”
So, if you need a little bit of that warm and fuzzy feeling of being just a little superior than everyone else, we have you covered. We are presenting to you the best of the worst of the r/agedlikemilk subreddit. Enjoy!
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There's A Pun Here, But I Can't Place My Foot On It
The worst cases of 'aged like milk' content has to be predictions. They are usually made by observing the past changes and often assuming the most likely trajectory it will continue progressing towards. They can be related to anything, from finance to political matters. Many professionals around the globe specialize in making accurate forecasts, such as business and political strategists, as well as journalists. However, they are not always correct.
In hindsight, many predictions can seem so wildly wrong even though at the time they were made, there was a chance something like that was possible. A paper on detrimental thinking patterns about the future, a.k.a. future fallacies, agrees with that. In it, the scientist Ivana Milojevic states: “Given how many predictions are made on a daily basis, it is always possible to find some that have, in retrospect, been shown to be true. At the same time, it is also always possible to find even more that have been off the mark.”
The problem with such predictions is that if genuine warnings do miss the mark, people are less likely to believe in them next time. A good way to avoid this is to drop the overconfidence when talking about the future possibilities. Add a disclaimer that whatever you’re talking about is a prediction, not a concrete fact. As readers, we also should try avoiding forecasts of know-it-all experts that are completely set on their outlooks. Instead, try to find sources that admit that things can go many different ways.
What Colour Is Your Bugatti?
What a weird choice of an argument. The number of cars someone owns. So what?
The New Elton John
Elton john didn't give up touring and glasses, but did give up on the lasses!
To be fair, in order to give something up you need to be with it first
Another future fallacy discussed in the same paper is being overly optimistic about your personal future. As in, thinking that the world will be going down the drain in the future, but you’ll be perfectly fine. A great example of it is someone who gloats when everyone else is being laid off because they believe it will not happen to them. Of course, eventually, their turn comes as well and they are flabbergasted and devastated.
We all do that, though. We tend to believe that our lives will turn out just fine, which, on one hand, is a great coping mechanism. When a situation turns sour and we break up, falter on our career path, or experience financial insecurity, we tend to believe things will turn around at some point. However, when taken to an extreme, this positive outlook can turn into denial.
Anyone Remember The Bus?
u/LukeofNorth:
The NHS is struggling to survive, nurses being underpaid, appointment being delayed and patients waiting over a year for appointments.
UK politicians on three figure salaries are saying nurses on 30k a year should learn how to budget and cook meals, when they last year expenses came to £200,000 figure.
During Brexit they had a bus to promote how much money they would pump into the NHS...
These Headlines Were Published 5 Days Apart
50 Years Isn't That Long
The same kind of optimism fallacy can be seen when looking at posts that mention how many different dangerous materials were added to various beauty products back in the day. You think the moment people found out about how dangerous mercury, radium, and arsenic are, they must have shivered in horror and chucked every product that they had with it. However, of course, that wasn’t a thing.
Cyclists At Tour De France In The 1920s Smoking Cigarettes. It Was Thought Cigarette Smoking Expanded The Lungs And Helped With Endurance
I think the brandy and strychnine combos were probably more harmful.
"These Trans People Are Getting Out Of Hand!"
u/Poot_McGoot:
Guy who says trans and gay people are "getting out of hand" is now in prison for r*ping his daughter.
Compare the statistics of how many LGBTQA+ people commit sexual assaults and how many cis-hetero men (adjusted to sample size).
Steven Crowder's Wife Is Leaving Him Without His Consent
Crowder wrote that tweet to proudly announce that his wife enjoys being treated like a servant and a sex object. Now she's divorcing him because of his abusive behavior. And suddenly consent matters. Not hers, of course, but his.
What the f**k. That is a rapey thing to say. Even though it's your wife you still need consent. Glad she is leaving this dipshit.
People found out about many dangers of these products by the turn of the 20th century and still continued to use them. The possible reason why consumers didn’t give up on beloved but dangerous products was that it was implied that the real danger is long-time use. Many assumed using it only a little bit here and there will probably not do much harm. Optimistic, right?
Abandon Ship
This image glorifies Brexit and insinuates that Britain is saving itself from a "sinking ship". In reality, 10% of UK Bank assets moved or will be moving to the EU and about 440 banking and financial institutions have left the UK. The UK has suffered immensely and lost workers, decreased value of the GBP, and caused overall more harm to the UK. The UK Tory party could not keep a PM due to everyone passing the buck on what was happening and being unable to find a solution. Tories in shambles.
The Miss Atomic Bomb Pageant, 1950 Nevada
The advances in the field of nuclear physics inspired this pageant. Today this pageant seems macabre, morbid, distasteful and disgusting, frankly. It was already horrible back then but I don’t think the American people yet knew the vast impact(no pun intended) the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki had. Also the Cold War had yet to strike the fear of god into people.
Chris D’elia Talking About Girls Maturing Because Of Creepy Older Men
Chris D’Elia referring to girls having to mature because creepy older guys are trying to get inside them. He was later accused by multiple girls and women of inappropriate behaviour including grooming and soliciting child p*rnography.
The same optimism seems to kick in with consumers these days. There are still many people who use tanning salons, even though many studies have proven their harm. People haven’t given up on smoking, they drink diet drinks with artificial sweeteners, and use non-stick pans with forever chemicals. In other words, we can’t help but be optimistic.
Suppositories Guaranteed To Contain Healthy, Healing Radium!
Back in the 1930s and 1940s people thought that radiation was a miracle item that could be used to cure anybody and improve any product. This is obviously not the case as radiation is highly lethal when used improperly.
Asbestos Filter Cigarettes
A cigarette company added asbestos to its filters to try to combat the cancer causing effects of smoking. Asbestos is a dangerous chemical that causes cancer after inhalation of its particles.
Asbestos is not a chemical, it is a natural fibrous mineral. (Always a good example if someone hast to use the stupid "Natural = good" fallacy)
Did He Do It 12 Times Already?
One way to combat that kind of individualistic optimism is to promote the idea of interconnection between everybody. We all rely on one another to create a better future and we will either thrive or suffer together. Researchers also suggest using exposure to show that individuals are not immune to society’s fate. So, in a way, this list is a social contribution to the greater good.
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Ezra Miller seems to be collecting allegations and criminal charges like it's a hobby
This Cartoon Blaming School Deaths On Secular Environments - Not Meant As An Attack On Christian Schools Btw
This cartoonist implied that prayer being taken out of schools is the reason kids were dying in school. Sadly a school shooting happened in a Christian school. This post is not meant as an attack on religion.
Not meant as an attack on religion? That's a shame. Keep your religion out of our public schools.
CEO Publicly Admits She Expects Younger Employees To Work For Free. One Of Her Stores Now Faces 360 Charges Over Allegations Of Illegal Child Labor
"no longer willing to do unpaid work": 1) that's called slavery and 2) it's not voluntary.
Still, looking at some of these posts that have spoiled with age can make one feel a little better about the times we live in. For example, people don’t think domestic abuse is normal and likely would not dare to publicly condone it. Blackface is also rightfully considered to be deplorable and out of line. These are signs that things are getting better in our society.
Sorry, Walter
Boycott? Boycott
A 22 Billion Dollar Mistake
Trends can change, and the MCU started with Iron Man 10 years after that decision. Considering the demographic during that time they really didn't do something wrong. Of course it's always easier to judge in hindsight
In the end, it’s always best to be cautiously optimistic and not go too hard on one opinion—you never know how misinformed you might be (see other examples of 'aged like milk' content here and here). Better yet, keep at least some of your opinions off the internet, especially the more controversial ones. Unless you’d love to get on the next 'aged like milk' post collection. Then go ahead, log into Twitter, and tell them how it is!
Spineless Media…
It's not a spineless media - it's the Daily Fail - so named because they have a knack for being on the wrong side of history so often.
What I Found On Linkedin The Other Day
This Cap Promoting The Aberdeen International Drilling Services
News Clipping From The New York Daily Mirror, 1950s
And this is what Republicans want to return to. They view the 50's as when the country was "Great".
Hahahaha 😆
Prediction From 1913
Found An Old New Yorker Behind The Bed…
Wanted to make the biggest global impact for good… lost a lot of other peoples’ money.
Was Watching Scream (1996) When
I Think You Guys Already Know
Jesus F**king Christ
Dan Schneider, the creator of popular Nickelodeon shows such as Drake & Josh, iCarly, Victorious and Zoey 101, has faced allegations from viewers over the years of having an inappropriate foot fetish, and having young stars of his shows engage in scenes that involved feet.
Are You Sure About That?
It turns out that during the course of wireless chatter someone asked: “Are the Titanic passengers safe?” An answer came: “The ship is being towed to Halifax and everyone is ok.” The only problem was that the second transmission didn’t refer to the Titanic. When reporters got wind of the story, many of them called folks along the Canadian coast to corroborate details. Misinformation then spread like wildfire.
Eeeeegads
For context- homie killed his entire family two years after this picture. Her saying he is "super nice in real life" is definitely some very old, unrefrigerated milk.
but that is the thing, they can be "super nice" Killers can be anyone, they could be in your family then one moment everything was gone, just think of how many killers and perverts were called "nice" and people still could see them as doing thy stuff they did because even after they acted the same "nice person?", they don't even need to be taking anything or steroids or have mental problems, its a quick lil switch that happens less then a second and then someone is hurt
"Extremely Well Maintained" Building Collapsed 22 Days Later, Killing 98 People
Oops, aged horribly indeed. The ad on June 1, 2021, the collapse on June 24 the same year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfside_condominium_collapse
See Ya Tucker. Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out
Once Upon A Time…
Two Days Before The Invasion Started
fun fact: a quite prominent left politican said in a german talk show, that putin will never invade ukraine.. just a day or two before he did the very thing. since then she is advocating for ending the war by giving putin everything he wants.. (sarah wagenknecht is a psycho!)
One Year Ago, Paul Joseph Watson Thoroughly Debunked Western Governments' Hysteria About An Imminent Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
u/Nekrose:
What didn't age well was: Russian invaded a few days after the mentioned video.
There Was A Big Push To Buy Homes And Flats In My Country A Few Months Ago...the Interest Rate Has Gone Up Twice Since
“The Average Retirement Age Is Now 61.5… And It’s Getting Even Lower.” -How To Study In College, Walter Pauk, 1993
The average age of retirement continues to climb in the US, with many deciding to push back retirement into their mid- to late- 60s or even 70s.
Amanda Riley Scammed Friends, Family And Followers Out Of $100,000 For Cancer Diagnosis She Faked
Sad When Cah Ages Like Milk; We Tried To Correct It, But Even The Correction Has Aged
Forbes Really Nailing It
Who would have thought a magazine about kleptocratic oligarchs that knowingly accepts payments for positive pieces would put them on their covers?
Super Tough Russian Bear Showing His "Massive Gainz" To The West, Circa 2016. In Later Years, It Was Found That The Bear Was A Coward Full Of Drugs
The Konmari Method™
Elon Made A Huge Mistake
Elon Musk's Starship just launched. People asked about a flame trench to divert the rocket engines from destroying the launch pad. Say's he doesn't want one, and todays launch destroyed said launch pad.
After Blood & Wine And Cavill Leaving... Idk
Home Developer “Confirmed Homes Were Structurally Sound” 5 Months Before Collapse
Hopefully No One Listened
Observation: It's not a 'financial instrument' if someone else can screenshot it.
Well...all Clear, Then
Yep, and with false information. There aren't numerous accounts of trans women attacking cis women in bathrooms. Men do not need to dress up as women to attack women in those spaces. The kind of man who thinks it's OK to do that isn't going to take time to dress up to do it. Kids aren't, and have never been receiving surgery under the age of 18. As a parent of a trans woman, and someone who has worked extensively with the trans community, I found the bigotry and false info disheartening. People want so badly to make trans people the villains when they're just people trying to go about their day. I was a massive fan of Rowling. I'm not anymore.
Load More Replies...Thanks for another dose of gratuitous bigotry, bp. The comments in another recent post about Chinese people eating cats were not enough, huh
Yep, and with false information. There aren't numerous accounts of trans women attacking cis women in bathrooms. Men do not need to dress up as women to attack women in those spaces. The kind of man who thinks it's OK to do that isn't going to take time to dress up to do it. Kids aren't, and have never been receiving surgery under the age of 18. As a parent of a trans woman, and someone who has worked extensively with the trans community, I found the bigotry and false info disheartening. People want so badly to make trans people the villains when they're just people trying to go about their day. I was a massive fan of Rowling. I'm not anymore.
Load More Replies...Thanks for another dose of gratuitous bigotry, bp. The comments in another recent post about Chinese people eating cats were not enough, huh