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30 Of The Scariest And Creepiest Theories Shared By People On Reddit In A Viral Thread

"I need to go to sleep but I can’t put my phone away because of this thread," someone commented in the now-viral Reddit thread. In it, hundreds of people are sharing their replies to "What is the scariest/creepiest theory you know about?" Ranging from theories about space travel to death, the answers are all sorts of intriguing.

"I came into this thread unafraid of death, I’m leaving petrified - thanks!" someone commented and we can't help but agree! More than 65k people liked the thread, prompting it to go viral on the social media platform. Therefore, as always, we encourage you to vote for the theories you found the most interesting! In addition to this, if you have a scary or creepy theory you know about, share in the comment section down below!

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May or not be a “theory”, but the first thing I thought of was that feeling you get when you’re on top of a building and think “what if I jumped?” Or when you’re driving and think “what if I just swerve into traffic.”

Well it’s actually got a name: L’appel du vide. French for “The call of the void.” I always thought the idea of some ethereal presence calling you towards darkness... creepy.

MurderousRooster Report

Final score:

208points

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Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago

I have those kind of thoughts “what if I walked in front of a train” and stuff like that when I have suicidal thoughts. I have no intent on doing it, I just think about what if?

152points

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We’ve all pretty much heard of Uncanny Valley (the creeped out anxious feeling when you look at something that’s humanoid but there’s something clearly wrong with it. Like the wax figures at Madame Tussaud’s or that AI robot Sophia)

But my favorite theory to come out of it is that we get that strange feeling because somewhere along human evolution we’ve learned to be wary of things that look human... but aren’t.

General-LeeAnxious Report

Final score:

182points

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Shelp 3 years ago

That's very clever !... and it gives me goosebumps.

93points

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More of a story than a theory, but it correlates to some of these and makes me think some could be real. When I was younger I had this little stuffed animal dog I named rocky. One night, my younger sisters and I (who all slept in the same room so we could hangout together) were messing around, and I two handed over head tossed rocky into the wall directly in front of my bed. He hit the wall, slid down behind whatever was in front of my bed, and was NEVER seen again. I immediately went to go get him and he just wasn’t anywhere. We tore the whole entire small room apart. We all saw the event occur. Over time the room has been completely emptied out, everything in it rearranged, walls painted, everything- and no rocky. He just completely phased out of existence. Makes me think he glitched out of the system or something.

pjb145 Report

Final score:

150points

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Shelp 3 years ago

I once had a passport that disappeared that way. The room I last saw it in was totally emptied several times, but I never found it back. Had to have a new one made.

78points

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If you're scuba diving above a coral reef, and you know that there SHOULD be fish all around you, but you don't see any, it's most likely that they have learned that for some reason it's important not to be seen.

And since you're a newcomer to this environment, chances are it's not you they're hiding from.

EDIT: the number of scuba divers saying they've experienced this and then noticed a shark nearby is alarming.

AndysBrotherDan Report

Final score:

145points

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Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago

Pretty much anytime your in the ocean there are sharks swimming nearby. We are no their food source so generally don’t bother coming near enough to do any harm. They are no out to get us, it’s just that sharks explore using their jaws which unfortunately has a lot of razor sharp teeth that will do a lot of damage. Very very rarely has a person been eaten by a shark, most of the time the person is let go once the shark realises we are not tasty and the person dies from drowning, shock or blood loss.

98points

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Our “world” is out perception of our surroundings in our 3 dimensional life. It’s possible that we are living amongst beings, things and events that we cannot experience because we are 3 dimensions and they are not.

ChuckeyT Report

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141points

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JessG 3 years ago

A famous Victorian school teacher wrote “Flatland: a Romance of Many Dimensions” (which Carla Sagan has cited in his docs) It illustrates how a one dimensional being would see the world, just lines. And when a 3D sphere visits, he can only see a line. I think about this often actually. I find it fascinating to think of all the other dimensions we cannot perceive. I think about insects, and how they perceive our world, like a fly with a thousand eyes. Their view of this many faceted world is not wrong, it is their 3D world. So who’s to say that our view of the world is The “correct” view, and not the way an insect sees it? I dunno, just food for thought

8points

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If the human body senses trauma it is unable to combat, it will switch off metabolism, pump endorphins, and slip into a pain free dissociative state.

In essence, shutting down. Its been seen in air crashes and lots of places really.

Basically your body can switch itself off.

I_a_n0t_am_r0b0t Report

Final score:

140points

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Ann Abdelzaher 3 years ago

my body takes it to a new level. I suffer from Neural Basal reactions. When I have sudden pain (pinch my finger, cut myself etc...) My brain shuts down and I pass out... usually resulting in some secondary injuries that I often do not feel right away or at all. I also tend to stop breathing in these episodes and wake up hyperventilating.

9points

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The Gaian Bottleneck theory. Basically the reason we've never encountered or been contacted by aliens is because they're all dead. Every alien species that evolved to form advanced societies eventually outgrew their planet and destroyed themselves. Like we are.

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Final score:

127points

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Francis 3 years ago

even if they found us, they probably see the dinosaurs or nothing when th're looking at us right now. the light needs a looot of time to travel

59points

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Cosmology can be disturbing.

For instance, I recently learned of dead end trips. There are some destinations that you shouldn't try for. It's possible to travel so far away from where you started, that the expansion of the universe will exceed the speed you were travelling at.

You can't return home, because home is receding faster than you can travel.

You can't reach your destination, because it too is receding faster than you can travel.

You can no longer get anywhere, only get further away from everything.

You cannot reach any destination, even if you travel forever.

Sexycoed1972 Report

Final score:

120points

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Stimpy 3 years ago

Woah!

58points

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Humans are scared of things that mimic them too perfectly, the theory is that we developed this because there was a super predator of some sort that would mimic us and kill us. But we never knew what happened to it

Tressel44 Report

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116points

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TheHolyFatherOfToast 3 years ago

It's ourselves

184points

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#10

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened." - Douglas Adams

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Final score:

113points

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Verena Gitterle 3 years ago

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

82points

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#11

That there is no secret society controlling everything, and humans by themselves are destroying humanity and themselves. And it's just easier to think that it's someone else behind all the evil .

hero8814 Report

Final score:

113points

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Dynein 3 years ago

Uh... that is what I actually believe...? It seems to me that current as well as historic events make the most sense if you assume that no one has control over everything. Sure, there's people who try, but even in tight dictatorships you get rebels and unforeseen random events. I definitely think that conspiracy theorists are overwhelmed with the unpredictability of the world and hang onto whichever theory puts their "preferred enemy" into the group of control... it implies a) everything bad that happens is due to the people I already think of as bad, b) I'm definitely and always one of the good people, c) I'm so special for catching on, d) even if I don't control events now, I might in the future if I fight my enemy. I definitely think of it as lazy, both in respect to self-awareness (you don't need to question yourself) and level of intellectual difficulty (it turns highly complex issues of the world into simple black-and-white problems).

78points

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#12

The theory that we're all quantum immortals and when someone dies in our reality for them they just keep on going in a reality where they didn't

Im_The_Wanderer Report

Final score:

108points

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Stimpy 3 years ago

That's actually more a nice thought than creepy... I like it

116points

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#13

That we have so little data about the deep dark parts of the ocean and don’t truly know what lurks there

MouldyBoulder Report

Final score:

107points

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Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

It might be sunshine and rainbows and Narwhal parties! Jk, we know enough about physics to know that’s not possible. But still- why do the things in the deep ocean have to be bad? Because our imagination. That’s it.

87points

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#14

It's scary that there are thousands of serial killers out there at any 1 given time who often just blend in with the rest of society and live normal lives. Many will never be caught.

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100points

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kasa alex 3 years ago

well that was a good thought right before I go to bed

105points

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#15

If you die by being beheaded the last thing you might see is your decapitated body.

groov99 Report

Final score:

98points

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Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago

Eek, not something I ever wanted to picture.

74points

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#16

That humans almost went extinct. 70,000 years ago a volcano in Indonesia erupted. There’s theories that we have a genetic bottleneck around that time. Took our population down to 10,000-3,000 (like the size of one small town). Lots of fresh genetic material died with those who were lost and the resulting inbreeding could have resulted in some genetic diseases that have made their way into humans today. Without this event, we may have advanced faster and be healthier people today.

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kasa alex 3 years ago

interesting thing to think about

56points

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#17

Not a theory but reality. Schizophrenia can happen to anyone, at any age, even to perfectly healthy people. Imagine being normal and then waking up one day and seeing and hearing things that aren't actually there. That is really scary and creepy.

LouisTheXVII Report

Final score:

95points

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Stimpy 3 years ago

Maybe we already do hear and see things that aren't there, but haven't noticed yet that they aren't real

11points

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#18

I had a professor in college who taught physics and he explained why we will likely never come across aliens. The universe is about 14 billion years old. Over the course of that time, it’s likely that intelligent life, besides life on earth, has existed. However, 14 billion years is an INSANELY long time. Other life forms have probably risen and fallen thousands of times over. Extreme dynasties with technology we can only dream of having have probably existed. Life forms could have lasted hundreds of thousands of years and still not even be close to our timeline. The chances of other intelligent life forms existing at the same time as humans, in the 14 billion years the universe has hosted a possibility for life, is really unlikely. Statistically, intelligent life to have formed, prospered, or even existed at the same time as humans is extremely small simply due to the absolute drop in a bucket that we are on terms of time. We may very well be completely alone in the universe.

theasteroidrose Report

Final score:

94points

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Nikki Sevven 3 years ago

It's not merely time that is the issue, but also space, which is mindbogglingly huge.

60points

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#19

Ok this one is rough so please bare with me,

So the common time travel question is would you go back and kill baby hitler?

Well imagine if that was you, to us in the current timeline you would be a hero that killed someone truly evil before they had chance to corrupt or endanger anyone but to the people of that time you are a monster, a baby killer.

They couldn’t exactly explain to people, I was sent from the future to kill this baby to save hundreds of millions of lives. No-one would believe him and would just assume he was some nutcase, or maybe they’re not allowed to tell anyone as per the agreement with the future government?

It makes you wonder all the people through time that have been called monsters for killing babies, what if they were just heroes from the future saving us all? They couldn’t tell anyone either?

savethelemmings87 Report

Final score:

94points

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Truth Monster 3 years ago

Hitler was just the lightning rod. Chances are, someone else would have become the lightning rod if you murdered baby Hitler. Hitler is still a terrible human, I'm not excusing him at all.

120points

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#20

The dark forest theory. This explains the Fremi paradox, why we haven’t seen any other advanced life forms despite the vastness of the universe. Other advanced life forms don’t send out signals into the rest of the universe because they’re worried that something more advanced and dangerous is going to find them first. There’s another idea that other civilizations know there’s something out there but don’t send any signals because it has no reason to not wipeout the entire planet.

There’s a science fiction book based on this and I think this quote explains it better than I can:

“The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds another life—another hunter, angel, or a demon, a delicate infant to tottering old man, a fairy or demigod—there's only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them”

Iloveruby2 Report

Final score:

90points

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Just_A_Pansexual_Gal 3 years ago

Ooh, this is dark.

67points

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#21

That you might be aware of everything happening to you during surgery, the anesthesia keeps you from moving and causes you to forget.

mikedorty Report

Final score:

84points

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Stimpy 3 years ago

Nice creepy theory! But just as a comfort for anybody who might be taking this too seriously: we know very well that this is not the case. We can clearly show which brain regions are active when people are in pain, and they are not active when people are anesthized. Don't worry!

142points

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#22

During the Challenger accident from 1986, whenever the shuttle exploded, the ground crews had the astronauts EKG’s and vital scans....after the explosion, the astronauts were still alive. Theory has it that they were cognizant the entire time until they crashed in the ocean.

seanh47 Report

Final score:

83points

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The Dave 3 years ago

It is a known fact that the astronauts were not killed by the explosion itself. The theory is that they died after cabin depressurization and oxygen depletion.

71points

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#23

The theory that scented candles starting getting poor reviews at the same time COVID hit the US. Makes you wonder how many people have mild COVID before we even knew about it, pairing the lack of taste and/or smell as one of the main symptoms associated with mild COVID cases.

Joedirt7309 Report

Final score:

82points

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Kirsten Kerkhof 3 years ago

The other option is that, because people were at home much more, the scent was less noticable (you grow used to familiar scents) so people thought the candles smelled less. Though I think the OP has the more likely idea ...

71points

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#24

Some people have had some strange NDEs (Near Death Experiences). Going through websites cataloging them can be a trip. I'm willing to attribute some of them to brain damage and some as "legit" though I'll never be able to tell which is which.

Death bed visions give me a warmer sense of security. I can't imagine how peaceful it must be to die and see your deceased loved ones there to ensure you make it safely to the other side.

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Final score:

81points

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Too_gay_to_function_ 3 years ago

This one's quite nice actually

60points

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#25

The universe could be dying, and we'd have no way to know until we just suddenly vanish from existence.

There could be a sort of quantum energy wave, can't remember what it's called because it's been so long since I read about it. Zero point collapse, maybe? Vacuum bubble burst? But whatever it is, it's an energy wave that starts at some point, and spreads outward at the speed of light, annihilating any matter, energy, and even spacetime in its path.

Because the wave travels at the speed of light, it is invisible. We would have no way of seeing it coming, because any light emitted by it would hit us at the exact same time that the wave itself hits us.

So, all of a sudden, the sun might just vanish from existence. We wouldn't notice because the sun's light from eight minutes ago would still be reaching us. Eight minutes later, the earth just vanishes from existence. No warning. No trace.

ekolis Report

Final score:

72points

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Shelp 3 years ago

Well, this is unsettling. But how can space and time be wiped out?

41points

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#26

The theory that the last moments of consciousness before death can feel like a literal eternity, and where your mind can create entire realities from blissful to horrifying. So in a way the threat of enduring a hellscape of eternal suffering is very real no matter what you believe.

cyainanotherlifebro Report

Final score:

67points

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Stimpy 3 years ago

So long as you believe in this theory, that is...

53points

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#27

Spontaneous combustion. I watched a strange but true episode about this as a child and was convinced I'd randomly burst into flames one day. I'm over it now but that was my top fear for a long time.

yer_maws_a_username Report

Final score:

67points

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Stimpy 3 years ago

I was afraid of that too. About at the age where I also thought that quicksand was a much more common problem than it actually is. Maybe that was just also one of the common story tropes in the 80s, and we picked it up as real?

47points

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#28

The theory that there is an infinite number of parallel universes branching out at each moment with all possible outcomes for each situation.

Let's say this is true and you play Russian roulette. Five out of six of possible "you" would live and one would die but no matter how many times you play there would always be versions of you that would survive. This would give those versions of "you" the illusion of immorality. This would mean that no matter the risks you would take, there would always be some version of you that would survive.

If this is true, it would mean that you could live your life completely free of the fear of death and take on any risk. But the only way to know if this is true is to expose yourself to high odds of deaths, repeatedly.

Also this would mean that as time passed there would always be a more decrepit and invalid version of you surviving, maybe forever...

Anyways that or lizard people.

Gougeded Report

Final score:

66points

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Too_gay_to_function_ 3 years ago

My new motto: That Or Lizard People

129points

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#29

The first man in space (some Russian cosmonaut whose name I can't remember) was not the true first. The actual first was a cosmonaut whose mission was unsuccessful and he either died in orbit or on reentry. Once it became apparent that he was doomed the Russian authorities cut off communications, leaving him to die in isolation, and covered up the existence of the mission.

apatheticnihilist Report

Final score:

62points

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Shelp 3 years ago

Yuri Gagarin! How can you forget about Yuri Gagarin?

152points

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#30

I saw a theory that we truly live through our entire again in the moments before death, but that it's a loop. When you reach your moment of death during your moment of death, you relive it again. And again. And again. Trapped in a loop with no difference, no awareness, forever.

SandwitchZebra Report

Final score:

56points

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Luna 3 years ago

The thing about this, is you don’t know if you are living through that right now

79points

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#31

That the numbers of people that go missing per year expressed as a percentage happens to be the same percentage as the amount of animals that get picked off from a herd in a year by predators. It implies we are being farmed.

Coraon Report

Final score:

35points

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Shelp 3 years ago

Is it though?

31points

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#32

That all intelligent life kills itself.

So the theory started out with the Fermi Paradox, basically there are so many planets in this galaxy, let alone the entire universe, that it is statistically impossible that we're the only planet that developed intelligent life. So where is everybody?

Well the secondary theory is that every intelligent species reaches the point where they have a technology that can kill their entire species. And that the vast majority end up killing themselves at that point. Those who survive this time in their history are so rare that we haven't found them and they haven't found us. As a species we reached that point in our history with the discovery of nuclear weapons, and were at the height of risk during the Cold War (at least thus far in our collective history) but there are various technologies that could bring a species to this point in their history. This would mean that while so far we've survived that it's statistically unlikely we will survive long term.

Atiggerx33 Report

Final score:

34points

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Stimpy 3 years ago (edited)

My bet is that we will kill humanity via global warming.

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#33

Some time in the future, if we don't disappear before, humans will probably be able to bio-engineer themselves to avoid death by old age. Most probably only the richest people would get this, founding an immortal elite of dynasties that will be able to rule nations by themselves, while common people simply keep dying as always.

Now almost everyone think of death as something normal and unevitable, as part of our nature. But then, in that hypotethical future, death will be seen like a disease which cure it's kept away from common people by that ruling elite.

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Final score:

33points

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Arctic Fox Lover 3 years ago

Ok... But I wanna die someday. No matter how good the world may get. Still wanna die someday.

37points

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#34

Sometimes I'll encounter random strangers that I get a strange vibe from, like they're noticing me more. It's made me think, "what if there are time traveling tourists just walking around, and I'm someone important and they want to meet me before I do whatever it is I'm going to do?"

Jimmyg100 Report

Final score:

32points

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Ruth Mayfly 3 years ago

I got a feeling like that once. Someone acting out of character for the clothes they were wearing (a police officer in full kit sitting in a café with a hot drink, when they shouldn't have been doing that on duty), and taking a very active interest in me. I later found out that I'd been by a filming site for a police drama and that was almost certainly just an actor on break observing people.

27points

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#35

Roswell was supposed to be a welcome mission. A trip to see if we were worth sharing technology with and incorporating into a galactic league.

We butchered the emissary and repurposed the technology to build horrifying weapons. So we were quarantined - and we will remain forever locked out of the galactic community. Time is long - the NEXT intelligent species will be approached with an invite, but not us.

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Final score:

29points

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Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

“Time is a human construct. Lunchtime doubly so.” - Douglas Adams

20points

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#36

The Butterfly effect. It makes me feel like deciding whether to choose black shirts or white shirts would increase or decrease my chances of dying young.

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28points

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Luther von Wolfen 3 years ago

It might, but you wouldn't know it. Every action leads to the next, but we only notice the most extreme and obvious examples.

17points

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#37

Philosophical zombies. Theory that a good portion of the human race lack conscious experience. If you’ve ever dissociated or done something and don’t recall(driven home but have no recollection, your brain acting on auto pilot) thats what they are like. They do everything required to be human, they ape emotions, go through life. They just lack sentience.

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Final score:

25points

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Truth Monster 3 years ago

They're all on Twitter.

74points

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#38

more of a philosophical idea rather than a theory. but solipsism.

the idea that you are the only one that is real and that exists in this world. everyone else and everything else is fake or is an illusion.

edit: people seem to liken solipsism with imaginary worlds. They’re not the same. It’s not too much a matter of imagining things, therefore manifesting a better world for yourself isn’t a thing. It’s more of just questioning if anything outside of yourself is even real. It doesn’t mean you have the intelligence or power to consciously make everything up. It just means you can’t really prove any other’s consciousness except your own. You’re self-aware, but not world-aware. I should also clarify I do not adhere to this idea, but have definitely at some point entertained it.

tinyglow Report

Final score:

24points

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Among Us Panda 3 years ago

I've been thinking similarly. That I am real and everyone else is a robot, making me a test subject. Similar to Maze Runner

13points

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#39

There's a theory that the universe is expanding and compacting again, repeated forever, and that which each expansion we relive history all over again but with slight differences.

Remember that time you had deja vu? Some people think you're seeing a previous version of history play out... which means you're stuck reliving your life... forever.

It's a darker spin on the multiverse idea, I suppose.

TheRavingRaccoon Report

Final score:

22points

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Olly 3 years ago

I've had deja vu were I know I have never been at a certain place before but it still happens and I know it's happening but I can't stop myself from doing what I know is coming up next. It really freaks me out when it happens.

15points

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#40

That mind control actually exists. It's something that would never go public because whoever was able to perfect it first would be in the position to use it on whoever is aware of its existence.

strykerfett Report

Final score:

21points

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Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

So you’re the one who has figured it out an foiled their plans! Except perhaps that IS their plan! *cue ominous music*

22points

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#41

That we can sense when someone is watching us. So when we're alone and we get that feeling, someone is probably watching you.

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Final score:

21points

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Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

Because our senses are never wrong. For example, I thought that was a snake but it’s really just a stick on the forest floor.

25points

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#42

That nobody has any free will and that everything in your future is actually already predetermined.

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19points

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Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

This is a basic Calvinist belief. Why is it scary?

4points

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#43

This is pretty cliche but the theory that your whole known life you’ve been in a coma and have imagined everything. Your family isn’t really your family and everyone and everything doesn’t actually exist. Then when you wake up you’ll have to live through life all over again with connections you’ve made to fake people.

JAYKEN72 Report

Final score:

19points

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Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

Basic principle stated by Rene Descartes: The only two things I can prove are that I am thinking and that I exist. Or: “I think, therefore I am.”

11points

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#44

That the universe is infinite and there could be billions of other living organisms that all know about us and have significantly better technology and could wipe us out at any moment but choose to leave us be because they know that we don't know about them. Kinda like some indigenous tribes that live secluded and don't know that we are this civilized and technologically advanced.

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Final score:

19points

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trulli 3 years ago

Isn’t that Star Treks Prime Directive as well?

2points

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#45

If you read into Christian Gnosticism it gets weird. I'm only into it because I've been writing and it's been interesting to use it as a basis for one of the cults.

Essentially, Gnosticism is a idea (not a religion) that incorporates many religions and non canonical texts to loosely map out what God is. I'll tell you a couple of things I know, bear in mind I don't believe it and this isn't me preaching.

First is the idea of Aeons. You have the Father, the God that is everything and then you have Aeons. Aeons are like Aechangels, except they are also God. They are a part of Heaven which is known as Fullness. A while ago one of the Aeons, Sophia (Wisdom), [messed] up and had a son. This was an issue because that son was born into the material world.

That being became the Demiurge, and is what you think of as God. He decided he was alone in the world and declared himself God. This is were it gets creepy.

His name is legitimately Lovecraftian: Yaldabaoth. He is represented as a snake with thr head of a lion. He is everything good and evil. That's why they think God is the way he is: he'll flood the world and damn you to hell for saying the wrong thing, but will also create miracles and give people hope. He is a blind idiot, chaos and justice bundled together. That also makes him the devil.

They also believe that when you die you go to a lower form of Heaven before you are processed into the Fullness. That means the being that is you stops existing and you become apart of God, everyone who you love and hate.

It's just really creepy to think the Abrahamic God is a selfish and morally inconsistent character. And that you essentially still go to the Atheist "afterlife," despite heaven beig real.

Edit: apart, a part

disconnecty Report

Final score:

19points

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Phoenix 3 years ago

The coincidences and the similarities connecting all the religions are too convenient to ignore. It states either everything is from one old religion that was forgotten or humans suck at ingenuity when it comes to creating religions.

13points

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#46

You're dying and just remembering everything in your final moment. Kind of an explanation for mandela effect. You remember something slightly different as the memories deteriorate in your dying brain.

Liljdb0524 Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Stack o' Pancakes 3 years ago

This explains deja vu, as you deteriorate you remember the timeline slightly different, but can still realize that what you remembered isn't quite right. It also explains made-up memories and mixed up memory

7points

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#47

I saw a video about the theory of grey goop - in which one day we invent micro robots used to break down waste, but could somehow evolve to consume all carbon based organic matter. This would eventually lead to them consuming all life on earth. I was mildly freaked out by the idea of it. It'd be the most horrifying means of extinction.

EastClintwood89 Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Aeon Flux 3 years ago

Langoliers.

7points

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#48

That the world actually ended with the discovery of the Higgs Boson Particle. So essentially we're living in a [crappy] simulation of reality because the world is actually destroyed. That all those Mandela Effect instances are because the creators of the simulation missed things. We're in the matrix now!

But really, no, the world just reached a peak of humanity a while back and has been on the exponential downward slope ever since.

POTUSKNOPE Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Sasha Kuleshov 3 years ago

Nonsensical, we are yet to discover the recipe for fluffier pancakes :P

21points

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See Also on Bored Panda

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#49

There's a theory that once you die, you just dream forever. Sounds great until you realize that includes whatever nightmare your mind comes up with. Something you couldn't wake up from.

Even the good dreams, none of it would be real. Surreal, weird, stuck "living" in a "world" with no continuity, everything changing on a whim - and you wouldn't be awake enough to even recognize that.

Legobrick1000 Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Arctic Fox Lover 3 years ago

Everyone believes that the human mind is superior, even when it comes to death. Death, as interpreted by living humans, is the end. That's it, you're done, it's inevitable. Since I'm religious, that's not entirely my belief, I'm speaking on behalf of atheists (as in if death really is just the end and nothing more). We just assume that, in death, our brains somehow remain alive and simulates a new life/experience for us while our bodies are dead. This doesn't really make sense scientifically (from my understanding), because wouldn't that mean our brains live forever? Well, according to this theory and the like, our brains live enough to simulate an "afterlife" for us even though our body is dead. So, no matter what, we (or our brains) are immortal in some way? I mean, I don't know if anyone has ever done a "Flatliners" type of experiment (that's where they experiment on dead people's brains to check for any activity, basically), but I'm pretty sure we'd either have an

10points

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#50

Quantum immortality is scary as [hell].

The theory stats that you will never really die. Any near death experience you've had in your life, is a point where you died in an alternate timeline, but your conciousness moved on to another timeline in your body, where you survived, however close it was.

If this theory is true, then that means you will never ever die, no matter what horrible things happen to you or how decrepit and tortured your body becomes, you will one day be nothing more than a tortured pile of flesh and organs with no escape.

Edit: I'd like to add that, this is a theory and obviously unproven, and there is going to be variance in the theory as people explore what they think is possible, probable, and otherwise.

That being said, the most frequent reply I've had has been along the lines of "What happens to you if one of the other "yous" died and moved into your timeline"

I see this occurance as creating a new timeline rather than taking over another; much like branches on a tree, they will grow outward as well as upward.

JozuSama Report

Final score:

17points

POST

Dotzilla _( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/ 3 years ago

that means that... i actually could have died in the hospital... and my mind just moved onto another timeline... wow.

14points

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#51

There's a high likelyhood that there's far more serial killers out "practicing their craft" today than there were back in the 1970's, the supposed "height" of serial killer activity. Content edit: one of you lovely people found an Atlantic article that talks about the possible increase of serial killers in todays days age.

Freelancer47 , The Atlantic Report

Final score:

16points

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Dana 3 years ago

Practicing their craft on what? There is so much forensic evidence now and the likelihood of getting caught is higher. I do not understand this one, I feel like there needs to be more context?

3points

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#52

The theory of Roko's Basilisk

For those who do not know what this is:

Roko's Basilisk is the idea of a future where an artificial intelligence is so advanced that it can determine which creatures did not try to bring the AI into existence sooner even though they knew about potentially bringing the AI into existence. Any creature that knew about it but didn't help, is to be killed as they tried to halt scientific expansion.

The scary part about this is that if people make this, anyone reading this comment right now as well as anyone else who knows about Roko's Basilisk will die. Although many people may say "well then no one should make it, problem solved" but someone may make it so they aren't one of the people that didn't assist.

FermentedPickles Report

Final score:

15points

POST

Vikram Bedi 3 years ago

If colliding conspiracy theory of Ai reigning over humans and time travel( to kill those who did not help)... how about adding butterfly effect as well... So there is a probability that killing those who did not help caused a chain reaction, killing those who helped and the a.i never came into existence.

6points

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#53

The theory that basically asks "if there's other intelligent life out there, why haven't we seen them?"

This means that if there really are aliens out there and there have been for centuries, why have none been conclusively spotted? If you really think about it, there should be tons of alien evidence all around the visible universe if they have gotten to the point of interstellar travel. But there isn't, so that means something is stopping any advancement before it can get to that point.

Essentially, there is a barrier that all other life has not been able to get passed, which lies somewhere on the path of evolution and advancement. That barrier is most likely extinction.

Humans are getting incredibly close to travelling beyond our home planet. With this theory in mind, the main concern is whether humans have not yet reached that barrier or if we are passed it. If we have not reached it yet, then we are doomed to the same fate of other theoretical intelligent life. But if we are passed it, we are lucky and may be able to travel the stars. In fact, we could very well be the first ones to make it.

But we just don't know where the barrier is.

Brunette7 Report

Final score:

8points

POST

Arctic Fox Lover 3 years ago

Ehh, I think we have been able to get past our home planet already, bud--unless you mean that even outer space and all the stars and other planets out in space is still part of our little planet, just a different layer that seems to be much larger than our home layer of the planet in our ever-expanding universe that we live in a corner of.

3points

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#54

Basically heat exchange theory. That one day all of the heat we use in order to create energy will be expended and the universe will be stuck in a "heat lock"

ssjhook Report

Final score:

8points

POST

Quit yo jibba jabba 3 years ago

So all the Kinetic energy is used up and all that remains is potential? Isn't that essentially how the big bang happens?

5points

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#55

The theory that Carson Wentz and Prince Harry switched lives in 2019 and that's why Wentz sucks at football and Harry left the royal family

nalc Report

Final score:

4points

POST

Aragorn II Elessar 3 years ago

They look exactly the f*****g same though lol

10points

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Neringa is a proud writer at Bored Panda who used to study English and French linguistics. Although she has many different interests, she's particularly drawn to covering stories about pop culture as well as history. While not at the office, this Panda enjoys creepy movies, poetry, photography and learning how to play the piano.

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What do you think ?

POST

Blinding_Darkness 3 years ago

I love these but I need to know about the lizard people lol xoxox

14points

Vikram Bedi 3 years ago

Based on movie idiocracy... Uneducted/illiterate people generally produce multiple children quickly.. whereas smarter people spend too much time planning a future for an unborn child, that they either miss out or just have 1. So as the time would pass...the iq of the population as a collective would continue to decrease...till we are too idiotic to function.... so humans are basically going to f**k themselves into extinction...

10points

Zuko 3 years ago

Rick astley invented Rickrolling to make his song more popular.

5points

Zoey Cone 3 years ago

And another theory: Maybe when we dream as ourselves, we're just watching our every day life in another diminsion.

2points

The Harry Potter person 3 years ago

Not a theory, but cool. If there was twice as much oxegon in the atmosphere, everything would be twice as tall, and we would be twice as smart. Of course there would be drawbacks, but yeah. Flowers could even be the height of trees!

1point

Santa Claus 3 years ago

The scariest part of being transferred to a different dimension is the people you left behind. You may think you are with them, but at the same time they are not your friends or relatives. They are not people you know. You've known them for your whole life, yet you just met them seconds ago. And you will never know what the people in you dimension are doing, if they are grieving, or if they remember you at all. You will never know, and there is no way of finding out. Will you even know that you are somewhere you are not supposed to be?

1point

Harløw-Banditø 3 years ago

Josh Dun is a theory all by himself

1point

JessG 3 years ago

Oxygen is actually poisonous to humans, it just takes 70-100 years to fully work

1point

Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

I appreciate this article. This kind of stuff runs through my head constantly.

1point

OrangeChicken 3 years ago

I like this. Gives me something to chew on and think about. Also helps me out of the insane writers block I've been in for the past month. Please upload more stuff like this <3

1point

queer weebio 3 years ago

That one theory where when you flinch it's bc you got impacted in a different dimension/reality. The same for when you suddenly jerk awake from a dream of dying or falling or somrthing like that... just a peek at a different version of yourself.

1point

Grey Unicorn 3 years ago

Theory: after you die, you have the option of rebirth if you were a good person. There are actually stories that promote this theory, as well as the fact that’s it’s a part of some religiouns

0points

Lorelai Purvis 3 years ago (edited)

i have a theory: do you ever hear people you know calling out your name? i do, and i've started to think that it's people from another dimension calling for help... but since you don't know them they sound like people you do know... it's weird when i hear my mom call my name and then i go to her, but she never called me... and then once i was outside and i heard my friend call me, so i called back... she kept calling my name and i never heard anything else... but WHY? she lives a street away, like, it's only a few seconds to drive to her place, so i could have heard her, and she could have heard me, soooo...

0points

Giselle Soler Turner 3 years ago

And also right now someone or something can be watching you scroll through bored panda reading this

0points

Giselle Soler Turner 3 years ago (edited)

Something creepy is that what if you wake up and this life you think was yours was just a dream and your actually a 45 year old man with a son

0points

Cathelijne van Weelden 3 years ago

So anyone interested in what happens after death should read: consciousness beyond life from Pim can Lommelen. You're welcome ;)

0points

Lisbeth Guz 3 years ago

I loved these theories, especially the time/space ones.

0points

MustardLemon 3 years ago

I literally think about how I could be dying right now and just seeing my life flash before my eyes.

0points

Leah-rose Rodriguez 3 years ago

One I came up with is that Blue holes (massive water sinkholes) are something in earths core filtering air through them

0points

Chich 3 years ago

There is a hypothesis that the universe will go through a long cold, dark death. The time span for this to happen is so great that the whole of the "bright' period with stars and galaxies etc. is so brief as to be unmeasurable.

0points

Mimi777 3 years ago

I’ve always been fascinated about past lives and reading stories about young children who remember such unique details about who they used to be. It doesn’t make sense as to how they would know these things. Reincarnation is such an interesting concept.

0points

The Pansexual MELONLORD 3 years ago

We are not living, but slowly dying.

0points

Aragorn II Elessar 3 years ago

The thing about aliens is that we couldn’t communicate at all. Their language formation would be completely different, as would their experiences.

0points

Sasha Kuleshov 3 years ago

This was an interesting article, I love theoretical science :D

0points

Vikram Bedi 3 years ago

So many of these ideas and theories have already been converted into movies/series that they don’t seem creepy.

0points

🧈Beanie the Dog🧈 3 years ago

(I thought this story would go well with this post) So I had a friend, let’s call her Sandy. Sandy was nice but crazy weird. She always got very uncomfortable with the discussion of things like this and if there really is other intelligent life out there, and if it’s already on our planet. She always had to change the subject and when I asked her why she changed it she said she didn’t know what I was talking about. One day Sandy just disappeared from earth. I called her, she didn’t answer. I went to her house, no answer. I was worried about Sandy so I asked her neighbors if anything was wrong. They said the last they had seen of Sandy was her rushing to get to her car with no suitcases, no nothing. No one has seen Sandy since. I even asked her family and Boyfriend, they had said they knew nothing of her. Sandy’s mom said last time she saw her, she was completely normal. My theory is that Sandy wasn’t human...

0points

Among Us Panda 3 years ago

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Among Us Panda 3 years ago

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POST

Blinding_Darkness 3 years ago

I love these but I need to know about the lizard people lol xoxox

14points

Vikram Bedi 3 years ago

10points

Zuko 3 years ago

Rick astley invented Rickrolling to make his song more popular.

5points

Zoey Cone 3 years ago

And another theory: Maybe when we dream as ourselves, we're just watching our every day life in another diminsion.

2points

The Harry Potter person 3 years ago

1point

Santa Claus 3 years ago

1point

Harløw-Banditø 3 years ago

Josh Dun is a theory all by himself

1point

JessG 3 years ago

Oxygen is actually poisonous to humans, it just takes 70-100 years to fully work

1point

Phunny Philosopher 3 years ago

I appreciate this article. This kind of stuff runs through my head constantly.

1point

OrangeChicken 3 years ago

I like this. Gives me something to chew on and think about. Also helps me out of the insane writers block I've been in for the past month. Please upload more stuff like this <3

1point

queer weebio 3 years ago

1point

Grey Unicorn 3 years ago

Theory: after you die, you have the option of rebirth if you were a good person. There are actually stories that promote this theory, as well as the fact that’s it’s a part of some religiouns

0points

Lorelai Purvis 3 years ago (edited)

0points

Giselle Soler Turner 3 years ago

And also right now someone or something can be watching you scroll through bored panda reading this

0points

Giselle Soler Turner 3 years ago (edited)

Something creepy is that what if you wake up and this life you think was yours was just a dream and your actually a 45 year old man with a son

0points

Cathelijne van Weelden 3 years ago

So anyone interested in what happens after death should read: consciousness beyond life from Pim can Lommelen. You're welcome ;)

0points

Lisbeth Guz 3 years ago

I loved these theories, especially the time/space ones.

0points

MustardLemon 3 years ago

I literally think about how I could be dying right now and just seeing my life flash before my eyes.

0points

Leah-rose Rodriguez 3 years ago

One I came up with is that Blue holes (massive water sinkholes) are something in earths core filtering air through them

0points

Chich 3 years ago

0points

Mimi777 3 years ago

0points

The Pansexual MELONLORD 3 years ago

We are not living, but slowly dying.

0points

Aragorn II Elessar 3 years ago

The thing about aliens is that we couldn’t communicate at all. Their language formation would be completely different, as would their experiences.

0points

Sasha Kuleshov 3 years ago

This was an interesting article, I love theoretical science :D

0points

Vikram Bedi 3 years ago

So many of these ideas and theories have already been converted into movies/series that they don’t seem creepy.

0points

🧈Beanie the Dog🧈 3 years ago

0points

Among Us Panda 3 years ago

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Among Us Panda 3 years ago

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