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30 Frightening Scientific Facts That Folks In This Online Group Had The Misfortune To Learn
The great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once sagely remarked that "if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Damn rightly noticed, especially when you consider that for several millennia of its existence, humanity has been actively gazing into the abyss and highlighting itself first with a candle, and then with a flashlight. We call this process science.
And you know what? There are scientific theories that, from one awareness of them, from one thought, send goosebumps running down the skin and make us feel sick. And in this viral thread you can meet netizens opening up about the creepiest pieces of science they've ever known.
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#1
The theory of MAD, or mutually assured destruction.
It's a great theory for helping me sleep at night, but uh... It kinda only works if everyone involved is always rational at all times, and never feels they have nothing to lose.
Thankfully no human ever acts irrationally.
And certainly if they did, we'd never let them keep control of nuclear weapons!
That'd be insane.
Ha ha. Really insane.
Like, "insane" is honestly putin it mildly.
Sinister Murder 2 years ago
There still might be someone who can Trump that
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Peter Trudell Jr 2 years ago
Gen Xer here. Grew up with MAD over my head in the 80s... these last few years have been comforting. I'm no longer afraid that it'll all go ti-tsup and we'll all die... I've accepted that fact for over 40 years.
Tetelestai 2 years ago
I remember my English teacher talking about always being afraid of getting nuked, and how everyone else was like, “dude, is it happening today?!” I think… she bought a bunker thing and was planning on furnishing it, after the pandemic (COVID) and kinda just wanted to use it for fun. That’s how the bombing came up
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MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Also a great topic for many great Megadeth songs. "Talk of Mutually Assured Destruction? Nice story..."
RELATED:
#2
Just being alive is the most f*****g bizarre thing in the world.
Majungasaurus 2 years ago
Being alive AND being as conscious as we are and able to ponder our own lives and eventually deaths and whether or not anything has any meaning….such a mind frunk
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IDidntChooseReality 2 years ago (edited)
Hear me out: if we're alive, maybe there's something MORE alive out there.....
Tetelestai 2 years ago (edited)
Probably. If we can’t reach them, and they can’t reach us, there could definitely be a couple other earths or so out in the universe. Or maybe alternate? I don’t know about all those theories and whatnot, so I don’t know if that’s a thing when it’s in the same universe. However, personally for me, any such thing as aliens would be attributed to demons. Nothing this close to us to mess with our people would choose to NOT communicate. That’s just petty and childish. And I’m pretty sure demons are really petty troublemakers
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Thomas Ewing 2 years ago
We are both walking miracles and survivors. Each and every one of us.
FreeDragon 2 years ago
Seems we are working on that though. Just give us some time.
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Jeremy James 2 years ago (edited)
Right!? Nothingness and emptiness would make more sense, but this is absurd! I got tangled up in all these nerves and tubes and a bag of skin. And now I'm on a rock-ball orbiting a nuclear furnace and I have to eat vegetables and I'm going to die? It's weird!
WiggleJiggle the Emo Penguin 2 years ago
Fr! The chances of not being an animal are extremely low. The chances of being born at all are even lower!
Tetelestai 2 years ago
Ah, but it might not be that low considering you wouldn’t think about not being born, because you haven’t been born. There aren’t any stakes to not being born because the person who is to be born, if they aren’t even created, has nothing to miss on account of no consciousness. One second, nothing. The next, oop I’m born and lets fast forward a few years where I’m actually aware of everything, then let’s fast forward more to about age 10 when I’m REALLY aware. Does anyone else feel like the toddler/baby years were a blur of faces smiling at you or flashes of memories?
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Queen Jackson. 2 years ago
I sit there sometimes and think…..I’m alive..like I’m actually conscious…like I can actually….and it’s hard to find a word that can really explain it
Isaac Harvey 2 years ago
No evidence proves that atoms are sentient; why are we? Or is this all a simulation? Am I supposed to believe I'm not existing in a Truman Show-style world?
#3
Death. Just death. Blows my mind that one day we just cease to exist and people just go on with their life as if we were never there.
LizzieBoredom 2 years ago
Life: Electrical charge across a cell membrane. Death: You didn't come with extra batteries.
A Wild Bean 2 years ago
Well I just shoved batteries into my ears, so I guess I'm immortal now (this is a joke, please no one do this)
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Susan Atkinson 2 years ago
I go on everyday for him. Wake up and take the breath denied to him, or my feet on the floor and just do what I know he'd want me to do. Live. Without him.
Alex 2 years ago
I take comfort in that no matter how bad I f**k up, A few decades after I die nobody will think about how bad I F**ked up
Jeremy Klaxon 2 years ago
If it's of any comfort, even today nobody cares
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Mark Harris 2 years ago
The loudest sound i ever heard was the thundering click on my wife's casket when i closed it.
not your average weirdo 2 years ago
Our bodies run on energy. Energy can’t be created or destroyed. So where does our energy go when we die? Does it get passed on to somebody else?
The Darkest Timeline 2 years ago
Our bodies decompose as they are consumed by other organisms for their own energy. Someday, all of that energy will be returned to the cosmos from whence it came.
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Roan The Demon Kitty 2 years ago
I get that we all die, but what I can't begin to understand and what I constantly wonder - what is it like to just stop existing?
Robert Trebor 2 years ago
...people just go on with their life as if we were never there. They do that now.
Noname 2 years ago
Actually, you do make a difference to everyone, you are more important than you realize
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Zoltán Varga 2 years ago
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred? (Richard Dawkins - Unweaving the rainbow: Science, delusion and the appetite for wonder)
Azolane 2 years ago
My dad always says dying is so frustrating, because life is basically like being an extra in a movie, except you don't know what it is about and you don't get to see how it ends either.
Noname 2 years ago
That's a very cool description. Life is a play and we are all actors-- and, to quote Dickens here-- "“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show”. Not all héros wear capes.
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Breeezy78 2 years ago
I was dead for millions of years before I was born, and it never bothered me then
Noname 2 years ago
You were never dead, only unrealised into physical form
Load More Replies...Some people think that being afraid of science is basically weird, because it is thanks to science that we got to where we are, and modernity is not only about climate change, nuclear weapons and TikTok. It is also cutting-edge medicine, an opportunity to get to another continent in just a couple of hours, communication with people on the other side of the globe... But anyway, just seriously think about some scientific facts - and it really sends shivers down our spines.
#4
Alzheimer's/Dementia - anything where you lose your memory or become a burden to your family
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
Yep. My dad sustained a catastrophic brain injury in 2000. He was bedridden in diapers for the next 21 years (he died in 2021.) I hoped every day that his brain injury had been “bad enough” so that he wasn’t aware of how badly he was effed up :( I can’t imagine how horrible it would have been for him if he DID have his full awareness… trapped in a bed, unable to move, in diapers, with a feeding tube installed, unable to eat normally, unable to talk, unable to communicate.. :(
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MacintoshID 2 years ago
It's horrible. Just went thru this with late hubby. All you can do is cry and hope they are not suffering too much in the chaos that is taking over that person you love. He had early on-set. I miss him all the time.
Tamra 2 years ago
I'm very sorry. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been.
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Anthony Nizza 2 years ago
I'm going to turn 53 in June and I'm pretty sure I have the beginning of dementia.
tee-lena 2 years ago
47.i have something called fibro fog. My brain is swiss cheese. It sucks and is terrifying to watch yourself disappear.im sorry youre going thru this
Load More Replies... Aaron Parker 2 years ago
The most CRUEL disease. Whether it was God, fate, chance.....it's an EXTREMELY cruel disease speaking from somebody who cares for an Alzheimers patient
Mario Strada 2 years ago
My wife has been diagnosed with pre-Alzheimer. She is OK so far, very forgetful and often we have conversations she completely forgets. It's very disconcerting and freaks me out. But I'll be there for her. I'll be her memory for as long as she needs me to.
Demongrrrrl 2 years ago
If I ever develop Alzheimer's, I'm going to buy a gun and unalive myself.
Carla Campbell 2 years ago
My beautiful mother died from Alzheimer's 3 years ago. Horrific disease. Also scares the s**t out of me because I can't remember a lot of things.
SlothyK8 2 years ago
Mine, too. But I have a plan in place that involves a very large goodbye party. I'm not putting my loved ones through that. Nope.
Load More Replies... MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Watching my grandmother die from Alzheimers has really been one of the most traumatic experiences in my life. Nothing prepares you for seeing that happen to someone that cared and loved you so much. To anyone dealing with it currently, stay strong and find and enjoy the beauty in the chaos.
#5
Quite a common one, but space is SO BIG. Like, bigger than the amount that we can observe. Gives me the chills.
Cosmologist wannabe 2 years ago
no, we're just really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really small.
ChickyChicky 2 years ago
Sometimes I wonder if we are like bacteria in the gut of some giant organism.
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Phred 2 years ago
“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
jon gilbertson 2 years ago
I'll contemplate that over a Pan Galactic Garggle Blaster. let me get my towel first.
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that 𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕠 planet 2 years ago
and there are some quantum particles that don't even live to billionths of a second as well. it's crazy.
Load More Replies... Rtblast66 2 years ago
When the Andromeda galaxy smashes into the Milky Way in 4.5 billion years, it's unlikely no stars will collide, space is BIG space. I love astronomy :)
jon gilbertson 2 years ago
I've seen those computer simulations. crazy stuff. hard for humanity to really get those distances, let alone the time scales
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LadyJaye(she/they) 2 years ago (edited)
When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side Of the road, turn out the lights, get out and look up at the sky And I do this to remind me that I'm really, really tiny In the grand scheme of things and sometimes this terrifies me But it's only really scary cause it makes me feel serene In a way I never thought I'd be because I've never been So grounded, and so humbled, and so one with everything I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything "i like giants" By kimya dawson
ace pirates 4 the win 2 years ago
Kinda unrelated but I just went to delicate arch and got a t shirt with this exact picture on it
Jerry Eggleston 2 years ago
"bigger than the amount that we can observe". I say bigger than the amount we can comprehend.
#6
I suppose that at any moment you can have an aneurysm and bam you're dead and there's not much you can really do to prevent it or even predict it
PeepPeep the duck 2 years ago
I met a girl (about 40yrs old) in Perth years ago, I was a person hired to take her out on fun adventures, although she just preferred the library and movies. Found out when I met her mum, she was a promising academic student and at 19 just had an aneurysm and needed special care ever since. made me think differently about them.
ace pirates 4 the win 2 years ago
But tbh if I had to pick a way to die this sounds pretty painless
Redheaded1 2 years ago
Father passed away from an aortic aneurysm at 43. Autopsy because of age at death. Spoke with the coroner and he said that when it's his time, going in his sleep would be preferred choice. Aneurysm second. Weird thing to hear someone say but did give me some peace.
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Joe Average 2 years ago
Someone I knew went that way. I was there. Bam and they were gone on seconds. Not a bad way to go compared to the possibilities.
Load More Replies... Michelle C 2 years ago
If I remember correctly, there’s only a 3% chance of survival if you have a brain aneurysm that bursts….
RandomHumanBean 2 years ago
honestly, i think that that is a better way to die than most. you just drop dead. you don't go through years of pain or anything like that. there are much worse ways to die
Saint Tim the Godless 2 years ago
Ha! Similar thing: I just had a blood clot hit my eye this week. Early 40s, no health problems? Doesn't matter. Nearly blind.
Haley 2 years ago
My aunt passed away from an aneurysm recently. She lived for maybe twelve days, in a coma. I am glad that the aneurysm got to her before her cancer did, because that would have been a lot worse. She died peacefully
Michelle C 2 years ago
💔 I’m very sorry to hear of your loss and will be praying for you and your family as you grieve.
Load More Replies...What else is the problem - for many people, science has replaced religion, and the principles there are just completely different. "My answer was the usual, ‘science is not a belief system’ followed by a deeper explanation. The conversation circled around to faith. I shared that I saw no inherent conflict between my faith and science," Dr. Marshall Shepherd, a leading international expert in weather and climate, writes in his column on Forbes.
"Many students (and parents) also suffer from 'science anxiety.' I am always concerned when I hear a parent say, 'I am not a science person nor is my kid.' Such statements train the child to succumb to parental insecurities or biases while setting up a self-fulfilling prophecy," Dr. Shepherd also notes, and it's actually hard to disagree with him.
#7
Antimicrobial resistance. What's really crazy is, we owe our modern prosperity (especially in the US) to antibiotics. Each particular antibiotic only works for a short period of time, before pathogenic bacteria becomes resistant to it. We've been though numerous different antibiotics since the discovery of penicillin, and pathogenic bacteria have become resistant to almost all of them. We're running out of antibiotics that are still effective. About 4 or 5 years ago, I learned that there were babies born in India who had infections that were resistant to all known types of antibiotics. There's a good chance that in our lifetimes, we'll see people dying from common infections due to the lack of effective drugs to treat them.
Lindilou 2 years ago
I am a nurse in UK and there are bacterial infections that was resistant to all known antibiotics. Antibiotic resistant infections are not just in India, but you just do not hear about them. Also, people need to stop asking for antibiotics for colds and the flu. They do not work!!!
Thee8thsense 2 years ago
It is also problematic when people do not finish a prescribed amount of antibiotics, causing mutations which are resistant. If you think of the as antibiotic chipping away at the bacteria until it weakens/kills it's ability to replicate, and you realize that this is only achieved by a certain length of course of antibiotics, then you would see the importance of continuing the whole prescribed amount until it is finished. Otherwise, when the chipping gets abruptly stopped, this allows the bacteria to morph out of it's damaged state into something stronger and more resistant to the drugs we have.
MacintoshID 2 years ago
My mother worked in a hospital lab in bacteriology and predicted this back in the late 60s that antibiotics were being used why too much for common colds and other viruses and this is when steph infections were a huge problem for every hospital. She saw way too many people suffer from over use of the antibiotics in use at that time.
Vermonta 2 years ago
It was profitable. In the USA, pharma and insurance companies have stock holders that want to get rich. Stockholders have more protection than the insured.
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Powerful Katrinka 2 years ago
The same thing is happening with anti-fungal medications. There are multiple fungus infections that can kill you, and we're running out of drugs to treat them. The culprit? Once again, Big Agriculture.
Julia Ford 2 years ago
Big Ag is truly the root of all the world’s problems- resistance to antibiotics, climate change, water overuse, degradation of land/soil.. But it is rarely talked about.
Load More Replies... Peter Trudell Jr 2 years ago
The biggest problem is that there's no money to be made by creating new antibiotics, so pharma companies don't research them. Welcome to late-stage capitalism.
Carrie Smith 2 years ago
I've had persistent MRSA in my sinuses for the past two years. I've had three PICC lines and 3 surgeries. It's been heaps of fun (sarcasm).
Mr. Toast 2 years ago
Remember years ago people celebrated a child's first birthday because infant mortality was a given. Remove our modern society we just part of nature. We can combat to certain extent but like us combating bacteria, bacteria can also grow to be immune. The more we also become a clean society the more vulnerable we become. My childhood was playing out and being on the mud. You got exposed to stuff. Nowadays we just seem to clean
Lady Z Azrael 2 years ago
As someone who has acquired MRSA from 3 different sites in my body (so now I'm a carrier and it could rear up again anytime), this especially rings true.
#8
Any AI smart enough to pass the Turing test, is smart enough to know to fail it
Mathieu Brouwers 2 years ago
That´s right. But 99% of all people just pull together information. (And they are in charge.)
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Max Fox 2 years ago
That is because the Turing test was not the correct test. You can always stump an AI by asking them a question for which it needs to ask you questions for clarification. It will, invariably, fail to ask anything that is not directly related to your query or embedded in it. In general, AIs suck at formulating questions.
CHRIS DOMRES 2 years ago
Maybe programmed intelligence will end up being better than human intelligence in the long run. It will not be clouded by emotions. Unfortunately it will be polluted with the prejudices of the programmers and the data that is fed into it. And be used as a tool by the rich and powerful to manipulate the masses.
Jared Robinson 2 years ago
An AI taught to play a game won 99% of the time against people, and then programmers found an exploit that showed the AI didn't actually understand the core concept of the game and they were then able to bet the AI 95% of the time. Just because it could beat the game doesn't mean it understood it.
#9
The Carrington Event. In 1859 the sun spewed a huge amount of highly-charged plasma that brushed against the Earth's magnetosphere and caused every electronic device on Earth to receive a huge electric shock. At the time, "every electronic device on Earth" consisted of a few telegraph machines. Some simply ran even while disconnected from their power supply for a while, some melted.
If an event like this were to happen today (we're overdue for one), it would pretty much destroy every single electronic device, including all of the infrastructure used to generate and distribute electricity.
There would be widespread blackouts everywhere, and no way to contact anyone to call for help or find out what state the rest of the world is in. And no way to fix it other than re-creating centuries worth of scientific advancements by hand.
that 𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕠 planet 2 years ago
It's insane just how many close calls have occurred in things like this. How the hell are we still alive?
Rachel Ainsworth 2 years ago
We would see the solar flare before the coronal mass ejection arrived (the most damaging part). Depends on how fast it goes but there will definitely be advance knowledge of up to 24 hours. Planes could be grounded and electronics could be unplugged and shielded. I suspect a large minority of people would disbelieve the government and take no action.
Sue User 2 years ago
Could I do without tv and phone, yes. Coukd i do without stove or heater, i can manage. But what would screw us all is food storage. Sure i could butcher a cow but how am i going to store alll that meat? And oeople in cities will starve. They cant grow enough food to eat and food prices will become astronomical so they couldnt afford it.
EarthGrowl 2 years ago
This is why you always keep about a months supply of canned goods and dry rice or beans on hand and bottled water. If everyone did this civilization could holdout long enough for some of the power grid to be restored. But the world population would take a massive hit in that first month.
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Pink Princess 2 years ago
That’s freaking me out. It would be fine if it just turned off for a couple of days and then it turned back on but the fact that we would just lose all our technological advancements just like that is scary
Svelk929 2 years ago
I think it knocked out Quebec’s power grid for about a week, but other than that it didn’t have much effect
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that 𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕠 planet 2 years ago
The problem isn't social media, it's the people who use it.
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Linda R 2 years ago
I'm pretty sure it will knock out electronics in vehicles, too. Just like the EMP would from a nuclear blast. Scary stuff!
Joe Average 2 years ago
Good reason to keep a vintage vehicle and/or bicycle around.
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The Darkest Timeline 2 years ago
Trust me, it won’t work out the way you think it will.
Load More Replies...But be that as it may, it used to be somehow easier in the good old days, wasn't it? To live, firmly knowing that above us is a solid sky with stars evenly nailed to it, through which the sun runs with the punctuality of a mail train. Live confident that if you strictly follow the rules specified in the holy books, you will definitely go to heaven... Live without thinking about how this world really works, and what awaits us when we cross that fine line... Science helps us replace faith with knowledge, but sometimes that knowledge is scary as hell.
#10
People in large groups become really bad at making decisions, planning, and making accurate judgements.
It doesn’t matter if the group is made of genuinely intelligent people, the above is always true.
LizzieBoredom 2 years ago (edited)
Do you know what will bring about the fall of the American Empire? Team Building Exercises.
Snake Queen 2 years ago
I HATE team building exercises and group projects
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Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
The IQ of a group is never greater than the IQ of its stupidest member.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago
I'd say it is. I'd also say the group IQ is dependent on how vocal and domineering the lower IQ members are. Someone who is stupid but just watches quietly doesn't affect the "average" as much as the stupid person who is convinced they're right and *has* to be the leader.
Load More Replies... Max(pronouns/whatever/hamster) 2 years ago
The highest yelling, controls the group. Not the quiet thinking one
Joeshar 2 years ago (edited)
there's something called "Apollo Syndrome" in 50s during space race against Soviets. You may know "Apollo" is the name given to all moon missions. Americans has created a team of intelligent people with high degrees such as head-engineers, professors etc; but the team couldn't work well. They could not come up a proper plan but mostly concentrated on discussions, arguments, leadership problems. They have figured out that the team should have talented people but from different levels: such as technicians, mid-engineers or even basic workers for simple jobs.
VikingAbroad 2 years ago
"The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it."
Jane Hower 2 years ago
Congress is a great example of that. Remember the difference between PRO and CON?? There is PROgress and then there is CONgress!! hehe
#11
The brain is so complex that we can't understand it fully, ergo the brain is so complex that it doesn't understand itself. Ponder that for a moment.
Mr.G86 2 years ago
I think we can all agree we don't know wtf we are let alone why we're even here in the 1st place.
Tetelestai 2 years ago
I mean… i don’t agree. Sorry lol. I just think that… hmm… God clearly revealed Himself, but we’d rather ignore Him in search of our own, seemingly more plausible answers. Of course, for you that just seems like my opinion, so you feel free to disagree. I don’t feel like getting into another debate or discussion on whether the Bible is real. Even if it were fabricated, there’s definitely a all powerful being who made us. There are people who’ve shared stories, trustworthy people, and they have stories where an outside-of-the-box force was present
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The Original Bruno 2 years ago
My cats are so complex they doesn't understand themselves. They're not that smart. Right now, Eddie is confused by lint.
#12
That since 9/11 more soldiers [take their own lives] than die in war.
Jeremy Klaxon 2 years ago
You mean commit suicide? (I'm sure this will be automatically censored, what a circus this is)
Androgyny Lunacy 2 years ago
It is ridiculous now .. Why censor that? It is a bad idea. It isn't gonna stop anyone from doing it. It is just gonna make them feel like they have to hide their suicidal thoughts.. I think.
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Niall Mac Iomera 2 years ago
...you censored "suicide" but not "die" Hell, I'm amazed you didn't change "soldier" to "armed conflict resolution agent" at this point.
Nikki D 2 years ago
Is it just me or is suicide so common now? I'm 34 and have had 9 very personal friends take their lives. My dad is 75 and knows of one. It really is an epidemic.
Aisling Raye 2 years ago
You're not wrong. There has been a significant rise in suicide amongst all groups, not just veterans. The statistics are scary if you start looking into the numbers. As of April of last year I've lost 5 friends to suicide. None of them were veterans. I've become very paranoid (isn't the really the right word but it'll do) when I haven't heard from people I regularly talk to. It triggers that bit of my brain that automatically goes to "oh sh!t i really hope they're alive" and I have to talk myself down from going full weirdo to remind myself that not everyone is dead if I haven't talked to them in a month. I've been right far too many times though.
Load More Replies... Erin Ward 2 years ago
As a veteran I can say from experience the VA needs more funds and some serious overhaul. There are a lot of soldiers out there who need help they aren't getting. There a lot of programs and benefits we don't know about and have to go digging for to find. Also it can be extremely difficult to get help from the VA if you don't know the hoops to jump through
Joe Average 2 years ago
Yeah, gotta love a govt that wages war but won't take care of it's veterans.
Load More Replies... However, another fundamental difference between knowledge and faith is that knowledge is not absolute, and what was previously considered an immutable scientific truth may well be refuted tomorrow. After all, as Omar Khayyam once wrote, “Strange, is it not that of the myriads who before us pass'd the door of darkness through, not one returns to tell us of the road, which to discover we must travel too.” So now just read and scroll this list to its very end - and add your own scary scientific facts in case you have some, as we're sure you do.
#13
Atoms are 99.99% empty space. The nature of all seemingly solid matter is an illusion.
Cosmologist wannabe 2 years ago
actually it is just the pauli exclusion principle and some simple quantum mechanics that makes things 'solid'. nothing too complicated, until you thing about.
Richard Morgan 2 years ago
This has just won my Oxymoron of the Year award: "simple quantum mechanics" Thank you for that, Cosmologist wannabe.
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Nick Triantafyllidis 2 years ago
This is very wrong. It’s an old oversimplification that has been disputed by modern quantum mechanics. It all stems from the notion that an electron is a small ball orbiting a path but this is not accurate at all.
Barbara Baldwin 2 years ago
If you removed all the spaces between the molecules of the Empire state building, it only be about as big as a baseball but would still weigh as much as it did before
Pablo Ramos 2 years ago
It's not an illusion. That empty space is full of energy that won't let anything pass through
Jared Robinson 2 years ago
or that empty space is an illusion and we just can't perceive what's there.
#14
naegleria fowleri (brain eating amoeba) has a 97% fatality rate and it’s immune to most antibiotics
Barong 2 years ago
Check out prions. It’s simply an mis-folded protein that can unfortunately transmit its shape to other proteins causing them to mis-fold as well. There is no cure and the contagious protein must be destroyed using acids or by burning to prevent its spread. Spongiform encephalitis, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, fun stuff.
bennu 2 years ago
It's extremely rare so you don't have to worry about it. Think there's been like 50 cases in the us in the past decade.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago (edited)
You don't deserve a downvote for that. It's averaging about 5 cases a year in the US. So that figure is about right. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/general.html
Load More Replies... Lady Z Azrael 2 years ago
Texas and the Oklahoma area have it. A little girl died in San Antonio just last fall.
idk what my name is 2 years ago
we just learned this in school and needless to day we are worried
#15
There have already been five mass extinction level events
John Topper 2 years ago
A few people have said it, but a sixth is happening right now. It's not "going to happen", we are literally living through it. Species of every kingdom are going extinct faster than we can capture them to preserve them. It's wild and terrifying.
Rachel Ainsworth 2 years ago
Don't worry, if we kill all the bees we'll die of starvation long before we get to collapse of the ecosystem.
Load More Replies... Noname 2 years ago
I don't care if I get downvoted-- I really enjoy the documentaries featuring Graham Hancock, who proposes that humans have a collective amnesia about our history as there are so many archeological findings that are beyond our knowledge but are within our documented accounts of history. I also enjoy the "Ancient Aliens" series because everyone is thinking outside the box of accepted archeology/anthropology theories and proposing theories that are just as plausible as what physicists and astronomers suggest. I'm annoyed that the theories, unproven, by physicists are given more credibility than the theories proposed by archeologists and anthropologists, as if the math on paper is more plausible than the physical evidence presented.
Stephanie A Mutti 2 years ago
And sharks have survived most of them. Pretty amazing. For sharks anyway.
#16
the fact that we will never ever be able to know everything. like theres a limit to what we can know and theres so much out there that will we just never discover.
another one that scares me is that we are all alone on this floating rock. i doubt we are the only intelligent life in this universe but its possible that we are in a sense and that it self scares me so much.
Sonja 2 years ago
I personally find this soothing. The idea that this is it, that's it, that's what would scare me. As long as there are things we don't know but that could still be discovered there's still hope. Maybe tomorrow someone discovers the secret to make everything better, or, and I know that's hard to accept, something surfaces that wipes us all out and ends all suffering. Either way, as long as there's something left we don't know, there's a possibility that suffering ends
Fantastic Mr Fox 2 years ago
Do you think there are things humans are unable to understand? Like an ant don’t even know we are here. Like a dog doesn’t understand what the earth is or what a president is. Like most animals don’t understand they exist, they think a mirror image is another animal. Is it so intelligent beings exist but we are not even able to understand they are here.
Lotekguy 2 years ago
If we're the best and brightest in the universe, it's really lame support for any Intelligent Design theories. I prefer to believe we're like one of those species that aren't advanced enough for Star Fleet to tell about The Federation, but they're still hopeful for us getting there.
Colleen Glim 2 years ago
Reasons why I don’t believe in god. Like really?! Is this the best you can do?!
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jdtimid123 2 years ago
I was thinking about this today. On the one hand, the universe is very big for us to be the only planet that has sentient life (or life in general) on the other hand, the odds that everything went just right to create sentient life on Earth are so impossible, that it makes the odds that it happened twice seem (to me) almost unimaginable.
EarthGrowl 2 years ago
It's a pity that our concept of the Afterlife is so weighted down with bigotry, selfishness and hateful dogma. Humans have only started to discover Universal Truths that are free from mythology and superstition. Its a harmless belief If someone believed in an afterlife that allows a person to continue learning about the mysteries of the Universe from a perspective slightly more elevated than a lowly human.
Joe Average 2 years ago
I figure we love in the galactic equivalent of the boonies... Or at least I hope so. We surely aren't ready for visitors yet.
Saint Tim the Godless 2 years ago
Here's what I've realized: not everything is worth knowing. And you'd be even less happy.
#17
That humanity has changed so drastically in the last 100 years that it scares me how different life will be in even 50 years from now
Lyone Fein 2 years ago
I don't think humanity has changed at all. In all of history. We mostly still want the same things as people did in the earliest recorded texts: enough food, shelter from the weather, loving companionship, to feel that we have some semblance of stability and control in life. And we pretty much still fear the same things: death, pain, not knowing what the future holds, loneliness. I think the only differences are the gagets we use.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago
I was going to say something similar. Until we reach a point where we're literally modifying the human genome at will I don't think basic human instincts will change. Once we start tinkering with what a human actually is, changing the way the brain works, creating new senses, that's when the future becomes scary, since the resulting beings won't really be human.
Load More Replies... Max Fox 2 years ago
After having had a conscious life for more than 50 years, you'd be surprised how little has changed in many ways.
Temporary Dork 2 years ago
But when we were at the fascinated-by-dinosaurs age, they were still extinct!
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Ian Harac 2 years ago
It’s far scarier that humanity hasn’t changed *at all* in the last 50,000 years. We have better tools, but identical brains.
MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Human brains have actually gotten smaller by volume since the last ice age, 45-50k yo. We now use more of our brain while actually having less brain. Some people have and use less brain than others. We have better tools because we have different brains. Maybe Google the basics of human evolution before commenting?
Load More Replies... MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Any bets that humanity will survive another 50 years? Come on Giant Meteor. Living in Montana, Yellowstone blowing would be fun for a few minutes.
Lady Vader 2 years ago
Well everyone will have lost all neck muscles and not be able to look up or straight ahead for a start!
EarthGrowl 2 years ago
It took humanity 200,000 years to reach a global population of approximately 1 billion in 1900. It only took 123 years to grow from 1 billion to 8 billion. We have never been closer to extinction.
Lorraine R 2 years ago
This is (probably) due almost entirely to advances in medicine like antibiotics and vaccinations. These things that seemed so beneficial have led to unforeseen negative consequences, just like the invention of the automobile. What people wanted at the end of the 19th century was a vehicle that would replace horses, preventing the deposit of thousands of tons of manure on city streets every day. Could anyone then have predicted that all the exhaust from those vehicles would contribute hugely to a possibly catastrophic change in Earth's climate? And if they did, would anyone have believed them?
Load More Replies... Tushar Roy Mukherjee 2 years ago
I live in India, and when I was like 5 years old, my parents, friends,etc. were just getting access to stuff that the US were just stopping the usage of ( say something that the US had last used an item en masse in the 90s. We were just getting access to said item. I learnt this through the nostalgia posts on BP. ) . Now, we are, if not at par, behind by just 2-3 years.
#18
There are between 6-10 nuclear missiles that are missing.
No sovereign nation has a clue where they are, or who has control of them.
Donkey boi 2 years ago
Ha ha ha ha ha... "6-10"... ha! That made me laugh. It's that many just for the US! There is over 30 reported 'unrecovered nuclear incidents' and some of those involve multiple nukes, then there are the 'reported incidents' where the nuke was deemed neutralised, but considered unrecoverable. Then there's the 'detonated without triggering an nuclear explosion' (AKA close calls). Then of course there are the ones they don't tell us about.
The Original Bruno 2 years ago
Well, we know where they are in general, but that doesn't exclude very much. They are on the floor of the ocean.
#19
Your brain recalls memories when you die but your brain also recalles memories wrong so you're basically lying to yourself right before you die
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Memory is like a game of telephone. When you recall a memory, you're actually recalling the last time you recalled that memory, not the memory itself. If you get one detail wrong during the first recall, the error becomes a part of what you remember as real.
Max Fox 2 years ago
Not only when you die, but throughout your life. You remember things that never happened, as well as remembering things wrong.
Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
Look up a psychological experiment on flash memory involving what people remember they were doing when they first heard about the Challenger explosion
Load More Replies... Glengoolie Blue 2 years ago
Who cares anyway? You won't have time to make any mistakes based upon the incorrect memories.
Lyone Fein 2 years ago
Your brain might recall some things incorrectly. That doesn't mean it always does in all circumstances. Sometimes you remember things accurately (thus being able to do well on exams, for example). So the conclusion reached by the poster is not necessarily the case.
Androgyny Lunacy 2 years ago
Eh i don't feel disturbed by this one. I've had anxiety my entire life. I'm hoping to go out without the conscious knowledge that I am dead.
Donkey boi 2 years ago
I've clinically died twice, and I never saw that whole 'life flash before my eyes' or any of that shite, both experiences were directly related to incident that got me there. One endlessly painful, the other, a bit of pain before empty peace.
#20
We’re either alone in this universe or we’re not
RandomHumanBean 2 years ago
While i dont believe that there ARE "aliens," i think that there is probably some life out there somewhere. given the size of the universe, it would be highly unlikely that there is only one tiny dot of life.
MacintoshID 2 years ago
I suspect we will find "life" soon with the new tools being used and so many brilliant minds searching for that sign in every corner of the universe. Big question is how are we going to handle this new information as a global community? Heck we are still fighting over stupid things that people say to each other.
Vermonta 2 years ago
Some of the other planets used to be more habitable. Maybe we're the last one.
Load More Replies... The Original Bruno 2 years ago
Or.... a stranger, far more likely answer: there's other life in the universe, but it's outside the cone of light from the Earth, so we could travel for eternity, and never reach it.
Thomas Ewing 2 years ago
God says we're not. Good enough for me. Looking forward to the next life!
#21
The fact that we've only searched a little bit of the whole ocean.
I wouldn't even get wet from the sea on the surface, I don't wanna see whatever the f**k's down there
MontanaMariner 2 years ago
I spent 10+ years commercial fishing around Alaska, I can confirm you DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S DOWN THERE! So many terrible ways for the ocean to kill you. She gives zero f***s!
Deborah Rubin 2 years ago
We know more about our solar system than the depths. It will be wonderous to learn about this!
Tetelestai 2 years ago
Yeah, but space is also big. If we know a lot about our solar system, just one of many many many many many others, then we also only know a little bit about our Galaxy. We know more about the ocean than we do the Galaxy/universe we are in
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MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Not true, just around Alaska alone are several 40x40mile areas that the US military has used for dumping that will never be charted due to the risk of running equipment through the area.
Load More Replies... #22
When you look up at the sky you aren't really looking up. Gravity keeps ypu grounded, and you're really staring down into an infinite fall
Dan Holden 2 years ago
This one makes no sense. Are you saying if it wasn't for gravity we would "fall" upwards? Falling and the concept of up and down only make sense if there's gravity, otherwise these concepts are meaningless.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
I agree. 'Down' is always the direction of the gravitational pull and 'up' is against the gravitational pull. If we take away gravity entirely, 'up' and 'down' become meaningless. There's only 'toward me' and 'away from me' without gravity.
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Vermonta 2 years ago
I do know that if I look up too long I feel like I'm falling. One time in London I was with friends walking and talking after we got off the tube. I was watching the train run parallel to me in the opposite direction. All of the sudden I feel grabbed on both arms. My friends said I was walking straight into the train. I had no idea.
Frank Miller 2 years ago
This person has confused orbiting with standing on the ground. In orbit you are constantly falling towards the Earth, but not when you're standing on the ground.
#23
Gamma blasts scare the c**p out of me they could happen at any time and nothing can stop them
Cosmologist wannabe 2 years ago
Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to come from supernovae and/or kilonovas. They can completely strip the atmosphere from the ozone layer, which can make the earth susceptible to more uv and space radiation. Have fun (:
MacintoshID 2 years ago
They are becoming scarier as we discover move about the universe that we are part of. The universe is one wild place full of so many unknowns and discoveries.
#24
When you get rabies and didn't get treated until the symptoms show up, you're dead. When you experience single symptom of rabies you're already dead, there's nothing you can do about it. Also rabies symptoms can take long to show up, the incubation period for rabies can last up to years. So if you were bitten or scratched by an animal with rabies years ago, the symptoms could show up right now and you will die.
Kristal 2 years ago
The rabies shots are super not fun. There are multiple and spaced out over days/weeks. I had one shot in each limb plus scratch site, then two more follow up shots in my arm in the next week or two. Better than rabies but it's not a simple flu shot.
g90814 2 years ago
Mine was a dose of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) and rabies vaccine given on the day of the rabies exposure, and then a dose of vaccine given again on days 3, 7, and 14. The globulin shot was multiple injections in the glutes (butt). Not fun, but not too bad either, considering the possible alternative (unalived).
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Vera Diblikova 2 years ago
Take it to vet for injection, it can fetch r. from vou.
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Rowan_the_raging_raven 2 years ago
A squirrel bit me a few years ago and this has officially terrified me
Charley128 2 years ago (edited)
Squirrels are immune to and are incapable of carrying the Rabies virus. So you can relax.
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Leigh 2 years ago
People have survived rabies. One girl had to put in a coma but she pulled through.
g90814 2 years ago
It's not just 'a shot'. It's multiple shots, and has to be done within days of exposure.
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#25
It's thought our galaxy is full of rogue planets wandering free from their original star. At any time one of these planets could wander through our solar system radically throwing off the fragile balance of our orbits. A big enough planet passing close enough could send us careening into the sun.
Max Fox 2 years ago (edited)
This person doesn't really understand just how much of the galaxy is empty space, and how far away everything is from everything else. The moon, which looks so close is 238,900 miles away. Flying in a jet airplane, if that was possible in space, would take around 2.5 weeks of constant flying. The distances is also 30 times the diameter of the earth. So, to visualize the distance, take a basketball as the earth, and place a baseball, the moon 23 feet away. Those are the dimensions, not what kids have on their mobile hanging in their room. A basketball which is 23 feet, or 33 bananas, away from a tennis ball. The sun, BTW, would be a ball that is 86 feet in diameter, and is over 9,000 feet away from the basketball. You can calculate the distance in bananas on your own this time.
Rachel Ainsworth 2 years ago
An almost zero percent chance if this happening it's not the same as zero chance. What if we're just really, really, really unlucky?
Load More Replies... Barong 2 years ago
There are wandering black holes too. A super massive black hole B3 1715+425 is hurtling through space at 2000 kilometers per second. “Astronomers estimate that 100 million black holes roam among the stars in our Milky Way galaxy” https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/hubble-determines-mass-of-isolated-black-hole-roaming-our-milky-way-galaxy https://www.space.com/newfound-black-holes-closest-to-earth-gaia#:~:text=Astronomers%20have%20discovered%20two%20new,Agency's%20(ESA)%20Gaia%20spacecraft.
Lorraine R 2 years ago
Or it could send us careening into the cold dark edge of the solar system, beyond Pluto's orbit. And there's nothing we could do about it.
MacintoshID 2 years ago
Great point. Rogue planets are just now being studied in great detail. Will be interesting to see what is discovered.
KindredKiller 2 years ago
They make it seem like a planet could just walk on by and screw up everything, LOL!
Glengoolie Blue 2 years ago
We're all going to die eventually anyway; at least that would be more interesting than drowning in phlegm.
Pedantic Panda 2 years ago
Don't even need to go into the sun, over 1% closer of further away from the sun would be extremely problematic.
#26
The teleportation theory, that teleporters don't actually move you from place to place but kills you by breaking you down to molecular level and create a exact replica of you on the other end who thinks it's you because it has your memory. And as more and more people will use it they will keep getting replaced by a different person each time.
Adam Belaire 2 years ago
Isn't that pretty much like how we live now? we shed dead skin, our hair and nails get cut, blood is created and destroyed inside you all the time. Even from our infant years, our baby teeth fall out and are replaced. We're changing ourselves all the time.
Fantastic Mr Fox 2 years ago
And if reincarnation is a thing, when the day comes where you remember the lives as pearls on a string. The carried over memory will be what makes you say “yes that was me” despite the different bodies. Like from child to adult to old you say “it was me”.
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Adam Belaire 2 years ago
On the benefit side, when they program the teleporter, they can scan for problems and fix it. Cell_cancer="yes" then replace with Cell_default.
Lyone Fein 2 years ago
Ancient Buddhist thought described the same concept: Picture 10 unlit candles standing in a line. Light the first candle, and blow out the match. Now light the second candle with the first, and blow out the first. Now light the third, and blow out the second. Do this until the very last, the tenth, candle has been lit and the ninth candle is out. The question is raised: Is the flame burning now the same flame that lit the first candle? Or is it a different flame, that was caused by a chain of events (causes and effects) that began with the match?
Sky Render 2 years ago
It is the current iteration of the chemical reaction that caused the first flame in that chain, but even 10 seconds later it is not the same flame that it was before as the specific fuel that sustained the flame those 10 seconds ago has been burnt up by then.
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sofacushionfort 2 years ago
“Beam me up Scottie.” “Aye Captain. And for a modest surcharge, I can add a chemical peel to the procedure.”
CHRIS DOMRES 2 years ago
And which computer operating system would you trust to control the teleporter? Windows or Apple? Just my luck that a Windows update would happen just as my molecules are being scattered acoss the universe.
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
Given how much information needs to be transferred (in terms of Gigabytes, if you like), quantum entanglement is the only (currently known) process for this to be possible.
jdtimid123 2 years ago
It's like that ship question. If, over the years as things break down, you replace every piece of a ship, every board or sheet of metal and screw, is it still the same ship?
Margaret H 2 years ago
As long as the new model is truly new, instead of the ageing one here now, I don't mind that thought.
Samyan Elrod 2 years ago
i dont think thats all that bad .. if youre qualitatively the same it doesnt matter if youre quantitively the same
#27
Ionizing radiation. The concept feels like cosmic horror to me. Like an invisible curse, that can kill you just for stepping into a forbidden place.
Booker 2 years ago
There's good and bad in everything. I agree whole-heartedly with your comment. The good: the medical community has found ways to use its lethality. I've had 3200 beams of ionizing radiation shot through my prostate, likely increasing my lifespan by many years. However, the few well controlled uses still depend on its extreme lethality, like you said.
Majungasaurus 2 years ago
I went to Chernobyl a few years ago. I knew radiation doesn’t feel like anything, but it was still crazy how NORMAL everything felt there. Even when we had to walk sideways up an overgrown trail so the tree branches didn’t touch us because they were too radioactive. The fact that it was still dangerous for scientists to be there for more than 30 days at a time was crazy (I went 2 weeks before the giant concrete sarcophagus was installed, which did make it safer to stay for longer now)
#28
The Andromeda Galaxy is on a collision course with the Milky Way Galaxy and it is moving at us at the rate of 70 miles a second. However, we have 5 billion years to get ready.
Niall Mac Iomera 2 years ago
"collision" really isn't the right word. It's not like two cars hitting each other. "Merging" is a better choice.
Owen 2 years ago (edited)
I think I'm actually fine with things that will happen in 5 billion years. That's a problem for other people. I can't help them much right now.
Tetelestai 2 years ago
We can help them by stopping reproduction lol. Not a problem for humans if humans aren’t there
Load More Replies... MacintoshID 2 years ago
I thought our sun was supposed to expand by that point in time and burn the whole place up anyways. Maybe the galaxy collision isn't such a bad thing now. Plus - there is so much space between stars we will just have a much brighter night sky than we have now.
Saint Tim the Godless 2 years ago
Fun fact: two galaxies can collide, and the odds of more than a handful of stars colliding is infinitesimal.
FreeDragon 2 years ago
It may merge but collisions will probably be rare. Space is a very empty place, as you can see here https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html
#29
If you get hit hard enough in that spot on the back of your head where your spine connects to your skull, you die instantly.
Tim Nicebutdim 2 years ago
I know someone who was knocked off of his bike and hit that spot on the kerb (his helmet came up as he hit the pavement), they turned off his life support after 5 days. The teenager who hit him was fined.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Worse, if you get hit hard enough on the front of your skull, you won't die, but your personality effectively will.
AffenpinscherMom 2 years ago
My daughter has had two surgeries on that exact spot to fix her Chiari Malformation.
MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Biologically speaking, there is no such thing as instant death, and people rarely die peacefully in their sleep. The last minutes or two of natural death is a Rollercoaster of every hormone, etc your body has to keep you alive.
MontanaMariner 2 years ago
EMT buddy that if you die from hypothermia, you aren't declared dead until you are thawed and your body temp reaches a certain temp, then they'll attempt CPR, and then declare you dead. He also manually pumped at 22 year old dudes heart through a hole in his abdomen as a last ditch effort to save him from a gun shot wound, he died.
#30
There are microorganisms and bacteria crawling around your eyes. Academically, I know that we think they are helpful and fight disease. However, I don't like the notion of stuff crawling around in/on my eyes.
bennu 2 years ago
We're actually closer to a few trillion cells in a trench coat
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obeamer_1523 2 years ago
It took me a long time to get over eye mites. Now i know im a conglomerate of colonies!
Beverly Macker 2 years ago
On eery part of your body this is happening,idiot. How is this frightening?
Andy Frobig 2 years ago
Why just eyes? Trillions of microorganisms are crawling around on almost everything
Wysteria_Rose 2 years ago
In high school, science teacher had us watch this documentary that was ALL about the microorganisms that live on our skin, nails, eyes, lips, just EVERYWHERE. It was nauseating but fascinating.
kraftmacaroniandbeez 2 years ago
also your immune system doesn't identify your eyes as a part of your body 🙃
#31
There is a thought that if there were a big enough landslide on the Canary Islands (which is a real possibility), if it were large enough it'd cause a giant tsunami causing significant damage to the Eastern United States. I've seen some of the models, they look quite grim.
oktopus 2 years ago
All the peeps in Florida will be sure to head to the nearest high ground... right?
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#32
Parallel Universes and just the idea of them freaks me out for some reason. There could be a version of me with different hair color or dead. Who knows.
Verinder of the Valley 2 years ago
No, I love this fact. Have you read the many worlds of Albie bright????
Helena 2 years ago
I hope there is a version of me somewhere in the multiverse with a pet squirrel large enough to ride like a horse.
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CD King 2 years ago
The crazy thing is yes it is a parallel universe but if you (or I) are there then all of your family tree was there over time. Your parents had to meet, your grandparents had to meet... etc and they have to consummate before separating. So, is that realistic? or is there just a bunch of different people in this other universe.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Even if there are multiple versions of 'you', none of them are you. They've had different life experiences, so they're just as much unique individuals as you are.
Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
Where things went just a little bit differently. From Christianity being just a flash in the pan, to Scott Norwood splitting the uprights at the end of Super Bowl XXV - and all points in between. In some other Universes, perhaps my pseudo-meezer Aida is still alive.
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Ace 2 years ago
Don't worry, they're not real. Other universes may exist, perhaps with different physical rules from our own, but the parallel idea is just an ultra-extrapolation from quantum physics, used a lot in science fiction but really little more than a thought experiment in science fact.
Tim Nicebutdim 2 years ago
I love the idea that there's another me out there living their best life.
#33
It is possible that the universe exists at a false vacuum level and at some point, any time or anywhere, vacuum decay could occur, sending a wave of destruction out in every direction. The only solace is that if it did occur, it would probably spread at no greater than the speed of light, so if it occurred in some other galaxy, humanity would be long gone before it reached here. Of course, that also means it could have already occurred in multiple places and at multiple times and the universe is just being destroyed bit by bit.
Mad McQueen 2 years ago
My idea is that we think there is nothing but emptiness between everything in the universe. In reality maybe someone somewhere on some other world has discovered that you can use it for propulsion and speed so insane that it lets the user use planets or stars as a means to drift and turn through the cosmos. It's a immeasurable space out past here on our planet and in our galaxy and solar system. The empty vastness of space. Maybe in another life I'll get to go into it.
MacintoshID 2 years ago
Ok. So your point is? The universe came from something so I suspect it will end up leaving too.
#34
The Dark Forest Theory. It’s an explanation as to why we haven’t heard back from aliens yet. They are purposely keeping quiet as there is no way to know if another life form may perceive you as a threat and decide to kill you off. Whoever pulls the trigger first is the winner. Everyone is a hunter. So, why risk reaching out?
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Doesn't this ignore the concept of time as it relates to distance, though? The further away aliens are, the further into the past their observances of us are. Maybe they haven't bothered because they're watching dinosaurs right now, and have no idea we even exist.
Peter Trudell Jr 2 years ago
Fun series of books by Harry Turtledove. Aliens show up to colonize earth (in the middle of WWII) but as they're long-lived they don't advance quickly and their initial scouting of the Earth had dinosaurs on it, they weren't expecting us short-lived hairy monkeys running around with guns and stuff... so their colonization ends up turning into a battle for the planet which they were unprepared for...
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LonelyLittleLeafSheep 2 years ago
If there's any intelligent life out there I'm absolutely convinced they have a quarantine sign around our solar system.
Lyone Fein 2 years ago
Have you seen the Chinese TV show "3 Body"? It's on YouTube.
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James Twong 2 years ago
The human race has actively advertised who and where we are though. It's a bit like leaving your name and address in a crowded city centre and giving an open invitation to come round.
Zsolt Hegedűs 2 years ago
What if they're only as developed as we are, and couldn't even leave their solar system yet.
#35
We will be dead, longer than we will be alive.
Yali-girl with weird name 2 years ago
Thats not necessarily true, for all you know the world could end a minute after you die
#36
The Earth is at the centre of the *observable* universe
Best Behave 2 years ago
To be specific the centre of the observable universe is where the observer is
Cosmologist wannabe 2 years ago
well, we are technically at the center of *our* observable universe because all the light that we receive comes from a sphere around us that has a radius at 13.82 billion light years.
#37
More of a philosophical theory but the idea that everyone apart from me is simply a philosophical zombie. No actual consciousness, sentience, or "soul" but rather just a body that is extremely convincing at being sentient.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Solipsism. You can only be sure that YOU exist. Everything else and everyone else could be the product of your own imagination.
Glengoolie Blue 2 years ago
I know I'm just a product of your imagination, but I don't know about everybody else.
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LadyJaye(she/they) 2 years ago
Sometimes I think that maybe this is some fictional world I came up with and I'm in a coma. And when I die I'll actually wake up I'm a universe where nothing's the same and just be like what the actual f**k. Maybe this whole world and life will seem like nothing,or maybe I'll forget I existed at all
Majungasaurus 2 years ago
Oh I used to do this as a kid - my irrational fear is that I’m just stuck in a mental hospital in a strait jacket living my current life as an illusion completely in my head. So when I say something weird or pick my nose or sort a wedgie, there’s actually a team of doctors just staring at me like “what is she doing now” 🥲
Load More Replies... Adam Zad 2 years ago (edited)
A horse goes into a bar and orders half a dozen drinks. The bartender asks if the horse is an alcoholic. The horse says, "I don't think I am" and promptly vanishes. I could have explained Rene's philosophy of "I think, therefore I am" earlier, but that would have been putting Descartes before the horse.
Rowan_the_raging_raven 2 years ago
I've thought about this way too much... what if all the faces I see are just a Figment of my imagination and im actually dead and this is the afterlife... but not the good one... what if this is hell? What if it's all a simulation and the only way to excape is dying... or maybe you have to die a certain way or you just come back worse than you were
#38
I don't remember the specific name but it basically was a theory that consisted on this cycle in which humans would be able to create an intelligent AI which simulated a "new [virtual] universe" like the Sims, in which then the "humans" in this new universe would basically do the same and this would repeat over and over again.
Ishaan Sawant 2 years ago
even i believe in this.....Like we are the AI based NPCs in a game played by 'God'......and we are the 'Gods' for the AI we create
Hobby Hopper 2 years ago
Thinking of reality as "virtual" or "simulation" could really just be a metaphor to help us understand, or at least conceptualize, reality. It's like saying a higher power "created" the cosmos (if you believe in that). Maybe our understanding of the concept creating something is an imperfect metaphor for a truth that's outside of our understanding. You could just as easily say our reality is part of a story that a higher being (or beings) are telling. Maybe these are all just different ways of thinking of the same thing.
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What do you think ?
Josh Sheridan 2 years ago
I'd like to make friends. I'm Josh and it's nice to meet you all. How's everyone? 😊
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
Hi Josh, you could simply refer to me as Stardust for now. I’m doing fine. How are you? :)
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Robert Davis 2 years ago
I don't think anything really scares me. I only hope when I die my family will be able to make it financially.
Leslie Harris 2 years ago
have you ever wondered if the world is just the figment of someone's imagination?
Tetelestai 2 years ago
Well, I’ve wondered what it would be like in someone else’s POV, if you mean that. Like, how do I know I’m not making all of this up, and you’re part of my nightmare/dream? You can ATTEST to being a conscious human with a life and feelings like me, but how could I know for sure? Anything you say could be false, anything you tell me you feel could be false. In fact, that reminds me of the internet. A whole bunch of weirdos pretending to be someone they’re not, pretending they care when they don’t, but you can’t tell
Load More Replies... Tetelestai 2 years ago
Be thankful you don’t have my brain, haha. It likes to think about this stuff ALL the time. At least once a week
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Brett Hughes 2 years ago
If people overdose on paracetamol/Tylenol and don’t get help fast they die a few days later. People sometimes wake up in hospital and regret what they’ve done, but it’s too late. They will die.
Tetelestai 2 years ago
Not…? Does it include all life forms absent except for me?
Load More Replies... Josh Sheridan 2 years ago
I'd like to make friends. I'm Josh and it's nice to meet you all. How's everyone? 😊
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
Hi Josh, you could simply refer to me as Stardust for now. I’m doing fine. How are you? :)
Load More Replies... Robert Davis 2 years ago
I don't think anything really scares me. I only hope when I die my family will be able to make it financially.
Leslie Harris 2 years ago
have you ever wondered if the world is just the figment of someone's imagination?
Tetelestai 2 years ago
Well, I’ve wondered what it would be like in someone else’s POV, if you mean that. Like, how do I know I’m not making all of this up, and you’re part of my nightmare/dream? You can ATTEST to being a conscious human with a life and feelings like me, but how could I know for sure? Anything you say could be false, anything you tell me you feel could be false. In fact, that reminds me of the internet. A whole bunch of weirdos pretending to be someone they’re not, pretending they care when they don’t, but you can’t tell
Load More Replies... Tetelestai 2 years ago
Be thankful you don’t have my brain, haha. It likes to think about this stuff ALL the time. At least once a week
Load More Replies... Brett Hughes 2 years ago
If people overdose on paracetamol/Tylenol and don’t get help fast they die a few days later. People sometimes wake up in hospital and regret what they’ve done, but it’s too late. They will die.
Tetelestai 2 years ago
Not…? Does it include all life forms absent except for me?
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