Sleepless nights, annoying bosses, and tiring days, all pale compared to the human ability to find humor in adversary. Comedy has been a coping mechanism for difficult times since time immemorial and now, through the magic of the internet, we can share and create those annoyingly relatable experiences and mock them at the same time.
The “So Basic I Can’t Even” Instagram account gathers a delectable selection of memes that one might find, funny, painful, relatable, or a combination of all three. So get comfortable, prepare to scroll, and be sure to upvote your favorites and comment your own thoughts below.
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One of the comforting things about relatable memes is that it shows us that a lot of human experience is at some level shared. Yeah, maybe it’s fun to be unique, but it’s also good to know that other people can and will be able to relate to your experience just by living on the same earth.
This sort of relatability is actually the basis for most memes in general. The word itself refers to something commonly shared in a group, whether it's a gene, idea, belief, or preference. Without this understanding, we would not only miss out on memes, we would not be able to share any humor whatsoever.
It stands to reason that we enjoy content that does relate to our personal experiences. Setting aside memes, comedians, and people who do actually want to make us happy, many salespeople, con artists, and others use this tidbit of our psychology to trick us into trusting them, by using crumbs of shared information to build a rapport. That gives them an "in" to sell us whatever they please.
This is commonly called the Barnum effect, named after the infamous businessman and showman P.T. Barnum, who would use every psychological trick in the book to attract audiences and get them to pay for his shows. Fortune tellers do the same at a smaller scale, taking little bits of surface-level information and using it to manipulate us into thinking that they know more than they actually do.
But as these memes and many others demonstrate, people can use commonalities for good, not just sales. Every human's experience is different, but there are always a few things one can find in common across every known demographic category. Take nature, for example. It looks different all over the world and people tend to have different interests. Some people even find it somewhat intimidating or prefer certain biomes to others.
But the vast majority of people showed similar, positive emotions when presented with the same natural images, showing that there is something in common, if we strip away all the variables. So remember, when you are looking at this collection of memes that were made by total strangers, that there are humans out there who can just add some humor to their daily experience and make thousands laugh.
I am dreading adulthood. Please just let me go back to kindergarten
America: Why didn't you just choose to be born into a wealthy family?
Load More Replies...I once deposited a small bonus from work and my car’s oil pump died before I could e even get out of the bank’s parking lot. That one hurt. So much for getting new tires you piece of utter cr@p.
This has been my life since I had to go on disability because I'm unable to work. I made so much more money then what I get on my disability check every month. Now one little thing happens and it turn into a major "oh f**k" situation. Even on a good month I'm still stone cold broke after I pay my bills.
Never able to keep up, always one or two steps behind. Welcome to adulthood.
Yeah and then you get the "need an engine replacement on that 20 yr old car ya got!!!!!
And the refrigerator died after it got wet when the dish washer overflowed.
Scoff, those are child's play. The real boogey men that you didn't budget for is the house ac compressor going, the car timing belt needing replacing, a family member ER visit with today's deductibles to work through first, the water heater giving up the ghost and leaking all over your garage floor, a wind storm breaking a window (your largest window, of course), your dog swallowing pointy mulch and needs to have it's stomach cut open. These are just off the top of my head.
It's depressing thinking about how this is so true in my life.
Okay but like...how were you not already planning for those things? Emergencies I understand, but everything listed here is something you'd know about in advance.
It's called living pay check to pay check. When you're that close every month you can budget but never with enough leeway to be able to get things before you need it.
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