I will never understand how people watch boxing or UFC.
Between Squid Game and the endless myriad of serial killers docs, how are any of us peaceful?
We know more insidious truths than we'd like to believe.
Because survival itself can be violent.
We know too much, but let's share.
Redditor Butterflychunks wanted to hear about the creepy things that rattle around in our brains. They asked:
"What’s an oddly violent fact that you know?"
***WARNING - THIS PIECE CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIAL- NC-17***
We really are prone to violence as humans. It's part of the DNA.
Mud
"The number of British soldiers lost to mud alone in the battle of passchendaele is thought to be numbered in the thousands."
Gat_Gat_Habitat
"They had to climb over the bodies of their brothers in arms to get in and out of those hellholes. Bodies were just left there to rot. No bloody wonder the ones who made it home came back with drink/drug/mental problems."
"My great grandad was in the trenches and came back as a violent alcoholic who could NEVER talk about anything he saw. According to my Gran, his daughter, you’d never dare ask him."
thepurplehedgehog
"snow"
"The Dachau concentration camp was located near Munich. While not an extermination camp in the proper sense it still had a crematorium due to the high number of inmate deaths, and often times ash of the burning bodies would 'snow' on the residents and in the streets of Munich. Officials passed it off as local wildfires and the people believed it."
llcucf80
butcherbird
"Well, I think how shrikes kill their prey counts as violent. They literally just stab them on tree branches, cactus spines, whatever nearby. They're nicknamed the butcherbird for a reason."
ElectroshockGamer
"Same for actual Butcherbirds in Australia, they are only distantly related but are pretty much Shrikes Australian counterpart. Also they are songbirds."
SoggyIsland8
‘fighting teeth’
"Male llamas and alpacas have some very sharp lower incisors sometimes called ‘fighting teeth.' Why are they called fighting teeth? When fighting for dominance of a herd (which is a savage display in and of itself) a male will use those teeth to castrate other males, ensuring they can’t mate with the females of the herd. Farmers and breeders will file these teeth down, usually during shearing."
dum_spir0_sper0
“to be fair”
"The Paraguayan War, by some estimates, killed over half the population and 80% of all military aged males in Paraguay."
sd51223
"At one point in the war there were so few men that the military started to use children and preteens. In the battle of Acosta Ñu the Brazilian army literally massacred like 3000 children ('they were disguised so many Brazilian soldiers didn’t noticed they were actual children)."
GT_Troll
War is evil. And violence is unnecessary, but let's continue.
root and all...
"If you have a tooth knocked fully out (root and all), it can go back and live on like nothing ever happened if you get it back into the socket within 45 minutes. After that, the ligament that attaches the tooth to the jaw dies and while you can put the tooth back in (and it will stay there), your body will recognize it as foreign material and resorb it over time."
"Pro tip 1: don't put the tooth on ice. Instead put it in a cup of milk or carry it in your cheek."
"Pro tip 2: don't go to the hospital - a knocked out tooth isn't an emergency and you will wait much longer than 45 minutes to be looked at. Go to the closest dentist - it will be their biggest emergency of the year (possibly of all time)."
Successful_Print681
Animal Cruelty
"When we have to submit animals for rabies testing we have to cut their head off (and make sure we get some of the brainstem too) and send it via fedEx/UPS to a lab."
JOYFUL_CLOVR
"Can confirm. My cat bit a vet tech when I brought her in just before putting her down. They wanted to do a rabies test as I didn't have recent vaccines done as she turned into an indoor cat. Kinda crappy icing on the cake after I went in to be with her when she was put down."
SynisterSly
the USAF...
"When I joined the USAF they took footprints in the manner of taking fingerprints. This is because after a plane crash your feet were still intact in your boots while the rest of you was charred beyond recognition. I was going in as a flight nurse. I imagine they did it to everyone as even in a nonflying role you could be on one of our planes. I’m not sure if this still done. They now have a DNA database of everyone in the US military so they only need a little bit of you to ID your remains."
markydsade
Suffocation
"You would have to hold a pillow over a person’s face for at least 4 minutes before you would actually be able to suffocate them. That’s why you should play dead if someone tries to smother you with a pillow. More often than not, they’ll think the job’s done and you can catch them by surprise."
PandaMandawasabear
WAR
episode 16 crows GIFGiphy"Owls and crows hate each other. It’s in their DNA. Gang wars."
Travisg25
"Wolves and coyotes, too. Wherever wolves are reintroduced, one of the first things they do is maraud around annihilating all the coyotes."
Wrkncacnter112
Identification
"Suicide bombers can often be identified because the blast pressure of a torso-mounted suicide vest separates the head at the weak point (neck junction). So heads tend to pop off and land nearby relatively intact like a tee ball."
Culpersr
Bolt
"If you have a catastrophic malfunction in a bolt action rifle the bolt will jettison backwards and impale you wherever is immediately behind it."
ReideTheProtogen
"My dad once told me a story of a guy this happened to in basic back in the early 80s. Bolt went right back into the fella's forehead. Understandably, he died."
Inevitable_Problems
"The Canadian Ross Rifle from WW1 was infamous for this."
2ByteTheDecker
BOOM!
"Boiler explosions (like a steam train or ship) may look like quick and painless but in reality they are slow and painful as you literally get cooked alive by steam."
"I work designing replacement systems for mechanical rooms and am often around large firetube boilers which have been in operation since the 1960s (some decades older than that). I always assumed (hoped?) if something went wrong it would just explode violently and I wouldn't even have time to register what happened. This was something I didn't need to know."
walkingcarpet23
In the Trees
"When Flight 93 crashed, the body parts and personal effects of the passengers were scattered into the nearby woods. Tree climbers had to retrieve as much as they could from the treetops."
Ranger176
"More on this… one of my teachers in high school worked this scene, he was an FBI agent in Pennsylvania at the time."
"He said they could see pieces from the flight in the trees. As they got closer they could see limbs and pieces of internal organs and such. I asked if they were given free therapy, and he said yes. We had a whole lesson and PowerPoint on the tragedy and his experience on 9/11."
snackaddict0420
Cures
"Lobotomies were performed by sticking an ice pick through someone's eye socket (above the eyeball) and then tapping a hammer to drive it through the thin bone at the back of the socket and into the brain. The doctor would then swing the pick around, basically scrambling the brain, and then remove the pick."
"They claimed this cured mental illness by calming people down but really all it did was 'cure' mental illness by making people unable to make decisions at all or basically making them severely brain damaged to the point they couldn't even care for themselves anymore or have complete thoughts. The last lobotomy was performed in 1967."
stitchmidda2
Cracked
Will Ferrell Elf GIF by filmeditorGiphy"You can crack a skull open easier with a bottle than you can break a bottle over someone’s head."
ipsdirtleg
Covered
"9/11 happened when I was in college. A guy I had a class with's girlfriend was a rescue dog handler. She went out to assist in the rescue, and came back with PTSD because the dogs would come out of the ruins covered in human blood. Just covered. That possibility had never occurred to me."
Ruby_Tuesday80
Torture
"Lingchi, translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 CE up until the practice ended around the early 1900s. It was also used in Vietnam and Korea. In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death. (documentary in link)."
Bhanghai
Levels
"Genghis Khan's forces killed so many people they lowered the worlds carbon levels."
TheInnerMindEye
That is way more information than I needed. I already have nightmares.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.