One sign of a truly intelligent person is having the ability to change your opinions in the face of contrary evidence. Note, we did not say anything about enjoying the process.
One Reddit user asked:
What is an opinion you once held that was proven completely wrong?
And what ended up happening was kind of a fascinating walk through the human learning process. Some lessons needed to be taught more than once, and sometimes with tragic results.
Other opinions were an absolute joy to have changed - like the person who had only ever eaten boiled unseasoned vegetables. The first taste of a roasted potato must have been the kind of thing that moved them to tears!
Or maybe we just really love carbs?
Respect
Giphy
If you respect someone, you'll get respect.
People have different ideas about what respect means. There's one crowd that believes everyone is deserving of respect until they show themselves not to be. And there's another crowd that just repeats the mantra "Respect must be earned."
Most of the people I've met in the latter crowd seem to use that mantra as an excuse to treat people like shit by default. Like you're required to impress them somehow before they deem you worthy of basic human dignity.
Someone on Reddit pointed out the issue that often arises is not necessarily the lack of respect, but in differing definitions of respect. Respect can mean "treat me as an adult/responsible individual" versus "treat me as an authority figure."
Too often we equate "respect me and I'll respect you" as both wanting to treat each other as adults/responsible individuals, when in reality most often it's someone saying "treat me as an authority figure and I'll treat you as an adult in return."
Hard Work
People I work with will notice hard work and reward me for it. Turns out, you have to be social and have to advocate for your own career.
What I'm finding out is if you work hard they do notice it...and take advantage of it by overloading you with an overwhelming amount with no accompanying advancement in your pay or career.
- Rivka333
Turn out you have to kiss @ss, a LOT of it. Hard work means you get kept where you are bc the next guy might not be as willing.
Wrong Twice
I had a lot of misinformed opinions about drug use. I volunteered with the DARE (drug abuse resistance education) program in my small town through the local PD for a few years in middle school/ early high school. I remember going to a party and seeing people smoke weed and being shocked there weren't overdoses or wild attacks or something.
I did my own actual research on marijuana and realized how much of what DARE taught was either false or misinformation. My opinions shattered and I figured drug use wasn't that bad.
I had to learn that drugs really can be dangerous later through the loss of a friend. Luckily I never really wanted to do anything more than weed anyway, but I had to learn my opinions were wrong twice before I had a healthy understanding.
I think it would've been a lot easier if things were presented honestly from the beginning.
There have been multiple studies showing that kids who had D.A.R.E. at their school are more likely to use drugs. The primary reason for this is when they realize how absurd some of the program's claims are, they distrust everything else the program taught them.
- punjar3
Not A Choice
That being gay is a choice.
And then I realized I was gay and also realized that it was not a choice.
My grandfather was gay and during a conversation with him I referred to the time in his life when he married my grandmother as "when he was confused."
He stopped me right there. "I was never confused. I knew I was gay, but I didn't want to accept it. I was convinced that I could change it; that I was supposed to get married and have kids, because that's what was normal."
The older I get, the more I suspect that most people who say homosexuality is a choice are closeted or bisexual, whether knowingly or unknowingly.
The reason they think it's a choice is because it is a choice... for them. They choose to not follow their urges, and assume everyone else does the same, whereas fully/mainly straight people don't really ever consider it.
When I came out to my grandma as wanting to date girls she was very confused because "everyone likes girls more but you just have to marry men, it's what you do."
She absolutely didn't realize.
Boiled
Giphy
Until I was 18, I genuinely thought that the way to cook vegetables was to boil the hell out of them to the point where they tasted lifeless. Turns out broccoli, carrots and cauliflower taste so much nicer when you roast them and add seasoning! Plus roast potatoes taste so much nicer than boiled potatoes.
Not A Flu
I thought covid-19 was a normal flu, until more peeps died very quickly and now we have less death than normal. It really ain't a normal flu.
I have to admit, I thought the same thing (kinda). I mean, I knew it was more dangerous and infectious than the flu but I thought everyone was overreacting until schools starting shutting down because that's when I first actually got affected by the virus.
Yeah, I kept telling everyone not to worry about it, they are just blowing things out of proportion. Then the world went to hell.
I was SO sure!
I changed my mind about Covid-19 the day companies started to drop out of MWC (mobile world congress). There was A LOT of money to be made around that sht, and companies NEVER lose the chance to swag a penny out of someone else's pocket, so when they decided that covid 19 might be a threat for them, I started taking it way more seriously.
Lets be honest: you'll have a clearer view of how the world really works once you starts looking at how big money behaves.
Judge Not
That all religious people are good, and the non-religious ones are most likely worse. Went to Catholic school for most of my life, raised in a very liberal Catholic household.
It all came crashing down when my city's cathedral caught a highly respected member pocketing a stack of money from collection boxes. Red-handed on CCTV. It was a long time ago and I'm glad I no longer judge non-religious people.
Baby Leashes
Parents who use leashes on their toddlers just don't want to put the effort into teaching them to listen.
Am a parent now and have been paid back 10-fold for those judgmental thoughts with a very rambunctious little boy who looks right at you with the sweetest little smile while he ignores you before running away like a squirrel on crack. We have a harness for him now.
- cornland
Yep, I see many kids that SHOULD be on a leash. And of course some parents that need to put effort in. Or both.
Our first was a handful. I was trying to keep one hand on him in the pharmacy while getting to the counter. The lady behind the checkout laughed and said "you need a leash for that one!"
I put a harness on the counter, gave a deadpan stare and said "that's what I'm here for."
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
Luckily, I'm not the only one who speculates the legalities of fictional universes. Thanks to Reddit, we can have discussions like this without looking like a weirdo at every party you go to. Because trust me, most drunk people don't want to hear about your Golden Ticket conspiracy theories. Trust me.
U/Yuuhxyuuh asked:
What fictional character should have been hit with a huge lawsuit at the end of the story?
​Why is it that most children’s movies come with some truly awful adult characters? They would’ve been the first to be slapped with a lawsuit.
I feel like this goes for most superheroes.
"The Power Rangers, they're a paramilitary group and are (almost) never officially sanctioned to operate by their relevant municipalities. They cause massive amounts of destruction from their fights and by not warning anyone about the enemies they battle."
​The poor Baudelaires.
Why Do You Hate Us So Much Neil Patrick Harris GIF by NETFLIXGiphy"Pretty much every adult in A Series of Unfortunate Events."
"Given that the in universe legal system of ASOUE allows a man to marry his adopted 13-year-old daughter, coerced by a threat to her baby sister's life, under the guise of a fraudulent play, presided over by a judge unaware she is acting in an official capacity, and absolute none of this legally invalidates that marriage and the only thing that saved Violet was a loophole that a signature doesn't count if written with one's non-dominant hand, I don't have high hopes for the Baudelaires in civil court."
Do you feel it, Mr. Krabs?
"It's still running but, I can only imagine all the labor laws Mr. Krabs has broken."
I remember the episode where Patrick wanted to win an award Big Pink Loser and so he worked for Mr. Krabs with SpongeBob. The conversation was loosely:
Patrick- I can get my award working for Mr. Krabs
Spongebob- Yeah and at $50 dollars an hour. When I started working here, I had to pay Mr. Krabs $100 dollars an hour.
I always thought it meant Patrick was being paid that much until I realized what it really meant.
Hogwarts was a death trap.
"Vernon Dursley from Harry Potter. Child abuse, both verbally and possibly physically."
"Also, Hogwarts would have been sued I'm certain by multiple parents on multiple occasions if it were an option in the Wizarding world. That place is a security nightmare! (credit, mugglecast for fully convincing me that security nightmare is an accurate description)."
"Cerberus chilling in a closet, basilisk wandering the pipes, ferocious textbooks that can bite, dementors wandering around, very questionable teachers including a host to Voldemort, a death eater on polyjuice, a werewolf (despite that he was a good teacher), and a ministry official that used physical (permanently scarring) punishment on students. Totally acceptable place to send your kids every year, for sure."
​Weird, the movies you loved without question as a kid kinda shift your perspective as you get older.
​That deleted scene would’ve helped with context.
shocked jurassic park GIFGiphy"John Hammond from Jurassic Park. His legal team would spare no expense."
"From memory, there's a deleted scene from The Lost World: Jurassic Park where that happens. It's a boardroom discussion about payouts to the families of the workers who died and to the British family that accidentally stumbled upon Isla Sorna. Because of it, the board agrees to sack Hammond and make Ludlow head of Ingen with immediate effect. Ludlow then comes up with a plan to get their money back by opening up the park in San Diego using dinosaurs from Isla Sorna. Come to think of it removing that scene kind of removes a ton of context from the rest of the film."
Hell, I wanna sue this movie for messing me up.
"The dude who ran the Truman Show"
"Funny that movie was on tv and I just watched it again. Truman would have been able to sue for hundreds of millions. Then the money and fame would get to him. I think Truman would have had a mental breakdown after leaving. He would have been one of the most famous people ever. He wouldn't understand the hounding, everyone using him wanting him to do business with them."
"Everyone knowing every single intimate detail about you. Trying to come to terms it was all fake. He would be extremely paranoid his entire life and have a complete existential crisis"
Different rules for the John Hughes universe.
"Ferris Bueller."
"Everything that goes on with the car, hijacking a parade float, or trepassing throughout the neighborhood. Man the 80s we a different time."
It’s so wild what fictional characters ​get away with. It almost makes me mad, before I realize that they’re fictional and that I’ve had too much wine while bingeing these shows.
They should all be in jail.
Always Sunny Fx GIFGiphy"The gang from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia should be bankrupt from lawsuits and/or in jail by now from all the stuff they've done."
"I'd say almost 1 in 3 episodes should land one of them in jail for a couple years. With at least 1 season landing all of them in jail."
I can’t watch The Office for this reason.
"Michael Scott."
"I like the episode where they hired an ex-con. He had been convicted of insider trading. Kevin later quietly confesses: 'I had him explain it to me three times. Because it sounds a lot like what I do here every day.'"
​Doctors would never get away with what they do on this show.
"Every character in Grey's Anatomy."
"The amount of HIPAA violations on that show was extremely distressing I have often said I would never ever want to be a patient in that hospital."
As for Willy Wonka, I'm pretty sure the only reason why he wasn't sued was that he had to live with Grandpa Joe. And that, my friends, is a punishment worse than death
Let it be known--if you ever find yourself in a fictional universe, you can basically do whatever you want without consequences. Best of luck, and godspeed.
But then there are those who you just can't figure out but engage in a conversation with anyway until something in your gut tells you to abort.
Whether it's an ominous situation or a mysterious individual, your instincts telling you something is not right is usually accurate and what happens next depends on whether or not you act on what your inner voice tells you.
Curious to hear from the experiences of strangers on the internet, Redditor thenereidsofneptune asked:
"What is Your Best 'I'm in Danger' Story?
These predicaments could have resulted in severe consequences. Or not.
Bearly Escaped
"Driving through jasper on our way to leduc when my dad saw a family on the side of the road looking off into the bush off the side of the road. So we pull over and walk over to ask if they need any help. They say that they saw a bear in there and were throwing rocks at it to get it to come out so they could take pictures. My dad told us to get back to the car and we sped off down the highway. To this day i wonder what happened to those idiots."
– doubled2319888
Crash-Landing
"Not me, but a really close friend was going through flight school and they were going through emergency procedures and the instructor asked something along the lines of."
"What would you do if you noticed the power was lost?"
"And at that very moment, the aircraft lost power and my buddy said 'Well that's a neat trick and makes it feel real.' To which the instructor said 'No, that's not me. This is real.' Apparently, my buddy giggled and said 'oh no.'"
"And then they had to crash into the gulf and he swam away."
"I can't think of a better example than that."
The Thing In The Bushes
"When I was about 5-6, my mom and her best friend took us kids out huckleberry picking. We brought a battery power radio so we were making noise and would not startle any wildlife. We were all kind of spread out around these wild berry bushes. The adults heard this snorting, stomping, and sounds of a large animal moving through the dense overgrown areas coming towards us. They freaked out, screaming for us kids to run to them so we could run to the truck together. Moms friend threw her FULL bucket of huckleberries (5 gallon bucket, took all day to fill) at whatever was coming, hoping to distract it..."
"It was a cow."
– indigowulf
You never know what strangers are capable of, especially where drugs are involved.
Sacrifice For The Devil
"I used to work in a group home. I was working a night shift and one of the residents was pacing by his room. I asked him what he was doing, he went into his room quickly. I assumed he was on meth since that's what he liked doing. Thought not much of it until a few hours goes by. I go to get some water and heat up my food, and he is standing in the hallway. Again, I ask him how he's doing and try to check in with him. This guy starts speaking in some made-up language in a loud whisper (think Harry Potter talking to the basalisk). He then takes like 4 steps slowly toward me then stops. He says 'I can't stop him forever.'"
"I call police for his and the the safety of the house."
"Police show up and talk to him for a bit in private. One officer comes back to my office and says 'yeeeah, he's not himself right now. Said the date was May 50, 2100.' It was January... and 2015. They took him away. They also found and took a pocket knife off of him and gave it to me for safekeeping."
"Now if that wasn't already messed up, I went back on the security footage and I saw him stand outside of my office door (outside my view) for like 30 minutes without me realizing. Standing still, like in paranormal activity."
"I checked the camera from when he was speaking the weird language, and he was standing there for like 20 minutes heavy breathing before I walked by."
"2 weeks goes by and he's released from the hospital sober and mentally present again. He decided to move out of the house. He came by to grab his stuff, and pulled me aside to apologize. I forgave him and tried to brush it off. Buddy looks me in the eyes and said that he was planning on killing me that night for a blood sacrafice since he was seeing some crazy stuff and he believed a demon was controlling him, but the police ruined his plan."
"I kept the knife as a morbid souvenir."
– ObelusPrime
The following people these Redditors engaged with were very suspect. No drugs were apparently involved, but they were apparently quite mental.
Regionally Profiled
"So, just for context, I'm Scottish. I was on Holiday in Durham and it was late afternoon. We just arrived and we were going to visit the Cathedral."
"So these lads (likely students, they were obviously on a night out or something) came up to me and were like 'hey do you know how to get to so-and-so street' and I was like 'sorry, I'm not from here.' Suddenly the guy got mad and was all 'are you Irish, ARE YOU IRISH?!' And I was like 'No I'm Scottish' (but I was sure I was going to get beaten up because, let's be honest, if he's like this to someone who's Irish then he'll not exactly be hunky Dory with Scots), but when I said that his demenor did a 180 and he was all 'oh right, you're cool, sorry to bother you' and walked off."
"And that's the story of when I was nearly hatecrimed because someone thought I was Irish."
– OhHiGCHQ
Red Flags
"Went out for a drink with a pretty girl I got talking to on a bus. She was a bit awkward, but seemed kinda fun. She kept talking about her roommate, and the crazy hi-jinks they got up to. She even joked that we would have a threesome if I went back to her place."
"We went back to hers... at which point I found out that her roommate was a barbie doll that she talked to like it was a real person. Her place clearly hadn't been cleaned for years, and the toilet was full of green 'matter.'"
"The final straw for me was when I stepped on her cat's corpse..."
– epsonabcdefg
Not The Basement
"Couple of years ago I was picking up a chair I had bought from craigslist. I drove to this guys house and got a creepy vibe instantly when I stepped inside, for reasons I can't really understand to this day. After a minute or so of small talk, where he was mostly busy staring at me and not completely focused on the conversation, he asked me to follow him down to the basement where the chair supposedly was. As he went for the staircase he raised the volume of the music playing to a level that was distinctly louder than normal."
"I noped the f'k out and went straight home again."
– throwapony
In middle school, I was not a popular kid. So it surprised me when my fellow classmates who were viewed as "popular" actually engaged in a conversation with me during lunch when I was sitting by myself.
They asked me what my favorite food was and what TV shows I watched. I genuinely thought they were interested in me, but I was also skeptical about their forced friendliness.
My suspicions were confirmed when, in my peripheral vision, I saw their buddies dragging a trashcan over towards me.
I blurted, "gotta go!" and I darted. Those jerks were going to throw me in the garbage!
Chocolate milk hair and spaghetti sauce-drenched shirt was avoided that day, thanks to my gut instincts. Damn bullies.