In an age of "fake news" and misinformation, how much an you really trust somebody's word?
Reddit user thelast_M wants to hear if the public thinks they're totally being duped:
What conspiracy theory actually makes a lot of sense?
Here's what the public came back with.
Trader Joe's Insecurity Complex
Trader Joe's parking lots are deliberately too small to make them seem more popular than they really are. [minitikigod]
Runaway Chapstick
That chapstick is made into cylindrical shapes so that if you drop it, it will roll away and lose it so then you have to buy a new one. [Aversatile]
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A Conspiracy Of Conspiracies
The meta-conspiracy. The very concept of a conspiracy theory as we know them was created by the government/Illuminati/aliens/whoever. The purpose for doing so? It ensures that if any of their secrets ever leak, the public at large will simply think of it as another conspiracy theory and dismiss the few people that know the truth as tinfoil hat nuts. [Eagle694]
#BigBrotherIsWatching
I remember reading in a conspiracy theory thread about how the government created #ThrowbackThursday so they could get all of our old pictures uploaded to their databases. [-eDgAR-]
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The Godfather Part IV
Hot dogs are sold in packs of twelve.
Hot dog buns are sold in packs of eight.
If you want enough hot dogs to go with buns and vice versa, you have to buy two packs of hot dogs and three packs of buns. Otherwise you're left with some useless leftovers.
I'm onto you, hot dog mafia. [Fruitwalker]
Foul Ball
MLB messed with the World Series balls this year, resulting in more home runs. More home runs led to more exciting games and more viewers. Players and coaches from both teams commented on how weird the balls felt, and there was a definite uptick in home runs this year. [alymac95]
Hopelessly Devoted To Glgughgguhgfjg
Sandy actually drowned at the beginning of Grease.
The theory is the whole movie is her dying dream or like a coma dream. My husband actually told me this and I didn't believe him but then I watched the movie again recently and it totally made sense. First there is the end scene of course with them flying away in the car. Also at the beginning of the movie when Sandy asks "Is this the end?" Then Sandy just doesn't go back to Australia and almost magically ends up attending his high school but doesn't even know he goes there, that makes no sense. [Doyouevenpedal]
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Mary-Kate Is Ashley
the olsen "twins" is really just one girl moving back and forth very fast to trick the human eye [lab_coat_goat]
Darth Jar-Jar
The Reddit theory that Jar Jar Binks was intended to be a villain, until huge fan backlash made Lucas just pass him off as a failed comedic character. Everything just fits together TOO WELL and it makes too much sense when looking at the evidence.
Lucas even said "Jar Jar is the key to all this" and the actor who played Jar Jar tweeted this when the theory broke out: "I will say this, it feels really good when the hidden meaning behind the work is seen. No matter how long it takes."
7 Tips On Avoiding Advice
Cosmo magazine intentionally gives s****y relationship advice to keep it's reader base lonely, single, and continuously buying more Cosmo. It's the only logical reasoning for some of the bizarre advice that is published there. Either that, or they intentionally try to corner the market of "ironic" readers. [ScLi432]
Futurama At Work In Real Life
Cats are aliens sent to enslave the human race. But its too much effort so they settle for whomevers house they live in [SirLenzalot]
Governmental Treason
I am not sure if I believe this but it makes a lot of sense. FDR or at least pro-war government officials were aware of the Pearl Harbor attacks beforehand and kind of let them happen to get a good excuse to get involved in WWII. It is not too far fetched since a similar event got us involved in the Spanish American war (the Maine) that was dubious. [8BitsIsEnoughForMe]
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Trump's Egomania Is Worse Than We Thought
Trump started as a Democrat plant to ruin the chances of the Republican Party. But when he started gaining traction, his ego led him to go all maverick on them and ended up winning.
He never wanted it, he still doesn't want it, he just grabbed a chance that someone else laid in front of him. [TheLateThagSimmons]
Planned Obsolescence
Phone companies constantly bloating their new updates to slow down phones so people will have to buy new ones every year or two.
Gone are the days where you can buy a piece of electronics that will last you more than 5 years. [AlchemicRez]
Mason Jar Revolution
Pinterest and Etsy are fronts by big mason jar to stimulate a stagnating demand for glass jars. [habbathejutt]
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The Wrong Kind Of Aliens
The near-endless "UFO sightings" in the US during the Cold War were actually Soviet aircraft that had incurred into North American airspace. They would be unidentified because few people knew what they looked like, as Russian military aircraft even now are totally different to that manufactured in the US.
If you shoot them down, the cat is out of the bag and you get a proper war breaking out. If you ignore them and the general public find out, you get riots and awkward questions. Keep a lid on something simple by feeding the populace carefully stage-managed bunk.
Roswell was likely a crashed Soviet aircraft or an experimental flight that went wrong [Eddie_Hitler]
My Heart Will Go On
The Titanic was replaced with the Olympic in the days prior to Titanics launch so as to purposefully sink the Titanic (really the Olympic) to claim insurance money. The Olympic was involved in a major accident during its sea trials, and the British government found White Star Lines responsible which therefore voided the opportunity for the shipbuilder to collect its insurance money. With a now listing Olympic without the major capital to repair, the decision was made to swap ships in the final days before Titanics launch so as to sink the Olympic at sea. There was even a reported boat carrying thousands of lifejackets in the waters near Titanics eventual iceberg crash which has yet to be explained. [dontbethatguyever]
The Long Game
Hillary threw the election on purpose so that Trump would become president and discredit the entire Republican establishment. Short-term loss turns into long-term gain. [Hysterical_Realist]
Real Aliens This Time
The Great Pyramid of Giza was not created by humans. [twdesigns69]
Evil Epidemic
For me, I'd say its the ebola one. Apparently, pharmaceutical companies were using the ebola virus to deliver gene modifications and they stumbled upon a way to kill the virus in a host. Potential gold mine. But they needed an outbreak. So they purposefully created one in West Africa. Then, cure!! [AbbasKubaba]
The Richest Family In The World
The richest family are Rothschilds that owned 1/3 of the world's wealth in the past. Bill Gates is just the poster boy for the richest, but his wealth is tiny compared to Rothschilds. Rothschidls don't display their wealth and stay in the back scenes because being targeted as the richest means you are less secure, also means there's more observance on your taxes, and you are expected to donate a lot to humanitarian donations. [parkufarku]
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Fictional Philosophers
That Socrates wasn't real and Aristotle made him up so he could sell his books/writings.
Obviously a lot of disagreement on this one, but it's not that far fetched. Socrates never wrote anything, and it'd be more interesting and lucrative for Aristotle to have created this person as some kind of guru figure in order to make his philosophies seem more mystical and legitimate.
But the argument is that Aristotle already came from a rich family and there would be no reason for him to need to make someone up so he could sell more books.
Same with Jesus. There's no record of Jesus until after he died, so who knows? [joedirtydirt86]
That's No Moon...
There is a reason we haven't gone back to the moon in 40+ years. Think about it, we're currently planning for a self-sustaining colony on Mars in the next decade(s), but for some reason we haven't decided to use the moon for a trial run. Not using the moon as the test bed for a self-sustaining colony makes even less since if you consider the fact that emergency help could be dispatched to the moon in a reasonable amount of time compared to Mars. [GloriousLeaderChris]
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Reddit Studies Us
Reddit hosts 'fun experiments' on April fools. These experiments, while looking innocent and fun, have more ambitious goals. I can't speak for all of them, but to me, last year's experiment (r/place) was an experiment to determine how get and to determine the threshold of getting a critical mass of crowd to join in on a movement on the internet. They got to see, over the lapse of 24 hours, how regions of influence forms/disperses, how alliances form/brigades happen, etc. This would be something of great interest for any intelligence agencies, since Reddit's userbase is huge. [Iamallamala]
JFK's Accidental Death
JFK wasn't killed by Oswald, or at least the killing shot wasn't fired by him. It was a secret service agent who was caught of guard by the gunshot and the motorcade stopping, his finger slipped and he accidently let off a shot. The way the bullet hits Kennedy's head is inconsistent with the other shots and seems to almost explode, making it more likely to have been shot out of an automatic weapon rather than a rifle, which uses larger, more sturdy bullets. In pictures from the event you can see a Secret Service agent in the background of the photos with an AR-15 type gun, and people from the scene recall hearing agents straight up saying "there's been a terrible accident." Big cover up, and that dude had to live with that lie forever after. [MisterBaker55]
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.