Humans are expert escapists. Of course, there's the literal interpretation of this, a la Harry Houdini in the late 1910s, but in the artistic way, humans are even better.
Humans created theater, television, film, opera, novels, musicals, puzzles, video games, all with one purpose: to escape the confines of daily life. And they work very well. Here in the 21st century, you can even put on a virtual reality helmet and truly, fully escape the world in front of you without a second thought.
"What do you do to escape reality?"
Here were some of those answers.
A Zombie Day
"Walking with my kid! We'd jump on our bikes, circle the block, 'find' a care package (backpack with water, snacks, etc) and ride to 'far away places'.."
"Sometimes we'd hit up the elementary school about a mile away and have to fight off the horde of zombies then sneak back on our bikes and ride. I personally, have died many a times, according to him. Lol"
"Eventually, we planned on doing a nighttime ride too but I wanted to set up the bikes for that- reflectors, headlamps, etc but it kept getting shoved off for other bills, or he'd rather do something else instead..."
"Until finally, he completely outgrew hanging out with mom. Sometimes, I'll get a few COD zombie sessions in, and we'll grab chipotle and try to catch up on flash but that's a very rare treat for me now."-freedom_oh
The Quiet Of Night
"I grew up in a household with parents who did not know how to communicate. Lots of yelling and screaming all the time."
"It took me until my late 20s to realize the reason I stay up so late is probably because I conditioned myself to be awake and do the things I liked/needed to do during the peaceful night time."
"Even still, I just love the night so much. It reminds me of peace. It feels so serene. Daytime is just so loud and glaring."-djsedna
The Truth Inside Fiction
"Maladaptive daydreaming. I've had it all of my life and only recently learned it's a thing. I've daydreamed so many possible scenarios that some of them have actually come true, just based on the odds."
"Mostly, it saps my mental strength and makes me feel disassociated from the real world. When I'm anxious it fuels the anxiety because I can see the bad thing happening SO clearly."
"I think it's a mechanism my mind developed to help me cope with a lonely childhood but never disassembled, and it continued to churn away even when it was no longer needed."
"On a positive note, I write fiction and have come to recognize that the daydreaming is my mind's way of telling me there are stories I need to get out."-jew_biscuits
Some of these things evolved from us as methods to cope that we simply never dropped.
Always Working Together
"When my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer I hid in video games, notably World of Warcraft. It was the only thing that kept me sane."
"I mean, I still worked and interacted with people and took her to appointments and spent time with my dad, but when I found myself alone with my thoughts I would log into the game and spend hours there."
"The beautiful thing about video games is that the problems have solutions. You can generally solve every dilemma and even get a reward. That's not the case in real life."-donquixote235
An Escape To Nature
"My day to day reality is tiny apartment in city, with loud neighbours, dogs barking, constant sounds of traffic, looking at computer most of the day, sitting behind desk..."
"So when I need a change I go to nature, to the mountains, where I can find peace, forget about problems and try to enjoy things I enjoyed when I was kid. Really listen to nature, observe shapes, colors and daydream."-purpleowlie
Meta Thinking
"Late at night, I take my bike and ride to my old elementary school that's now a public park. I sit down on the same bench I've always sat at, and I start recording."
"I've found that talking my problems out, or talking about anything, just helps me to escape. Some of those audio logs I've listened to countless times. I catch myself thinking 'wow, I actually said that.'"
"Maybe someday I'll post them online, or preserve them as a memento to the times I've lived through."
"I can tell you right now, if I never started making those logs I wouldn't be half the person I am now."-D3SYNK
You Can Fly If You Want To
"I am a flight simulator hobbyist, and I escape by delving into the simulator. For over 10 years now, when life gets to me, I make an escape by perfecting my flight sim world, not much unlike a model train enthusiast creates dioramas in their basement."
"Aircraft modelling, sound engineering, environment textures such as the sky, ground, water, and trees, buildings, airport details, there's always something to tweak and work on and improve to make actually using the simulator for simulating just a bit more fun and realistic!"
But my favorite part of it all is AI traffic. Myself and a team of other enthusiasts have worked for years now to "back-date" the AI traffic in flight sim with schedules and aircraft going from the late 90s and early 00s all the way back to the 30s in some instances."
"We can choose what year we want to fly, and with a week or two of work on installing schedules, we can fly in that year in our flight sim. Currently my project has been 1998, and this has been so incredibly rewarding!"
"I live by and love my flight sim. It has always been there for me when life is too much and continues to be there for me when I have free time. Nothing else like it on this planet 🙂"-chris34121
A major fantasy fulfillment is truly one of the only things that can keep a human being satisfied in a pretend environment--so while we escape, we live out our fantasies.`
My Life As A Teenage Robot
"I pretend I am a robot stuck in a human world that needs to blend in by acting overly human. An example, I felt down so I put my phone and stuff away and got some food at a noodle place."
"Since I had no phone to bypass time I instead marveled at the chefs putting together a meal for me and made sure they got hyped up by me watching."
"After enjoying a meal that I watched with so much anticipation I let those guys know that damn that food made my day! It makes an occurrence like just going to eat food a lot less boring dystopia and a lot more human!"-KableSoft
Thoughts At The Surface
"Go free diving. You have to leave absolutely everything behind at the surface. Quiet your mind, calm your body, and meditate while you sink into the weightless and peaceful embrace of Mother Ocean."
"Plus you can get super close to all of your gilled friends. Or rock climbing (real climbing outside), similar concept but not quite as immersive."-saynotosealevel
It's A Ritual
"I could give a bs answer like music and video games but if I'm honest it's drinking whiskey outside at night. I'm a night owl and I feel more alive during night time."
"Whiskey soothes me during the day. So doing both just works. Sometimes I just go outside look at the stars and take a swig or two."
"If it's raining then it's 10x better. I know it's not healthy but I'm poor so I can't afford therapy but I can afford whiskey and there will always be another night."-AStrangeViking
As creatures of habit, we create the same world to escape to over and over again. True human connection seems to arise, though, when we would rather be here, on planet Earth with that person, than in our own little worlds.
Or perhaps humans can work on making more friendly and welcoming little worlds together.
The world is a beautiful place. From natural scenery like the Himalayan Mountains in Asia to the appearance of the Aurora Borealis at various times, awe-inspiring sights are never too hard to find.
Every country can boast a few different areas of jaw-dropping beauty. Some offer more gorgeous scenery than others. It makes us wonder, what makes one country more beautiful than another?
Is it the variety and sheer number of beautiful sights or is it the magnificence of one area? And what is the prettiest country in the world?
Curious to find out, Redditor Dream4Cats asked:
"In your opinion, whats the prettiest country?"
Switzerland
"Since I moved to Switzerland, I've always found the amount of beauty in this country to be borderline upsetting"
– Hour_Prune_225
"Prettiest country I've ever seen is Switzerland. Taking a train through that country is like traveling through a bunch of postcards that have been stitched together. It's f*cking beautiful."
– The_Mikest
Norway
"I was in norway 3 years ago. It was just... Beautiful. Definitly it is my fav. Country with france (corisca)"
– Dream4Cats
"I was playing Geoguessr with a group and this guy from Norway was very much not impressed by a beautiful landscape we found somewhere, because it just looked normal to him. Like what? Do you even see these trees and this lake and the mountains in the distance? Does it mean nothing to you xD"
– Roozyj
"Norway is so beautiful you can't take it..."
– EnvironmentOk5183
Japan
"Japan in springtime"
– PhantomFartz76
"Japan in the fall is equally as stunning. The changing of the leaves is picturesque anywhere you go here."
– thespicyroot
"Japan, cherry blossoms"
– plscallmeRain
The United States (Talk About Diversity)
"If you're talking about any whole country, I would have to say the United States. Every conceivable type of landscape is here. Grasslands, mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, huge cityscapes, Arctic, massive forests, lakes and so much more."
– DARKxASSASSIN29
"USA- the diversity of natural beauty is hard to match anywhere else."
"Yes there are more spectacular wetlands, beaches, snowy peaks, deserts, ancient forests, rivers and natural springs - but there are not many countries which have all of these"
– GoodAndBluts
"The United States. Name a biome or a natural feature and we have it, plus things no where else has."
– twitch_delta_blues
Greece
"All of the Mediterranean countries from all 3 continents ( Asia, Europe and Africa) so diverse and rich, so many different cultures and languages in such a small area. Croatia, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Malta, France"
– User Deleted
"I completely agree. I went on a cruise that visited Greece and Italy. It was absolutely gorgeous. Favorite places I’ve ever been."
– bustylusciouslady
"love all those greek islands with the beautiful sea around!"
– Flunderpudding
Italy
"I would say Italy (if we're talking about European countries that I've been too). The villages, landscape, the Tirol, the coastlines, historical ruins... every type of gorgeous (not to mention the people, food and even dare I say it, clothes)."
– TIL_eulenspiegel
"Italy is the most beautiful country by far. It combines alps and mediterranean and it contains multiple layers of historical civilizations."
– Redararis
"Italy—so much ecological diversity"
– pconti279
Scotland
"I have only been to Scotland once but it was really beautiful and I enjoyed it. Love the green, the lochs and all the layers of clouds in the Highlands."
– soline
"The fact I went to a city in Scotland and there was just casually a mountain/possibly just huge hill basically right next to it blew my gd mind."
– EllieC130
"To me it’s got to be Scotland. I went to Edinburgh for vacation once and the natures that surrounds you is so amazing. The small towns were quite and nice and the main city was so beautiful when it rained."
– Koolaidbutasolid
New Zealand
"New Zealand"
– 14kee
"This is the only correct answer"
– Azonic
"New Zealand. Maybe this is just me coming from Australia where most of our native flora is dry, but NZ is the complete opposite. So luscious and green in many areas."
– ThrowRARAw
"We spent a couple of weeks driving around New Zealand’s South Island. It was absolutely stunning."
– mateoRH
Ireland
"Ireland, by far. So green. As someone who loves just driving around in a car with the family, some of the scenery is truly beautiful. You don't even need to go to those hot tourist spots like Giant's Causeway."
– Northiree
"Northern Ireland. Go outside Belfast and you have Giant's Causeway, beaches, Mourne mountains, beautiful green fields, some amazing forestry."
– User Deleted
"Ireland is fantastic. My borther in law lives in county cork and we visited him a few years ago. Rented a car in dublin airport and first off saw the highest waterfall in ireland on the way to cc. Then next day saw the cliffs on the south coast and kinsale. Such a great place to visit! We hope to visit end of the year again."
– Adayuus
Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
"Every country has a beauty of its own in some way shape or form. I don’t think there is one that is better than another."
– Ranos131
"This is a tough one. Every country has beautiful places."
– SwordfishNo4689
"Every country has beauty to it, you just have to know where to look"
– signaturefox2013
Obviously, the responses to this question were plentiful and diverse. However, all of the answers were valid.
In the end, it doesn't really matter what the prettiest country is. We can all be happy knowing that there is seemingly endless beauty in this world.
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There are just some people who always trigger the spidey senses.
The problem is that we don't trust our instincts enough.
How many people have just left you feeling... ill at ease?
Probably more than we care to admit.
We don't want to be wrong about someone.
That is the main problem. Then we'd be embarrassed.
That feeling changes to relief when we see them on the news or a Dateline NBC episode.
Redditor Lucky_Solution7999 wanted to hear about the people who inexplicably rubbed us the wrong way. They asked:
"Hey reddit, what is one time you knew something was off about someone but couldn't prove it?"
When I was doing online "love" browsing a bunch, I was always good about being in tune to my icky feelings.
the guitarist...
"My buddy and the guitarist in my band started dating this girl we were on the same forum with. I raised concerns based on some red flags she posted, but everybody in my band said I was overreacting."
"Cut to about a year later. The girlfriend cheats on him and gets pregnant. When my friend goes to confront her about it, she has the baby’s daddy and five of his friends jump him and beat him into hospitalization. Hate to say I told you so, but…"
gothdaddi
A Guy
"I hired a guy a long time ago and worked with him for years. Very talented and smart, plus a nice guy. At some point, he started making super strange decisions. Kinda impulsive, very odd stuff (asking if he can invite his girlfriend to a staff meeting, for instance). A lot of crap that didn’t make any sense. He got hired to a better job and I lost touch."
"A few months later, he died of a large number of brain tumors. The timeline his girlfriend-turned-wife offered matched up with what we’d been noticing for years. I look back in the arguments and realize there’s no way I could have known. At the same time, that’s kinda the point: you really can’t know what’s going on with someone, so act accordingly."
patricksaurus
psycho
"My parents had a close friend when I was pretty young, maybe between 8 and 10 years old? He came over a lot, to drink or shoot guns with my dad, but I didn’t like him one bit. He just gave me a bad feeling. I remember sticking my tongue out at him every time his back was to me. Never said anything to my parents though, I just stayed away when he was over."
"My mom ended up hiring him to work at the pawn shop she ran, and after he started things went missing. I don’t remember how they figured out he was stealing but he had a gallon ziplock FILLED with jewelry. The cops tried to convince the owner not to press charges (since he got the jewelry back) but the owner went through with it."
"As soon as they booked him, his finger prints came back from an unsolved double homicide- he had brutally murdered an elderly couple when they came home mid-robbery. After he killed him, he drank their milk, leaving his prints on the jug on the counter."
AlwxWrites
“too comfortable”
"My mom used to have this friend years ago when we lived in a pretty nice looking house, and she would often show up uninvited and act 'too comfortable' in our house. my mom would always just say that it’s probably just because that lady comes from a different culture but i was suspicious of the lady stealing some stuff from our house. one day the lady invites my mom to the beach."
"My mom has a huge fear of water and can’t swim at all so she avoids it, but she tends to be overly polite, so she decides to go. at the beach, the lady pressures my mom to go swim assuring her that they’ll stay close to the shore and what not. the lady ended up shoving my mom in and standing back to watch as my mom had a difficult time keeping herself up and trying to swim back to shore."
4bunny44
2 Days...
"My best friend at the time worked with a guy who I had met a few times as I'd join them for afterwork drinks, clubbing, etc. I always felt uncomfortable being around him but didn't know why. He was nice enough and quite funny but something just seemed... off. Anyway, we were out one night and he seemed extra off and ended up disappearing from the club. We found out 2 days later that he had gone home, killed his gf, dismembered her body and put her in the bin out the front of his house."
lilpinaylander
What in the world? Talk about nightmares.
The Former
"A former friend's husband. He always tried just that bit too hard to fit into the group and be involved in everything. Always had to be the smartest guy in the room. I don’t know what it was but I disliked him from the moment we met and there’s not that many people I dislike."
"Long story short, he turned out to be a controlling, emotionally abusive sack of crap who hated me because I kept encouraging my friend to be independent and my husband and I encourage each other to have a life outside of each other."
Yanigan
“too comfortable”
"My mom used to have this friend years ago when we lived in a pretty nice looking house, and she would often show up uninvited and act 'too comfortable' in our house. My mom would always just say that it’s probably just because that lady comes from a different culture but I was suspicious of the lady stealing some stuff from our house. One day the lady invites my mom to the beach, my mom has a huge fear of water and can’t swim at all so she avoids it."
"But she tends to be overly polite, so she decides to go. at the beach, the lady pressures my mom to go swim assuring her that they’ll stay close to the shore and what not. the lady ended up shoving my mom in and standing back to watch as my mom had a diffcult time keeping herself up and trying to swim back to shore."
4bunny44
he's weird...
"I was friends with this kid for awhile and he was always weird. he always made some sort of sexual joke or comment about you or something he wanted to do to you, although the comments were weird everyone brushed them off as if they were a joke."
"Me and him were really close at one point and decided that we would get drunk, at first I felt uneasy as i do not drink and i wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of being around him and getting drunk as i know his personality. eventually he persuaded me to drink with him and after a few shots we were pretty drunk."
"After that we headed over to his place and had to act completely sober in front of his parents. After awhile it had been quite awhile since we had drank i was starting to feel/act more sober than a few hours before and from my point of view, he did too."
"After awhile he was starting to act his usual self and make the sexual comments but out of nowhere he started acting upon it too. The friendship had ended shortly after that experience."
BitLimp5448
This is a lot. This is why I avoid people. People are crazy.
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When you have no money, you have no other choice than finding ways to survive.
It can be sort of like a club.
Only people who understand being poor will recognize other poor people.
There are things you learn about stretching every penny that some will never be able to comprehend.
Of course right now in the throws of this ridiculous inflation problem, pennies are useless.
But that is a different conversation.
Let's make some notes about lacking funds.
Redditor cannonstotheleftofus wanted to hear from people who have struggled with the coin. They asked:
"What’s something people don’t know unless they’ve been poor?"
Rewashing clothes and reusing the same clothes for months. You ignore the fade.
Noodle Away
"How to make $20 last a week."
whattayagonnadew
"The magic word is Ramen."
cannonstotheleftofus
“pay us now”
"You have a couple of months from when you get those 'pay us now' letters until they actually care enough to get bailiffs involved."
Nitrosquid212
"I am currently in that stage and boy if that doesn't just make the next payment even worse. It's and endless cycle of higher and higher catch-up payments till you die or someone finally helps you."
AnnBelleBot
Reading is Fundamental
"Poor people know the importance of a good library. They are one of the few remaining public places where you can simply exist without the expectation of buying something. Books are free to check out and provided entertainment when my family couldn't afford internet/cable. The library in my town is a safe, well-lit, air conditioned/heated space that has clean water, free access to bathrooms, and free wifi."
"Not everyone has all those resources at home. Some people have no home at all. It's a valuable resource for homeless people and it's a safe space for poor kids to do homework or hang around while parents are busy working. Nowadays libraries even offer free passes to museums and zoos, free adult education classes, and have tools or sewing machines you can borrow. Libraries are great."
aimlessly_scrolling
Transportation
"That everything takes twice as long to do because you have to take public transportation, and have to go to the laundromat; many things are a huge hassle like limiting how many things you can get at the store because you have to lug it all on the bus; basically things that many take for granted require a load of planning and time."
EspressoBooksCats
Good Night
"Sleeping not because you're tired but because you're hungry and can't grab a bite because whatever might be left in the fridge gotta last till the 15th."
VtecKickedInYooo
Food is always the biggest issue. Making food last is a skill.
Budgets
"How expensive being poor can be. When you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, you can't often plan/save/budget as well as you could if you had some money to fall back on."
NoCelery1168
The taste...
"How a black bean and rice burrito tastes when it's all you've been able to afford for the better part of the past year. No cheese, just beans and rice and tortilla, sometimes with Lowry's Seasoned Salt or peanut butter when available. Cheese is the most expensive part of a burrito."
CedarWolf
Cheap parts...
"Being poor is expensive. You’re forced to buy low quality s**t that needs to be replaced constantly, which in the long run causes you to spend more money. This is why poverty is so hard to escape. For example, when I was poor as s**t, I was forced to learn how to fix my own old a** car and buy cheap parts, because I just couldn’t afford to take it in, buy quality parts, and/or get something more reliable."
"Because of this, sometimes I didn’t know what I was doing and created other issues therefore causing me to spend more money. Cheap parts need to replaced way more often causing me to spend more money in the long run as opposed to buying a quality, long lasting part initially. And the car itself just broke down way more frequently, causing me to spend money more than I would with a more reliable vehicle."
"But the problem is when you’re poor, you don’t have the option to buy that quality starter that will last years. You have to buy the cheap piece of s**t one and replace it yearly because you literally don’t have the money for the quality one as a one time expense. Although I do love working on cars now as a result of this, so in a weird way I’m grateful, but the point still stands."
Mirraco323
Pain in the A...
"Medicaid is a pain in the a** to understand and sign up for. It's like the state actively fights you trying to sign up."
MrPuzzleMan
"I remember the one time I was briefly on Medicaid. It was such a pain in the a** to get going and the end result was that there was no point in having bothered because nobody took Medicaid and Medicaid didn't cover any of my diabetic supplies. The healthcare system needs a major overhaul and anybody who says otherwise can go suck a lemon."
BeneejSpoor
reuse...
"You can infuse your tea more than once. It goes well with two times and it's acceptable with three. More than that... You can't afford tea."
25_-a
"My grandma wasn't poor by a long shot, but she made those teabags last at least 5 times!!! They would be standing in the kitchen, all dried up on a little plate, ready to be reused!"
Th3_Accountant
How do you use tea that many times? I love it anyway.
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The world's richest person in the world, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is planning to take over the social media app of all social media apps–Twitter.
But let's say we're there already. An unnamed Redditor asked:
"Elon Musk just bought Twitter. What happens next?"
People on social media could follow a trend.
Following A Trend
"People pretend to leave but don't actually leave."
– MrBananaStorm
The Other Platform
"Also: people declaring they're leaving for Instagram without realizing that's owned by Zucc."
– majima__goro
Owned
"next Elon buys Reddit."
– sanman
On To The Next
"Paperwork. Then checks cut to the stockholders to buy them out."
– User Deleted
The potential buyout might not cause any mayhem at all.
Life Goes On
"For me, nothing. Continue with my daily life without twitter, that sh*ts toxic."
– itsMondaybackwards
Ignorance Is Bliss
"Yea why are people so angry about this? I'm genuinely asking, I don't know anything about twitter and Elon Musk."
– doggrimoire
Pet-opia
"Cats and dogs living together."
– tewnewt
Some Things Never Change
"Nothing, Twitter stays the same hellhole lmao."
– ilovecatfish
No New Customer
"I'm not sure I care. Don't use it now, won't use it when he owns it."
– bh0
Some people are just bracing themselves.
Lies Resume
"The return of Donald Trump on twitter."
– laja7
Indication Of Damages Done
"Musk is wanting to boot the bots, which should undermine tons of election interference, but I fear they've already created a self-perpetuating monster. Twitter may be unable to distinguish between extremist and algorithm. Regardless of his success, it is a job that needs to be done."
– borg286
It's Conditional
"If he succeeds in removing 'unauthentic' content, it could be good for discourse. If he turns it into a misinformation free for all, I’m out."
– pallentx
No one knows for sure what's in store for us in a world of Musk ruling over the Twitterverse.
But let's focus on and help fast-track autonomous vehicles for safe public transportation before Twitter begins a potential crash-and-burn trajectory.
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