Sometimes the things that come out of peoples' mouths are truly astounding. It makes you wonder, where did things go wrong? Why are they like this? As Forrest Gump once said, “stupid is as stupid does".
Here are a few of the most jaw-dropping lay stupid things that have been said by actual human beings. Not aliens trying to figure out how humans communicate--ACTUAL human beings. Thanks, Reddit.
U/cperr310 asked: What's the dumbest thing you or someone you know has said?
First up, what better people to hear ridiculous claims from than children? Here are some people that even teachers couldn’t help.
Well, that’s awkward.
I was in 5th grade like 20 years ago, and I am a male which is important later. My school changed an extra girls locker room into a computer lab. When my class got to go check it out, I say "wow, it looks so different!".
Everyone looks at me like I'm a creep. What I meant to say was "wow it looks so different that the boys locker room!" I still think about this when trying to fall asleep more often than I'm comfortable with.
....no. No it’s not.
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In my Spanish class where they were talking about Spanish countries
"What about Syria...isn't Syria Spanish?"
Worst part... NOBODY called her out on it to the point I was questioning myself. The professor had good English but it wasn't her first language and she dodged her question saying she's only going over countries in south america. I had to literally write myself a note that she literally asked that question. Then I got paired up with her like 10 minutes later for a group activity and I still wasn't over this question lol
Fake but also real but also demonic?
A kid in high school tried to convince me that men had an extra rib and that the earth is only a few thousand years old. Same kid said that ouija boards were full of magnets and gears which made them fake, yet they were simultaneously completely real and needed to be burned on sight to prevent demonic possession.
But sometimes it’s the parents of children who say the dumb stuff.
Back in 2014 I still vividly remember we were eating dinner, and my brother is chewing with his mouth open while my sister is talking. My dad, still thinking about her talking but talking to my brother said "Talk with your mouth closed." and my sister just went silent immediately.
Stupid can turn into ignorant really quickly. Here are a few examples of the not-so-harmless kind of dumb statements.
Fun fact: they don’t use the US Constitution in New Zealand. Who knew?
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After the church shooting in New Zealand, they banned guns. My coworker said that they can't do that since it violates the second amendment. We live in California.
Everyone knows New Zealand is the state below New Canada.
Uhhhhh that’s racist af.
Not to me but my husband.
He had to take an uber home from the Naval Base in San Diego (car was getting fixed) and the guy who picked my husband up was from Pakistan and they had small talk, telling him how he moved over here etc, dude was pretty cool.
My dumbass half sister whom we were staying with for a bit told him straight to his face, "Oh since you're military he probably wanted to like... murder you."
...What a f*cking ignorant, racist thing to say.
Just gonna leave this one here....
"And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, because you see it gets in the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that out."
Well that’s a new one.
A trans friend got "You're registered as a man here, so I need to hear a male voice to complete the verification of your acount."
Not the first time the cable company pulled this 'female' account 'female' voice / 'male' account 'male' voice crap. But that one time was on a whole other level.
But most of the time, dumb statements are harmless, and make for a good story down the line.
I wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face either.
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A few questions I've heard come to mind, I'm not sure which is the best/worst.
A few years ago my mom, in her 60s at the time, asked me if chipmunks grow up to be squirrels. Have you ever tried to keep a straight face while explaining to the grown-ass woman who was responsible for keeping you alive for ~18 years that chipmunks and squirrels are different animals?
In high school during a Spanish class as student asked "Do Spanish-speaking people think in Spanish?" After being told yes, her follow-up question was "Are they born speaking Spanish?" The teacher kept a straight face explaining that foreign language speakers learn their language the same as the student learned English, but there were a lot of other students laughing and brutally mocking her.
Ah yes, the two types of guitars.
Dumbest thing I ever asked was, "do you prefer playing electric or air guitar?" I really meant to say acoustic, like my dad's.
Air guitar. I don't know how to play the acoustic or electric guitars, but I never get a wrong note on the air guitar.
Did you change your birthday?
At the bank.
Teller: Is your phone number still 123-4567?
Me: Yes
T: Is your address still 123 Easy st?
M: Yes
T: Is your birthday still 01/01/2000?
M: laughing I sure as hell hope so
I can't even make fun of these. One time I asked my husband where the Newport Ferry sailed to.
Newport, obviously.
I think we all have slip-ups in our brains sometimes. It's part of being human, and hey, they stay alive as inside jokes for generations to come
Not every school offers comprehensive classes on "adulting", but wouldn't it be hugely beneficial?
Examples of such classes would include maintaining financial stability and healthy relationships; and preparing for job interviews in a professional manner – and yes, even cooking and cleaning.
According to Study International, adulting classes are not only offered in universities but also in schools through private courses and in libraries.
But what if adulting classes were mandatory additions to the school curriculum?
Wondering about the logistics of learning basic life skills as part of an academic requirement, Redditor anafaurberto asked:
"How would you feel about school taking up an extra hour every day to teach basic 'adult stuff' like washing clothes, basic cooking, paying taxes?"
Everything But The Kitchen Sink
"My rural a** school did this in the 00s.... home ec, sewing, taxes, cooking, woodworking, etc. Could even get into metal working, accounting, quilting, pottery, etc if you wanted to."
Value Of Education
"My school did the same. I was a good student but at that age you just don't realize the valuable information they're giving you, you kept the information long enough to pass the tests and then you went and got alcohol poisoning in a field while your parents thought you were at a movie with Nicole and Becki."
Fun With Pasta
"My home ec class had groups of three students try to make one pot of spaghetti and every single group's spaghetti was inedible in different ways and it made me afraid to try cooking again."
Meanwhile, In Australia
"This is kind of the basis for home ec (the main subject I teach) as it is these days in Australia. It's moved towards solution-based problem solving. Students learn about how ingredients interact with one another under different conditions, they learn about nutrition, they learn about technology in food (ranging from how UHT works to GMOs to drones in agriculture), about ethics in the food industry, food security, marketing, sustainability, etc. It's a huge subject. In their last couple of years they can choose to do a subject that is focused on cooking and the hospitality industry but they can also choose more academic subjects around food and/or health so up until then we cover all the stuff they need to know and be capable of doing to go either way. Kids fresh into high school start super basic and make a couple of very easy things with the real purpose of teaching them to be safe, work both independently and with others, write and follow a plan based on a recipe, and clean up properly. It's also when we start teaching them why they need to use brown vs white sugar and keep eggs out of the fridge for baking, etc. At my school it's mandatory in their first year and after that they can choose."
Swedish Options
"We have this in Sweden."
"Sewing and woodworking are the two options of 'crafting' class. You get to try both and then pick one to stick with."
"We have 'hemkunskap' (maybe it's called something different now, this is middle school/junior high stuff and I'm 30 this year so been a while), directly translating to 'home knowledge,' where, at least when I did it, mostly did cooking, but there was some classes and tests on washing clothes, cleaning and such things. Some home economy as well."
"There was nothing on taxes afaik, but here I pay taxes by logging into our equivalent of the IRS's website and press a button."
Definitely 'No' To Extra Class Hours
"My school had a class like that, most of the classmates didn't pay attention and now complain 10 years later that they never learned about taxes and credit card interest. Also some parents were super upset about the school 'overstepping' their boundaries by teaching basic budgeting, I can't imagine that situation has gotten any better in the last 10 years. I'm not against the class being taught, but at the at the end of the day you have to realize that all that stuff is easily learned once you are an adult with just a minimum amount of research - if someone isn't taking the 15 minutes it takes to learn how to wash their clothes properly or watch a youtube video for a basic recipe as an adult when they actually need to do those things to function, no way in hell as a teen would they pay attention to a class that tried to teach them that. It's still a good idea to have the class, but it isn't some magical fix everyone seems to think it is.
I am against the adding an extra hour of school though on top of regular school though."
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Attentions Spans
"Right? I mean, there's a class on budgeting and credit cards already. IT's call Math class and everybody hates it and doesn't pay attention. I blew people's minds in high school one day by actually USING the quadratic formula to find the maximum of something. That's like the first thing you cover when you get to quadratics."
"Other things that are teaching actual skills like home ec or woodworking are fine and should be encouraged more. But everybody looking around and wondering why they weren't told about interest rates isn't paying attention in math class. Full stop."
Would Be A "Full-Time Job"
"I'd be opposed to the extra hour. But not the activities."
"School was already an 8 hour a day thing, pushing it up to 9 hours means it actually becomes longer than a full time job. And that's before you get to homework and sh*t like that."
No Obligation
"I agree. It could be done as an elective. These are things that could and should be taught by parents, but they aren't things all parents know, and not all kids have parents who would take the time to teach them either way. It should be available for kids who want it, but not required, and certainly not adding an extra hour to the school day."
Enough Is Enough
"Lets be real. It's already pushing overtime every single week. We just had to take our work home with us and spend an hour (or more) working on it every night. Hell, some kids push 50+ hours every week."
Here's The Point Of Education:
"Schools have these already and the kids in them don't care. It's not immediately relevant to their lives so they don't pay attention. Sorta like if I were to talk to you about the do's and don'ts of denture cream. You say, 'eh, I'll figure it out later when I need to know it' and stop paying attention."
"I've taught in several schools that have tried to teach social skills, kindness, meditation, financial literacy, etc. In every case, the kids did not care. It was their least favorite part of the day because it felt like a waste of time."
"The point of education is to teach thinking, not doing. A well-educated student can teach themselves these things. A quick Google search can teach you how to file taxes, cook, etc. But you can't Google how to do Algebra 2 and expect to understand what you read without some background in the subject matter."
"Edit: I got upvotes? Now I'm mad with power, so I'll say this:"
"I hear arguments like this post all the time, and I think the real issue is people not taking responsibility. 'I can't cook? That must be the school's fault! We need education reform!' No, it's not the school's fault. It's your fault. You could literally Google a recipe in 20 seconds. Stop blaming other people for your problems."
"People don't realize that the point of education isn't to teach facts, but the change your brain. For example, physics and math majors earn the highest scores in the MCAT, GMAT, and LSAT. It's not because they learned those things in class, but because their curriculum emphasizes logical thinking. When students slack in schoolwork, they're not just missing out on the opportunity to know stuff; they're missing out on the opportunity to be smarter."
– gman4734
It's About Developing The Brain
"People don't understand that education is more about developing the brain rather than retaining knowledge."
"You can easily obtain knowledge from reading a book or watching videos. But education forces you to do stuff like read and write a lot or practice a lot of math problems. Those tasks help develop the brain and develop critical thinking skills."
"Even undergrad programs in engineering are not really meant to retain knowledge. They are meant to wire the brain to think like an engineer. Most of your knowledge in engineering is going to come from training you receive in industry and just working in projects in industry."
A good majority of Redditors believed that any additional time spent at school for the sake of acquiring adulting skills was a waste of time.
The argument that students go to school to learn how to learn remained a compelling one, and that the discovery of how to cook or doing laundry was either a quick Google or YouTube search away.
Because spending more time at school than necessary is awesome, said no one, ever.