Author: McKenzie Lynn Tozan

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Married Couples Confess How Often They Actually Have Sex With Their Partner

Relationships come in all shapes and sizes and, of course, with all different types of sex drives.

ACES exist and can be happily married, after all.

Married couples got together on Reddit to share how often they actually had sex with their partners. Some even shared how long they had been together or how happy they were as a couple.

Some of the responses were really telling, and others were absolutely surprising.

Redditor David-Davis1 asked:

“Married couples, how frequently do you have sex with your partner?”

Some were familiar with dead bedrooms.

“What is this ‘sex’ thing you speak of?” – ThinkingGoldfish

“When she feels like it. So. Once every few months.”

“And before I get the ‘but don’t you talk to her about it,’ yeah, we’re 22 years in, and we’ve had all the f**king discussions, conversations, etc. it’s when she wants. I’m tired of being rejected.” – wormholeweapons

“Same here, and it sucks – married 22 years, and it’s been nearly four years since she felt like it.” – PacmanTurnerOvadrive

“Used to have a very healthy sex life. Currently, have a 12-week-old child. We occasionally refer to him as ‘our cute c**kblock.’ So yes, at the minute, almost never.” – haveyouseenmywetsuit

“23 years. Used to be 2-3 per week. Haven’t touched each other in 3 years though. Not sure we’ll make 25.” – kurt_go_bang

Others were more familiar with the events that killed the bedroom magic.

“Is she carrying the larger share of the emotional load for both of your lives? Does she do all the organization and administration for your home, kids, vacations, holidays, etc?”

“Because if she does, then I expect she’s tired and doesn’t feel close to you or loved by you. Love is a verb, what are you doing to love her?”

“And by that, I don’t mean instigating sex. Sex comes because everything else is in balance. You should both be the same amount of tired at bedtime, you’re a team.” – fairiestoldmeto

“It’s the mental load. My husband does stuff but it’s me who organizes it. For example, cooking is the easy part. Someone has to decide what to have for meals, do the shopping, etc. And that’s me.”

“We both work full-time but because I am available at times to get kids to school and run them to sports etc., I have to fit it all in. It’s f**king exhausting and I’m not interested in sex at all because I have no time to myself.” – tinkleberry2

“There’s also the social labor! Birthdays, holidays, events, picking out what someone will wear, buying gifts, organizing travel, etc.” – JillianWho

“My wife has a number of mental health issues and the meds have basically turned her off of sex altogether. It’s rough but I guess the alternative is she goes off meds and commits s**cide, so I will just deal with the no sex.” – ThickumsMagoo

“My wife had a low sex drive when she was breastfeeding each of our kids. She’s still breastfeeding the second but going to stop soon… I broke my back 3 years ago and was on some medications.. my sex drive was low… it can be a vicious cycle.”

“Women tend to want to have sex when there is a lot of help, support, non-sexual affection… Men sometimes only feel loved when there is physical affection.. it can get out of control when both partners are building their respective control wall.” – ggs_golf

“This needs to be something more men/people understand. You can’t expect sex just because you are married. It’s HIGHLY unattractive to have a SO (significant other) that puts in the bare minimum when it comes to kids and house chores.”

“I work full-time also but still do the majority of the house/baby work. We have sex when I want it and that’s pretty much it. If you don’t put forth effort, don’t expect your SO to want to have sex all the time.” – T00tSw33t090

But some responses were promising.

“12 years of marriage and 17 total years together. We usually have sex about 2-3 times a week.” – TheRaistLine

“If we are busy with work, then it’s once every other week. When we’re on holiday, off work or have a low work period. 2-3 times a week.” – laugh_if_you_agree

“I don’t have kids but I found that once I went from living apart to living together, the sex increased a bit simply because we only had really been seeing each other once a week or so.”

“When we moved in together, suddenly it was like, ‘”ow, it’s 5:30 on a Tuesday afternoon and I can just have sex? Let’s do it!’” – lupuscapabillus

“Find the right woman, and marriage is wonderful. The ‘spark’ turns into a full-on bonfire some days and those days are really great.”

“I don’t think the spark leaves, I just think people stop trying or stop caring about the marriage, which leads to sex becoming a weapon or a reward or something. Marriages take work. You realize it’s no longer the goal to ‘get married,’ you know?”

“It’s just the start of a new way to do things, but you definitely have to keep the fire lit and if you do a good job, you can keep a nice little fire going all the time that at any moment you or your spouse can just add a bit of fuel to the fire and off you go.” – betterthanamaster

“I’m excited to get married. It’s a mixed bag. Some marriages are so filled with love.” – jesse-james-

Others were less frequent but still acceptable.

“Twice a week (Wednesdays and Saturday or Sunday).”

“0 points for spontaneity.”

“10 points for consistency” – steelingjackalope317

“For parents, you’ll get into the golden period, though, with kids where they take these long naps in the middle of the day and then sleep through the night, usually around 12 months to 24 months.”

“Some days it’ll be rough because babies can be handsy and make mom or dad just feel over-touched, but more often, you get the kid down and unless you have to be somewhere or do something, you’ll jump each other.”

“And that sex is great sex because you both know it could end at any time. Kind of like a feeling of, ‘Ooh, we shouldn’t be doing this. What if someone (the baby) catches us?’ It’s fun.” – betterthanamaster

“We have a tween and busy schedules – I just never want our child to hear… so probably 2-5x a month… if we have time to ourselves or if the kid is away, it’s daily, lol (laughing out loud)… but it’s still amazing, and crave each other. Just complicated with kiddos and life.” – No_Interaction7679

“Together 13 years, married 5. Sometimes twice a day, sometimes twice a month. Sometimes life gets in the way, sometimes we can’t get enough of each other.” – NotMeBuyMyCat

“Been living together for 4 years, married for 2. Usually 3-5 times a week, depending on how we’re feeling. There’s some fluctuation based on hormones and overall wellness, and some based on time of year, but very seldom less than 3 times a week.”

“We have a good time. We’ve been working from home together since the pandemic, and we have significantly more sex just due to proximity. Honestly, the pandemic has been a net positive for our relationship, weirdly enough.” – Cadwaladur

These responses were incredibly eye-opening about relationships, including the fact marriage, length of the relationship, or even the amount of sex, do not guarantee happiness.

Rather, it’s about the couple and that each person’s needs are being met.

Whether that means getting together twice a week or twice a year, that’s up to them.

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People Break Down The Greatest Comebacks To An Insult They’ve Ever Heard

We’ve all encountered a bully or a person who likes to throw insults around for no good reason.

But only some of us feel gifted in the ability to throw shade back at the person.

When we think of a snappy reply or come across someone else’s, the burn almost feels like something worth celebrating.

Redditor random-joe-shmoe asked:

“What is the greatest comeback to an insult you have ever heard?”

There were, of course, endowment jokes.

“On a construction site one afternoon, different trades were working in the same area. Like silly team sports, the sparkies always hang with the sparkies and the turd wranglers always hang with the turd wranglers and anytime they’re together it turns into a pointless dick-measuring contest (usually not literally)!”

“One particularly childish exchange saw two men chopping back and forth- my dick biggest, blah blah blah. Finally one of em spits out this classic:”

“‘I’ve got girth like a can of corn!’”

“And the clap back was unforgettable:”

“‘But you’ve got length like a can of tuna!’”

“Everyone busted up. Mister girth tried to hide his embarrassment but was tied-up. No come-back. And a room of men laughing uncontrollably.”

“Good times…” – heathenbeast

“My grandma got into a fight at the grocery store with a guy who told my 9-year-old brother to ‘move the f**k out of the way.’”

“They were going at it and his final words were, ‘Suck my d**k, b***h!’”

“She said across the store, ‘If I could find it, b***h!’”

“Not at Walmart. Even better – ALDI.” – grimmreaper514

Others made comebacks about their bodies.

“In middle school, a boy asked when I was going to grow some boobs. So I asked him when he was donating his……”

“I’m still really proud of that one.”

“Edit: I didn’t expect this to blow up. But I remember this clearly:”

“He was walking out of the English class I was walking into. We met at the doorway and were chest to chest.”

“And he looks me in the eye and said, ‘Grow some tits.’”

“Without missing a beat, I deadpanned, ‘Donate yours.’”

“Then I proceeded to proudly walk to my desk with a big smile.”

“Also, I did eventually grow some boobs. They are small but they are nice.” – Jaci_D

Some kids made some great jokes.

“Had a friend growing up who had an adopted brother a year or so younger. They would always talk s**t and fight a bit here and there.”

“One time my friend said to his brother that he was adopted and can go f**k off (he knew he was adopted).”

“Without missing a beat, he shot back at my friend, ‘Yeah well, clearly you weren’t enough for mom and dad. That’s why they bought me.’”

“Yes, he used the word ‘bought.’” – Atlv0486

“I have a bunch but one of the more memorable ones was back in 8th grade. For context, I didn’t make the basketball team in 7th grade, but I made the team in 8th grade.”

“This kid that was on the team the previous year but didn’t make it currently was really upset and telling me how bad I am and blah blah blah.”

“I told him that if he is better than me, then why didn’t he make the team, and he replied with, ‘It’s just cause of my grades, bro.’”

“So I replied with, ‘Oh so you’re just f**king stupid then?’”

“He gave up cause it was either accept that he was bad or accept he was an idiot, so…” – wuesteworld

“My sister started saying ‘go to h**l’ as a moody, often rude, teenager. She is a couple of years older than me.”

“One day she said it to me after she’d been chastised by our dad – for something she had done.”

“I usually shrugged off her insults because they were meaningless. This day, however, I retorted, ‘Why would I go anywhere you are?’”

“I’m still pleased with my 13-year-old brain for that one. I do remember her slamming her bedroom door as her comeback.” – shining_tiger

“Your mom” jokes never seem to go out of style.

“I was bulls**tting with a couple of buddies, and may have suggested that I banged one of their moms, to which said friend replied, ‘My mom’s dead.’”

“My mouth bypassed my brain and replied, ‘That explains the dirt.’” – CGPsaint

“English class in Middle School:”

“Kid A – ‘yo, Kid B, your mama waited on me at McDonald’s last night. Must feel like s**t having a mom that works at McDonald’s.’”

“Kid B – ‘At least MY mom gets out of bed to go to work.’”

“English teacher far louder than he realized, ‘DAYUM!’”

“The rest of us were laughing so hard, the teacher next door popped her head in to see what was going on…” – Nutella_Zamboni

Some said jokes and comebacks were all in the timing.

“I saw a clip of a standup comedian the other day, and he said something along the lines of, ‘The first time I had sex, it was terrible… the first time I had sex…’”

“A woman chimed in with, ‘You mean yesterday?’”

“The crowd laughed for a while, and while the comedian is waiting for them to calm down, you can see the gears turning in his head.”

“Once it gets down to basically a few chuckles, he just said, ‘Glad you remember,’ and the crowd just lost their s**t, it was amazing.” – JacenCaedus1

“I have a twin brother. I’m older.”

“He once told me when I came out, they knew it was a mistake and immediately tried again.”

“I told him he was the ‘Buy one, Get one of equal or lesser value free’ deal.”

“There was a fight after that one.” – dustyrags

While we’re not all great at giving someone a comeback in the moment, we can all appreciate those moments when we surprise ourselves, or when someone else achieves the perfect clapback.

These comments are often witty or brutal, perhaps even surprising, but the best thing generally is how memorable these moments are, even decades later.

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People Divulge Their Weirdly Interesting Family Facts

Families are full of all kinds of secrets and surprising moments, and it’s important that we keep them in the family.

But sometimes, in the anonymity of a Reddit thread, some of the truth comes out.

Redditor QueenMoogle asked:

“What are some weird or interesting facts about your families?”

There was talk of family trees.

“I placed my newborn for adoption (open adoption, chose the family myself). A few years later my sister got pregnant and placed her newborn with the same family.”

“So the children are growing up as siblings and are cousins by blood. (This was over 20 years ago.)” – ihateknickknacks

“Not that unheard of but my husband likes to tell people about when he first met my family. He went with me to visit one side (my Mother’s family) for Thanksgiving and met many of my Uncles, Aunts, and cousins.”

“The next day, we were going to have Thanksgiving on my other side (my Father’s family). When we walked in the door that next day, he stopped and his eyes got really wide, and he loudly whispered, “These are the same people,’ and I went, ‘Yeah, I know… surprise!’”

“My mother’s brother married my father’s sister and my mother’s other sister married my father’s first cousin.”

“And then if that isn’t confusing enough, my Grandmother and Grandfather were first cousins when they got married. (legal as he was adopted as a teenager).”

“My Grandmother said she did this so she never had to change her last name and she was the only girl short enough for him. My Grandfather was only 5 ft 2 inches and my Grandmother was 5 ft. Both came from Canada. Out of their 8 children, including two sons, the tallest is one of my aunts at 5 ft. 4 in. Luckily my mother (5 ft) married my dad who was 6ft 2 inch so we at least have some height in our family.” – Tbjkbe

“We recently found out that I have at least 5 half-siblings because my parents decided it would be nice (and financially beneficial) for my dad to make some donations around the time I was born.” – BananaMantis

Some had some tough family history to accept. 

“My great grandfather got in a fight with his sister when he was 12, said ‘F**k this,’ asked for work on a boat as a cabin boy, got on a ship, and left England.”

“He never went back. We have no idea if that side of the family even knows he survived, but I kind of want to go to the English town and tell my distantly extended family, ‘So you know that little kid in your family history who just sort of disappeared? Well, he lived! Surprise!’”

“Another great grandfather stole a cannon from China (which my grandfather blew up accidentally with my dad nearby), then left his future descendants a letter, telling us, ‘If you still have this last name and go to this part of China, don’t mention your name. They might still be pretty p**sed off that I stole their cannon.’”

“A few generations back, a dude got kicked out of Norway for getting his maid and his sister pregnant. When he got to the US, he then befriended another guy from Scandinavia and stole his wife.”

“It’s funny because part of the family laughs about this, and part refuses to admit it ever happened even though we have proof it did.” – Vonozar

“My great grandmothers maiden name was Messerschmidt. rumor has it that a relative designed the Messerschmidt planes in Germany during the first world war. There’s no way to prove it though.”

“And on the other side of the family, My great-great grandfather’s name was James Potter.” – shroomie19

“My great uncle was in the car with JFK when he was assassinated.” – Sterling_-_Archer

“My grandfather was the first Black aerospace engineer in the United States.” – cycloneju51

“My great grandparents both worked for Thomas Edison, which is how they met. That great-grandmother is super bada**, too… she came to the States when she was 15 and didn’t speak English, just as the German Depression was getting bad.”

“She had to teach herself English and raise enough money to bring her starving family over from Germany to join her here. She lost all her savings in the US stock market crash and had to start all over, but she did it!”

“Okay, I talked to my mom and I was mistaken. Only my great-grandmother worked for him originally, and she met my great-grandfather while in NYC with Edison and his second wife.”

“She went out with a friend who was also German, who brought her out with a group of German friends, which is where she met my great-grandfather. After they were married, he too went to work for Edison, and that’s where I got the story mixed up. I’m sorry for the error!”

“Also, a commenter asked how they thought of him, since Edison was known as kind of a jerk. I copied my reply from another comment here:”

“So I asked my mom, and she said that her grandmother never felt he liked her very much. She was maid to him and his second wife toward the end of his life.”

“When she brought him meals or came in to tidy up, he wouldn’t speak to her and wouldn’t even make eye contact.”

“He was able to be up and walking around the grounds and conversing with others though, and he always wondered if it was because of her station, or because she was German.” – joey1115

Others were incredibly impressed by their family histories. 

“We only die in March. Dogs, grandparents, uncles, we all die in March.” – AnarchyBea

“I had an ancestor who lied about his age to join up with the Union Army in the American Civil War in 1861. He fought in most of its bloodiest battles: Antietam, Shiloh, and Gettysburg to name a few.”

“He survived all of those to come home to the family farm at the end of the war, where he promptly died of a fever he had picked up in camp.” – captainthomas

“My grandad was poisoning my nan’s tea with rat poison for ages. She was documenting it and told the police, they did a huge bust on him and arrested him in front of all their kids (inc. my mum).”

“In court, he admitted to it, he agreed to all the charges, he did the deed. Eventually, the judge, flummoxed, asked ‘… But why?’”

“And his answer was, ‘Because we agreed to it.’”

“Apparently, they had made an agreement to use rat poison to home-treat her deep vein thrombosis (this brand was basically a blood thinner so the rats couldn’t clot when they got injured, and they both distrust doctors). This woman is crazy and I fully believe my grandad’s side.”

“The case got thrown out of court.” – Howlingz

While some secrets are hard for us to accept, especially when they relate to our families, many of the truths in our families are what helped form our families into what they are, from the family tree itself to important involvement in history.

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People Share The Most Useless Advice They Ever Received

As we come up to new milestones, we may find ourselves face-to-face with a life experience we don’t know how to navigate.

While this reasonably will lead us to ask those around us for advice, that doesn’t necessarily mean the advice we will receive will actually be useful.

Redditor PsychedelicAirFusion asked:

“What’s the worst advice you have ever received?”

Some Redditors discussed mental health.

“‘Don’t be depressed, you have nothing to be depressed about.’”

“I hate any advice, especially concerning mental health, that invalidates or considers anyone’s personal situation as a reason why they can’t have x condition.”

“Yes, I had a good home life and a good childhood. But that doesn’t make my brain produce more dopamine or serotonin. I can’t just ‘get over it’ or stop feeling sad.”

“I was encouraged by my mom to stop taking my medication because it would have ‘long-term effects’ on me. She may not be wrong, but I think perpetual sadness and depression are worse.”

“I took control of my own mental health once I realized it wasn’t shameful to do so. It was way later than it needed to be. I’m doing better but there are still things I need to work on.” – dawrina

“‘Don’t go on meds, just exercise’ for depression.”

“Meds ended up practically saving my life.” – Introvertedpanda3

“My mom told me not to ‘bother’ one of my boyfriends by talking about my mental health issues. She said he doesn’t need to hear about it and it’ll just overwhelm him and make him more likely to break up with me.”

“I ignored that advice, and my current boyfriend and I frequently talk about our mental health issues and it makes us stronger.” – mrwilliamschue

There was a mention of addiction.

“When I realized I was an alcoholic at 21, I opened up to a friend and they said, ‘We’re supposed to be young and wild and free! There’s nothing wrong with that!’”

“I lost 3 more years of my life to drinking and a suicide attempt before I got sober at 24 – I’ll have 3 years in February! (No thanks to her)” – OrganizationQuiet470

Some received terrible relationship advice. 

“To break up with the girl I was dating because I felt unsure about it.”

“From there she became my girlfriend, I moved in with her, we moved to a bigger house, got married, and took a dog and now we plan for children.”

“Meanwhile, most of those friends only had short-lived relationships with long single periods for years. I think they are the ones doing something wrong.” – Lvcivs2311

“‘You weren’t physically abused so just get over it, it wasn’t that bad.’”

“Bro, I was mentally, verbally, and financially abused for two years straight by someone who was supposed to love me.”

“He pointed out insecurities I didn’t even realize I had, putting my self-esteem so low that for literally the first time in my life, I started to have very intense suicidal thoughts. And now I have an extremely hard time trusting anyone that comes into my life in a romantic sense because I’m convinced that the same thing is going to happen again.”

“I would love to just get over it. I would love to be the person I was before I met my ex. I would love to just have my self-esteem back and love to not to be as anxious as I am.”

“But I’m not. It took me almost a year, and getting back with him briefly to realize it WAS that bad. Maybe he didn’t beat the s**t out of me, but he made me believe that I was someone that wasn’t worthy of love. It was absolutely that bad and it’s going to take a long time before I completely heal from the trauma he caused.” – Pear_Jam2

“Only make friends with people who are of a higher ‘status’ than you are so you can use them to better your situation.”

“This came from my paternal unit (PU) when I was about 15 (in response to a new friendship of mine with the daughter of a cemetery worker*) and I knew it was pure bulls**t the second he said it. Lost all remaining shreds of respect for him in that moment.”

“*his job mattered to the PU, which is the only reason I mention it.” – maggie081670

Others received questionable advice for their futures.

“April 2008 – ‘You should really look into buying a house instead of renting.’ I started the process of getting preapproved and looking, but for some reason decided to wait.” – ioncloud9

“When my wife and I were looking for houses, my manager at the time called to ask how the house hunting was going.”

“At this time, I was rumored to be up for a promotion that would be a rather sizable boost in salary, about $1,200 a month. There was absolutely no guarantee when this promotion could hypothetically take place.”

“He said, ‘Here’s the thing, I could be a finance guy doing this s**t for a living, but I couldn’t stop smoking weed long enough to finish college — don’t buy something that suits you now, because you’re always going to wish you would have gone bigger.’”

“He continued, ‘Buy something that you can grow into. You’re going to be making a lot more money soon, so buy something you almost don’t even feel comfortable buying.’”

“I bought a house well within our means, got promoted a few months later, now have a huge disposable income. Glad I didn’t think his advice was sound.” – Forwardbase_Kodai

“I was told by a guidance counselor as an incoming freshman (who didn’t know me from anyone else, by the way) that taking more than one honors course plus being in Band was too much.”

“My mom was persuaded. I had to fight both of them to ignore the advice. I ended up taking every honors and AP course possible throughout high school, finishing with a perfect 4.0 GPA, then doing the same in college.”

“Don’t take advice on what you should or shouldn’t do from someone who doesn’t know you. Always take into account your personal strengths and weaknesses when considering any advice in life.” – Kooky_Finding8516

While the people expressing these pieces of advice might have been earnest, these definitely weren’t the shiniest gems of advice we’ve ever seen.

The glowing takeaway here seems to be to understand yourself, what you need, what you want and what you’re capable of.

If you remain honest about that, you’ll make a better decision than any of this advice could lead you to.

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People Break Down Which Things Are Far More Dangerous Than Anyone Realizes

So many of us find ourselves settled into routines, where we start to forget the reality of our situation.

We forget the beauty in our day-to-day lives, we forget the things we were once grateful for, and of course, we forget the things we should remain wary of.

Redditor FrenchDude1000 asked:

“What’s dangerous but most people don’t realize it?”

Two Redditors pointed out batteries and fires.

“Lithium ion batteries. If they’re punctured or catch fire its extremely difficult to put out. Their fumes are also very toxic.” – bugz1452

“Fires in general. You know how in movies they cover their mouth with a wet cloth and then run through smoke without issues?”

“Might have worked a long time ago but try that in real life, especially in a fire caused by batteries, and you will collapse after a few steps even if you hold your breath. The toxic smoke gets absorbed through the skin and your muscles will lock up almost instantly.” – RevozZ-ETSE

Others talked about some people’s everday routines.

“A bad diet and sedentary lifestyle. Most people don’t think about how these two can lead to an incredible amount of health problems and how they can remain asymptomatic for years and suddenly have a heart attack or stroke.” – IntelligentMeat138

“I have relatives that are like this. Most of them got away with it for awhile.”

“Age 30: ‘I’m out of shape, but my doctor says I’m in good health!’”

“Age 40: ‘I’m out of shape, but my doctor says I’m in good health!’”

“Age 50: ‘I’m out of shape, and need a knee replacement. Other than that, I’m fine!’”

“Age 60: ‘I have diabetes, need my leg amputated and had a stroke. Other than that, I’m fine!’” – HandyDrunkard

“Eight years ago this month. I had had surgery and my husband was off to take care off me. Day after surgery he tells me he doesn’t feel well and wouldn’t get out of bed. I was p**sed and left him in bed.”

“At 6pm that same day, I went upstairs to check on him. His speech sounded weird. I put my hand on his head and was shocked by how hot his fever was.”

“Flip the side lamp on and see he is swollen ear to collar bone. Tell him we are going to the ER. He didn’t want to go but I made him.”

“Getting through triage the dr comes to check in. He takes me into the hall and tells me had I let him go back to sleep he would have never woke up. He had gone septic.”

“The following day he had a five hour surgery followed by a week in the hospital.”

“Please DON’T ignore tooth pain. I still feel guilty that I didn’t check on him sooner.” – still_hate_pancakes

“There are so many dangerous side effects of lack of sleep…”

“Heart disease, Heart attack, Heart failure, Irregular heartbeat, High blood pressure, Stroke, Diabetes, Depression, Lack of libido, Paranoia, Dumbness, Brain fog, Accidents, Agression, Faster aging, Weight gain, The list goes on…” – LifeCoachAnonymous

Some talked about the everyday routine of driving a car. 

“Driving. The forces involved in driving are way above anything the human body can withstand should things go wrong. All the safety features built into cars lead us to believe that it’s a safe activity, which encourages additional risky behaviors like texting.”

“Everybody should be hyper-focused while driving down the highway at 80mph, but almost everybody is doing something else in addition to driving.” – Sidivan

“Waaay too many people drive recklessly: Tailgating, cutting people off, speeding, just to name a few.”

“These behaviors put everyone around the reckless driver at risk. The laws of physics don’t care about who was driving or who was in the legal right.” – pretty-as-a-pic

“I give people s**t for texting in the car, but I do stupid crap like change the audiobook cd. Like, locating the next one from the case with one hand.”

“A friend’s 19-year-old daughter was just in a horrible accident – hit a tree while fumbling with stereo. She’ll recover but yecch, stitches and broken ribs.” – Lucinnda

“People think you double the forces when you double the speed. Nope. You quadruple the total force. AND the stopping distance.” – 0001010001

“And people think that all-seeing self-driving cars are too dangerous. They don’t need to be perfect. They just need to be safer than than us.” – cutelyaware

Speaking of cars: there’s also carseat safety to worry about. 

“90% of children are improperly restrained in the car.”

“I spent a decade as a CPST and the things I’ve seen are deeply upsetting knowing they’re easily fixable with an hour or two of effort.”

“I’ve seen children internally decapitated. Parents put their kids in car seats forward facing far too early, booster seats before they’re truly large enough, coats under the straps, straps never properly tightened.”

“Car accidents are still a leading cause of death. The awareness has gotten better in the last 15 years but with plenty of room for improvement.”

“If you have a child, please make an appointment with a certified CPST whenever they are big enough for their next seat or seating position. It’s worth the effort.”

“Also, not every fire fighter is a CPST. The goal is to teach YOU how to install the seat, not to have them do it for you.” – bionicback

Some were concerned about negative work conditions.

“Toxic workplaces. Stay there long enough and you will hate life itself.” – pk1950

“I recently quit my job for this reason. The next two weeks will be rough and even worse later unless I find another job within that time. I got money saved up so I’m set for a few months.”

“In the end though, TOTALLY worth it. F**k grocery stores!” – comeallwithme

“This was me. Co-workers doing minimal work. Was labelled as introvert and anti-anti-social for picking up the slack.”

“It impressed in me how they can get away with it so long as they talk up any minor work and making it sound huge.” – SadSkirt4441

“9 years of this s**t. It’s like cancer. The anger and negativity spreads to all corners of your life and causes all sorts of physical/mental health issues.” – inaka_

Others were concerned about people underestimating nature.

“THE SUN. Skin cancer is a major killer that is easily preventable by wearing sunscreen. Sun damage is more significant than many people realize and it’s such an easy thing to avoid.” – theredditdetective1

“ALL wild animals are dangerous, even if they don’t look it. Most people know that large predators like mountain lions and bears are dangerous, but many underestimate herbivores and/or smaller animals like deer and squirrels.”

“A lot of people assume smaller animals/herbivores are tame, and try to get close or even touch them.”

“This is extremely dangerous – these animals don’t understand humans, and an animal that feels cornered or threatened will lash out to try and escape. Please keep a safe and respectful distance from any animal you don’t know!” – pretty-as-a-pic

“My rabbits have hurt more people in the family than all cats and dogs we’ve had over 16 years. Not viciously, just in prey-response escape efforts. And they are tame.”

“I’ve seen videos of squirrels, wild rabbits, and other cute little forest creatures shred humans who get too close. Deer, moose and other large herbivores can kill an adult human with a single well placed kick.”

“A nature park warned us to keep our hands inside the vehicle around the zebra, because they will bite and can sheer a whole arm off.” – ColourSchemer

“Running water is crazy powerful! I think that running water at knee height if going fast enough is enough to sweep you away.”

“I remember there was a post a while ago where someone did the math that like a fast enough stream of 6″ or 12″ of water was enough to sweep a car away because if the car moved at all the friction of the tires would just give way.” – ta-210110

Shares like this are a great reminder that, while there are things we often forget to be grateful for, there are also things we should understandably be more cautious around.

Stay safe out there, folks.

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Cruise Ship Staff Share The Most Disturbing Insider Secrets All Passengers Should Know

Whether we’ve been on such a trip before or not, many of us enjoy ruminating on the fun that could be had on a comforting cruise.

But after hearing from some Redditors with cruise ship experience, the voyage may not be as merry and happy-go-lucky as we might have thought.

Redditor maudiestirling asked:

“Cruise ship staff of Reddit (cleaners in particular), what are some disturbing secrets passengers should know?”

Some came ready to deliver.

“A lot of people die. Depending on the line, it’s not unusual for a couple a week.”

“Depending on the age of the ship, there are decent odds someone died in that room.”

“Also, if you receive an upgrade mid-cruise, there’s a reason why a room is suddenly available.” – Watertightdoors

“That if you die onboard at sea from something other than natural causes (heart attack, old age), your death will probably not be investigated properly.”

“Ships need to get back to port on time to load up the next set of passengers. Which means details are swept under the rug.” – cruisefromottawa

“Especially if you’re on a flag of convenience ship far from that country’s territory. Panama, Liberia, or Malta aren’t going to send someone across the world for one homicide.”

“If the death happens in international waters, the country of the ship’s registry is what law applies and who has the right to prosecute.”

“Only Malta might even try and that’s assuming you were near an EU port where they might be bound to investigate as part of being a member.” – SouffleStevens

“I was touring a ship for a future event. The ship was about to leave for a 100+ day cruise.”

“I saw a lot of old people getting on with oxygen tanks. I asked him what happens if they die on board.”

“He said it was very common for old people blow their life savings to come to spend their last days on this cruise. He also said they have a fully functional morgue.” – Crusha79

“I’ve been working on ships for almost a decade now, engineering department. When the Eb*la scare of 2014 went down, I was crewing a passenger ferry.”

“During a safety meeting, someone asked what would happen if we got a passenger showing symptoms.”

“We were told the ship would be quarantined until the disease had run its course. Imagine just sitting in the bay on an Eb*la ridden ship.” – i_hate_msds

Others said disappearances are common, as well.

“There have been a few relatively high-profile cases where someone has disappeared from a cruise ship, there are plenty of places to hide.”

“Rebecca Coriam and Amy Lynn Bradley are two of the most well-known ones.” – Chalantcop

“On my last cruise, my wife and I were woken up at 3:30AM by the Captain over the loudspeakers throughout the entire ship. He announced that a 15-year-old girl was missing, requested anyone with any info call a specific number.”

“It was really unsettling to be woken up like that and given that information. My wife and I started talking about it and I remember saying, ’15-year-old girl on a cruise in the Caribbean unsupervised, all this booze flying around? She’s been raped, murdered, stuffed into a suitcase, and thrown overboard.’”

“My wife just stared at me disgusted and asked, ‘What the f**k is wrong with you that you would think that?’ Law and Order SVU, my dear, that’s what.”

“About 15 minutes later the Captain came back to announce they found her safe and sound. She was in the library and fell asleep (SURE she was.) Still, it was unsettling and left an impression on me.” – dinosaur_copilot

Some stressed the importance of traveler’s insurance.

“Getting airlifted off a ship in a medical emergency costs a fortune, and your insurance will likely not cover it. It’s the best reason for purchasing travel insurance.” – Scrappy_Larue

“Travel insurance is also cheap. I think it was $20 for a week for me and my wife the last time we traveled. Included like $1 million in airlifting coverage on top of other stuff.” – RedTib

Some talked about work conditions and expectations.

“I was a musician on cruise ships for a year. As mentioned before, you’re not going to get cleaners on here because their work schedule is a disturbing secret. Anyone that works below deck and not always in view of passengers usually works 70-80 hour weeks while sharing a cabin the size of a closet with 4 people.”

“Also, crew members from India aren’t allowed to get off the ship in the US during their first contract (maybe two, can’t remember) because too many Indian cruise ship workers would get off the ship and never come back.” – whiteglassfan

“Are the stewards trained to read minds? Or are they just amazing at their jobs? Do they have monitors watching the doors to see when you leave so they can clean?”

“I was taken along on a ladies cruise by a cruise-crazy family member (husband’s aunt), and I’d never been on a cruise before. We stayed in the Concierge level (because the one who was paying was posh).”

“My room steward was a Filipino man and he absolutely made my stay amazing. I asked about an extra pillow one day to use as a body pillow, and he took pillows and sheets and made me this big Tootsie roll thing for a body pillow. Every day it was rerolled with a clean sheet.”

“I loved the toiletries and used up an entire bottle of lotion every day on my sunburnt body, so each day I began finding 3 bottles of lotion with the clean towels.”

I ordered an iced tea with 2 lemons in 2my room after dinner 2 nights in a row and for the remaining nights of the trip, when I came back to my cabin after dinner there was a cold iced tea, 2 lemons each time.”

“I swear, the second I left the room for meals it got cleaned or turned down or fancied up.”

“I was a poor slob who spent a week feeling like a queen because of that guy.”

“I asked my posh host about tipping etiquette at the end and she gave me an envelope for him. It had $400 in it. I added another $100 from my spending money.”

“He made the trip for me. Thank you, Filipino steward dude on my Celebrity cruise in April 2013, you rock.” – chickenpants80

There were also some gambling tricks. 

“Not sure if it’s true or not, but a casino staff member told us that the poker machine payouts are set higher in the first two days to make you win, and thus make you want to play more.”

“Then as the ship enters international waters, they don’t need to have the same regulated payout percentages and it gets lowered to like 50 percent, so you have a very very slim chance at winning anything after the first few days.” – smallpotatoes_

“This is why gambling on poker machines is so utterly stupid – they can be programmed to deliver payouts whenever the owners want.”

“It’s not like gambling on roulette, or a card game: those are based on physical objects which can’t be manipulated like a computer program can.”

“H**l, you could program a poker machine to never pay out, but you can’t stop a roulette ball from falling in slots with a particular probability.” – humanoid12345

It may be fun to go on a cruise, but this particular group of Redditors was ready to remind us the trip may not be as great as it appears to be.

Even if we don’t see something worrisome on our trip doesn’t mean there was nothing to worry about.

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People Explain Which Facts May Sound Fake But Are Absolutely True

A lot of us enjoy discovering unusual and wild facts, but honestly, sometimes the facts we discover are so out there, we struggle to believe they are true.

Some of us even become angry when we discover something is true, because it’s so hard to believe!

Redditor ejaybugboy asked: 

“What’s a terrifying fact that keeps you up at night?”

Some enjoyed thinking about the days of the week.

“Here is the etymology of the days of the week in English:”

“Sun’s Day”

“Moon’s Day”

“Tir (Tew)’s day”

“Odin (Wodin)’s day”

“Thor’s Day”

“Freya’s Day”

“Saturn’s Day”

“Two celestial bodies, four Norse gods, and suddenly one asshole from the Roman pantheon for no godd**ned reason. What the f**k is Saturn doing there?” – IronOhki

“I like how they’re called in Serbian:”

“• Utorak (Tuesday) – Taken from old Slavic and means ‘second.’”

“• Sreda (Wednesday) – Means ‘middle.’”

“• Četvrtak (Thursday) – Means ‘fourth.’”

“• Petak (Friday) – Means ‘fifth.’”

“• Subota (Saturday) – Derived from the word ‘sabbath.’”

“• Nedelja (Sunday) – Means ‘not to work,’ or ‘the day when you don’t work.’”

“• Ponedeljak (Monday) – Literally means ‘after Nedelja,’ or ‘the day after the day when you don’t work,’ because laziness is on a whole other level here apparently.’” – TheCosmicSound

Others were more interested in wild animal facts.

“There are more privately owned tigers in Texas than there are wild tigers on the rest of the planet combined.” – j_flameIV

“Crocodiles can climb trees.” – MoravianPrince

“A flock of crows is called a murder. But a flock of ravens is called an unkindness or a conspiracy. Who even comes up with this s**t?” – thweet_jethuth

“Pretty much anything to do with naked mole rats. They are neither related to moles nor rats, they can use their teeth like chopsticks, they have the social hierarchy of bees, and oh yeah, THEY ARE COLD-BLOODED.” – JustAProxyForLurking

“In the cat family, cats can either roar or purr, but can’t do both. It’s to do with the structure of the throat.”

“Cheetahs can’t roar, but I hope you find some solace in the thought of them purring happily.”

“Incidentally, cheetahs are different from other big cats in another way too – they can’t retract their claws completely.” – Lenaandcats

Some were concerned about animal breeding for profit.

“English Bulldogs can’t mate naturally. The males are literally physically incapable of mounting the females, so they either have to be helped to do so, or the females are artificially inseminated.”

“The puppies are always delivered via cesarean section since their skulls would not fit through the birth canal. They will then live their entire lives with compromised breathing.”

“But you know, they’re so cute! With their little squished in faces and their adorable snorting!”

“Sorry… I get angry when it comes to purposefully breeding broken animals.” – kabjl

“Persian cats often have breathing problems and blocked tear ducts.”

“Breed two polydactyl (double pawed) cats together and you get kittens with eyes set very far apart and crooked front legs.”

“Intentionally breeding animals to create features people consider cute or fascinating at the expense of the animal’s health should be treated as animal cruelty.” – useatyourownrisk

There were crazy food facts, too.

“Bananas are berries but strawberries are not berries.” – NikiF**kingLauda

“Raspberries, blackberries, and boysenberries are also not berries.”

“Wanna know what else is a berry? A watermelon.” – Grayseff

Some had a lot of fun talking about words.

“Cannoli is already in plural form. The singular form is Cannolo.” – JimDumb22

“Coolth is an actual word and it’s the opposite of warmth. I love using it but my girlfriend fucking hates it.” – mackenzicles

“The terms ‘hardwood’ and ‘softwood’ have nothing to do with the actual hardness of the wood, but what kind of seeds the tree produces.” – Penguin_Out_Of_A_Zoo

“Inflammable and flammable mean the same thing. ‘Flammable’ is not considered a scientifically acceptable term for things-that-catch-fire-easily. ‘Inflammable’ is the proper term and comes from the word inflame.”

“But flammable caught on because inflammable sounds too much like resistant-to-being-caught-on-fire, which is potentially quite a dangerous misunderstanding.” – Guinefort1

“The word ‘Helicopter’ is not made up of the words ‘Heli’ and ‘Copter,’ but rather ‘Helico’ and ‘Pter,’ which are Greek for ‘Spiral’ and ‘Wing.’” – Zaptagious

“That ‘unlockable’ means both: Able to be unlocked AND Unable to be locked.”

“My 11-year-old pointed this out, and I had nothing for her other than a blank stare and then thinking, ‘Well, s**t. Good job.’” – jenfers

Some were interested in grammatically-correct sentences.

“The fact that this sentence is grammatically correct: ‘All the faith he had had had had no effect.’” – WoodyPoleSmoker

“Get ready:” 

“‘James, where John had had ‘had,’ had had ‘had had;’ ‘had had’ had had a better effect on the teacher.’ is correct.” – halatian6

Two Redditors knew a fun fact about potato chips.

“All crisps (chips for any Americans) in the UK go out of date on a Saturday. It annoys me because a smug friend pointed it out and i have been unsuccessful in proving him wrong.” – Rossco1874

“I had to Google this and found this from Walkers…”

“In the manufacturing sites, we work on production weeks which start on a Sunday. All product produced in that week will have the same Best Before date. As the week ends on Saturday, the Best Before date will always end on a Saturday.” – IsItMeYourLooking49

One Redditor described what would happen if sawdust was mixed with water.

“If you mix water and sawdust and freeze it, the resulting ‘ice’ melts extremely slowly. like, ‘weeks at room temperature’ slowly.” – btaylos

Some were entertained by unbelievable science facts.

“The fact that in an electric circuit, even though the electric current is electrons moving from negative pole to positive pole, the definition of a current flow is that it moves from positive to negative.”

“And similar misses in definitions in physics/science that was just decided to stay because changing definitions would be confusing at first.” – Versalis_A

Though some of the Redditors struggled to believe these facts were true, there was no arguing these facts were fascinating.

It’s an amazing reminder there is something new and fun to learn lurking around every corner.

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People Confess Which Scary Facts Actually Keep Them Up At Night

There are all kinds of truths in the world that are fascinating, but there are also some that are absolutely terrifying.

So much so, these facts can keep people from sleeping at night.

Redditor OHBSquishy asked: 

“What’s a terrifying fact that keeps you up at night?”

Some thought about abstract ways they could die.

“If you’re diving with sperm whales and they make a click at full power, it could vibrate you to death, which I can only imagine would be one of the worst ways to die.”

“As unpractical as it is for me to be in that situation, not much would top being paralyzed underwater with internal hemorrhaging.” – NorthMcCormick

“About 5000 people die in their sleep every night with unknown causes.” – bubbles_teh_monkey

Others thought about the likely suddenness of death.

“That one moment I’m here and living and the next moment I could be 6 feet under or turned into ashes.” – MelanieSenpai

“Everything could just be taken away in an instant.” – boopydo1

“Living alone for a long time, I’m always worried how long my body will be discovered if I die in my sleep.” – Adonis_X

“It’s probably not helpful to hear about the guy whose kids stopped talking to him because ‘once again’ he didn’t show up for Thanksgiving.”

“So, a cop friend was called out to his house when the electricity was turned on to prep the house for foreclosure auction…”

“When the heat automatically kicked on (in August), the smell was horrendous… not from the body – it was long past the smelly point – but by the accumulated smells in the ducts from the prior winter when he passed… probably around Thanksgiving.”

“Take away? Be reliable. Call when you say you’ll call; show up when you promise to.”

“That way, when you don’t show up, people won’t just shrug their shoulders and say, ‘Well, it’s just Harold being Harold’ – instead they’ll say, ‘They alway shows up or at least call when they can’t make it! Something’s wrong. We should check on them.’” – tmccrn

Consumerism kept some up at night.

“We live in a world where the rich pit us against each other as they get richer, and it’s so far gone that people would rather defend corporations that trickle out comfort (all the while reinforcing the system) than accept the necessary uprising will be uncomfortable.” – FetaMight

“The thought that if I was a multimillionaire, I would invest a lot of money into making sure it stayed that way, which is kinda scary considering how powerful money is as a resource.” – pathemar

“I’m likely going to work full time for the next 40 years with almost zero free time.” IAmAToiletDontAsk

“We live to consume.”

“Go to work, make money, spend that money to live and contribute to your economy, repeat.”

“If you’re lucky, you retire around 60. If you’re really lucky, 30. If you’re really lucky, you’re Elon Musk’s kid or some s**t.” – sloop-salad

“The dollar is worthless. The treasury is not just empty, it owes the rest of the world trillions, and the government somehow owes itself more trillions.”

“Despite this, or more probably because of this, we continue to spend more than the rest of the world combined on the deadliest military in history.”

“There will be a reckoning, and I don’t think it will be gentle or pretty.” – Plethorian

One Redditor was especially perplexed by climate change.

“I’m concerned that no one has mentioned climate change. This is the greatest existential threat mankind will ever be exposed to.”

“I’m regularly stunned by the existential crisis that is thinking about climate change. It usually strikes me in the shower.” – 9T3

Some thought about what would happen after they were gone. 

“Life is just about finding distractions to keep yourself busy so you don’t think about the fact that there’s nothing you can do in your life to stop the Sun from exploding and wiping out the entire humanity with it.” – NotDaWaed

“I’ve reached the conclusion that it’s more important to live a life worthy of being remembered after your death, than to live a life that actually is remembered after your death. You have no control over the latter, and you won’t care.” – michaelochurch

“When I die, I will be forgotten in a few decades unless I do something amazing or horrific. It’s much easier to do something awful than it is to do something great.” – ZerenTheUnskilled

“I’m worried nobody will remember me after my generation when I die.” – rascally1980

“It would be nice to know you have had a positive impact on someone’s life. I have been lucky in my life and career to have had people I look up to.”

“Now I am getting to the age of those people I look up to, and I wonder if I had an impact on anyone in that same way.” – sadicarnot

“Folks, when it comes time to look back on your life, what you will regret are the things you did not do, not the things you did.”

“Go live your life with vigor and passion.” – ocrohnahan

Some Redditors were stressed about time.

“How many things I’ll never know. What will happen to humanity long after I’m dead?”

“Do you ever think about time? If it’s a property of the universe, what happens when the universe ends?”

“If the universe ends in a Big Crunch, where the expansion of the universe reversed and all matter converges in the same spot, will another Big Bang happen?”

“Will it happen exactly like the original one?”

“If that is the case, is time a loop? Has this already happened before? How many times have I thought about this and how many times have I written this comment? Has my death already happened an infinite amount of times?”

“There is no way to know the answer, and that’s something I never stop thinking about.” – whatthef**k21

Any of these facts could potentially be troublesome for someone if they were to think about it and its implications for too long.

The clear message in all of this, though, is to live life to the fullest, since tomorrow is never guaranteed.

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People Share The Most Frightening Facts About The Big Blue Ocean

Most of us have visited a beach next to the ocean at least once in our lives, and it’s fun to spend time there with friends, soaking up the sun, and splashing around in the water.

But also as the AskReddit pointed out, it’s unsettling to think about what else is out there beneath the waves.

Redditor matspud asked: 

“What’s the scariest thing you know about the ocean?”

Some were in awe of the sheer size of the ocean.

“How big it is in all directions. Most people ‘know’ this at least at a factual level, but haven’t really thought of how scary that must be if you ever find yourself in the middle of the ocean deep beneath the surface.” – vivianmay02

“Just how much water there is. If you punched a swimming-pool sized hole in the bottom of the Marianas Trench so that ocean water would drain through it, it would take hundreds of thousands of years to deplete the oceans.” – AdvocateSaint

“Everything about the Marianas Trench scares the s**t out of me. The fact that it’s 36000 feet deep (as far as we know), and that light doesn’t penetrate water past 3200 feet is mindblowing to me.”

“For reference, Mount Everest is 29000 feet tall, which means you could fit Everest into the trench (in terms of height, not necessarily mass) and light wouldn’t even hit it, it would be entirely submerged in darkness.”

“The thought of thousands of feet of cold, dark water is an absolute nightmare in my opinion.” – TheBlueHerron1

“There’s a spot in the ocean called Point Nemo, where on average the closest humans to you are the astronauts on the International Space Station.” – BaffledDonuts420

Others agreed and thought of what hasn’t been explored.

“The majority of the world’s oceans have NOT been explored, and deep-sea creatures of all types have never been discovered.”

“H**l, we don’t even know what whales do most of the time. It’s another world underwater and we know almost nothing about it.” – AAOG666

“That literally anything based on deep-sea monsters could be real in a sense.” – SteveManson4554

“The bottom of the ocean is less searched than the surface of the MOON.” – Shy-Guys-Toast

Some introduced terrifying and deadly sea creatures.

“Right off the coast of Baja, Humbolt squid that are about 4 to 6 feet long, have sharp serrated teeth in every sucker on their arms can take you from the surface and drag you to depths of 900 feet.”

“You would just disappear from the surface and no one would ever hear nor see you again and you’d be mercilessly eaten by their beaks tearing grapefruit sized chunks out of you.” – yoncenator

“Sea spiders exist and they can get to over 2 meters in length.” – Fearless-1265

“There’s this thing called the Pelican Eel which lives deep down. It’s the actual s**t of nightmares.” – Imanol0206

“There’s this f**king 10-foot worm that lives under the ocean floor, except its head, which is level with the ocean floor. It’s got feelers and pincers so if a fish swims over it, it grabs on with the pincers and drags the fish under to eat it.” – mrusmca

A few pointed out how close by some creatures actually are.

“If you frequent the ocean enough you’re bound to swim a few feet from a shark.” – Dannydevitz

“My teacher regularly visits Africa as he owns a safari resort there (real neat guy) and told me how once while swimming, he saw a huge a** tiger shark swim overhead. It was only about 3 feet above him, scary s**t.” – RogueDoodler

“There are blue holes in the Bahamas which are all connected by miles of underwater caverns. Only 8% of it has been explored by humans.”

“The blue holes serve as fun little swimming holes and the water is clear and you can see to the bottom (at least on some I’ve read).”

“Sometimes people just disappear from them while swimming with friends. Like, there are reports of people turning around, then back around and their buddy is gone.”

“There are rumors of tentacles pulling people under.”

“Fun fact: octopi don’t stop growing.”

“Another fun fact: they can fit anywhere their jaw/ beak can fit.”

“Another fun fact: they are bottom dwellers.”

“Not saying Lusca is real… But you’ll never catch me in a blue hole.” – Key_Refridgerator7725

Two were concerned about what’s happening to the ocean.

“I’m afraid its eventual acidification may render it uninhabitable.” – Trepang

“People can’t even wrap their heads around coral bleaching or algal blooms much less the severity of snails and such not being able to sublimate calcium into shells anymore.” – Emotionally_dead

Some urged others to be respectful of nature.

“It’s where the food chain starts. Mankind is full speed ahead, d**n the torpedoes doing our best to completely destroy it with absolutely no regard for anything, even ourselves.”

“Ultimately, we’ll get what we deserve for the arrogant and callous way we’ve treated this planet.” – IfIKnewThen

“As a scuba diver, the most important thing to know is that the ocean doesn’t care about you. It might not be actively out to get you, but it’s also not going to help you.”

“You aren’t really meant to be there and it’s of no consequence what happens to you. Nothing there is conducive to you staying alive.”

“It’s an uneasy truce that you’re the only real party to. So it follows that all the warnings about paying attention, knowing your equipment, and remembering your training are in fact not bulls**t.”

“You’re a visitor, so treat it and yourself with respect. The ocean will continue what it’s been doing for eons whether you’re there or not. You don’t have that luxury.” – bg-j38

Some of these facts, especially the stranger creatures that have been discovered in deeper parts of the ocean, are particularly unsettling, especially when we mostly think about sparkling water and bright, sunny beaches.

While this may not stop all of us from going into the ocean ever again, perhaps it will give us the pause we need to appreciate the vastness of nature and the respect we should have for it.

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People Share The Coolest Mathematical Facts They Know

While many of us rushed through our required math classes as quickly as we could in high school and college, some people really found joy in those classes.

After spending several more years studying the subject, they also discovered there were many more fun facts to mathematics than Geometry and Calculus may have suggested.

Redditor xxTick asked: 

“What’s the coolest mathematical fact you know of?”

Two Redditors joked about the Banach-Tarski paradox.

“Banach-Tarski paradox, in a nutshell what it says is that if you take a (let’s make it simpler) 3-dimensional ball, you can partition it in finite number of pieces (which is only true for 3-dim case, otherwise it’s countably infinite).”

“Then if you rotate and translate some of the pieces, you can get two exactly identical balls that we started with. So you might think we doubled the volume, indeed we did.” – I_luv_your_mom

“There was an old Reddit post about this that made me giggle. The user found out that if you order an extra tortilla with one of those massive Chipotle burritos, then separate the contents between the two, you will get two burritos of equal size to the original.”

“They called it the Banach–Tarski burrito.” – buggy65

Others were in awe over the power of doubling numbers.

“I had a coworker how refused to believe that if you multiply a penny by 2 every day for a month that you’d be a millionaire by the end of the month, even after I had walked her through it with a calculator.” – Old_man_at_heart

“This blew my mind, I saw something somewhere saying to start investing a penny on the first and you won’t believe what you’d get by the 30th. I was thinking like $500!! I was wrong.” – DranoDrinker

One Redditor wanted to talk about circles.

“I like to draw this one out to explain to people.”

“Circles (people) and lines (relationships) with every other circle. It’s easy to see how quickly the number of lines increase, which shows that adding more people is not a linear increase in probability, but a … exponential or multiplicative… I’m not sure which one at the moment.”

“1 person = 0 lines”

“2 people = 1 line”

“3 people = 3 lines”

“4 people = 6 lines”

“…”

“23 people = 253 lines”

“24 people = 276 lines”

“25 people = 300 lines”

“26 people = 325 lines” – SalAtWork

Some talked about the Birthday Problem and probability.

“The Birthday Problem.”

“If you have 23 people in a room, there is a 50% chance that at least two of them have the same birthday. If you put 70 people in, the probability jumps to 99.9%.”

“It seems f**king weird to me but I haven’t done math since high school so what do I know.” – honeyimsorry

“The reason this is confusing for most people is that they’re thinking of how many people they’d have to meet to find someone who shares their birthday. You need to think of how many potential pairs there are, which grows fairly quickly.”

“And, you need to do the calculation in negative: as we add each person, calculate the odds that no one shares a birthday, and the odds that there is a match are 1 – that.”

“You start with one. Obviously no match. Second one: 364/365 says they’re different. But when we add a third, there are two potential matches, so only a 363/365 chance he doesn’t match, and 362/365 for the fourth.”

“The odds there is a match are 1 – the product of the other fractions. Since the fractions are close to one, they almost equal one, but as each person comes in, we’re multiplying a number that starts to be significantly less than one by a fraction that each time is more notably less than one, so the odds there is no match start to fall quickly until they dip just below half at the 23 mark.” – TheAlpacaLives

Then there was the Collatz Conjecture.

“The Collatz Conjecture: It’s an unsolved mathematical conjecture that can be summarized as follows; Take any positive integer, or ‘n.’”

“If n is even, divide it by 2 to get n / 2. If n is odd, multiply it by 3 and add 1 to obtain 3n + 1. Repeat the process indefinitely. The conjecture is that no matter what number you start with, you will always eventually reach 1.”

“For example, start with 21. it’s odd so I multiply by 3 and add 1, to get 64. 64 is even so I divide by 2 to get 32, again to get 16, 8, 4, 2, 1. No one has found a number that doesn’t follow this rule.” – AsiaWaffles

One Redditor talked about Rubik’s cubes.

“The maximum number of moves needed to solve a Rubik’s cube from any configuration is a mere 20.”

“Expecting Numberphile subscribers to have a strong showing in this thread.”

“To clarify, I mean the OPTIMAL solution from any given configuration will require fewer than or equal to 20 moves to solve.” – AlexVX_

One Redditor loved talking about multiplication. 

“1 x 1 = 1”

“11 x 11 = 121”

“111 x 111 = 12321”

“1111 x 1111 = 1234321”

“And on it goes” – IAmSomewhatHappy

A few talked about Pascal’s Triangle.

“Also, Pascal’s Triangle gives you the powers of 11 if you look at each row as a number.” – Aurora320

“I realized that in algebra class and tried to explain to my teacher why I thought it was so cool and he just didn’t get it. F**k you, Mr. Chase.” – 1stonepwn

One Redditor talked about Shizuo Kakutani.

“Shizuo Kakutani”

“If you take enough random steps in two dimensions, you’ll always eventually get back to your starting point. The same cannot be said of three dimensions.”

“I just find the idea that you will always get back to where you started by making random moves absolutely mind-boggling, and the fact things change just because you can go up and down is even weirder.” – _9tail_

One Redditor shared how they got into math.

“As a PhD student in mathematics, this is not a sexy answer, but one of the reasons I fell in love with math was in my differential equations course when we discussed modeling epidemic using mathematical equations.”

“It was so incredible to me that back in 1927, Kermack and McKendrick came up with a simple formulation of how to model a disease.”

“This idea has been expanded greatly, but their original version of the S-I-R compartmental model is still one of the coolest things. And it can also model rumors as well!” – hpmetsfan

Mathematics and similar subjects may have not been everyone’s favorite subject while they were going through school, but it’s clear now there was more to it than addition, subtraction and solving for X.

With facts like these, it’s almost enough to want to study math a little more again.