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.