The world is a scary place. Beautiful, yes, but take a good look around and you’ll definitely notice something that makes you feel uncomfortable. Whether we’re talking about spiders, lightning, or social interaction, everyone has their own nightmare fuel.
To find the worst of the worst, Reddit user Misoalgia posted a question on the platform, asking everyone “What is a genuinely terrifying fact?” Immediately, the replies started pouring in and as of now, the post has over 9.9K comments. In order to save you, dear pandas, some time, we scrolled through the entries and hand-picked the most memorable ones.
#1
The ten hottest years on record have all been since 2010.
We are not only going to see the catastrophic 2 degree warming this century – we’re probably going to see more than that.
The absolute worst part? Even with net zero emissions by 2070 we will STILL probably see 2 degree warming. The time for action to prevent catastrophe was over maybe 20 years ago – we are living in a time of disaster management.
Image source: mordenty, Chris LeBoutillier
#2
That there are people in this world who have absolutely zero support, and absolutely zero people to count on.
Image source: auxerre1990
#3
That somebody is out here trafficking humans and then going back to their family while living comfortably in a much nice place than some of us are.
Image source: 5annex, Tim Marshall
#4
The earth was around billions of years before we were, and is indifferent to our survival. There have been multiple mass extinctions in the past and we shouldn’t feel any safer. The only difference is we’ve advanced far enough to the point that we’ll probably know in advance when our species is going to go extinct.
Image source: jdsizzle1
#5
Scurvy at advanced stages can make all of your scars reopen, because maintaining them is an active process that your body does all the time and when it can’t produce collagen it stops. Maybe eat some fruit.
#6
One genuinely terrifying fact is the concept of “antibiotic resistance.” Bacteria can evolve to become resistant to antibiotics, the drugs we use to treat bacterial infections. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics can speed up this process, making previously treatable diseases difficult or even impossible to cure. According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health today, potentially leading to a future where simple infections could once again become deadly.
Image source: 0OOO00000OO00O0O0OOO, CDC
#7
That we need to work for 11 months to get one month off in a whole year. That most of people need to work at a s****y job until they retire and then struggle to survive on a small retirement. I mean, a bunch of s**t that is terrifying.
Billionaires don’t pay taxes etc.
Image source: royenyto99
#8
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (mad cow) can lie dormant for more than 50 years, is universally fatal, and is inheritable. There is no cure.
MrDarksCarnival:
My mom passed from this.
Took a healthy energetic 60-year old woman that MAYBE looked 50, and turned her into a semi-vegetative shell of her former self.
It’s destructive. And I have no idea if it’s dormant in me.
Image source: Particular-Natural12, Wikipedia
#9
That mankind is the single biggest threat to our own extinction.
Image source: CP_DKK
#10
That brain aneurysms usually does not have symptoms and it can kill you if it ruptures.
Image source: Misbrukt, Usman Yousaf
#11
There are hundreds of unidentified serial killers in America.
Image source: Apprehensive_Bee7344, Wikipedia
#12
The US military has lost several nuclear weapons and not all of them have been recovered.
Image source: umdche, Wikipedia
#13
50-70% of people don’t have an internal monologue. I can’t even imagine that. I can barely turn mine off to sleep. Comments seems split but there are a lot saying they don’t experience internal monologue. I read it as monologue. I think some people are confusing it with dialogue. But maybe some experience that too?
Image source: VersionNo3770
#14
There is a species of caterpillar, big blue out of great Britain I believe, that tricks ants into thinking it’s an ant queen in distress. The ants take this caterpillar back to the nest where the caterpillar continues acting like a queen but devouring all the ant larvae. This destroys the ant colony from the inside. There are some studies that can point to this species actively finding which larvae will eventually become the next queen and devour those larvae first.
Image source: Blankasbiscuits
#15
Sun eruptions happened before and lead to blackouts across several continents. All fun and games in the 19th century. Today it could easily kill millions. And it could happen any hour.
#16
That Richard Sackler is a free billionare in 2023.
clemenza2821:
CEO of Purdue Pharma, singularly responsible for the opioid epedemic.
Image source: Dunderbonk
#17
The Permian Extinction was the greatest extinction event in history, the atmosphere was full of CO2 and the oceans warmed so much they held too little oxygen to support most of the life that lived in it.
We are currently recreating these events through climate change.
Image source: DasBarenJager
#18
Dementia has no age limit.
Image source: PLAmibingusPL, Tim Doerfler
#19
The fact that we know more about outer space than our planet’s deep oceans is unsettling. There are countless mysteries and potentially terrifying discoveries awaiting beneath the ocean’s depths.
Image source: Nicaherrera
#20
Siberia’s permafrost melting and unleashing a disease humanity isn’t prepared for.
Image source: ajoeroganfan
#21
Either we’re the only sentient species in the whole universe or we are not. Both is equaly terrifying.
Image source: Raiyjinn
#22
It is physically possible to be so constipated that your stool will back all the way up your digestive tract and you can vomit feces. You’re welcome.
Image source: Klaus_Heisler87
#23
It’s a great day. You go for a swim, and then Naegleri fowleri hits you hard. “Naegleri fowleri is an amoeba (brain eating amoeba) that can cause a serious central nervous system infection. The amoeba is found in warm and still fresh water bodies of water and enters a human body through the nose.”
Image source: instapoppins, Todd Quackenbush
#24
SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome, a baby will just die and we don’t know why.
Image source: TTheTiny1, Omar Lopez
#25
You can just go to sleep and… never wake up. You might never get to say goodbye, or tell your family you love them.
Image source: Pmmasturbatingwomen
#26
There is a good to fair chance you’ve met at least 1 murder in your life already.
Image source: Ancient_Head_8095
#27
Some spiders eat snakes.
Image source: OkMushroom364, Markus Blüthner
#28
There is a white dwarf about 130 light years away from us, and it could explode any time. If it explodes, then it will be a big cosmic firework – and very close, possibly close enough to cause problems. Even it if turns into a neutron star without an explosion, that phenomenon could cause a nasty EMP effect, possibly killing a lot of satellites.
Image source: Elvenblood7E7
#29
Hisashi Ouchi Was kept alive (by any means necessary) for 83 days after exposure to fatal levels of radiation.
Image source: Smok3dSalmon
#30
A person eats, on average, “two pounds of flies, maggots and other bugs each year,” according to Scientific American.
-A cup of raisins can have up to 33 fruit fly eggs.
-Fig paste is allowed to have up to 13 insect heads in 100 grams.
-Up to five fruit flies is allowed in an 8-ounce cup of canned fruit juice.
+One maggot is allowed in every 250 milliliters of fruit.
+Up to 2,500 aphids are allowed in every 10 grams of hops.
-Spinach can have up to 50 aphids, thrips or mites per 100 grams.
-Broccoli can contain insects fragments and even whole insects.
-Up to a kilogram of insect parts is allowed in 100 kilograms of chocolate.
-Up to 19 maggots and 74 mites are allowed in a 3.5-ounce can of mushrooms.
-Up to 15 fruit fly eggs are allowed in 100 grams of tomato sauce
Image source: AeonSophia514, James Tiono
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