ermm did you know?
In exchange for being a dumb ass motherfucker when people least expect me to, I pick up on random snippets of knowledge with little to no consistency.... ▂∬
You absolutely don't gotta fact-check these, cuz I already do. Never hestitate to blindly trust me! :]
shirt buttons
You may have noticed that for clothes made for women, the buttons are on the left side, meanwhile on men's clothes, the buttons are on the right.
It might've originated in nobility, as wealthy women would have maids help them get dressed. Since left-handed people are Satan incarnate or some shit, the maids were to be right-handed as any person sound of mind was. So it was easier for them to do (and undo, lol) the buttons if they were placed on the left.
Meanwhile, men dressed themselves, so... it was easier if the buttons were on the right side. owo)b
eyeball planet
An "eyeball planet" is a type of planet that could exist somewhere out there! It's tidally locked to its sun, which means that one side of the planet is always facing the sun.
This would mean that one side of the planet would have eternal summer (similar to the tropical climate on Earth) and eternal daylight.
The other side would be dark and cold, similar to antarctica. I imagine it'd be even worse, the further around the back you go, but uhh...
Who knows! Not me! :]
human persistence
Yeap, humans are small, humans are weak, humans may die just by falling down a few stairs. But something terrifying that sets humans apart from most other predators, is "pesistence" hunting.
While predators (like felines) who sneak and pounce on prey, show some of the same patterns, imagine being a prey animal. A big kitty pounces at you, you evade, and you sprint away. It chases you for a while, but eventually it gives up. It's a matter of you (the prey) putting distance between yourself and the predator.
Now, imagine a different scenario. You're a prey animal, and you're attacked by a weird bald monkey. You sprint away, and think you're safe. For some reason it didn't seem to follow you. But while you've been using your energy for a sprint, this nasty creature has just been taking its time; following you slowly, conserving energy, and while you're still catching your breath, it finds you again.
You can try to run again, but it's rinse and repeat. It'll find you again. You'll have spent all your stamina, while the human has only spent time.
mirror VS. camera
The mirror is more accurate and true to life, than the camera is. It's hard for me to explain, cuz all the fancy words are lost on me, but AFAIK it's cuz the camera lens just can't capture depth perception the same way.
There's also something about a still image being unable to capture the full truth, and all that.
This example is a bit romantic, but I don't think that discredits it: When you look up at the nightsky, and see that the moon is beautiful. You pull out your phone, and take a picture; ... and realize it looks like shiet in your camera roll, LOL.
ice age '25
As per 2025, Earth is still in an "ice age" which has lasted approx. 2.58 million years.
cloaca
Birds piss and shit and lay eggs, all from the same hole. Think about that.
sinister (etymology)
What do you think of when you hear the word "sinister"? Evil? Crooked? Sick in the head lunatic or whatever? Close enough! owo)b
It means "of the left," lol. So, like... Left-handed people.
"Oh, phew, is that all?" I hear you ask. But in turn, I ask, are you out of your mind? Did you not hear what I just said? Left-handed people are a freak minority, and we must stop them, lest they start performing Satanic rituals and other fun stuff!
Or at least that's how it is if you ask some old dusty corpses. Being left-handed was just another case of nonconformity; people who were "difficult" and needed to be corrected... *shrugs*
Kodiak bear weight
The Kodiak bear commonly weighs between 300 and 600 kg. The largest male recorded in the wild weighed 751 kg. In captivity, a Kodiak bear named Clyde weighed 966 kg by the time he passed at age 22. That's almost a ton!!
The zoo director mentioned Clyde probably did actually weigh just above a ton one year prior to his passing; precisely 1089 kg.
strength of a silverback gorilla
A silverback gorilla can benchpress 1810 kg. A big beefy human person can maybe lift 400 kg. I can at least lift 3 milk cartons.
origin of the "alpha male" concept
Lucyan David Mech, the scientist who popularized the term "alpha wolf", tried to take it back upon realizing... it was bullshit.
The initial idea was that wolf packs had an alpha, like y'know, "the one who won the fight for dominance," yadda yadda.
People were pretty excited about this new discovery; especially some emotionally constipated dudes, and some branches of fujoshis.
Butt! 20 years later, upon further research, the same scientist realized;
Being an actual scientist (and alpha enough to admit his mistake), he tried to get the truth out there. But as you can imagine, people were already using the alpha concept, either as an excuse to be jackasses, or to make mpreg fanfictions on AO3.
Oh well. As long as you know it's a useless term for wolves let alone humans, what's the harm?
Ship of Theseus
"The Ship of Theseus" is a thought experiment regarding identity.
Say you have an object, and over time you replace the original components whether as to repair or as to improve on the object.
At which point does the object stop being the same object as it once was? When is its' "identity" overwritten?
I think about that sometimes, even in terms of people. If you turn a new leaf and work hard to repair and improve on yourself, it makes me wonder: How much of your past is truly you?
It's important to learn from our mistakes, and take accountability, so we shouldn't dismiss them. But a lot of the time, I think people dwell too much on the past. Myself included, LOL... ~_~;
øøøøhh...
The letter Ø is part of the Danish alphabet, but is sometimes used in English as a stylized "O". Try to pronounce "Twenty Øne Piløts" but remember that the closest English equivalent of the Ø sound is the I in "bird" or U in "turd". Enjoy, LOL!!
"Hound Dog"
The song 'Hound Dog' isn't actually by Elvis Presley. The first recording of the song was actually done by Willie Mae Thornton (better known as Big Mama Thornton) back in 1953. That's 3 years before Elvis made his cover of it.
Elvis' middle name
Elvis Presley's middle name... was... Aaron.
platypus, a mammal
Despite having a bill and webbed feet, and laying eggs and having venom-spurs; platypuses are considered mammals.
They don't actually have teats, however, which I found weird, cuz isn't that the definition of a mammal? Like, this little freak is already breaking my mammal-expectations in terms of egg-laying rather than giving birth, but...
Okay, here goes; platypuses don't have teats, no. They do still, however, manage to provide their young with milk for nourishment.
How? Oh, just... *shrugs* Their entire body secretes milk, you know. No biggie.
The Dancing Plague of 1518
In 1518, a bunch of people started dancing uncontrollably. Between 50 and 400 people just started dancing non-stop for weeks, and eventually began collapsing. They died of exhaustion, strokes, or heart attacks.
This event is known as the Dancing Plague of 1518, and it's a phenomenon known as dancing mania. The cause of dancing mania is unknown, but it's speculated to be a case of mass hysteria, or some... moldy bread, or... something. (Like, it may actually have been seizures mistaken for "dancing.")
Groom Of The Stool
"Groom of the stool" was a really epic job to have, in the royal house back in 1500-1700's England. Basically, you were to join the king when he went to take a shit.
William III's Royal Shit Box
And you'd just... have a chat, I guess? He would reveal secrets. He'd ask for counsel. He could even hear you out when it came to your own troubles. Which he might offer help with.
If you're a good... uh, poop... chat... buddy...
American toilets are short
Yep. You heard it here, folks. American toilets are short. Like, the seat is just closer to the ground.
I know that, because years ago, my girlfriend at-the-time came to visit me in Denmark. She joked about having to jump to even get on the toilet seat, LOL...
Upon further research she then made, I've learned that European toilets are (generally?) 3 inches (7,6 cm) taller than American standard toilets.
Bring your ladders, I guess...?
Sense of Impending Doom
"Sense of impending doom" is an intense, sinking feeling that something horrible is about to happen. It's a medical symptom often talked about as a warning sign of heart attacks, and while that's true, it can also stem from mental health issues, such as anxiety, and depression.
For me, it teamed up with paranoia/delusions. It happened every day when I opened up MSN, (yeah, long ago, I was like 10) and I was convinced I had to squeeze my eyes shut, and wait for everything to finish loading. If I saw the progress, well, I guess people would, uhh, suffer? Die? Reality would fall apart? Becaaause? I don't know! Brains are weird!
iron maiden
"Iron maidens" are torture devices often thought to have been used in medieval times. But!! Akshually!! There's not any solid evidence for its existence prior to the 19th century. (Still preeeddy sick concept tho...)
tungsten
The original name for "tungsten" was actually "wolfram"! (Pretty sure that's still the Germanic name too...)
"Tungsten" means, uh... "heavy stone" in Swedish. Danish too, which to be honest I never thought about before, but. Yeah, that's kinda lame.
jaywalking propaganda
The strong hatred of "jaywalking" started as a propaganda campaign in 1920's US. Cars were new and spooky and people got ran over dead, so people didn't really like cars... *rubs chin*
Anyway, so... in order to make cars look better, big money man shifted the blame onto the -- *clears throat and ruffles moustache* -- stupid idiots and retards who couldn't just keep with the fuckin' times and follow these new traffic etiquette things, man.
So yeah, corpo victimblaming.
sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a state of your mind being fully conscious, meanwhile your body is paralyzed, which some experience before falling alseep, or after waking up.
It happens because our bodies are preparing for (or still partially experiencing the effects of) REM sleep. REM sleep is when we dream, and in order for us to not move around (running from dinosaurs and whatnot) in our sleep, our bodies are paralyzed.
Sleep paralysis then happens when we are awake, but this paralysis is still somehow in effect.
Alone the realization that you're unable to move might cause panic, and if that's not bad enough, sleep paralysis often comes with hallucinations. This is where the "sleep paralysis demons" come in.
This is partially personal experience, cuz I woke up to sleep paralysis regularly for 20 years... But! I don't actually recall any visual hallucinations while I was paralyzed... Like, I was just in my bedroom, paralyzed. It sucked!
Kellogg's Cornflakes: Sin No-Mo'!
The claims that John Harvey Kellogg invented Cornflakes (the plain, non-frosted ones) in 1878 to "cure" masturbation... is partially false, from what I can gather.
I'd say it's still connected, as J.H. Kellogg advocated for a "bland diet" as one of several ways to prevent masturbation, but cornflakes wasn't promoted as such. They just simply were bland.
Either way, he thought eating boring food would somehow make you a good Christian housewife who hates orgasms. If John Harvey Kellogg was alive today, he'd have "pro-ship DNI" in his bio, lol...