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Well, it seems like a lot of people wanted to crack Pandora’s box open just a bit or have a sneak peek inside. CircleBox2’s question got over 18.5k answers and comments while over 39.9k redditors upvoted the post.
"Having just graduated from school and on the hunt for my first job, I have been networking with professionals from diverse industries a lot. A recurring theme in a lot of my conversations with them was how their industries have dark secrets that are endemic and structural," the redditor told us about what inspired them to create the thread in the first place.
"An example that comes to mind is how bankers created financial products which they knew were ethically questionable, such as subprime mortgages. This got me thinking, what dark secrets do other professions have, which the industry as a whole tolerates or turns a blind eye towards?"
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CircleBox2 said that they expected to get some responses, but had no idea that the thread would blow up the way that it did. "One of the unique advantages of Reddit is that allowing people to be anonymous makes them a lot more comfortable divulging information which they otherwise might have been hesitant to."
We wanted to find out which secrets shocked the redditor the most. Here's what they had to say: "The ones that shocked me the most had to do with people having a callous attitude towards human life. One that comes to mind is about an oncologist who will exploit a family’s grief and sadness just to make more money—when a patient’s death is all but certain, he/she will suggest a 'therapy' which 'may just work,' costing exorbitant amounts of money, just for the patient to die one or two treatments in."
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CircleBox2 said that, in their opinion, there aren't any secrets that we're better off not knowing. "As ethical consumers and responsible citizens, the more we know, the better. Everyone has a moral obligation to ensure that people aren’t being put in harm's way just to serve corporate interests, and to hold them accountable when they do."
But what would happen if suddenly everyone were to learn all about the dark secrets in various professions? According to the redditor, not much would change. "There are many dark secrets which are already common knowledge, but for one reason or another, people seem to either tolerate them or look the other way, sadly. But hopefully, the more light we can shed on them, especially those that involve egregious human rights abuses, the easier it will become to take steps to deal with them."
They added, summing up their thoughts about the thread: "A quote by Lily Kershaw comes to mind—'Nothing's ever really as it seems.'"
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It’s one thing when an employee acts unethically and violates the rules for their own benefit. But it’s a whole other ball game when management either purposefully ignores bad practices or actively enforces them.
For example, the Consumer Federation of America reports that 4 digital communications companies had created a tight “oligopoly on steroids” to overcharge Americans roughly 60 billion dollars each year.
Meanwhile, one thing that we see popping up, again and again, is just how low hygiene standards can drop in pizza joints and other fast food places. Well, some fast food joints might have some other iffy secrets floating about. For example, researchers at Hollins University found that 48 percent of soda fountains at fast food restaurants had coliform bacteria in them (they’re commonly found in poop).
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Soda machines can also have mold growing inside of them because they’re darn difficult to clean. So if you want to avoid an upset stomach, get something to drink that comes in a bottle or a can. Just remember to wipe them down first and recycle them afterward.
While we might be better off not knowing some secrets for our own peace of mind, these are the kind of secrets we definitely need to know so we can act differently.