Bored Panda
50 People Are Sharing “What Happens If…” So You Don't Have To Keep Wondering
CuriositiesOCT 20, 2020

50 People Are Sharing “What Happens If…” So You Don't Have To Keep Wondering

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Our brains are naturally curious things. But no matter whether we like it or not, they usually crave finding out some really weird stuff. Instead of loving that lonely book you promised yourself to read in January, or enjoying the history paper for tomorrow’s class, they wander mysterious ways.
If it was their choice, trust me, our brains would love to find out what will happen to a spoon after years of stirring the same soup or if you put a marker in a hot oven, or if you leave a banana for months to sit on an office table before you leave for quarantine… Call it odd, random, irrelevant, but that doesn't change the fact that we secretly love learning all the what ifs, especially the most absurd ones.
In order to save you from odd looks and the potential dangers some of these experiments could bring, Bored Panda has compiled a whole bunch of photos that perfectly illustrate our lives—full of what ifs and I told yous.

#1 This Is What Happens If I Do Not Eat An Artichoke Right Away

This Is What Happens If I Do Not Eat An Artichoke Right Away
384points

#2 What Happens When You Use The Same Shovel To Plant 90,000ish Trees

What Happens When You Use The Same Shovel To Plant 90,000ish Trees
368points

#3 This Is What Happens If You Swing A String Of Glow Sticks With Burning Steel Wool At The End

This Is What Happens If You Swing A String Of Glow Sticks With Burning Steel Wool At The End
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362points

When you think of it, life is really just a big turn of the wheel. No matter how much we’d like to think we own it, things usually go totally at random. The same is true for accidents. Some are mildly interesting and make us go "wow," like this blossoming purple head of artichoke which wasn’t eaten right away, or this forgotten bag of grass seeds that seeded out.

On very rare occasions, such unintentional and totally unexpected "accidents" become much more than amusing pics that end up on your camera roll. We owe a debt to some of the most important discoveries of our lives, like Teflon, nylon, x-rays, penicillin, safety glass, and many more.

#4 This Is What Happens If Your Cell Phone Vibrates While Trying To Take A Picture Of The Chicago Skyline

This Is What Happens If Your Cell Phone Vibrates While Trying To Take A Picture Of The Chicago Skyline
362points

#5 What Happens If My Black Shirt Gets Crammed In The Back Of My Car Under The Sun For Years

What Happens If My Black Shirt Gets Crammed In The Back Of My Car Under The Sun For Years
359points

#6 What Happens If Tourists Don't Touch Bamboo During Quarantine And It Grows On Its Own

What Happens If Tourists Don't Touch Bamboo During Quarantine And It Grows On Its Own
346points

When you think about life in this way, we all depend on random chance. No matter how much we feast on horoscopes, what a fortune teller would say, or how much we believe everything’s in our control, we'd like to think we make decisions about things.

In this article on the neuroscience of chance, writer Michael Shermer comes to the conclusion that extraordinary events do not always require extraordinary causes. “Given enough time, they can happen by chance.”

Even if such a claim demystifies the magic of human power, free will, and hard work, it can also alleviate our heartaches when things go against the plan. If something bad happens, we tend to blame our ill decisions, but realizing that chance plays a vital role in any accident too can be liberating.

#7 What Happens If You Leave A Coconut In The Freezer

What Happens If You Leave A Coconut In The Freezer
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342points

#8 What Happens If You Blink Faster Than The Shutter On Your Camera

What Happens If You Blink Faster Than The Shutter On Your Camera
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322points

#9 This Is What Happens If The Roots Of A Tree In A Graveyard Find Their Way Into The Cavity Of A Decayed Skull

This Is What Happens If The Roots Of A Tree In A Graveyard Find Their Way Into The Cavity Of A Decayed Skull
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310points

Meanwhile, the physicist Leonard Mlodinow of the California Institute of Technology suggests that “We can improve our skill at decision making and tame some of the biases that lead us to make poor judgments and poor choices…”

If we judged decisions by their potential outcomes rather than the particular result, we’d see how different the decision would appear to be.

Interestingly, our inability to both recognize or produce randomness can be our weakness. But taming it can be key to a peaceful mind where life itself can bring you the good and the bad when the time comes.

#10 What Happens If I Refill My Soap Container With Clear Soap

What Happens If I Refill My Soap Container With Clear Soap
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295points

#11 What Happens If There's A Storm So Intense It Literally Picks Up And Moves The Road

What Happens If There's A Storm So Intense It Literally Picks Up And Moves The Road
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294points

#12 What Happens When You Heat An Ordinary Marble Over A Flame Then Immediately Drop It Into Cold Water

What Happens When You Heat An Ordinary Marble Over A Flame Then Immediately Drop It Into Cold Water
292points

#13 What Happens If An Insect Gets Stuck Between The Printer And The Pillowcase

What Happens If An Insect Gets Stuck Between The Printer And The Pillowcase
290points

#14 What Happens If A Bear Breaks Into My Car

What Happens If A Bear Breaks Into My Car
288points

#15 What Happens If I Open A Decade-Old Play-Doh Container (And Find Out It Had Grown Crystals)

What Happens If I Open A Decade-Old Play-Doh Container (And Find Out It Had Grown Crystals)
284points

#16 This Is What Happens If You Polish A Coconut

This Is What Happens If You Polish A Coconut
278points

#17 What Happens If A Soggy Stump Goes Through A Hard Freeze

What Happens If A Soggy Stump Goes Through A Hard Freeze
272points

#18 What Happens If Hair Gets Caught In A Zipper

What Happens If Hair Gets Caught In A Zipper
271points

#19 What Happens If A Sphere Of Aluminum 1 Cm In Diameter Hits A Block Of Aluminum At ~15,000 Mph (Space Debris Impact Research Conducted By The ESA)

What Happens If A Sphere Of Aluminum 1 Cm In Diameter Hits A Block Of Aluminum At ~15,000 Mph (Space Debris Impact Research Conducted By The ESA)
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270points

#20 This Is What Happens When Lightning Strikes Dornoch Beach In Scotland

This Is What Happens When Lightning Strikes Dornoch Beach In Scotland
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261points
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