35 Fascinating Facts You Might Not Know From The ‘Today I Learned’ Online Group

Here at Bored Panda, we’re big fans of the Today I Learned subreddit. And clearly, many other people are too. This online community that is dedicated to sharing “interesting and specific facts” about things that people recently learned has over 29 million members. With so many members sharing a wide variety of fascinating facts, there are no limits to the wealth of information we can harness from this page. We are dedicated to being lifelong learners, and if you are too, you’ll certainly enjoy this fun fact filled list.

While memorizing facts might not be the best way to learn if you want to master a subject or skill, it can be a great jumping off point. According to psychology teacher Marc Smith, “Knowing facts helps us to place other problems into context and access higher order thinking skills. If the facts we have memorized are accurate and accessible they can be used in order to give context to other situations, if we cannot recall these facts we are unable to place new problems into context.”

Marc notes that not all learning should be centered around simply memorizing facts, but it should not be completely disregarded either. “Memorizing facts can build the foundations for higher thinking and problem solving,” he notes. “Constant recitation of times tables might not help children understand mathematical concepts, but it may allow them to draw on what they have memorized in order to succeed in more complex mental arithmetic. Memorization, therefore, produces a more efficient memory, taking it beyond its limitations of capacity and duration.”

We all know that it would be impossible to learn everything there is to know about the world, or even most subjects. But our brains are hungry for knowledge, and the more that we soak up, the better off we will be. We can better relate to more people and better understand this complex world we live in if we know even a tiny bit about a wide variety of things.

We are naturally curious beings. As children, we seek to soak up as much information as we possibly can, but somewhere along the way, we sometimes lose this spark. Negative experiences at school or having teachers that suck the life out of every lesson can make us believe that learning is boring. But that’s simply not true. Learning can be about anything! So if you are passionate about playing guitar, writing poetry or woodworking, you still have to dedicate time to learn about those things. But I bet you don’t dread the hours you get to spend educating yourself on those topics because you do it by choice. That’s why “Today I Learned” is so great. Nobody is forcing members to be there or share facts; everyone just genuinely wants to. And when we’re interested in learning, we are much more likely to retain what we’ve read. 

If you need some motivation to help you understand why we should never end our education, we’ve consulted this article from Genashtim. The first reason they note for how learning continuously benefits us is that it helps us generate new ideas. A body in motion stays in motion, and a brain in motion does just the same thing. When we stimulate our brains with new ideas and new information, we are hungry for even more. It is great for us to be exposed to new ideas and new facts all the time. Even if you don’t realize it while reading through this list, you’re giving your brain an even bigger appetite for knowledge!

Learning also helps keep our passions alive. It can be easy to become stagnant or forget how much you enjoy certain hobbies or activities, but there is always more to be learned! It is silly to assume that we know all there is to know about anything, and especially when it comes to topics we are captivated by, we should never want to stop learning. This also helps us in our social lives, as we’ll never run out of things to discuss. If you meet someone who has very different interests than you, you can still find common ground if you know even a tiny bit about their passions. The more you know about, the better you can relate to others and find ways to connect and relate to them. So in a way, today you're also learning how to be a better friend!

We should never underestimate the power of learning, even when it comes to how it can benefit our health. Learning new skills has been linked to various mental health benefits, including lower rates of depression and anxiety, higher levels of optimism, self-esteem and life satisfaction and greater abilities to cope with stress. It can also help prevent or delay age-related mental decline, such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Perhaps learning a new fact a day can actually keep the doctor away after all.