40 Incredibly Dumb Things People Have Said That They Probably Regretted Afterwards

Bored Panda was very interested to find out what the inspiration for the OP's viral thread was. According to the redditor, they drew inspiration from their own life. "I heard one of my friends say something extremely dumb, and had a thought in mind about how much dumber people can get, so I didn't really give too much thought to it and just asked it on the subreddit," u/PagalScientist shared.

According to the redditor, they were taken completely by surprise by how the thread took off. "I absolutely didn't expect to get this much attention from my fellow redditors. Maybe when I think about it now, it makes sense why this happened," they said.

"Perhaps because everyone almost certainly had something dumb being said to them, and it's also a fairly common occurrence," u/PagalScientist pointed out that many people probably have a ton of examples to choose from, so they were happy to share their experiences on Reddit.

For the OP, there are two types of dumb things that people say. "One is the dumb things you say when you are having fun with friends or family and want to make everyone laugh, just those casual things," they noted that in this case, it's best to have fun with these comments because they're meant to be taken in jest.

"But if there is some serious topic going on, and someone says something dumb, I usually try to correct them with logic or with facts," u/PagalScientist told Bored Panda. They added that their approach also differs on whether or not they're talking to that person privately or in public.

"If we are privately talking, then I prefer telling them straight that, 'Whatever you said isn't correct' or just straight up 'dumb.' But if we are in a group, then I prefer not to possibly embarrass them in front of others, and tell them about their mistake in private. And I would be lying if I didn't say that there are also those moments when you straight up laugh at them, that's what the whole post was about."

Now, to be fair, you can’t expect everyone to know, well, everything there is to know in life. We’re all human beings with limited time. We all make mistakes. We all embarrass ourselves in silly ways. And we might have in-depth knowledge in a bunch of subjects but may be oblivious to even the basics of other topics.

That being said… there are some common sense things that everyone ought to know. Like how food is grown on farms and does not magically appear in grocery stores. Or that when you get on an airplane, you don’t actually fly above the stars. Or that eggs are neither fruits nor veggies. One thing’s for sure—common sense isn’t all that common. 

Redditor u/PagalScientist’s thread went viral and got over 36.6k upvotes. The topic hit very close to home for many internet users. And they had a lot of fun spilling the tea about the very worst offenders to common sense and science that they had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting in their lives.

There are a few potential reasons why so many people might not have (what many would consider to be) basic knowledge. For one, their education might have been limited or very chaotic, whether due to the low-quality teachers they encountered or because they put very little effort into their lessons and homework.

Meanwhile, these people might have grown up in families that didn’t prioritize education or didn’t help their kids understand the importance of independently verifying information. Moreover, these individuals might simply not be curious about how the world works or may have focused on other subjects at the expense of common sense knowledge.

At the end of the day, no matter our individual circumstances, the responsibility for doing better and learning new things rests with each and every single one of us. Though life may be easier if you can afford a good education, there are plenty of free resources out there just waiting to be used. If you have access to the internet and have a public library in your local area, then all you need is the drive, discipline, and perseverance to tackle new subjects.

You could start off by delving deeper into a subject you’ve always liked but never found the time to analyze, whether that’s physics, programming, psychology, or personal finances. Or you could start off with a topic where you’ve embarrassed yourself before because all you’re relying on is hearsay and random tidbits of information that you’ve picked up from social media.

In the meantime, if you realize that your lack of education is having a negative effect on your job, daily life, and relationships, you may want to consider signing up for some classes. You could go to night classes, apply for a crash course, or even go to college. But that’s always easier said than done if you have responsibilities like work and taking care of your family. So a bit of planning is in need here. But it’s sure to pay off in the long run.