Sometimes mild is just the best. That may sound oxymoronic, but haven’t you ever heard the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? She did not want the most extreme options of anything. The middle of the road, mild options were just right. That’s the appeal of the Mildly Interesting subreddit. We cannot be bombarded with breaking news and life-changing facts constantly. They are fun sometimes, but we would go crazy if we had to take in information like that all the time.
And clearly, mild is quite popular on Reddit, as this group that is “for photos that are, you know, mildly interesting” has over 20 million members. This might be because of how vague the description is, so people can post almost anything in the group. But it is also a fun place to visit because members are never quite sure what they are going to see. The community’s description is also quite humble, as it states, “Aww, cripes. I didn't know I'd have to write a description. How many words is that so far, like a hundred? Soooo, yeah. Mildly interesting stuff. Stuff that interests you. Mildly. It's in the name, ffs.”
Don’t think that this subreddit is just the Wild West, though. They do have to enforce some rules to ensure that everything is organically, mildly interesting. Rule number one is no memes. “This includes references in titles of your post (e.g. "banana for scale," "potato quality"),” the moderators write. The next rule is no related posts. Basically, if you are referencing another post already on the page, you must do so in the comments of the original post. Makes sense, all threads should be original.
The next few rules are all along the same lines of original content: no x-posts or reposts, original photographs only, and no screenshots. Members are not really supposed to edit their photos either, so everything should be as original and natural as possible. Lastly, “Titles must be exact but concise descriptions.” They are not allowed to add jokes or backstory, and in fact, the moderators write that the titles should be like spoilers for the images. Simple subreddit, simple rules and posts. We can’t have anything too interesting winding up in here.
The idea of mildly interesting topics is beloved by many, even those outside of the 20 million member subreddit. In fact, there is a podcast titled The Mildly Interesting: A Nightly Bedtime Podcast that you can stream on various podcast platforms. To get a bit more insight about the show and hear how it began in the first place, we reached out to the creator and host, Oliver Wilson. "I love listening to podcasts, and my love has passed on to my grandchildren. So much so that my granddaughter would request that I play her whatever I was listening to on Alexa to help her fall asleep whenever she visited," Oliver told Bored Panda. "The problem was I would fall asleep while waiting for her to fall asleep, so I wanted to listen to something that I found a little interesting but didn’t care too much about so I wouldn't mind if I fell asleep. I couldn’t find any bedtime podcast that I liked so I decided to make one of my own for my granddaughter and anyone else who wanted to listen to a podcast while trying to fall asleep."
We then asked Oliver what qualifies as "mildly interesting" to him. "A mildly interesting thing is something that is not very exciting or compelling but is still worth noting or paying attention to. It may be mildly amusing, slightly intriguing, or simply not dull such as the cultivation of almonds (yup, I did an episode on almonds). It is probably not the most important topic to the general public, but it's something to which we should pay attention."
The show also features episodes on oatmeal, blueberries, carousels, buttons, sour candy, roller coasters and more.
We also asked Oliver if he thinks mildly interesting things are underrated. "That's tough to say," he told us. "Some people might find mildly interesting things more intriguing than others who might find them boring. It depends on the person's perspective. But, I have found that when I think I am going to be bored by a topic, I usually find some aspect of it interesting. Or, at least, mildly interesting."
In contrast, we wanted to know what he would consider fascinating in contrast to his show. "Physics. Definitely mind-blowing and would require too much concentration for my bedtime podcast," he says. Fair enough, I think hearing about physics would put me right to sleep without a chance of hearing anything. I would much rather learn a little bit about oatmeal and slowly drift off.
Lastly, Oliver wants to remind everyone to, "Keep an open mind, and you will find something interesting about everyone and everything." If you're interested in checking out his peaceful, night time podcast, you can find the show's website right here.
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Sometimes mild things are unfairly overlooked. The most popular destinations in the world may be beautiful, but they are also usually crowded and overhyped. The biggest car on the road is probably cool at first, but it won’t be so fun when it takes 20 minutes to parallel park. Or when a tank of gas costs $80. An $8 giant chocolate chip cookie might look amazing, but it might leave you with a stomach ache as well. A simple, small cookie baked with love by your mother might be even more satisfying. That wild person who took you on the craziest date of your life where you both pulled an all-nighter might seem like the most exciting person you have ever met, but do you really have the stamina to be partying like that every weekend? Some of us are born to live extremely interesting lives, but there is no shame in embracing the mild every now and then.
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Have you ever heard the world lagom? It’s a Swedish word that is very prominent in Swedish culture meaning “just the right amount”. It roughly translates to “not too much, not too little”, and it can be applied to almost anything. You should eat lagom, your clothes should fit lagom, and your work/life balance should have a basis of lagom. It’s the idea of balanced living, and it leads to great contentment. These mildly interesting posts make me think of the idea of “lagom” because they are just the right amount of interesting. It’s a word for mild with a positive connotation, and it can be utilized in almost any situation.
Many people grow up wanting to be the most remarkable person in the world, or at least in their field, and they dream of having a massive impact on others. Finding the cure for cancer, becoming the president or winning a gold medal at the Olympics are amazing goals, but let’s be honest, we are not all destined for greatness. And that is totally fine. Social scientist Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic wrote a piece for Psychology Today titled “The Upsides of Being Average”, and I think that is exactly what the Mildly Interesting subreddit excels in.
Dr. Chamorro-Premuzic explains that about 65% of people will have average intelligence, personality, memory, happiness, leadership potential, creativity, etc., so there is nothing wrong with being normal. In fact, there might even be advantages. Certain characteristics, even desirable ones like ambition, sociability, confidence and conscientiousness can be turned into negatives if they are overused or exploited. For example, the most ambitious person you know might become greedy and stop caring for the feelings of others if they impede on his or her goals. Balance is actually a great thing, and when we are “average”, we have an easier time relating to one another.
