#1
Fact really can be stranger than fiction. Connor and I definitely agree on that!
"I’ve read countless true stories that Stephen King himself couldn’t have concocted in years of brainstorming. The natures of the world and people are far more complex and unpredictable than we’ll ever be able to depict through media. For this, modern entertainment will never fully prepare us for some of the crazier and bizarre real-life experiences," the founder of the @con_spiracy brand gave Bored Panda his perspective.
"If anything, it will only skew our expectations and jeopardize our abilities to mentally grasp these incalculable situations that occur with no budgets, no time limits, no agendas, no frame of reference," he noted that the entertainment that we consume in our spare time won't necessarily help us deal with strange situations in real-life because the latter is on a different wavelength entirely.
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I loved playing at their houses.
"As someone who has seen my fair share of bizarre and even unexplainable circumstances, they can certainly be life-changing, for better or worse. They can open you to up to ideas that you once thought to be impossible and make you more understanding of people who feel alone in their own unique experiences," Connor said.
"But at the same time, they can make you feel isolated from people who are fixated on the only reality they’ve ever experienced themselves. While you can’t blame these people most of the time, this can be very frustrating and often forces us to bury these bizarre memories that we often wish we didn’t possess."
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We also touched on the topic of separating the truth of what happened from exaggeration. According to the founder of @con_spiracy, "distinguishing between fact and fiction on the unrestricted library of the internet can be very muddy."
"In my opinion, there’s no clear-cut way to discern whether a story is true or not. There are sources that can definitely increase our confidence in the truthfulness of a story (ie. research papers, government sources, Wikipedia), but we can never be fully certain," he pointed out.
"Even the sources I just mentioned above have (rarely) skewed data and manipulated information in the past to achieve a specific desired effect on the reader. At the end of the day, it is the user’s responsibility to use their best judgment in discerning whether to accept a story as fact or fiction. But hell let’s be honest, it’s way more fun to simply accept every crazy story, encounter, and conspiracy theory as absolute truth, am I wrong?" Connor said that these stories (true or not) can be wildly entertaining.
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What Connor told us partly echoes the opinion of award-winning writer and editor Doug Murano, the founder of Bad Hand Books. "My professional expertise is limited to fiction, but I'll say this: I've seen enough real magic and wonder in the world to make me think twice about whether the supernatural is real—and I think that's a healthy thing. It's perhaps less important to believe any given tale than it is to remain open to experiences while leaving room in your head and in your heart for belief,” he told Bored Panda earlier.
"Great horror stories thread a precarious needle: They maintain a sense of the truly inexplicable while creating a world and a narrative that provides enough answers to ground the story. Over-explanation kills most horror, which is why the shark is scariest when you only see the fin; the alien is most terrifying when it's lurking in the shadows; the killer is most monstrous when he's masked," he shared some advice for aspiring horror writers.
“I suspect that most of us—regardless of our spiritual beliefs—have a longing for something beyond this life. Human beings seem to be pre-programmed with this urge. So much of horror and speculative fiction grapples with death and what happens after we die that I can't help but believe much of our interest in such stories is an expression of a longing for experiences and existences beyond our perceptions."
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As for checking the reliability of information, as we've covered on Bored Panda before, it can be utterly exhausting to double-check every tiny fact. Few people have that kind of spare time to be so thorough. Instead, you should do your best to figure out what sources are (un)reliable, what to read and what to avoid. Just because multiple sources repeat a claim over and over again doesn't automatically make it true.
Try to look for companies and organizations that do quality investigative journalism, cite multiple sources, and are transparent when it comes to conflicts of interest. That won't eradicate all potential errors and biases (some will always slip through). However, it's a far better alternative than thinking that all sources are equally truthful or good.
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Many of us are drawn to strange and inexplicable things, both in real life and in the entertainment we consume. People are fascinated by things that cross social boundaries and explore some of the less-than-savory aspects of the human condition.
Everyone has their quirks, no doubt. There are degrees of weirdness, it’s an entire spectrum. And it’s only by interacting with others that we truly begin to understand just how unorthodox or predictably we (or they) actually behave.
There might be a completely rational reason to have a fridge full of jello… but this little revelation can truly shock someone who’s taking care of your cat.
Meanwhile, it’s natural to miss your loved ones who have passed away. Sticking photos of their faces on dolls and seating them at the dinner table, however, is bound to set off most people’s inner alarms.
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A while back, Bored Panda analyzed this human desire to watch and read disturbing stories. Part of the reason why they fascinate us so much is down to our evolutionary instincts. We used to be extremely aware of any and all potential threats to our safety. We are drawn to information that improves our odds of survival, though we’re far safer in modern times.
What we have now is the ability to take a peek at the dark and uncomfortable aspects of human life from the comfort of our homes. We can explore fear, evil, and morbidity while staying completely safe. Meanwhile, there’s also a deep satisfaction in seeing mysteries being solved. We enjoy closure and having our curiosity satisfied.
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2.Cat and dog poop everywhere. God the smell was so bad. I had to work upstairs in the closet at the smart panel and 2 cats were hiding out up there staring at me. Dried cat puke all over the place. It was so nasty.
3.This one house had a smell I couldn’t even describe. It hit me as I crossed the threshold and I noticed 2 old people in there. Something died or they hadn’t changed the diapers in forever. The smell was HEAVY.
4.One old guy, very nice, but man he smelled like death. I have never seen someone so pale in my life. No blood in his arms, face, anywhere. My sixth sense was going crazy with this one here.
5.Dolls. I’ve never seen so many dolls in one place ever. This lady could have opened a doll store and had stock left over for the back. They went as high as the ceiling, multiple rooms, all over the place. Special shelves were built for them. Come to think of it, it was clean. No idea how she kept the dust off them. Husband was super cool, but the lady had this obsession with dolls.