47 Times People Made Terrible Decisions And Paid For Them Instantly (New Pics)

As Hannah Montana famously sang, “Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days.” And it’s true. No matter how lucky you think you are, one day you’ll manage to spill an entire cup of coffee down your shirt on your way to work or crash your bicycle into a bus on your way to a first date. Mishaps, embarrassing moments, and failures are inevitable. But it’s important to learn from them, even from the ones we’ve seen others make, so we don’t repeat them.

And if you’d like to be reminded of why we should always think through our actions, allow us to introduce you to the What Could Go Wrong? subreddit. Not all of the photos on this list are from this group, but they all have the same spirit of this community. According to the group’s moderators, this is “the best place to learn what not to do.”

Making mistakes is a quintessential part of being a human. From sending small typos while texting your boss to forgetting your best friend’s birthday, there are millions of errors that people can make every single day. But mistakes aren’t inherently a bad thing. In fact, it’s perfectly natural for us to make them. 

According to Orca Lean Digital Solutions, there are some psychological explanations for human errors. Sometimes we make mistakes due to cognitive overload. If your brain is dealing with more information than it can process at once, you might overlook details and make some errors. Or, if you’re thinking about one thing while talking about something else, what’s in your mind might accidentally slip out.  

Stress and fatigue are also common explanations for mistakes that humans make. Being under pressure makes it harder to pay attention, make decisions, and react quickly. This is part of the reason why taking frequent short breaks at work is important to keep your mind fresh. Meanwhile, confirmation bias can explain some mistakes. This can cause people to miss important details or information because their mind is already made up. 

In the same vein, habitual behaviors can lead to making mistakes. If you’re doing something on autopilot because you’ve done it a million times before, you might not be prepared for unexpected changes. Humans aren’t super alert at all times (which is actually a blessing, because it allows us to relax), so we can easily be caught off guard by sudden changes. 

Sam Goldstein, PhD, writes for Psychology Today that it’s best to view mistakes we make in a positive light. We tend to fear errors and try to avoid them as often as possible, but sometimes they can be wonderful learning experiences. For example, if you’re learning a new skill, studying a new language, or trying out a new hobby, you’re not going to be perfect from day one. In fact, you’ll probably be terrible. But that’s how you learn! We should normalize making mistakes, so there’s no shame around them. 

Making mistakes frequently can also make humans more resilient. If you can count on one hand the number of times you’ve messed up this week, you’re probably not taking a lot of risks. And you might not be learning anything new! But if you’re used to receiving criticism and feedback, you’ll get better at taking it. Plus, you might be able to view your errors as funny stories to tell later, rather than embarrassing moments. It’s important to train your brain to see the positives in these situations.