Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Debate Which 'Normal' Human Things Would Seem Bizarre To Aliens

man in green mask inside car
Brooke Denevan on Unsplash

Reddit user 2drums1cymbal asked: 'What are some “normal” things humans do that an intelligent alien species might find weird, gross or confusing?'

Are we alone in the universe? It's highly unlikely given the number of stars and potential planets.

But are we actively encountering extraterrestrial life? That ones a little harder to discern.


And what do/would they think if they are visiting us? Are we a fascinating primitive culture? Or are we more "lock the doors, roll up the windows, we're in the bad part of the galaxy" neighborhood?

Admittedly, we are kind of strange.

Reddit user 2drums1cymbal asked:

"What are some 'normal' things humans do that an intelligent alien species might find weird, gross or confusing?"

Substances

"Intentionally poisoning ourselves to make our tedious lives more bearable."

"Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, Ecstasy, alcohol, etc..."

~ Snark_Life

"And many other mind-altering substances, like caffeine, and things that evolved to be unpleasant or unpalatable, like capsaicin."

~ -King_Slacker

Mini-Humans Are Useless

"Human babies are useless because hip bone sizes limit how much they can develop before birth. That's why a calf or foal can walk in hours, but a human baby takes a year."

"If aliens reproduce differently enough, they might be confused both as to why our offspring are messy little blobs and as to why we're all so comparatively clingy—because if they don't rely on their parents for survival as much their social structure would probably be wildly different."

~ shyishguyish

Likes

"Exchanging saliva because we like someone."

"Slapping our hands together rapidly because we like something."

"Keep animals captive because we like them."

~ _forum_mod

Taste Is Subjective

"We will put each other's genitalia in our mouth, but we won't eat the overripe black part on the banana."

~ Snoo_63187

Close Shave

"Do we really let someone pass the sharpest blade our species could create near our largest artery only to remove our head/neck hair?"

~ tbfoot

Lacto Tolerance

"'You do WHAT with the lactic fluids of animals? Wait, wait, wait, you're saying you don't just drink it, but you also carefully rot it until it congeals into fatty, solid blocks and then you eat THAT too‽‽'."

"I love cheese, don't get me wrong, but it's hard to think about sometimes."

~ Chairboy

Carne Humana

"We're all made of meat!"

~ imn0tafurry

O Tannenbaum

"Decorate the corpse of a conifer every winter solstice."

~ Mumbles_Stiltskin

Bless You v. Excuse Me

"Others call on the intercession of a deity when someone else expels from the nose, but the bodily function wielder begs for forgiveness when expelling gas from the anus or mouth."

~ prodigy1367

Sports

"Bowling. I always thought an alien or very different culture would be shocked by how many people around me are surprisingly good at accurately rolling a heavy ball 30 feet."

~ NigilQuid

"Some games we play, like bowling, golf, do look a little pointless to an outsider."

~ GaiaSagrada909

Face Leakage

"Crying. Shedding tears as a response to emotions might be confusing or seen as a bizarre leakage of body fluids if emotional expressions manifest differently for them."

~ Fit_Journalist_533

Reproduction

"Having hot sweaty smelly messy sex instead of neatly depositing eggs in a proper incubator and neatly fertilizing them."

"If it's good enough for the salmons, it's good enough for our new fishy masters."

~ fogobum

"Take it a step further. What if they don't reproduce sexually at all?"

"That'd be a huge divide to overcome."

~ 250HardKnocksCaps

"Mitosis is indeed a huge divide."

~ PirateNinjasReddit

Efficiency Ick

"That our reproductive system and waste disposal system are interconnected with each other."

~ soccerdevil22

"Hell, the reproductive, food intake, and waste disposal systems of some invertebrates are all interconnected and enter/exit from the same hole."

~ Peptuck

💩🚽

"Pooping in water."

"With water being one of the most fundamental resources to human life and health I feel like an alien species would question why we just expel waste into it and flush it away."

~ CaptainCreepwork

What would you add to the list?

More from News/science

Screenshot of George Santos; Zohran Mamdani
@MrSantosNY/X; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

George Santos Announced He's Leaving New York After Mamdani's Win—And The Responses Are Brutal

Disgraced former New York Republican Representative George Santos was widely mocked after he announced he will leave New York City now that Zohran Mamdani has won the mayoral election.

Mamdani has sent shockwaves around the world with his win; an unapologetic democratic socialist, he took on the establishment and won despite months of Islamophobic and racist attacks from the right-wing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of man collapsing and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. preparing to walk out
@atrupar/X

RFK Jr. Dragged For Bolting Out Of Oval Office The Moment A Man Collapsed During Press Briefing

Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was criticized after hurrying out of a press briefing in the Oval Office on Thursday after a man had a medical emergency and suddenly collapsed.

Kennedy was on hand alongside President Donald Trump, Dr. Mehmet Oz—the current Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—and health aides for a press briefing announcing lower costs for weight loss drugs.

Keep ReadingShow less

Times People Saw Someone Almost Die Due To Their Own Actions

All actions have consequences, some more negative and severe than others.

But sometimes, someone will do something so extreme or stupid, it could almost cost them their life.

Keep ReadingShow less

Cancer Patients Explain Which Symptoms Ultimately Led Them To See A Doctor

Cancer has taken far too many lives and affected far too many people.

Where is a cure?

Keep ReadingShow less
Close-up shot of the number 30 painted on asphalt.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

People Over 30 Share Their Biggest Regrets In Life

Life goes by in a flash.

When we're young, we tend to laugh off that statement.

Keep ReadingShow less