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?'

Make us preferred on Google

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

Donald Trump
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Trump Dragged After Image Of Him On Fox News Watching Himself On Fox News Goes Viral

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after an image from Fox News of him watching himself during their live coverage on the Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, D.C. went viral.

Trump is widely known to obsessively watch news coverage of himself day and night, hence why he's become notorious for attacking news organizations and political opponents on Truth Social at all hours.

Keep ReadingShow less
Members of the Patriot Front
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Photo Of Black Woman Surrounded By White Nationalists On DC Metro For July 4th March Goes Viral—And It Speaks Volumes

Reuters photographer Cheney Orr took a photograph of a Black woman on the DC Metro on July 4 surrounded by Patriot Front members as they prepared to march amid the America250 festivities that has struck a chord with the public living under President Donald Trump's administration.

The neo-Nazi organization, which is based in North Texas, proceeded with its demonstration despite the cancellation of numerous Fourth of July events across the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region, including the parade planned to mark America's 250th anniversary.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kathy Griffin (left) criticized The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after Conor McGregor (middle) appeared as a guest on host Jimmy Fallon’s (right) late-night show.
@kathygriffin/Instagram; The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube

Kathy Griffin Sounds Off On 'The Tonight Show' For Banning Her While Allowing Conor McGregor As A Guest In Viral Rant

On June 16, MMA fighter and accused rapist Conor McGregor appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he discussed his return to the UFC, a time he knocked someone out in 13 seconds, and the origin of his nickname, "The Notorious."

Fallon, of course, left out any questions regarding McGregor being found liable in a sexual assault case stemming from allegations made by Nikita Hand.

Keep ReadingShow less
Melissa Gilbert on a red carpet; A vintage photo or Michael Landon
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images; Kypros/Getty Images

Melissa Gilbert Shares Sweet Throwback Photos Of Herself And Michael Landon On The 35th Anniversary Of His Death

There were not many TV families more beloved than the Ingalls on Little House On The Prairie, the beloved series based on the novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder, which had a nearly decade-long run from 1974 to 1983.

Particularly touching was the relationship between Laura, played by Melissa Gilbert, and Charles "Pa" Ingalls, played by Michael Landon.

Keep ReadingShow less
Karlie Kloss; Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump
@bloombergoriginals/Instagram; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Karlie Kloss Sparks Heated Debate With Her Take On Navigating Political Differences With Her Trump In-Laws

Supermodel Karlie Kloss is in hot water on the internet after addressing how she navigates her Trump-aligned in-laws' kleptocratic fascist politics.

Kloss, who is married to Jared Kushner's brother Joshua and is a Democrat, recently sat down with Bloomberg to discuss what it's like to be married into a family she doesn't agree with.

Keep ReadingShow less