Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Which Opinions They Held That Were Proven Totally Incorrect

One sign of a truly intelligent person is having the ability to change your opinions in the face of contrary evidence. Note, we did not say anything about enjoying the process.


One Reddit user asked:

What is an opinion you once held that was proven completely wrong?

And what ended up happening was kind of a fascinating walk through the human learning process. Some lessons needed to be taught more than once, and sometimes with tragic results.

Other opinions were an absolute joy to have changed - like the person who had only ever eaten boiled unseasoned vegetables. The first taste of a roasted potato must have been the kind of thing that moved them to tears!

Or maybe we just really love carbs?


Respect

Giphy

If you respect someone, you'll get respect.

- jupiter_rules


People have different ideas about what respect means. There's one crowd that believes everyone is deserving of respect until they show themselves not to be. And there's another crowd that just repeats the mantra "Respect must be earned."

Most of the people I've met in the latter crowd seem to use that mantra as an excuse to treat people like shit by default. Like you're required to impress them somehow before they deem you worthy of basic human dignity.

- spicenine

Someone on Reddit pointed out the issue that often arises is not necessarily the lack of respect, but in differing definitions of respect. Respect can mean "treat me as an adult/responsible individual" versus "treat me as an authority figure."

Too often we equate "respect me and I'll respect you" as both wanting to treat each other as adults/responsible individuals, when in reality most often it's someone saying "treat me as an authority figure and I'll treat you as an adult in return."

- SoulReaverDan

Hard Work

People I work with will notice hard work and reward me for it. Turns out, you have to be social and have to advocate for your own career.

- fat_bearded_tax_man

What I'm finding out is if you work hard they do notice it...and take advantage of it by overloading you with an overwhelming amount with no accompanying advancement in your pay or career.

- Rivka333

Turn out you have to kiss @ss, a LOT of it. Hard work means you get kept where you are bc the next guy might not be as willing.

- KiritoFujikawa

Wrong Twice

I had a lot of misinformed opinions about drug use. I volunteered with the DARE (drug abuse resistance education) program in my small town through the local PD for a few years in middle school/ early high school. I remember going to a party and seeing people smoke weed and being shocked there weren't overdoses or wild attacks or something.

I did my own actual research on marijuana and realized how much of what DARE taught was either false or misinformation. My opinions shattered and I figured drug use wasn't that bad.


I had to learn that drugs really can be dangerous later through the loss of a friend. Luckily I never really wanted to do anything more than weed anyway, but I had to learn my opinions were wrong twice before I had a healthy understanding.

I think it would've been a lot easier if things were presented honestly from the beginning.

- OddreyBall

There have been multiple studies showing that kids who had D.A.R.E. at their school are more likely to use drugs. The primary reason for this is when they realize how absurd some of the program's claims are, they distrust everything else the program taught them.

- punjar3

Not A Choice

That being gay is a choice.

And then I realized I was gay and also realized that it was not a choice.

- ObbTobbKenob

My grandfather was gay and during a conversation with him I referred to the time in his life when he married my grandmother as "when he was confused."

He stopped me right there. "I was never confused. I knew I was gay, but I didn't want to accept it. I was convinced that I could change it; that I was supposed to get married and have kids, because that's what was normal."

- khanradski

The older I get, the more I suspect that most people who say homosexuality is a choice are closeted or bisexual, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

The reason they think it's a choice is because it is a choice... for them. They choose to not follow their urges, and assume everyone else does the same, whereas fully/mainly straight people don't really ever consider it.

- SnapeProbDiedAVirgin

When I came out to my grandma as wanting to date girls she was very confused because "everyone likes girls more but you just have to marry men, it's what you do."

She absolutely didn't realize.

- maraudingbagel

Boiled

Giphy

Until I was 18, I genuinely thought that the way to cook vegetables was to boil the hell out of them to the point where they tasted lifeless. Turns out broccoli, carrots and cauliflower taste so much nicer when you roast them and add seasoning! Plus roast potatoes taste so much nicer than boiled potatoes.

- Thunderfart99

Not A Flu

I thought covid-19 was a normal flu, until more peeps died very quickly and now we have less death than normal. It really ain't a normal flu.

- natasjansenn4

I have to admit, I thought the same thing (kinda). I mean, I knew it was more dangerous and infectious than the flu but I thought everyone was overreacting until schools starting shutting down because that's when I first actually got affected by the virus.

- money4213

Yeah, I kept telling everyone not to worry about it, they are just blowing things out of proportion. Then the world went to hell.

I was SO sure!

- IWannaGoHome49

I changed my mind about Covid-19 the day companies started to drop out of MWC (mobile world congress). There was A LOT of money to be made around that sht, and companies NEVER lose the chance to swag a penny out of someone else's pocket, so when they decided that covid 19 might be a threat for them, I started taking it way more seriously.

Lets be honest: you'll have a clearer view of how the world really works once you starts looking at how big money behaves.

- AnotherNamelesAcount

Judge Not

That all religious people are good, and the non-religious ones are most likely worse. Went to Catholic school for most of my life, raised in a very liberal Catholic household.

It all came crashing down when my city's cathedral caught a highly respected member pocketing a stack of money from collection boxes. Red-handed on CCTV. It was a long time ago and I'm glad I no longer judge non-religious people.

- Seaofflames

Baby Leashes

Parents who use leashes on their toddlers just don't want to put the effort into teaching them to listen.

Am a parent now and have been paid back 10-fold for those judgmental thoughts with a very rambunctious little boy who looks right at you with the sweetest little smile while he ignores you before running away like a squirrel on crack. We have a harness for him now.

- cornland

Yep, I see many kids that SHOULD be on a leash. And of course some parents that need to put effort in. Or both.

Our first was a handful. I was trying to keep one hand on him in the pharmacy while getting to the counter. The lady behind the checkout laughed and said "you need a leash for that one!"

I put a harness on the counter, gave a deadpan stare and said "that's what I'm here for."

- HoggishPad

Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or ":zipper_mouth_face:" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshots of Hope Walz and Laura Ingraham
@hopewalz/TikTok; Fox News

Hope Walz Perfectly Claps Back After Laura Ingraham Rips Her For Supporting Mamdani

Hope Walz, the daughter of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, responded brilliantly after Fox News personality Laura Ingraham attacked her for praising the mayoral primary victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City on TikTok, saying Ingraham spends her time "not caring about other people.”

Mamdani handily defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary last week, sparking racist and Islamophobic backlash from right-wingers who've claimed his policies would "destroy" the city.

Keep ReadingShow less
child writing on chalkboard
Leonardo Toshiro Okubo on Unsplash

Bilingual People Explain Which Words They're Surprised Don't Exist In English

According to one report, approximately 3.3 billion people worldwide—43 % of the population—are multilingual, meaning they speak at least two languages. According to the last Census, 21.6% of people in the United States speak more than one language, while in the United Kingdom, the number is 36%.

More multilingual people speak English as a second language than English speakers who have learned another language besides English. Worldwide, people who learned English as a first language rate among the lowest in multilingual rates.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Garfield at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival
Harry Durrant/Getty Images

Andrew Garfield meets fan with wild tweet!

American actor Andrew Garfield had a funny yet awkward reunion with a fan from a viral “Thirst Tweet” featured on Buzzfeed Celeb.

The Thirst Tweet compilation shows celebrities reading a collection of scandalous tweets from fans commenting on their looks, attractiveness, and sex appeal. Blushing stars include James McAvoy, Renee Rapp, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Mackie, and more recently, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, as they promote F1 the Movie that was released in theaters last week.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @hotweirdgirl69's TikTok video
@hotweirdgirl69/TikTok

Women Record As Two Men Refuse To Leave Their Table At A Bar—And It's Infuriating

Content Warning: Sexual Harassment

"She deserved it." "She was asking for it." "She wasn't clear about her boundaries." "She didn't actually say 'no.'"

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @sarahtheseven's TikTok video
@sarahtheseven/TikTok

TikToker Speaks Out After Doctor Refused To Set Her Broken Arm Because She Was Crying

Many of us have negative relationships with the healthcare system, going to doctor's appointments, or asking for medical help at all—and unfortunately, that's for good reason.

Too often patients are subjected to medical bias, gaslighting, and neglect, and it can often lead to poor medical attention, inaccurate diagnoses, and even unnecessary medications and procedures. And the main victims of these occurrences are often women and people of color.

Keep ReadingShow less