People Break Down The Most Comforting Facts They Know

Thanks For Not Hating Me

"That dogs usually understand that you stepping on their tail is an accident."-CyanBlue78

"I hope so, since they’re always underfoot when cooking."

"Our prior dog was a chihuahua who lived to be 16, and no matter how many times he got stepped on would still stay underfoot when cooking."

"He must have figured the benefit of getting a scrap of food that wasn’t a vegetable was worth the risk."-EmperorPenguinNJ

Oh Well The Country Will Survive, So *Phew*

"Scientists highly doubt that yellowstone will ever have another supereruption. In fact, it's unclear if it even has enough magma beneath its caldera to erupt again at all, let alone have a supereruption."-thecyriousone

"That's good to know because this was a weird fear of mine as a kid, despite living no where close to Yellowstone and having never visited it."-BlackbirdKnowsAll

Use What Ya Got

"Sesame Street writes real life events into their plot lines a lot. For example when one of the actors died, they killed off his character and had an episode to teach kids about grief."

"One of the child actresses quit so she could go to college, and they had her character do the same and had a going away party for her on the show itself. It’s kind of heartwarming."

"Also Sesame Street has been on air for so long that there was an episode about that character’s mom being pregnant. The actress’s childhood was basically a wholesome version of the Truman Show."-Savitribaii

Do you already feel some of the tension beginning to lift out of your body?

Squeak~

"A study with rats showed that empathy is a shared trait among mammals. When two rats were tested with one being stuck in a plastic trap, the other rat usually became distressed and freed it really quickly."

"'The rescuers did not seem to have an ulterior motive for freeing their trapped cage-mate: they continued to do so even when the experimental set-up was changed so that the two rats would not be able to benefit from touching and interacting after the liberation.'"

"'Moreover, the plaintive calls of the trapped rat were too infrequent to suggest that the free rat acted simply to get some peace and quiet.'"

"They also did another test where the rat could choose between chocolate or freeing their trapped companion, they would free the trapped rat AND share some of the chocolate with them."

"'Most surprisingly, says Bartal, although the liberator could choose to eat all the chocolate before freeing their cage-mate, they were more likely to share.'"

"'“They were very generous. It is really impressive for rats,” says Bartal. “It would be impressive for people too.”'"

"Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21256-rats-..."-beepborpimajorp

Great Now Let's Get Rid Of It

"In 1820, 94% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty. In 1990, 34.8%, and in 2015, just 9.6%. Within the last 100 years we've almost eradicated extreme poverty."

"Absolutely insane to think how long humans have lived on this planet and just how far we've come in the last 100 years."-PainAndAbel

Dyin' Ain't So Bad

"I’m sure it varies by person, but I went into brief cardiac arrest, and it was similar to falling asleep. When I came to, it was more 'that was it?' than anything."

"I did make some pretty significant changes in diet and exercise afterward. I even lost about 40 lbs! But the truth is there wasn’t any of the grand catharsis you see in movies."

"Even though I gained a change in perspective, there was no instant improvement in character or huge jump in maturity. It was more of a nudge in the right direction rather than a shove into the light."

"The experience is much more mundane than you’d think, but that’s the reason I believe it was so impactful. I didn’t stress about work as much."

"I didn’t worry about how people perceived me as much. Because I saw how it all ends, and it’s nothing to lose sleep over. So now after 2 years of progress, I don’t really lose sleep over anything. It’s nice."-FrostedBanner

Made Of Starstuff

"You are entirely composed of things that were forged in the bellies of long dead stars. It took billions of years to make the basic blocks from which you are built."

"You are not a passenger in this great universe, you are a reflection of its awesome, immeasurable, infinite possibilities."-The_Squiggy

A sigh of relief is already forming in your guts as you read each fact.

Ignorance And Want

"Overall, we humans are living in the most peaceful, most advanced, most rich world we have ever known."

"Of course there are pockets of violence, ignorance and want. The rest of us can use our gifts to help those in need. Don't give in to the merchants of despair."-Mokurai

The Strangest 'Wrong Number' Stories | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

More Positivity Needed

"Data has shown that, statistically speaking, crime is trending down. Studies have also shown that negative events stick out more to the human psyche because, evolutionarily speaking, that can help you survive."

"Sure, remembering the cute butterflies 50k years ago might have been pleasant to your ancestors. But is as useful as remembering that their friend got eaten by a bear that lived near that butterfly?"

"So while the world seems like it’s going to sh*t, that’s only because evolution has crafted your brain to remember negative events more prominently."

"And because of the rise of the 24/7, worldwide news cycle that brings you all of the terrible things happening across the planet in nearly real-time. The world is slowly but surely improving, little by little and day by day."-modsareflaccid

Fishcadian Rhythm

"My pet fish have a bedtime. To further explain, fish, like most animals, have a circadian rhythm. This means they generally need to sleep and be awake at around the same times every day."

"I see this quite easily in my fish tank because when I turn the lights off in the tank and room then come back 30 minutes later, the fish have fallen asleep."

"It is easiest to see in my neon tetras. Normally they are bright orange and blue and they are super active. But when they sleep they become almost transparent and they will sort of hover in the same spot."

"Eventually if I leave the light on enough they wake up but because I want them to be comfortable, I try to keep the lights off once they go to bed."-ET318

Perhaps the most comforting bit about all these facts? They quite literally keep the world running. So they're not just comforting, they're also necessary.

The world needs comfort to function.