Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down The Scariest Inventions Mankind Has Ever Created

People Break Down The Scariest Inventions Mankind Has Ever Created
Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

Ever wanted to freak yourself out? Stay up late at night and read Hiroshima, journalist John Hersey's account of the Hiroshima nuclear bombing and its immediate aftermath. It's 31,000 words––originally filling an entire edition of The New Yorker––and it never fails to send a chill down my spine. The piece, later published as a bestselling book, is a frightening piece of journalism about one of mankind's most frightening inventions... perhaps it's most frightening.

People shared their opinions after Redditor Illurinatil asked the online community,

"People of Reddit, what is the scariest thing you think mankind has ever created?"

"You can't see them..."

"The most terrifying inventions are biological weapons. You can't see them and you die horribly. In the best case, you die within minutes; in the worst, it can take hours or days. Or you don't die and there are permanent damages to you."

Delta1136

The silent killer.

Reading about the Ghouta chemical attack is bound to ruin your day. We apologize in advance.

"Chemical weapons by far..."

"Chemical weapons by far because the effects are limitless and you can engineer the fallout to be global."

tmcdrw

"A vicious cycle..."

"A vicious cycle where we have the technology to solve our problems but can't because not everybody can agree on it."

Coolius69

We're doomed, aren't we?

Yeah... we totally are.

"The idea that..."

"Adversarial thinking. The idea that "we are right and they are wrong." This is how every war begins."

WonderfulSpecific601

"I'm honestly..."

"I'm honestly going to have to go with social media in its current form. Nuclear weapons have chains of command and are kept under lock and key. Some private cannot initiate a nuclear strike but any nitwit can hop on Facebook, Instagram, etc. and fall into the rabbit hole of extremism, believing whatever some @ss tells them due to lack of critical thinking skills, people who know how to exploit social media doing just that, and so forth. And this has happened to millions of people.

I honestly think social media has been a net negative to humankind and that, if it had been invented in the 1940s, we would still have polio crippled people being placed in iron lungs every year."

DeputyCartman

"Nukes are..."

​"Nukes are what kept the planet at peace for the majority of the world based on the understanding that if you get turned to dust in a second you are considered the lucky ones on the receiving end. It is by far the scariest thing mankind has ever created."

ghigoli

Mutually Assured Destruction has indeed kept the world safe... but what happens when someone gets a little too scary and cocky?

Probably shouldn't think of it. I need to sleep tonight.

"I just saw..."

"I just saw a video of a robot controlled by neurons from a rat's brain. So that's alarming."

owmyfingy

"The scariest thing..."

"The scariest thing mankind has ever invented is still a secret because if they told us we wouldn't be able to sleep."

Blacklolipop

"We don't have very much..."

"Antimatter. We don't have very much of it, but the very idea of a substance that can annihilate matter is insane. For that matter, the colliders that can make it. The physics involved are terrifying."

Rainbow_Dash_RL

We'll never sleep again.

Sorry if you had a nice, leisurely day planned. Did you really need another reason to think that humans are horrible? To be fair, they make it so easy.

Have some suggestions of your own? Feel free to tell us in the comments below!


Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Walmart store with tweet overlay
Scott Olson/Getty Images; @ruledbymercuryy/X

A Woman Just Found Her Mom's Cheap Walmart Grocery Receipt From 2006—And We're Furiously Sobbing

Feel like bursting into tears and then hurling your phone at the wall? Well then you've clicked on the right story!

A woman on X (formerly Twitter) has the entire internet sobbing after sharing an old Walmart receipt of her mom's grocery run from 2006.

Keep Reading Show less
Donald Trump; gaz pump in Albany, New York
Aaron Schwartz/AFP via Getty Images; Jim Franco/Albany Times Union via Getty Images

Anti-Trump Stickers Keep Getting Spotted On Gas Pumps—And They're Absolutely Brutal

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's decision to join Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attacking the country of Iran directly caused gas prices in the United States to soar and even Trump's MAGA minions aren't happy about it.

Many who are turning their back on Trump have cited the POTUS's negative impact on their cost of living and the influence Netanyahu, himself under investigation by his own country for corruption, has over the Trump administration.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshots of Jude Cloud
@judercloud/Instagram

Former MAGA Fan Goes Viral With Video Explaining What Finally Made Him Dismantle His Conservative Beliefs

Influencer Jude Cloud revealed in a video message how he ended up discarding the MAGA conservative beliefs he grew up around, describing his evolution from holding “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” ideals to being a "terribly woke" queer leftist.

Cloud, who boasts nearly 58,000 followers on Instagram, said he actually used to go "door-to-door" stumping for "one of [President Donald] Trump's closest friends in Congress, adding that he "used to say, 'I think, therefore I am conservative.'"

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Todd Blanche
CNN

Trump's AG Sets Off A Firestorm With Claim That Americans 'Want Their Tax Dollars Spent On' Trump's $1.8 Billion Slush Fund

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is facing heavy criticism after claiming that Americans "want their tax dollars spent on things like" President Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund that may go to his allies and those who participated in the January 6 insurrection.

The Justice Department said last week it was creating the fund as part of a deal in which Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. But despite a press release, memo, and a newly-released settlement agreement, many details about the program remain unclear.

Keep Reading Show less
Khloé Kardashian
Khloe in Wonder Land/YouTube

Khloé Kardashian Under Fire After Admitting She Had Her Two Cats Declawed After Being 'Misadvised'

Getting a new pet is a big commitment, and when you decide to take the plunge, you should commit to keeping them for their full lifetime.

But if you're going to get an animal that you have no prior experience with, you also have to commit to doing your research so you can care for them properly. While getting advice from a fellow pet owner is helpful, it's always good to double-check their facts.

Keep Reading Show less