Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Seemingly Stupid Questions That Become More Complex The More They're Thought About

People Share Seemingly Stupid Questions That Become More Complex The More They're Thought About
Roos Koole / Getty Images

If you're a parent or you work with children, you've probably been asked at least one question that you initially brushed off as silly, but then later went "...oh wait..."


Sometimes, it's the questions that seem the dumbest that can send you down the rabbit hole of thought. Entire schools of philosophical thought can be built on the back of just a few seemingly-stupid questions.

Reddit user Newgatsbyfitness asked:

What's a question so stupid it gets more complex the more you think about it?

The responses... well ... they certainly got us thinking.

Lemon

Why does store-bought lemonade have imitation flavoring, but furniture polish contains real lemon juice?

- Back2Bach

The Sky

How high up does the sky start?

- polyamquestions

Does It Flam?

Flammable, inFlammable, noninFlammable Why are there 3? Either a thing Flams or it doesnt!

- Seiren-

A Pile

Giphy

How many grains of sand do you need to make a pile?

Are you guys seriously expecting me to believe that if someone pointed and said 'look at that pile of sand' and it was just 4 grains, stuck together in a pyramid, you'd be all 'Yeah, that's a reasonable usage of the word pile'?

That's not a pile - that's just some sand.

- TheMaskedUgly

Sunglasses

Why are most cartoon suns drawn wearing sunglasses? What are they protecting their eyes from?

- -eDgAR-

Who's In Control? 

On the Ricky Gervais show Karl Pilkington once came out with: "Do you control your brain or does it control you?"

They mocked him but damn that made me hmm.

- minxamo8

Holes

How many holes does a straw have?

- BaseballStatsGuy

Colors

Are we seeing the different colors in our brains but using the same word to name them? Like is my blue a different thing from your blue?

- Rallak

Pinnochio

Giphy

What would happen if Pinocchio said "My nose will grow now."

- TheTaylorFish

The Crane Conundrum 

How are cranes built? Immediate answer is with cranes. But how was the first one built?

- DaddyDownstairs

Weak Or Strong

If I punch myself and it hurts, does that mean I'm weak, or am I strong?

- IvanC4975

A Soup? 

Can cereal be considered as soup?

- Mirboi

Green Ranger

Why does the Green Ranger have a dagger that was a flute, that sounded like a synthesizer that's trying to sound like a trumpet? And he blew into it with his helmet on.

- ChessWithTheDevil

The Upside Of A Sloth

Giphy

I once saw a nature documentary say that sloths spend 80% of their lives upside down. That just sounds to me like we're wrong about which is the upside of a sloth.

- Paigezero

The Speed Of Dark

My grandpa used to always ask me how fast light travels. If I could remember the numbers in the moment I would tell him. If not I just told him it was faster than anything else.

He would then say "ok, but how fast does dark travel?" I have thought about this so much over the years.

I think my final answer was that it doesn't, it's just always there. But my mind can't just stop with that. Why is it always there? What is it? Is it just nothingness that we have given a name and definition to, simply so we can contrast the existence of light to the absence of light? What would it be if there were no lights to determine it? Does it have a primal form? It was a very simple question that has taken me down too many rabbit holes in my own mind.

- SunOfNoone

Cinderella

Had a 1st grader ask me this today: "if Cinderella's slippy fit so perfectly, why did it fall off in the first place?"

- pataytersalad

Infinite Power

If I found a genie with infinite power and asked him to grant me infinite powers which one of us would have infinite power?

- xAverageGamer45X

A Hole Is What? 

Many Philosophy questions often sound incredibly stupid up to the point in which you actually try to adequately answer them. Case in point, this one is an incredible pain for me and hurts my brain trying to think about it: "What is a hole?"

- duhemain

Tiny Clone

"If you had a tiny clone of Hitler who did nothing wrong, but had the memories of the original, would you kill him?"

This was said on a letsplay and, outside of the heart amount of comedy that came from asking it, it really makes you think whether the perceived action of an individual can allow disciplinary actions.

- Monic_maker

Eating Cake

So for me the phrase "You can't have your cake and eat it too" just always sounded so dumb.. if I have it then why can't I eat it? Then one faithful day I smoked some weed and realized what it actually means.

The reason you can't have it AND eat it is because once you eat it you no longer HAVE it. Now I like that phrase since I get to explain this to everyone else who uses it now knowing what it means.

- Kopextacy

Fish Sight

If we can see water but not air, can fish see air but not water?

- DankBoi3479

Last Names

When did people start creating last names? Also, when did people stop creating last names?

- daviddennison43

Orange

Did they name the fruit orange after the colour or the colour after the colour of the fruit?

- KingClueless123

Chicken Punch

Giphy

If kinetic energy can be converted into thermal energy, how hard do I have to punch a chicken to cook it?

- a_dead_rat11

More Or Less

Is rat poison more poisonous or less poisonous when it is expired?

- peayuanpa

Your You-ness

How are you, you? Like think about your singular consciousness inside your mind. How is that you? This experience of you existing. What is it? Why does it happen?

- the_last_werd

Mike Wazowski

Does Mike Wazowski wink or blink?

- ppxghost


If you cut off Mike Wazowski's legs and arms, do you also behead him?

- Skyfoxalchemy0913

Clean Or Dirty

If you drop soap on the floor is the soap dirty or is the floor clean?

- EmmaDaOne21

Blindness

What's it like to be totally blind?

Everyone just assumes that being blind is the same thing as closing your eyes. But I don't think that's accurate, because we're "seeing" what it looks like with our eyes closed. That's not the same thing as not seeing at all. And we can't ask a blind person to describe it to us because.....how could they? The best I ever heard was here on Reddit where a blind person described being blind as "trying to see through the back of your head."

- PunchBeard

Crumby

Giphy

How small does a potato chip have to be before it is considered a crumb?

- poop_stains

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

A young child heads out for Halloween fun (left); HOA’s viral letter (right)
Brandon Bell/Getty Images; u/Pschobbert/Reddit

HOA Bans Outsiders from Trick-or-Treating

In the battle of HOA wills, Reddit has crowned a new villain: the suburban gatekeepers who want to ban “outsider” trick-or-treaters.

Redditor u/Pschobbert posted a photo of a stern HOA letter in the "r/mildlyinfuriating" subreddit, sending the internet into collective disbelief—and laughter.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jennifer Lawrence; Ariana Grande
BG048/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Saturday Night Live/YouTube

Jennifer Lawrence Explains How She Felt About Ariana Grande's SNL Impression Of Her—And Yeah, Fair

Oscar-winning actor Jennifer Lawrence is opening up about what it was like to be the 2010s "It Girl"—and the backlash that quickly ensued.

In a recent interview with The New Yorker to promote her new movie Die My Love, Lawrence looked back on her irreverent 2010s persona that seemed to strike everyone as refreshingly irreverent at first, but soon became grating.

Keep ReadingShow less
William Daniels; Donald Trump
Gary Gershoff/Getty Images; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Boy Meets World's Mr. Feeny Schools Trump With Blistering Take On His Destruction Of The White House East Wing

As MAGA Republican President Donald Trump continues to transform the White House into something befitting the Trump name—tacky, tasteless, and slathered in gold—Emmy Award winning actor William Daniels urged people to reflect on what they've lost.

Sharing a photo with Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson, Howard da Silva as Ben Franklin, and Daniels as John Adams from the film 1776, the actor recalled performing in the now demolished theatre at the White House for Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970.

Keep ReadingShow less
Woman investigates if J.D. Vance wears eyeliner
Tiktok/@mamasissiesays

TikToker Hilariously Identifies Exact Brand And Shade Of Eyeliner J.D. Vance Wears In Resurfaced Video

Casey, an eagle-eyed TikToker who posts videos under the username @mamasissiesays, had social media users buzzing in a resurfaced video from last year investigating whether Vice President JD Vance actually wears eyeliner. At the very end of the video, Casey even shared that she believes she found the exact shade he prefers.

Casey posted the video amid intense rumors about Vance's eyeliner use. An investigation by Slate implied that Vance’s long eyelashes and hooded eyelids likely create some conveniently placed shadows. His wife, Usha Vance, confirmed to Puck News that his look was “all natural,” and admitted that she's "always been jealous of those lashes.”

Keep ReadingShow less
MAGA hats
Charley Triballeau/Getty Images

Single MAGA Women Complain That D.C.'s Conservative Dating Scene Lacks 'Masculine' Men—And We're Cackling

Social media users pounced with jokes after MAGA women spoke to the Washington Post and the New York Times about the lack of "masculine" men in Washington, D.C., which is hilarious for a party pretty much obsessed with the way "real men" act.

The notion that masculinity is being attacked–namely by the left wing–is a popular one among Republicans such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who once accused "the Left" of hurting "the future of the American man" and went on to claim the "deconstruction of America begins with and depends on the deconstruction of American men."

Keep ReadingShow less