Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Things Most People Don't Realize Are Actually The Placebo Effect

Things Most People Don't Realize Are Actually The Placebo Effect
person wearing orange and white cat tattoo
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Placebos are most commonly used in medical trials, to compare if people have reactions to the actual drug being tested.

However, more often than not, many people who take a placebo still feel as if they have received some sort of therapeutic outcome after digesting or being injected with the placebo.

This is commonly known. as "the placebo effect".

But the placebo effect goes well beyond medicine.

Our minds are funny, and not always reliable creatures, as sometimes when they are simply told something will have a certain effect on us, they make the rest of our body believe it.

Even if literally nothing has actually changed.


Redditor El_CM was curious to hear everyday examples of the placebo effect which almost always go unnoticed, leading them to ask:
'What is just a placebo effect but most people don't realize?"

Simple Cures For Boo-Boos...

"I worked at a kids birthday party place for a couple years in high school."

"So many kids would cry because they fell over, bumped their arm, etc."

"Never anything bad. I’d say something like 'can you shake your foot around? Does it feel better?'"

"'How about jumping in a circle?'”

“'Alright we are going to blow on your hand so it feels better'” and then ask if they are ready to play again."

"Works like a charm."

"Also bandages for little boo boos."

"They think they are healed and get right back to being happy little kiddos :)"- amiemartian

Things Aren't As Bad As You Think...

"Your perception of bad luck."

"The human brain is predisposed to remember bad experiences more vividly than the good ones."

"Thus, for an example, you may say your luck is always awful at tolls, when in reality you only get stuck in traffic 20%-50% of the time."- mopeiobebeast

Season 3 Fml GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy

Going Through The Motions...

"When I worked/trained tech support, our agents would always get pushback from customers when we asked them to power cycle their phone, which nine times out of ten would fix their issue."

"So, I had them tell the customer to read them some numbers off the back of the battery, when they were still removable!"

"That we absolutely did not need."

"Then we told them we refreshed a few systems, and they put their battery back in and it's all fixed!"

"Alternatively, when batteries couldn't be removed, we'd tell them that if the phone was powered on while we did the update, it could ruin their SIM card."

"So they'd make sure to power off their phone."

"I'd do nothing."

"They'd turn it back on and it worked great!"

"But if I had TOLD them to power cycle their phones?"

"No way."- Demetre4757

Some People Believe Anything They're Told...

"So I’m sure this has happened to other people, but this question just reminded me of my principal."

"During meetings and such he uses the school auditorium, and most of the time I, senior now at the school, have to run the sound and lights."

"He’s extremely annoying about it, and ALWAYS asks for his mic to be turned up when in reality, he’s already extremely loud and will bust the speakers."

"I just pretend to turn it up and ask him if it’s good, and he speaks and says 'that’s perfect, thank you!'"

I swear he thinks I’m doing an amazing job and would bring me a coke or something for dealing with the meetings half of the day."

"Greatest placebo to use against others that I’ve done."- whalethings

Is This Thing On Mic Check GIF by OriginalsGiphy

Just Being Part Of The Action...

"When you give your young sibling an unconnected controller after he/she kept bugging to join the game."- sal00

Time Is Relative...

"Do commissioned creative stuff, if I deliver the same or next day, people don’t think I spent enough time on it."

"If I wait three days to deliver, people are happy because they assume I worked on their project nonstop even though I was done a day or two prior."-Reddit

"Round Like A Circle And A Spiral..."

"Loading spinners on web pages."

"I once had a user complain to me a web app was too slow, and it was pretty fast."

"So I tested him by making the animation spinner spin much faster."

"He went to my boss to praise me how much faster the web app was."

"Spin.js is what I was using."- hibikikun

spinner GIF by Tobias RotheGiphy

Fixed!

"I install semi truck bumpers."

"90% of the time a customer will say it looks off by 1/8 of an inch."

"I’ll make a noise with the impact gun on a bolt and say 'how’s that?'.

“'Yeah it looks great!'”

"Nothing moved whatsoever."

"Some guys are extremely critical I guess."- SpartanE78

When our mind is fed information we want to hear, we are inclined to believe it's true.

Even if our mind is actually the one deceiving us.

Meaning that yes, all those years we spend blowing on the inside of our Super NES cartridges to stop them from freezing actually did nothing whatsoever...

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

TikToker @richi_luvv; Sabrina Carpenter
@richi_luvv/TikTok; Sabrina Carpenter/YouTube

Kidz Bop Just Released A Cover Of A Super Suggestive Sabrina Carpenter Song—And Fans Are Not OK

Kidz Bop, the long-running music outfit that refashions pop songs for the ears of children, usually focuses on upbeat, bubble gum pop tunes, right?

It's like the kind of songs you'd hear at, say, the grocery store, retooled for the elementary school set.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot from Fox News broadcast
Fox News

Sean Hannity Roasted After Claiming His Friends In NYC Are 'Scared' After Mamdani's Win

When Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor in June, Republicans and some old school Democrats were positively apoplectic.

An immigrant Muslim of Gujarati and Punjabi Indian parents who has lived in NYC since he was 7 years old, the 34-year-old New York State Assembly member was the stuff of nightmares for the MAGAsphere. Mamdani was a non-White, non-Christian, Uganda-born immigrant and progressive Democrat.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Zohran Mamdani
Andres Kudacki/Getty Images; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

AOC Has Democrats Applauding With Her Viral Reaction To Zohran Mamdani's Historic Win

New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had people nodding their heads after she opened up about why democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's win in the New York City mayoral election on Tuesday is so important for the country at large as well as for the future of the Democratic Party.

Mamdani successfully took on the establishment to become the first South Asian, first Muslim, and first millennial mayor-elect, running a campaign that focused predominantly on the city's affordability crisis and that successfully batted away racist and Islamophobic backlash from right-wingers who claimed his policies would "destroy" the city.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Mike Johnson
Fox News

Mike Johnson Gets A Swift Reality Check After Trying To Downplay The Election Results

House Speaker Mike Johnson was called out after displaying his clear denial over Tuesday night's election wins for Democrats, claiming that "no one should read too much into" the results despite major upsets.

Democrats won races around the country, particularly in Virginia, where Abigail Spanberger became the first woman to the win the governorship in the state's history, and in New York City, where Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, successfully took on the establishment to become the first South Asian, first Muslim, and first millennial mayor-elect.

Keep ReadingShow less
A man in a suit walking down the sidewalk and pulling a bag
person in black suit jacket with r ed bag walking beside metal fence
Photo by Romain V on Unsplash

People Who Quit Their Jobs On Day One Reveal What Made Them Say 'Nope, Not Doing This'

Every now and then, simply because we need money, we might take a job that doesn't fulfill us in any way, but at least keeps our bank accounts happy.

Some jobs, however, are so soul-sucking that even with no other prospects immediately on the horizon, we can't, in good conscience, keep working them.

Keep ReadingShow less