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
Make us preferred on Google

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

Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper and Cheri Oteri
@latenightercom/X

Cheri Oteri Just Revived Her Iconic Barbara Walters Impression During CNN's America 250 Broadcast—And Anderson Cooper Totally Lost It

He may be one of the most poised news anchors out there, but even CNN's Anderson Cooper isn't immune to the church giggles—especially when Cheri Oteri is around.

The legendary SNL alum joined CNN's coverage of America's 250th birthday, doing her impression of Barbara Walters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Larry David; Donald Trump; Rob Reiner
HBO; Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images; HBO

Rob Reiner Gets In One Last Dig At Trump In Surprise Final Acting Role Alongside Larry David—And It's A Mic Drop

Viewers this week of Larry David's new HBO historical sketch comedy series Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America learned that the late award-winning actor and director Rob Reiner filmed a sketch for the show before his death in December of 2025.

His appearance in the show, playing the United States' first President George Washington, was kept secret until the episode aired on Thursday, July 2.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Giorgia Meloni
Aaron Schwartz / AFP via Getty Images; Ludovic Martin / AFP via Getty Images

Trump Ripped After Mocking Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni With Bizarre 'Restraining Order' Meme

President Donald Trump was criticized after he continued his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by sharing a photo of her looking up at him with the words "restraining order needed" above it.

That phrase is featured above a photo Trump shared as part of a flurry of other posts on Truth Social. It features him with Meloni from the recent G7 summit, showing her—who is about a foot shorter than him—looking up in his direction.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ron DeSantis
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Ron DeSantis Gets Brutal History Lesson After Making Patently False WWII Claim About Great Britain

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was swiftly fact-checked after he attempted to school an X account that was already trolling the United States by making a false claim about U.S. contributions during World War II.

To mark America's 250th birthday, the X account No Context Brits—which is known for posting memes, jokes, and sarcastic commentary—celebrated by highlighting a British pub that predates the United States by centuries.

Keep ReadingShow less

Woman Sparks Debate About Flight Etiquette After Preaching To Plane About Jesus During Flight In Viral Video

Well, travelers, we've heard flight attendants belt out "I Will Always Love You" on a 6:00AM flight, a young girl sing "How Far I'll Go" from Moana to "entertain" the masses during a delayed Delta flight, and we've even witnessed a surprise wedding, reception and all, down the center aisle before passing out the snacks.

And now, we've witnessed a woman breaking one of the biggest plane etiquette rules in the world, reminding all of the passengers that they could die before the flight begins, all to launch into a prophetic monologue about being saved by Jesus Christ.

Keep ReadingShow less