Article created by: Monika Pašukonytė
Whether it’s some rare invention or a thing that happened to you, some things, no matter how real, might appear as if they’re straight out of fiction.
There are times when it can be very exhausting to try to convince someone else to believe in something that you’re sure is true. So, when someone online asked what those things are, people flooded the comment section with the answers, and you can read them all below!
Turn signals. They work on my car; surely they MUST work on other cars.
Mental health issues. It's amazing to me how many people think the brain, the most complicated structure in the known universe, is the only organ that's *not* capable of malfunctioning.
Incurable diseases. I have multiple sclerosis and I hear a lot of things day to day like "You're just too dedicated to your diagnosis", or "have you tried the Wahls diet" or "have you taken magnesium supplements" or "you need to be more positive" or my favorite "It's OK, god has a plan".
Having experienced the actual thing degrading my brain for eight years, done high dose chemo and a bone marrow transplant, and poisoned my immune system over 200 separate times... I can definitively say that some processes (death, degenerative neurological diseases, autoimmunity, etc) are unavoidable and something people don't always actually have the power to beat regardless of the amount of positive thinking, dieting, or exercise one does.
EDIT: I just want to point out how multiple people have replied back to try to convince me that my condition is curable, or recommending treatments that I have already done and failed. Quite literally proving my point. 😆
EDIT: One person has interpreted my comments in this thread as me saying that any attempt to treat a chronic illness is hopeless or meaningless. This is not what I was intending to say (hopefully that is obvious). I am merely stating that many people have health conditions they can't fix or control despite best efforts, and that this experience is real and they deserve to have that experience respected.
Restless Leg Syndrome.
People think it's just being a little uncomfortable and not finding a good position to sleep in. It's actually an uncontrollable urge to move your legs that feels almost like muscle spasms and it is absolutely maddening.
Weirdly, if my cat is sleeping on my bed, I can pat him and it makes it stop. I have no idea why.
You can't get autism, it's a neurodevelopment disorder, you are either born with it or you don't have it. Vaccines can't give you autism, medicaments won't give you or your baby autism, however genetics will, bang an autistic person and you will likely have autistic babies. When the baby has it, likely someone else in the family has it as well.
Being unable to force myself to do something with adhd. It is like I'm physically restrained when I try to force myself to do something at times.
Human contribution to climate change. I worked in a lab for a couple years for my undergrad in geophysics. Most of the data was brought back by a team of professors and grad students who took yearly trips to Antarctica. Climate change turning into a political issue is a sin I can never forgive humanity for.
Unions are good for workers.
That when you chase the validation of others, the only thing you get is tired.
Facts. Sometimes you don't know what they are, then you do. There are facts you know and others don't. And facts others know and you don't. That's ok. Be willing to learn and teach.
There are facts right now that NO human knows. Someday we'll learn what some of them are.
And even if you don't like them, that doesn't make them not-facts, or opinions.
Reality is what it is, whether or not you're willing to admit it.
The utter meaninglessness of humans in the overall fabric of the universe.
The amount of people that don't know narwhals are actual animals
Increasing taxes on a higher tax bracket doesn’t mean 100% of your income is taxed at that rate the second you enter it.
The government is not spying on you, but you are giving away way more information than the government cares about to advertisers and loyalty programs so you can save $.50 on Doritos...cool ranch of course
OCD can be a lot more debilitating than people realize.
Most Americans already pay for other people’s medical care through their health insurance policy, yet a lot seem to think that being taxed is what will cause them to pay for other people.
The sensation of deja vu, whether real or not.
I have celiac disease. This one really gets me because I have every medical test under the sun to prove it. Yet I still deal with constant comments, "Why is everyone allergic to gluten all of a sudden?" "Oh it's so trendy to not eat gluten."
That a bird once flew through the open windows of my car, straight through and out the other side, while I was driving at highway speeds. I was alone in the car and I swear it happened.
My reaction, "Did that just happen?"
That much of what we “remember” isn’t real. The brain is a sieve, losing memories. It fills in holes of knowledge with assumptions, interpolations, & justifications.
This might off the vein a little but my answer is:
Bad things can happen to your child as a direct result of your negligence. People truly don't believe that their child could be internally decapitated, mangled, or die of internal injuries because you didn't enforce the right kind of car seat or even a seat belt. Children 3-8 are the largest demographic I've seen that are injured in car accidents as a direct result of being improperly restrained. And people don't believe it. They don't believe that not doing any child restraint research, and lacking in their own due diligence can lead to their child's death.
Source: paramedic.
That nuclear energy is actually the cleanest most powerful way to power a community. People hear the word “nuclear” and freak out. They think that somehow they have a bomb sitting in their community. They think Chernobyl is the norm. In reality, there were a lot of things that led up to the Chernobyl disaster that would not happen in any of the modern nuclear reactors that provide power to much of the world. With good regulation, safety, standards and upgrades, nuclear power is clean, plentiful, cheap, and efficient. But people get so freaked out by the word “nuclear” they assume it’s bad and they’ll put oil in the furnace instead😑
Concrete Boats. Rare, but they do exist.
Everyone I tell thinks I'm winding them up
Me when I tell people I have Aphantasia (I cant picture things in my head) and vice versa when people tell me they can picture things in their heads
lucid dreams
Extraterrestrial Life exists.
We haven’t met them yet, but they are out there.
Sleep paralysis
I believe most people aren't actually working in offices and we're all sitting here trying to fake eachother out with the goal of seeming necessary.
The tangible and intangible benefits of exercise.
Energy. When someone is looking at you, you somehow sense it and look back no matter how far they are from you.
My husband and I saw Richard Clark forcibly kissing a young ingenue on his New Year's Eve show. We both saw it, even though they cut quickly away. Nobody believes us.
Basic Economics.
