Dumb facts of life. The world around

We all do stupid things, but some of them, for all their absurdity, are much more rewarding. more benefits than harm. Such actions make for great stories or provide life lessons, having received which, you become much more adapted to this reality. We're talking about a dozen really stupid actions for which we are absolutely not ashamed. From touring with a rock band, to getting circumcised; from the Sultanate of Oman to the village of Vereshchagino.

Throwing champagne at random passers-by

When a person is in love, he does all sorts of cute stupid things. For example, he pours champagne on random passers-by from the bridge. After all, what better time to do something like this than at twenty years old at four in the morning with the love of your life (I’m not sure I remember exactly what her name is). I don't regret anything. If only because that day I showed record-breaking results for running a hundred meters.

Vladimir Brovin

Pay instead of fight with four bullies

A story from ninth grade. I sat on the first desk with the main bitch: she had long legs, round ass, complete lack of intelligence and a pretty face. It is completely logical that I fell in love and continued to make advances even after six months in the friend zone. Most often, he simply gave compliments. And at the same time he knew that the young lady had a young man - a freshman of frail build, but tall. One day I came out of school and saw him with his friends. Then everything is in a fog, and in the background: “Boy, you have problems.”

A group of four people, each of whom was 3-4 years older than me, explained for about an hour that I had done wrong, that I shouldn’t be attracted to other people’s ladies, that this was not like a boy. And they hinted to me: either pay, or we will beat you. Since I was at odds with my classmates, I couldn’t count on their physical intervention. I gave 200 rubles and went home. As it turned out later, the bitch called the guy by my name in bed and made the excuse that I really annoyed her. I’m not at all ashamed of this story and I believe that you should only get into a fight when there is a direct threat to your health. The rest is for puberty children from vocational schools.

Nikolay Chumakov

Drop out of college

Unfortunately, after school I entered the journalism department. Yes, the decision is not the best: there is no benefit from this direction, they teach there, plus or minus outdated things, and most couples are easy going - no one even thinks of keeping an eye on you. Best advice For those who want to study journalism, go ahead. It's a waste of time and money. Enroll in philology, technology, or even passable historical directions will be much more interesting. A specialized education will help you be great in some field, but only practice will teach you how to be a journalist.

I realized this only in my second year, when I stopped keeping up with both work and study. Then he saved up some money, dropped out of college and started looking for a job with higher earnings. At first, a person who is trying to become a journalist must understand the main thing: he will have to work for water from the cooler and do boring and empty nonsense in order to eventually become a good professional. And the institute, in this case, is just an obstacle on the way to the dream.

Nikolay Chumakov

To attend graduate school

In fact, one of the dumbest things I've ever done in my life. Three years of life thrown away under the garbage truck of national education. During all this time, I reproached myself hundreds of times for not joining the army. But all this time I read books, suffered from outright nonsense (like ordering) and learned a lot the right things. Graduate school as such didn't make me one iota smarter, but it did allow me to gain some useful skills.

One of the largest drug lords in the world, Howard Marks, also studied in graduate school and also in philosophy. In his autobiography, he claimed that his studies taught him all the things that are necessary for an underground business tycoon: to lie in the most bastard way, to give bribes, to keep his mouth shut, to participate in intrigues, to have a nose for informers. I subscribe to every word he says.

Vladimir Brovin

Pass the Unified State Exam for the second time

When you are a school student, the Unified State Exam seems something insurmountable. They have been intimidated since the fifth grade, they tell horror stories about him on " Last call"and even your parents, who seem to be supposed to be for you, think that this serious challenge for my son. And then you pass it and realize that it was somehow easy. Due to certain circumstances, I decided to retake the higher school level complexity once again. I dropped out of college in my second year, studied with a tutor for six months and went to my native school. He passed extremely averagely and scored.

What have I lost? Nothing. I improved my English, tested my nerves and looked at the schoolgirls. Seriously, it's such a rewarding experience to go back to school and realize that your old fears now seem like small stones in your shoes. Testing your own knowledge once again is quite a bold decision.

Nikolay Chumakov

Do not go to the Sultanate of Oman

At the same graduate school, I was once persistently offered to go to the Sultanate of Oman on an exchange. Thank you that at least not to neighboring Yemen, where it goes Civil War. The proposal was excellent: an Islamic state with an absolute monarchy and dwindling oil reserves. What could be better? It is curious that Oman is the only state where the official religion is the Islamic sect of Ibadi, which stands apart from both Sunnism and Shiism. At the same time, it is completely unclear what exactly this threatens a visiting European who decides to stay here for three years.

For some time I thought about giving up everything and going to the Sultanate, but I decided against it. Now I don't regret it because DM seems like a more interesting prospect and a rare opportunity. Even taking into account the fact that National dish Omana - fried hyena. It’s a pity that I wasn’t able to taste the dish, but somehow I’ll survive.

Vladimir Brovin

Connect bare wires

And a little about really stupid actions. When I was about 6 years old, I really loved the Terminator films. I watched the tape until it was full and started watching it again every weekend. I remember one moment from there: the T-800 opens the car trim under the steering wheel and connects the wires - the car starts.

That year, the doorbell at the apartment broke and two wires were sticking out of it. One day I was returning from school and decided that it was time to become as cool as a robot. I grabbed the cable and received a massive electric shock, but the bell worked. Mom opened the door and saw a pale child who had just realized how electricity works and how they differ exposed wires from the rest.

Nikolay Chumakov

Sleeping on a construction site with street dogs

Once I had to sleep at a construction site with dogs so as not to literally die from the cold. It turned out pretty nice and not as scary as it might seem. About eight years ago I hitchhiked to Crimea and lost my livelihood thanks to the local police. I had to return with big problems, simultaneously working for food in villages throughout Ukraine.

It was in September, but unexpectedly there were such frosts as they had not seen there for a long time. I was just left on the street, I couldn’t catch a ride for more than a day, and I had to stop for the night at the first construction site I came across along the road. The mustachioed and incredulous watchman allowed me to spend the night on wooden beams on the street and gave me cellophane film as a blanket. The cold was so terrible that the only idea that came to my mind was to surround myself on all sides with the local dogs (and they themselves huddled close to me in search of warmth) and spend the night like that.

The funny thing about this story is that before this I had a phobia associated with dogs. I was terribly afraid of them after an evil dog tried to kill me as a child. After the warm sides of the dog saved me from a cold death, the fear of animals passed. This is the most effective therapy possible. Spending the night in the middle of another country, on a construction site and hugging dirty dogs, is definitely one of the best ideas that came to my mind.

Vladimir Brovin

Trying to get out of the friend zone

Dumbest thing I've ever done in my life, other than writing video game reviews. At the age of 12, I met a girl who told me from the doorway: “I like you, let’s talk.” That is, she became the initiator and driving mechanism of the process. And then when I got hooked on her big eyes, a passion for poetry and a broad outlook, said: “I’m falling in love with you, let’s stop communicating.” Think about it, these are parts of one sentence. So I didn’t understand anything then.

After a couple of months, we started communicating again and numerous attempts to win her failed. Courtship, care, sincere attention, intellectual intimacy - all to no avail. After five years I fell behind. Yes, five years - well, I’m slow-witted, apparently. And I learned many lessons from this “relationship”, learned so many things and became a true ninja of love games. And she’s been married for a year and a half now, which she most likely doesn’t regret.

Nikolay Chumakov

Get circumcised

In general, circumcision is not the most important thing in a man’s life. Moreover, it was done to me at the age of 6 and without my consent. But in general, despite all the horrors, such as penis insensitivity, which scare experts on the issue, it turned out well and was useful in its own way.

IN friendly company, where only you have circumcision, you can always make a joke about dick cheese and “hoods,” and your interlocutors will have nothing to hide. In addition, there is always the option to go to the Sultanate of Oman, accept ibadhi and stay there for permanent place residence.

Vladimir Brovin

Join a rock band
and travel from the Urals to Moscow on crossbars

Strictly speaking, creating and administering a rock band does not bring any benefit either to your pocket or nervous system: like any serious hobby, music requires investment. And since we're talking about It’s not about speaking at corporate events or trying to get on TV; personal investments don’t start to pay off soon.

But I don’t regret a single minute spent on music, at least because I consider this activity much more worthy than chewing delivery food and endlessly watching TV series. After all, this is an activity. It allows you to study the structure of the most important and subtle of the arts, involves travel and new discoveries of various sizes, stimulates abstract thinking and, in a universal sense, broadens your horizons.

The story in the title is related to the festival " Old-new Rock", which in the mid-late 2000s took place in the suburbs of Yekaterinburg, on the shore of the Beloyarsk reservoir. For some reason, we did not have return plane tickets, and there was not enough money for a full-fledged compartment for all five people. We talked with the punks who came from Perm, they said that they were going home with a couple of transfers, and the route to Moscow, in principle, was obvious - but for a couple of days. “A couple of days” turned into a four-day frenzy on trains; overnight in the Perm city park; the phrase “don’t go to the toilet alone,” thrown by the local police officer at the station in Balezino (this is in Udmurtia); a picture when a whole camp of gypsies set up their overnight accommodation in the next hall of the station.

All this time we watched how our money was drying up: back in Perm we drank beer, snacked on Pringles, chose more expensive toothbrushes and planned to continue the evening at the register; a day and a half later we were already counting how many loaves of “white” we could buy with the remaining pennies. And all that time we managed to avoid fights and generally any conflicts with the residents of the towns we passed by.

The route was spoiled by a completely stubborn schedule: several times we arrived at new village 15 minutes after the electric train we needed left; the next one usually came here in 6-12 hours. What to do for 12 hours in the village of Vereshchagino? You look at people who are in no hurry, unlike those you are used to seeing in Moscow, and it seems as if they will turn the corner and disappear, like in GTA 3.

A trip that was intended to be a tour, but turned out to be crusade, taught me a wild number of useful things of both a communication and organizational nature, and also, of course, showed me what had existed all this time outside the walls of the metropolis in which I grew up. Such adventures, of course, are only possible in the company of people who really love rock and roll.

Petr Salnikov

If you have one nostril closed for 72 hours, you will slowly lose the ability to see colors. (Your vision will instantly return to normal when you release the nostril.)

Clouds cannot move southwest.

Residents of megacities spend six months of their lives waiting for the green light of the traffic light.

When you fly on a plane, your hair grows 2 times faster.

Human DNA is 30% identical to lettuce DNA.

Sneeze with with open eyes impossible.

Global warming will deprive humanity of beer.

People with blue eyes more sensitive to pain than everyone else.

If you scream at a glass of water for 80 years, you can boil it.

A cockroach lives without a head for 9 days, after which it dies of hunger.

In Windows, you cannot create a folder called "Con".

IN Beatles songs the word “love” appears 613 times.

If Coca-Cola wasn't colored, it would be green.

Salvador Dali drew the logo for Chupa Chups.

Lemon contains more sugar than strawberries.

Chaplin took third place in the Chaplin look-alike competition.

Children grow faster in spring.

A cat sleeps 70% of its life.

Most robberies happen on Tuesdays.

If a shark swims upside down, it can go into a coma.

A frightened person sees better.

OK is the most popular word in the world.

A snail can sleep for 3 years.

The Alaska flag was created by a 13-year-old boy.

Military honor in no country is given with the left hand.

Most often in English libraries stealing the Guinness Book of Records.

In Siena, Italy, you can't be a prostitute if your name is Maria.

There are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos.

No sheet of paper can be folded in half more than seven times.

American Airlines saved $40,000 by removing just one olive from salads served to first class passengers.

Venus is the only planet solar system, rotating counterclockwise.

On average, 100 people die every year from choking on a ballpoint pen.

It is anatomically impossible for a person to lick his own elbow.

Crocodiles cannot stick out their tongues.

Every day, US residents eat 18 hectares of pizza.

Almost everyone who read this text tried to lick their elbow.

The nose grows throughout a person's life.

If real woman had the proportions of a Barbie doll, she could only move on 4 limbs.

In Russian and English languages there is no word for the back of the knee.

Tongue imprints are individual for all people.

There are more living organisms living on the body of one person than there are people on Earth.

One hair can support a weight of 3 kg.

If you add up all the numbers on a casino roulette wheel, you get magic number 666.

If you scream for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you can generate enough energy to heat up one cup of coffee.

Every 16 minutes, someone named Richard dies.

Dolphins will kill more people than sharks and flu combined.

In the archives in Smithsonian Institution In Washington, D.C., two identical snowflakes were found preserved in a refrigerator.

Helicopter flights are banned over Antarctica because short-necked penguins try to look at them and fall over like dominoes

Everyone around them considers themselves rational, sensible people. But here are 14 facts about how our brain works. And they prove that things are not as simple as you think.

1. Your favorite song is the one that connects you emotionally with important event in life.

And this is confirmed by scientific research.

2. Music can influence your decisions.

For example, scientists from the University of Groningen know that if rhythmic music is playing on the radio in your car, you will definitely start driving faster and more aggressively.

They also found that funny music can really make you happier, and sad - sadder. Those. music sets your mood, rather than you choosing what to listen to based on your mood.

3. The more money you spend on others, the happier you become.

This has been proven by numerous studies. Common sense dictates that we should spend what we earn on ourselves, but biology, which requires us to take care of loved ones, sets its own rules!

4. To become happier, you need to spend money on experiences, not on things.

Yet again, common sense continues to repeat: if you spend money on entertainment, you will regret it, but you can use the thing for a long time. And enjoy it for a long time.

But the truth is that we get used to new things faster than we think, and the pleasure from them wears off in just a few days.

5. Majority modern children would have gone to the mental hospital in 1950

About half of the world's population now suffers from chronic depression and anxiety. Approximately the same percentage of people are dependent on the use of certain psychoactive substances. If the standards of mental hospitals had not changed since the middle of the 20th century, half of us could safely be locked up in a mental hospital!

6. Some religious practices actually reduce stress.

Research shows that people who pray and meditate regularly are more likely to to a lesser extent susceptible to stress and depression.

7. Money can buy happiness, but only if you earn up to $75,000 a year.

Money brings satisfaction only as long as it is not enough to satisfy your basic needs. If you were a member of the middle class, but then suddenly became rich, this will not bring happiness.

8. Stress is contagious

If you associate with depressed people, you will soon become one of them yourself. Regardless of what events are happening in your own life.

9. If you are able to convince yourself that you slept well, your brain will believe it!

For our brain there is no difference at all between real world and imaginary. If you sleep for five hours, but repeat to yourself that you had a great night's sleep, it will work! And you will feel a surge of strength.

10. People aged 18-33 are the most depressed

Family, education, work - all this causes a lot of stress, doesn't it? The years that we call the “best” or “blooming” are actually the most difficult.

11. Smart people underestimate themselves, stupid people overestimate themselves

This is called the Dunning Kruger effect.

12. Your brain does not remember events from the past. He reproduces memories, “invents” them

And it's not a matter of envy, as you might think. The fact is that when people share their plans, they are essentially self-soothing. The brain, as we have already said, does not see the difference between the imaginary world and the real one. We shared our plans and immediately felt joy from the unfulfilled events, calmed down and relaxed.

Microwave was invented after a researcher walked past a radar indicator and his chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
Research has shown that you are most likely to get creative inspiration when you do something monotonous– fish, take a shower, do exercises.
Listening to music while performing work allows you to create good mood and helps you become more productive and efficient at work.
According to research, rest in the lap of nature, helps a person restore his biological clock, and synchronize it with the sunrise and sunset, as it was with our ancestors.
Mushrooms are closer to human creatures than to plants.
If you sleep hugging your pillow, this indicates that you are for someone. you miss.
It is estimated that every 2 minutes we take more photographs than all of humanity did in the 19th century.
The oldest centenarian on earth has been smoking since he was 21. up to 117 years old.
You can very cool the car quickly, standing in the sun, lowering the glass on one side and opening and closing the door 5-6 times on the opposite side.
According to psychological research, when wearing clothes Red you increase your chances of getting a date and catching a ride.
Research has shown that the colder it is the room where you sleep, the more likely you are to have poor sleep.
During operation, the average microwave oven consumes more energy to display the time on the display than for heating food.
It turns out that people are dreamers and those who constantly have their head in the clouds, much better than the rest solve complex problems.
Deja vu effect occurs when your brain tries to superimpose a memory from a situation that has already happened onto the current one, it fails and it makes you feel like it has already happened to you.
People who laugh more tolerate pain more easily– both physical and emotional.
If you after studying something a little take a nap, this will help you quickly master the material you have studied.
According to research, men kissing your wife before leaving for work, live longer, have fewer accidents and have higher incomes than married men who do not.
A small pocket in a larger jeans pocket was invented for pocket watches.
Only 8% world currency is physical money. All others are virtual and exist only on the computer.
Drying your hands with a paper towel reduces bacteria by 45-60%, while using an air dryer increases their number by 255%, as the air flow blows the bacteria living there out of the comfortable, warm and humid environment.
At a temperature -90 degrees, the air you exhale will freeze and fall to the ground.
Most of the dust under the bed is dead particles from your own skin.
In a group brainstorm, all individuals are less creative and do not work as effectively as the same number of people who have worked alone, and then joined forces.
If human eye was a digital camera, he would have 576 megapixels.
Big Ben in London is not a tower, but bell inside the tower, which is called "Big Ben". And the name of the tower itself is “Elizabeth Tower”.
The more you concentrate on falling asleep, so less likely that you will succeed.
If you go without waving your arms, the effort spent on walking will increase by 12%, which is equivalent to walking 20% faster or carrying a 10 kg backpack over your shoulders.
At the ATM, you hear a chirping sound before the money comes out. Actually it's audio recording. But the real mechanism is in the depths, and you simply cannot hear it.
Strangers in dreams are actually real people that you have seen in life.
Sign "X" became a symbol of a kiss in the Middle Ages, when most people could not write and used an "X" to sign documents, and then kissed it as a sign of sincerity and honesty.

It's always interesting to learn something surprising and funny about the world around us. Even if you live active life, you travel a lot and the world is an open book for you, you are unlikely to know all of the facts below. This data may amuse you... or just seem funny.

Fun facts

The shrimp's heart is in its head.
In the 80s, scientists studied the lifestyle of ostriches. Then 200 thousand individuals were taken under observation, but not a single case was observed when an ostrich hid its head in the sand.
It is physically impossible for pigs to look at the sky.
Rats and horses cannot vomit.
If you sneeze too much, you may suffer a rib fracture.
If you try to suppress a sneeze, a blood vessel in your head or neck may rupture and you may die.
Rats reproduce so quickly that within 18 months, two rats could produce more than a million offspring.
Thirty-five percent of people who use personal ads on a dating site are already married.
Most lipsticks contain fish scales.
Like fingerprints, the impression of each person's tongue is unique.

Amazing facts

The crocodile cannot move its tongue and cannot chew. Its digestive juices are so strong that it can digest a steel nail.
Banknotes are not made of paper. They are produced mainly from a special mixture containing cotton and flax fibers. In 1932, when there was an acute shortage Money, for a short period of time in Tenino (Washington State, USA), issued banknotes from wood.
Tea is said to have been used as food by humans in 2737 BC. by the Chinese Emperor when some tea leaves accidentally fell into a pot of boiling water. Tea began its journey around the world only in 1908, it was brought from China by Thomas Sullivan from New York.
The tallest nation in the world is Watusis (Burundi).
In 1955, the richest woman in the world was Mrs. Hattie Green Wilkes. She had some quirks. This is confirmed by the fact that she hid her will for a $95 million estate in a tin box containing four bars of soap without telling anyone. Queen Elizabeth of England and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands are today among the ten richest women in the world.
In 1935, a writer named Dudley Nichols refused to accept an Oscar for a film based on his book because the Writers Guild was on strike against the film studios at the time. In 1972, Marlon Brando turned down an Oscar for his role in The Godfather.
A person can live without food for a month, but only about a week without water.
If the amount of water in your body decreases by just 1%, you will feel thirsty.
If the level drops by 10%, you will die.
According to research, 27% of all food products in Western countries ending their food journey in trash cans. However, 1.2 billion people in the world are undernourished. By the way, approximately the same number of people are overweight.
Bill Gates's first business was Traff-O-Data, a company that created a device that recorded the number of cars passing through this point on road.
Dr. Eugene Shoemaker's final resting place was the Moon. The famed USGS astronomer who trained the Apollo astronauts had never been in space. Eugene wanted to be an astronaut, but was rejected due to a medical problem. After his death, his ashes were placed aboard the Lunar Prospector spacecraft before it was launched on January 6, 1998 by NASA. A space drone carrying the scientist's ashes fell into a crater on the Moon while it was trying to find out whether there is water on the Moon.
After the USA, Ireland is the largest producing country software in the world.
Every year, about 98% of atoms in human body are replaced.
Only once has a satellite been destroyed by a meteor: Olympus in 1993.
A glass ball bounces higher than a rubber ball. A solid steel ball will bounce higher than a glass ball.
At a jet speed of 1000 km (620mi) per hour, the length of the plane becomes one atom less than its original length.
Guinea pigs and rabbits cannot sweat.
Pet food company Purina has developed a special rooster muscle strengthening food to help pet owners prepare their birds for the cockfighting sport that is popular in many areas of the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, the market for cockfighting is huge. In the Philippines, more than five million roosters are used for this purpose.
Sharks and rays are the only creatures known to man who cannot get cancer. Scientists believe this has something to do with the fact that they have no bones, but do have cartilage.
Sharks lay eggs, but the hammerhead shark gives birth to live babies.
Cats sleep up to eighteen hours a day, but their sleep is not as deep as that of humans. They fall asleep quickly but sleep intermittently, waking frequently to check if they are still environment still safe.
The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
A raisin, falling into a glass of fresh champagne, will bounce up and down continuously, from the bottom of the glass to the top.
Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear any pants.
Because metal was scarce, Oscars issued during World War II were made of wood.
There should be no clock anywhere in the casino.
Leonardo da Vinci invented scissors.
A small amount of alcohol poured on a scorpion will instantly cause it to go crazy and it will sting itself to death.
The Guinness Book of World Records itself holds the record for being the book most frequently stolen from public libraries.
What is called a "French Kiss" in the English-speaking world is known as an "English Kiss" in France.
In 1386, a pig was convicted and executed by public hanging in France for killing a child.
There is a city called Rome on every continent.
In Iceland you are not legally allowed to have a dog in your home.
Right-handers live, on average, nine years longer than left-handers.
The elephant is the only mammal that cannot jump!
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian and only had one testicle.
Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs was tasted by archaeologists and they found it edible.
Months that start on a Sunday will always have "Friday the 13th".
More people die each year from bee stings than from snake bites.
Most people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.
The United Nations has six official languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
Earth is the only planet not named by humans after a god.
It is against the law to burp or sneeze in church (Nebraska, USA).
Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
Owls are the only birds that can see the color blue.
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!
The average person laughs 10 times a day!
If you collect gases from one person (when he farts) for 6 years and 9 months, you will collect enough gas to create an atomic bomb.
A male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by tearing the male's head.
Fleas can jump up to 350 times the length of their tiny bodies. It's as if a person could jump the length of a football field in one bound.
Some lions mate more than 50 times a day.
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
The starfish has no brain.
Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
In France, it is completely legal to marry a deceased person (posthumous marriage).