Most people have heard the famous quote by Albert Einstein that “Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the universe.” While it resonates quite well with our daily experience that everyone, despite their great talents, good intentions, and education does err, it is questioned whether Einstein actually said it or it was just a mistaken attribution by Frederick S. Pers, yet another ironic example of human ignorance. Either way, certain mistakes sound a bit… wild! As they are more unexpected than others and probably bigger, as it is clear from this list online, where people are answering one Redditor’s question “What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve heard someone say that they were 100% serious about?” Depending on the specific situation, sometimes the best strategy probably is to just have some fun with it, while also staying aware and empathetic of this human feature.

More info: Reddit

#1

I knew an American guy who claimed that bears were not dangerous to humans. He claimed that if you were ever attacked by a bear all you would need to do is stick your thumb up its a**s and it would immediately fall asleep.

Yeah I can just see an angry bear stop attacking you the minute you tell it to "Bend over."

Image credits: ElvishMystical

#2

My cousin was not the sharpest tool in the shed, he was convinced he could make love unprotected with any women as his current girlfriend was pregnant so there was no risk he could get another girl pregnant…

Image credits: joeyboii23

#3

"Why do they call one side of the Sun the Moon?"

This 30 yr old legitimately thought the moon was just the other side of the sun.

Image credits: JoisChaoticWhatever

#4

She was very serious that a useable hand-held shower head without a hose, because the hose was “ugly”. Asked if she meant an overhead or a wall-mounted shower head because those didn’t require a hose. Nope. She wanted the water to flow from the wall into a handheld shower head without a hose. I tried to tell her that wasn’t possible and ended up sending her to a different home improvement store.

Image credits: Lone_Ronin_

#5

Recently I went to a market and a woman was selling incense that protected against 5G and and WiFi signals.

Image credits: drmtz

#6

My mom said the craziest thing I have ever heard a person say in real life. She was driving me and herself to her place of work so I could spend the day helping. I don’t even remember what led up to it, but she told me she thought it was the government’s job to round up gay people and give them the choice to either covert to Christianity or die. It was, to this day, the most shocking thing I’ve ever heard someone say in seriousness.

Image credits: monkeymanlover

#7

This weekend my 75 year old neighbor told me with absolute certainty that women are allowed to get an abortion up to two weeks after the baby is born.

Image credits: cassiecas88

#8

I work in gynecology…gonna skip over the tons of incorrect terms used for genitalia…and the top 10 outrageous patient comments…and go to-I am SO sick of explaining to women they don’t have prostates.

Image credits: Witwebiss

#9

The Caribbean coast is on the coast of England because they have British accents in Pirates of The Caribbean. This man was in the military and had no knowledge of geography.

Image credits: Aware_Statement_205

#10

"Wouldn't it be cool if we could see in 3d?"

Image credits: Born-Potential

#11

My co-worker. We were all having a conversation. I don't remember what we were talking about, but I said something to the extent of "Crazy, it's like someone thinking the earth is flat." His response was "well, it is." My other co-worker and I looked at each other confused. Flat-Earth co-worker continues explaining why the earth is flat.

He was saying it like he was stating facts. We're engineers for crying out loud. You paid too much money for your glasses, and degree to see things this way!

Image credits: Boyblack

#12

My mom said that my daughters nursery couldn't be blue because that would make her a lesbian.

Image credits: rowenaravenclaw0

#13

"Did you know that slipknot wear masks because they're wanted criminals".



Now imagine me wasting 15 minutes of my life trying to explain that if they were wanted criminals, they'd just arrest them on stage.

Image credits: Ramiren

#14

The covid jabs are to turn people into 5g antennas

Image credits: Rough_Conversation_3

#15

My brother, against all laws of known physics, is absolutely certain that if he was ever in a tsunami he could just "swim under it".

We've both been in the ocean plenty of times, surfed a bit, and have definitely had our share of waves wreck our s**t, but he's still certain he could do it if he got the timing right.

Image credits: Magic_Man_Boobs

#16

My ex wife got so angry she didn’t talk to me for a day when we went to the beer cave in Walmart and I stopped at the counter to pay there (and get the things bagged to carry easier) before going to the rest of the store and getting our other needs because “you’re going to get taxed twice”. Took me a minute when she said that because my first reaction in my head was yeah that’s how sales tax works but obviously I know how percentages work. And she stood there angrily and said that’s double taxation. That I’m wasting money by paying taxes twice. I said if sales tax is 10% and we make 2 $50 purchases, we are paying the same total as making 1 $100 purchase. She has an MBA, but after that example just seethed more and said I’m wasting money by checking out twice and getting taxed twice. Then just stopped talking to me the rest of the night…

Image credits: magyarjm

#17

Dinosaurs never happened, because the earth is only (5000?) years old. From a teacher. To my daughter in 5th grade.

Image credits: Lifeisg00dlier

#18

“I never wear a seatbelt.”

Why the hell not?

“Because if I am in a wreck, there’s no way I’d be thrown to safety.”

Image credits: BreatheMyStink

#19

My ex-husband was a horrible driver. Wrecked everything he ever owned and then some, but he somehow thought he was an excellent driver.

We were riding through a town with a 4-lane main road. He started to change lanes oblivious to the car that was located exactly where he was headed. I told him to stay in his lane, and fortunately, he did.

He said, 100% seriously, that if he'd changed lanes and crashed into the car that was already there, it would have been their fault because they didn't honk their horn to warn him.

Image credits: sirdigbykittencaesar

#20

I overheard a guy talking to someone at the bus but sadly i could not hear it all:
"The government is secretly burying peoples corpses to prevent earthquakes (...?)!

Image credits: FruityPresident

#21

I'm 43 now, but used to do a fair bit of traveling in my younger days, up until I was about 30. Always coming back home for Thanksgiving/Christmas. Anyway, I had hitched back into town and was walking to my grandmas where I'd be staying, carrying my alice pack. A girl got to talking with me on my way, and it came up that I'd just got back from Oregon..and dead faced confused she was like "they have towns out there, like cities and stuff?" She genuinely believed it was still like the Oregon trail days...this was in like 2005 lol

Image credits: lightsaber_lobotomy

#22

Used to work for a place that didn’t allow outside food unless it was for babies or medical reasons. Woman brought a liter of fancy french sparkling water for the baby formula. 100% seriously. I had to explain why sparkling Similac would be a bad idea for a newborn. That kid would have belched to the moon.

Image credits: Bridge-etti

#23

I was doing an OB ultrasound on a patient. The patient was worried the baby was going to chew through the umbilical cord.

Image credits: ksbyrd

#24

Nurse at our elementary school mistook allergies for pink eye. When I said that it cleared with eye drops she told me allergies are contagious too.

Image credits: moseisley99

#25

"The titanic was fake. The ship can not be in the Pacific Ocean" said my science tutor..

Image credits: midnight-king18

#26

My old coworker said he went to Antarctica in college for a month for research, and had to be careful of polar bear attacks.

Image credits: fuzzycuffs

#27

A nurse I used to work with asked why we can't drive to Hawaii. She was absolutely serious and I wasn't surprised when she didn't last beyond her training period.

Image credits: Veritaserum25

#28

Putting in a roundabout was stupid because now they had to stop 4 times instead of 1 if they had just left it a 4-way-stop.

Image credits: SaraSmashley

#29

Off the top of my head, one of my co workers VEHEMENTLY arguing that the moon isn't real.

Image credits: TheRealLifePotato

#30

The northpole is the closest place to space on earth.

Image credits: IndividualSyllabub14