When we take a look at humanity, there are countless things we take seriously, that may not matter in the grand scheme of things. Many of us also have a soft spot for ideas that aren’t exactly scientific.
No one is perfect, and it’s okay for us to take pleasure in being invested in some forms of inconsequential entertainment simply because they are fun. The trouble comes when people waste their lives and resources on ridiculous things that do more harm than good.
The key idea is that no one is immune from taking something seriously that others may think is a waste of time. But, to each their own or vive la différence as the French put it.
A Redditor who goes by the username Hogw33d asked the AskReddit forum, “What is something you can’t believe real grownup people take seriously?” Many people responded that they don’t understand how some people can invest so much time and energy into things they deem frivolous.
The list was a great way for some to vent but it also provides a solid skeptics guide to some of the pitfalls we may unwillingly fall into in life.
Here are 15 things people “can’t believe” that “real grownup people take seriously.”
1. Community theater
“This is niche but community theatre. The DRAMA among grown adults is insane, worse than when I was in high school. Like yall, we are singing and dancing and wearing silly costumes. It’s not that serious.” — MediocreVideo1893
2. MLMs (multi-level marketing)
“I just don’t understand how people keep falling for it. They always think that there’s a difference. It’s all the same pyramid scheme y’all.” — IsItTurkeyNeckorDick
“I think we should take them way more seriously. They can do massive damage to a person’s financial and mental health. We need to stop treating them as a cute thing that naive people get sucked into, and ban them for the scam they are.” — Hydro123456
3. Flat Earthers
“I think it actually started as a sort of debating society. Just for people to practice and become better at rhetoric. But, they actually convinced some people and now, this is what we have.” — Addicus
“There’s one of those apocryphal quotes that goes along the lines of, ‘Any group of people that get their laughs pretending to be idiots is bound to be taken over by actual idiots who think they’ve found good company.” — RilohKeen
4. Social media outrage
“Social media in general. Too many people believe every clickbait headline or buy into whatever trend is taking over. Feels like people can’t self soothe and need the validation or something, it’s just weird.” — Cynn13
“‘Outrage over Z’ ‘People slam Y’ And it’s only like a few people on Twitter or Reddit and they present it as some huge backlash or major issue lol.” — Sclubadubdub
“The political news channels do almost nothing other than this. They tell viewers the other party is outraged about something that you never find a real person outraged by and create culture wars that no one is actually fighting.” — Herbdontana
5. Reality TV
“It’s all fake, too. An acquaintance of mine works at a major studio. Those shows are all scripted and fake.” — SpaceMoneky3301967
6. Sports fans
“People take being a fan of a sport (or team) way too seriously, imo. I promise you don’t need to riot because ‘your team’ lost.” — AdmirableProgress743
“My husband works himself into such a state over something he can’t control and is, imo, of absolutely no consequence to his life. He’s toned it down because I told him the screaming and cursing terrorize me and our daughter. But he stews and mutters obscenities.” — Complex_Yam_5390
7. Scientology
“Might as well just say every religion. They’re all coocoo bonkers.” — JenniferC1714
8. Gossip
“Gossip in general. I live in a small town and it is maddening how people here are so serious about it. It’s not light fun chatting, it’s all SCANDAL and we need to take ACTION. I swear a lot of people’s problems would be immediately solved if they just stopped giving a sh*t what everyone else does (to an extent).” — Buffalopantry
9. Facebook
“My mom will literally call me up if I didn’t like a recent post of hers. There have been a few times where she asked why I didn’t like every photo she just posted. It’s maddening. I’ve also had periods of deactivating my fb only for my mom to guilt me into reactivating it.” — Zealousideal_Mix6771
10. Billionaire ‘geniuses’
“Elon Musk and other billionaire ‘geniuses.’ People are pretty freaking gullible.” — GladysSchwartz23
“Most average people don’t realize that being incredibly smart doesn’t automatically mean you are good at doing things like running a large company. They tend to assume people at the top must be there based on merit. In reality, there are some massively stupid people running huge companies, and there some brilliant people who are shoveling shit for a living.” — Captcha_Trampstamp
11. The royal family
“I have a news app on my phone and no matter how much I tweak my interest to avoid any gossip BS I still get “Breaking News! Some insignificant bullshit about the Royals”. It’s not news, it’s not interesting, stop reporting this utter drivel.” — Sclubadubdub
12. Religion
“The creator of the universe impregnated a virgin, only to deliberately kill the child 30 years later, to save people from…himself.” — Opteryx5
“I grew up figuring everyone was just roleplaying and was shocked to learn religion is taken seriously by many people. It was a real eye-opener for someone who grew up in a secular environment.” — Kilterboard_addict
13. Vaccine skeptics
“I work in medicine and am starting to get really worried about the vaccine skepticism. It used to be a little more rare, so I would counsel, they spout incorrect information, I tell give a little retort/response, and then move on because time is tight. But now it’s happening so often that I’m working way harder to persuade because I feel a strong obligation to fight all the bullshit info that has obviously taken hold.” — KellyNJames
14. Loud exhaust systems on cars
“As someone who lives next to traffic lights and can hear all y’all shi**y music and loud exhausts all day… I approve this message.” — Rainbow-Singbird
15. Joe Rogan
“The whole ‘I’m just an idiot don’t pay any attention to what I say’ schtick doesn’t really work anymore.” — FoucaultsPrudendum
“It was great when he had a guest that was in academia, like a physicist or something. I would skip over most of the comedy buddy circle jerks he would host. Then when COVID happened I had to stop entirely. He fully went off the deep end then. Still, he introduced me to Dan Carlin’s work, for which I am very grateful.” — Xczechir