Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Debate Which 'Normal' Human Things Would Seem Bizarre To Aliens

man in green mask inside car
Brooke Denevan on Unsplash

Reddit user 2drums1cymbal asked: 'What are some “normal” things humans do that an intelligent alien species might find weird, gross or confusing?'

Are we alone in the universe? It's highly unlikely given the number of stars and potential planets.

But are we actively encountering extraterrestrial life? That ones a little harder to discern.


And what do/would they think if they are visiting us? Are we a fascinating primitive culture? Or are we more "lock the doors, roll up the windows, we're in the bad part of the galaxy" neighborhood?

Admittedly, we are kind of strange.

Reddit user 2drums1cymbal asked:

"What are some 'normal' things humans do that an intelligent alien species might find weird, gross or confusing?"

Substances

"Intentionally poisoning ourselves to make our tedious lives more bearable."

"Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, Ecstasy, alcohol, etc..."

~ Snark_Life

"And many other mind-altering substances, like caffeine, and things that evolved to be unpleasant or unpalatable, like capsaicin."

~ -King_Slacker

Mini-Humans Are Useless

"Human babies are useless because hip bone sizes limit how much they can develop before birth. That's why a calf or foal can walk in hours, but a human baby takes a year."

"If aliens reproduce differently enough, they might be confused both as to why our offspring are messy little blobs and as to why we're all so comparatively clingy—because if they don't rely on their parents for survival as much their social structure would probably be wildly different."

~ shyishguyish

Likes

"Exchanging saliva because we like someone."

"Slapping our hands together rapidly because we like something."

"Keep animals captive because we like them."

~ _forum_mod

Taste Is Subjective

"We will put each other's genitalia in our mouth, but we won't eat the overripe black part on the banana."

~ Snoo_63187

Close Shave

"Do we really let someone pass the sharpest blade our species could create near our largest artery only to remove our head/neck hair?"

~ tbfoot

Lacto Tolerance

"'You do WHAT with the lactic fluids of animals? Wait, wait, wait, you're saying you don't just drink it, but you also carefully rot it until it congeals into fatty, solid blocks and then you eat THAT too‽‽'."

"I love cheese, don't get me wrong, but it's hard to think about sometimes."

~ Chairboy

Carne Humana

"We're all made of meat!"

~ imn0tafurry

O Tannenbaum

"Decorate the corpse of a conifer every winter solstice."

~ Mumbles_Stiltskin

Bless You v. Excuse Me

"Others call on the intercession of a deity when someone else expels from the nose, but the bodily function wielder begs for forgiveness when expelling gas from the anus or mouth."

~ prodigy1367

Sports

"Bowling. I always thought an alien or very different culture would be shocked by how many people around me are surprisingly good at accurately rolling a heavy ball 30 feet."

~ NigilQuid

"Some games we play, like bowling, golf, do look a little pointless to an outsider."

~ GaiaSagrada909

Face Leakage

"Crying. Shedding tears as a response to emotions might be confusing or seen as a bizarre leakage of body fluids if emotional expressions manifest differently for them."

~ Fit_Journalist_533

Reproduction

"Having hot sweaty smelly messy sex instead of neatly depositing eggs in a proper incubator and neatly fertilizing them."

"If it's good enough for the salmons, it's good enough for our new fishy masters."

~ fogobum

"Take it a step further. What if they don't reproduce sexually at all?"

"That'd be a huge divide to overcome."

~ 250HardKnocksCaps

"Mitosis is indeed a huge divide."

~ PirateNinjasReddit

Efficiency Ick

"That our reproductive system and waste disposal system are interconnected with each other."

~ soccerdevil22

"Hell, the reproductive, food intake, and waste disposal systems of some invertebrates are all interconnected and enter/exit from the same hole."

~ Peptuck

💩🚽

"Pooping in water."

"With water being one of the most fundamental resources to human life and health I feel like an alien species would question why we just expel waste into it and flush it away."

~ CaptainCreepwork

What would you add to the list?

More from News/science

Matthew Lawrence; Robin Williams
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic via Getty Images; Vera Anderson/WireImage via Getty Images

Matthew Sparks Outrage with AI Robin

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Matthew Lawrence sparked controversy after suggesting that his late co-star and cultural icon Robin Williams should be the next “voice of AI.”

Hey Siri, Matthew Lawrence has a bad idea.

Keep ReadingShow less
Azealia Banks
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

Azealia Banks: "No One Is Born Gay"

Controversial rapper and outspoken MAGA supporter Azealia Banks ignited a firestorm online this weekend after posting a series of offensive and inflammatory messages—ranging from defending Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein, to claiming that being gay or transgender isn’t “natural.”

On Sunday, Banks began the day by downplaying Trump’s alleged relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Referencing unsealed court documents that list numerous celebrities and politicians linked to Epstein’s network, Banks brushed off the former president’s alleged involvement in a now-deleted post on X.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Liam Neeson And Pamela Anderson Offer Cagey Response After Being Asked If They're Dating

Since the filming of the Naked Gun reboot, a lot of attention has been focused on the returning Liam Neeson and his fabulous costar, Pamela Anderson, but people have not been able to help but wonder if there's more to it than just good on-screen chemistry.

Throughout the promotional tour for the movie, the actors have been incredibly interactive with each other, telling jokes and making each other laugh, and not so subtly touching, including holding hands, hugging, and kissing each other on the cheek.

Keep ReadingShow less
Matt Groening
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

'Simpsons' Creator Epically 'Predicts' How Kids Will 'Liberate' Their MAGA Parents

If you've lost loved ones to the MAGA cult, fear not: The children are the future.

That's according to creator of The Simpsons Matt Groening, who just issued a prediction of how today's kids will "liberate their Republican parents" from far-right brainwashing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alex Grace; Giovanni Capriglione
@alaskaunicornco/TikTok; WFAA/YouTube

Exotic Dancer Reveals Affair With MAGA Rep. Who Authored Texas Abortion Ban—And Claims He Paid For 'Several' Abortions

Vehemently anti-abortion Texas MAGA Republican state Representative Giovanni Capriglione has admitted to cheating on his wife, but still denies his affair partner's claim he paid for her to have multiple abortions.

Why is this important?

Keep ReadingShow less