Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Things They Thought They 'Invented' But Actually Already Existed

People Share The Things They Thought They 'Invented' But Actually Already Existed
Make us preferred on Google

You ever have a stroke of genius where you think "Wow, how am I not a successful inventor?"

Followed shortly thereafter by the realization, "I am not a genius, I just invented pleather."


Sometimes our brains miss the very last step of logic that reminds us this thing we thought we invented already exists. In those brief, shining moments where we believe ourselves to be geniuses, we see a world of possibilities ahead of us.

Immediately after, we see a world where everybody has already thought of everything.

u/jacklandors92 asked:

What have you accidentally "invented" in your mind before you realized it already exists in the world in some form?

Here were some of those answers.


A Shield By Any Other Name

Giphy

I was thinking about ways to defend yourself from attack. Started out with a shield and thought "what if we go bigger?"

Tower shield?

Let's go bigger.

Shield that protects 180 degrees of your body.

Let's go bigger.

Shield that protects a full 360 degrees.

That's cumbersome.

What if we could fit it to your body?

Armour. That's armour. Nevermind.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

Flipbook

If you put pictures along a subway wall at the right distance from each other, and the train is moving at a constant speed, it will look like a movie to passengers in the train. Held on to this "invention" until I saw one of these in the train from Heathrow to central London once, there are probably others elsewhere.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

A Fan To Nowhere

Got into a drunken conversation with my cousin and we "invented" a toilet that had a built in exhaust fan that would suck your stink air out instead of having a normal fan in the ceiling.

We went on and on about the proper implementation of it for like 20 minutes before thinking to google it.

They exist, and they're expensive. :(

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

Protected Foot

I decided that leggings would be better if they had socks attached and got really excited about my invention idea for a solid minute until I realized I had just "invented" tights.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

Nah, i've had this discussion before with my skiier buddies. They should make long johns with built in ski socks.

My buddy said "like tights", and i was like nah, you want it to be the different materials for both, but attached so you don't have to have the uncomfortable in-boot overlap of sock and longjohn cuffs.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

Wiretapped

"LiveWire" orange Mountain Dew. My friend and I decided to mix Crush with Mountain Dew once and found it was delicious. Then a few weeks later we saw it at a gas station and thought the CIA was listening to our phone lines (pre cell phones, for our area at least)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

Or A Bed With Wheels

Giphy

After a long day pushing my son around Disney World in his stroller I was day dreaming about how nice it would be for there to be adult sized strollers that we could use to get off our feet when we are tired.

And that's the day I invented the wheel chair.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

This Magic Mixture

The color green. I was coloring a picture at home (I think it was a football player), first with yellow, then I accidentally drew with blue over it and the result was turqoise-greenish. Somewhere over the next few days in school, we had to do presentations and we were trying to decide for a color for the header. I was like "How about this?", showed it on my paper and everyone was like "Noo, green is boring... let's go with something else", which was when I realized oooh, yeah, that's green oops.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

Where The Foods Are

Friends liked to go to bars and hang out a lot. I don't drink, but I do get hungry and most bar food is only okay at best. I wish they served better food for me to eat. I also hate having to yell to hold a conversation, so I wish they turned the music down and it was generally quieter and we could hear each other at a normal volume. So there should be, like, a bar but that serves a wider variety of better food and that has quiet music so you can hear each other talk. Great idea! -- wait, that's just a restaurant, self. You want to hang out in restaurants.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

The Cinema

Giphy

I was watching Black Mirror, and I was thinking how the seasons only have like 3-4 episodes, then I thought "well it's ok since the episodes are long." Then I got thinking "what if they made a season with one episode and the one episode is really long." Then I realized that those are just movies

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

Times Tables

When we were memorizing the times tables in elementary school, I couldn't get the nines, for whatever reason. So I'm studying this trying to figure out how to remember it, when I stumbled on a pattern. If you're multiplying the number by 9, you could multiply it by 10 instead, and just subtract the original number. I thought I was so brilliant, like I'm going to be some math prodigy or something.

Yeah no, it turns out that's just how all multiplication works. Looking back though, it's pretty dumb that we make kids rote memorize these dumb tables, instead of helping them understand the core idea in the first place.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cwo4ut...

More from People

Donald Trump waving green flag at IndyCar race
Doug Mills/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Roasted After Video Of Him Aggressively Waving Start Flag At IndyCar Race Around D.C. Goes Viral

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after video footage of him waving the starting flag for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday went viral.

Washington, D.C., hosted the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday, turning downtown streets, including part of Pennsylvania Avenue, into an IndyCar circuit as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Samuel Corum/Getty Images

The Trump Administration Just Canceled Major Funding For Alzheimer's Research Due To 'DEI'—And People Are Beyond Furious

Back in March 2025, it was revealed that the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump had slashed funding for Alzheimer’s research as part of their purge of all things diversity, equity, or inclusion (DEI) related.

It was also later revealed that most of the cuts were done by Elon Musk's untrained, unqualified Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel—who couldn't define or describe diversity, equity, or inclusion even after making $16.5 billion of initially listed cuts across 1,127 cancelled or adjusted federal contracts because of "DEI"—using AI filters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Michelle Tafoya
C-SPAN2

MAGA Senate Candidate Called Out After Telling Dubious Story About Minnesota Friend's 'Dyed-In-The-Wool Democrat' Neighbor

Minnesota Republican Senate candidate and former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya was widely mocked for sharing a dubious "anecdote" about a conservative friend of hers and her "dyed-in-the-wool Democrat" neighbor."

In remarks to C-SPAN, Tafoya suggested that disaffected Democratic voters will have a notable impact on November's midterm elections, and proceeded to bring up a friend.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @Yegbuztv's X video
@Yegbuztv/X

Video Of McDonald's Worker Dropping Food On Floor Before Putting It Back On Tray Sparks Food Safety Debate

We've all heard of the "five-second rule," where when you drop a piece of food on a safe surface, you can still eat it if you've picked it back up within five seconds. Most people won't bat an eye at this when they're at home or with friends, again, if the food is dropped in a safe and clean location, like on a kitchen counter while making a plate.

But a floor really should never be included among the safe and clean surface options, especially when that floor is in a public space, and the five-second rule shouldn't even exist in food service spaces.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hayden Panettiere and Jack Coleman
Vera Anderson/WireImage/Getty Images

Hayden Panettiere's Dad On 'Heroes' Slams Paparazzi For Constantly 'Hunting' Her In Emotional Tribute

It's been less than a week since the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, and touching tributes have continued to pour in, including today on what would have been her 37th birthday.

One of the most touching came from Panettiere's on-screen father in Heroes, Jack Coleman, who explored all the stages of grief in one Instagram post, paired with lovely photographs on and off set.

Keep ReadingShow less