• There are 7 alien spaceships orbiting earth right now the size of Jupiter, but they are invisible. They are not revealing themselves to us yet because we are not ready. But they are mind controlling the world leaders to prevent us from killing each other in a nuclear war. They helped trump win so as to save us all. There are also millions of people living underground in a whole separate society. Hilary Clinton is a lizard person, etc.

    Then after he told me all this he said seriously with a straight face. “I will never tell you anything that I don’t know to be true 100%”

  • The first ones I could think out of The top of my head:

    • Wind turbines are being powered by Diesel Generators
    • In The Middle Age people were like 4m tall, which is the reason why the entrance gates of castles are so big.

    There are probably way more, that I forgot (my parents are quite deep into conspiracy theories and so is their entire social circle).

    • In The Middle Age people were like 4m tall, which is the reason why the entrance gates of castles are so big.

      This guy clearly never has been to an actual castle or medieval townhouse and bumped his head on every second door…

      And the wind turbine one is so bonkers I can’t even imagine someone saying that in a non-joke-context…

  • Flat Earth Theory.

    It wasn’t my first time hearing about it, but it was my first time meeting someone in person who genuinely believed in it. My coworker and I got a 30 minute lecture on why he was right, presented wholeheartedly.

  • Stepos Venzny ( SteposVenzny@beehaw.org ) 
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    1 year ago

    I had an economics teacher in high school who warned us that we’re better off at the higher end of a lower tax bracket than the lower end of a higher one, because a higher bracket being a higher percentage of taxation meant you’d lose so much more money that you’d be holding less in the end until you pass the threshold within that bracket where you get back ahead of the tax. An economics teacher.

    • If the tax isn’t incrementing continuously but in discrete steps, this sounds kinda plausible to me… Also I know of certain hard limits in my country that will force you to suddenly pay some additional kind of taxes or loose certain privileges once you cross them.
      This means that earning a single Euro more could lead to loosing hundreds or thousands in effect…

      • dreugeworst ( dreugeworst@lemmy.ml ) 
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        1 year ago

        if it were to make you lose certain benefits that is another story. but just based on tax itself, the higher tax brackets are only applied to the money that you earn beyond the threshold amount. for example, if you have 2 brackets, 10% up to 40k and 20% beyond that, and you earn 60k, you would end up paying 4k tax on the initial 40k and then another 4k on the 20k beyond that. there’s no scenario in which you would end up earning less due to getting into a higher bracket

        • Ok, seems your tax system is different than ours (which applies a earnings-dependent percentage to the whole earnings, minus some free amounts which are again often depending on the sum of earnings - yeah, our tax system sucks…).
          So it actually was a stupid thing to say.

            • Damn, you are actually right. Just did a deep dive into Wikipedia and it turns out that I misinterpreted the curves showing the tax percentage depending on the income completely wrong during my whole life. It doesn’t show the tax percentage to be applied to your earnings, but you have to integrate over the curve from 0 to your income…

              TIL…

  • chuso ( chuso@fedia.io ) 
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    1 year ago
    • The Anunnaki were ancient astronauts who visit Earth periodically, like every 10 000 years or something like that, I don’t remember the exact frequency, but they are supposed to visit us again some time in the future, when it’s their time for a new visit. They are so handsome that we can’t resist mating with them and the current human race is a cross between the Anunnaki and the humans of the last time they visited us.
    • If you travel far enough north, you will find a hidden civilization living under the ice at the North Pole that they don’t want us to know about.
  • Gloomy ( Gloomy@mander.xyz ) 
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    1 year ago

    My biology teacher in 7th grade during sex-ed:

    The anus is a one way road

    Fuck her homophobic ass.*

    *Not literally. Something tells me she’s not into that.

      • A lot of it is designed to fit in college dorms. So some are on the small side…

        But this guy also didn’t understand that beds came in standard sizes, and was worried a swedish store (in the US) would be selling bedframes sized based on swedish standards and wouldn’t fit his mattress… It was a dumb conversation

        • Ok, so might be different product offering in the US then. Which makes what he said even doubly stupid.
          College dorms are not as much of a thing here in Europe and Ikea stuff here is normal sized, just standardized, mostly with that minimalistic Ikea look and easy to assemble by oneself.

            • You before said it was based on the stuff that is used for college dorms, so I gathered he was looking at similar offerings as in other stores but just assumed it to be smaller because of some Ikea-specific reasons instead, so he then had to make up a suitable reason.

              But on the other hand, perhaps he knew that College dorms are not a thing in Europe and had to find a reason the Ikea sold small furniture regardless of this.
              In that case his remark wouldn’t have been stupid at all but a valid speculative thought process based on deeper cultural knowledge.

              Who knows…

            • Thanks!

              Regarding the beds: First thing I noticed were the HUGE headboards. I thought we had a really big one on our bed, but it is perhaps only half as tall as most in the video.
              And while the beds themeselves did look somewhat big, they also seemed to be quite short? I am about 1.90m (~6ft 2inches) and got the impression that I’d either bump my head or have my feet hanging over. But that may be an optical illusion, perhaps because of the widefield camera, the width of the beds or again in comparison to the towering headboards.

              What I also noticed was that the presentation seems not to be grouped by function or room (so beds near sofas near dining tables…). Is this typical?

              Also I was missing a lot of actual, well, “useful” stuff. Kitchen furniture seemed not to be present at all, I saw no child furniture only some youth room stuff, but not much and not very practical and there were no bigger cabinets or other furniture to put away your stuff…
              Do you have specialized stores for that or has it just been the youtuber’s incomplete selection here?

              Overall the presentation of the products is much more spacious and giving a much more “luxurious” impression. When entering a similar exhibition here in Germany I would probably walk right back out again, because clearly not my price range… 😆

              • American furniture stores don’t tend to prioritize organization, IMO. It’s more about what fits where.

                Beds do tend to be tall, and sofas and chairs are both tall and wide. Stuffed furniture tends to be overstuffed.

                Extremely tall mattresses are popular, so headboards must also be very tall or they’d be hidden.

                The standard-sized American bed is uncomfortably short for people over 6 ft tall, despite it being pretty common to be tall. Longer mattresses are available at a higher cost.

                Americans don’t tend to have kitchen furniture, unless the dining set is placed in the kitchen. The cabinets and drawers where you’d keep cookware and kitchen supplies are built into the house.

                Storage furniture is also not used very often, and is sort of old-fashioned. Items are usually stored in bookcases in the living room or office, in a closet, or in cardboard or plastic boxes in an attic or basement. If you need more than that, you have to get creative.

                Baby/nursery furniture often comes from a specialty store. It may or may not be available at a store that sells other types or furniture.

                • Thanks for the reply! Learned some things I didn’t realize before.

                  Extremely tall mattresses are popular, so headboards must also be very tall or they’d be hidden.

                  Yes, I heard about the tall mattresses somewhere before. In this context the tall headboards suddenly make sense!

                  Regarding the length and width I had a look. Turns out, sizes are in reality not that different between US and EU (specifically: Germany). Most due to rounding differences between inches and cm. Exception seems to be King Size, which is a good deal (~5 inches) wider in the U.S.

                  There being no kitchen furniture in U.S. stores also makes sense if i put down my German glasses. Our custom that the kitchen is not part of the house/apartment you buy or rent but responsibility of the person living there is probably completely uncommon not only in the U.S…

                  What you told about the storage furniture is very interesting and something I entirely didn’t know. Here it is common to have massive cabinets and wardrobes for all kind of stuff (although since the rise of Ikea, racks and shelfs also have become very popular). I assumed that to be common also in the U.S. Very interesting difference!

                  Nursery and baby stuff typically also comes in special stores here, but we normally have huge sections for children and youth (i.e. teens) furniture in our department stores.

                  So, I would say somewhat different differences than I expected, very interesting!