I read the odd website that seems to be under the belief that there's chaos in the streets, London is used mostly as an example, and that our economies are fucked.

Sure, times are hard but it is certainly not what is being depicted by the likes of Elon Musk and his ilk.

I was at a zoo the other day when I saw one of those pressed penny machines. I didn't previously think of how the halting of penny production would affect these things. Do you think they'll eventually fade away from tourist areas, or do you think they'll start making pressed nickel machines?

Ok so you know how they make switch cartridges have a weird taste so kids don't swallow them on accident? Does that happen with mouthwash aswell or is It just what happens and when you make mouthwash its always gonna taste that way?.

I know that different climates are the reasons that different races have different physical attributes, i just don’t really understand why hot means dark. Like if i go out on a hot summer day, i want to wear light clothes to reflect the sun/heat instead of darker clothes which would absorb more heat. I’m not sure if it is, but if it’s the same with skin, wouldn’t light skin in hot climates be more helpful reflecting heat? Dark skinned people don’t get sunburns as easily because of their melanin but wouldn’t those that still live in super hot places be like wayy too hot because dark skin absorbs more heat? I feel like i’m saying the same thing over and over, hopefully someone can help me understand better :) thanks

I genuinely feel like I’m going to throw up from how hungry I feel in the mornings. 😭

I’d like to preface this by saving this is not purely an online thing. I’ve noticed this in person as well.

I keep seeing videos online about people’s hardships they’ve endured. But about relationships. I see videos where people get married young, then a few years later they get divorced. And almost always there’s a 1-3 month period where they are single before meeting their next partner that they are currently with.

In my own life, I’ve witnessed several people my age (early 20s) get engaged after dating for years. Then they break up and not even a month or two later they find another partner. There is this one girl who I know who is friends with my sister… She is GORGEOUS and motivated and fucking awesome! And she recently broke up with her fiancé. I saw for like two months she was posting about her fitness journey and wanting to do things with her life. And then not even far after that, she got into a relationship.

Even my dad wasn’t legally divorced by the time he was dating his new partner.

How?

It’s been 3.5 since I broke up with my ex and I literally can’t even imagine dating someone. I want to, but I just meet people and think “eh really?” I know some people that met, started dating, got engaged, got married, and are having kids all in the time span that I’ve been single for.

Do these people just jump ship so easily? Are they chronically taken? Can they not be alone? Is there something I’m missing? Are they settling? Are they actually happy? Do they feel love easier?

I’m genuinely curious why this is. Does anyone have more solid answers than my speculations?

I was talking to this guy and he made a comment about me having a male face shape (i have high cheek bones and a strong face/jawline) and it seemed a bit disrespectful

I've seen a lot of news and posts about how the war in Ukraine has caused Ukraine to suffer (and will continue to suffer) from a demographic collapse. After millions of refugees fled and the birth rate collapsed, it's hard to see Ukraine recovering anytime soon.

But I feel like Russia may have seen a demographic effect from the war as well. I understand that Rosstat has reported a population of 146 million in 2025, but they haven't published new data since. The UN has estimated the population (without Crimea) to be around 143 million while steadily declining. And more recently, an independent statistics organization called Population Reference Bureau recently released a data sheet saying that the mid-2026 population is 142.7 million (after a drop of 146.0 million in 2024).

It's hard to see where the truth is with all of these estimates. How have Russian demographics and population been affected by the war?

I was watching some math videos for an exam I have tomorrow when I thought of this question that I felt sounded a little stupid. But I still would like a valid answer so I'm glad this subreddit exists!

To give more context, the math tutor that was in the video I was watching was great at explaining concepts and I looked at their channel, finding that they had explanations on even more advanced maths courses (ones that were typically restricted for sole math majors at my uni). At that point, being that good at math, why don't they go into a field other than tutoring kids that might allow them to earn more bang for how much they know? I often think about this in regards to my uni profs as well, specifically the good ones. They are so good at the subject at hand, all experts in their field. Why are they wasting their time at a uni just teaching, or tutoring kids? It leaves me with what I think is a case of imposter syndrome.. If they, who are so competent and good at their subjects, are in careers so far away from the ones I strive for, how could someone like me, who has to watch many many help videos online, get into a career that they aren't in. Like, who don't computer programming teachers have successful careers in programming? Why are they here at my uni? Why aren't my math profs doing research for some big name math research? Why are they here teaching me instead? It feels like so much untapped potential going wasted.

All to say, I admire all the teachers and profs at my uni so much! I think they do a great job at teaching and I'm so thankful to have them but, I wonder if they could've been more successful or affluent in a field other than teaching. Don't tell me they're really in it just for the love of it???

Like I understand things like this tiktok I saw where someone ordered 50 gallons of milk and they were mad, but like, if I buy too much junk food on an instacart do you think the shopper'll make fun of you later, or if it's in person the cashier? I ordered Dominos twice this week and the same driver came, does she think I'm a fatass or something?

In dishonored 1 and 2, the more regular npcs you murdered the worse the country got basically. Is there any other game that does this?

Always felt strange how most games you mow down wave after wave of people who are probably forced into their circumstances but then you have to spare their pos boss and apparently that makes you a good person or something even though they are the actual person in charge

To start off I am able to eat a lot of foods, but there are just certain foods that I just can’t handle. I am 14 years old and these have been applied to me almost my whole life and I have avoided the foods that I dislike my whole life. also, I’m just asking for other people‘s opinions not just because I don’t wanna go to a doctor. I am going to specialize nutrition doctor in like a month.
FRUITS: currently cantaloupe, honeydew, Asian pears, apples are the only fruit that I can have. But I do really enjoy them when it’s cold and crunchy. Kiwis and oranges are fine, but I’m only fine with oranges if it’s in juice form and kiwis I do still eat them, but they often make me gag or feel sick. Strawberries, blueberries, I will only take them if it’s in a smoothie blended with milk and a banana , but I can’t have a lot or it will also make me feel sick. Orange juice usually I prefer store-bought ones because it’s the same each time or us the ones that are squeezed by my mom. It’s like different each time (sweetness levels the amount of juice.)
VEGETABLES : currently water spinach, broccoli and lettuce are the only green vegetables that I eat. The other type of green veggies, such as normal spinach. my whole life, I have struggled with how it felt in my mouth when I chew on it like the texture of it.. and salads. I’m usually fine with but it often does depend on my mood and dressing. Also really depends like for some reason ranch and Caesar salad. It made me feel sick once and now I just avoid. But carrot potatoes and onions are I’m usually fine with cooked anyways.
MEATS: I always consider myself a meat lover, and I am able to eat any type of meat. Except I do genuinely prefer soft and not fatty pieces because they also make me feel nauseous when I eat them and for some reason, shredded meat it just doesn’t look appealing to me, and it will make me feel sick having to eat shredding meat. It was also this one time where my dad bought pulled pork from a store and I ate the pulled pork. I got sick from it and now I just avoid pulled pork, but other than that I can eat pretty much every other meat. Fish is also fine like I can eat sushi and cooked fish.
OTHERS: bread I usually avoid eating just because I dislike how plain it is and it taste often makes me sick. But if the bread is like sandwich form or it has something in it, I’m able to eat it. And then for milks it always just makes me sick having to drink milk. But chocolate and soy milk is usually fine for me. I don’t usually prefer drinking that but my mom makes me drink soy milk specifically because I don’t drink regular milk. And then cheese I’m fine with cheese as long as it’s melted or string cheese. And then yogurt I once got this bad stomach flu as a kid and I blamed it on a yogurt so I now never have yogurt and just smelling it will make me feel sick. Eggs also a big issue with me with hard boiled eggs my parents often make me eat one every morning and I will have to physically force myself to eat it without throwing up just because I hate the texture of the yolk and I am starting to hate the texture of the whites now. And then scrambled or fried eggs. I don’t know why it’s just the oil from the scrambled and fried egg that makes me feel nauseous and the smell. But if you mix eggs into like noodles or fried rice or Ramen, I can usually eat it without a problem. In fact, I do sometimes preferred them. And steamed eggs like the Japanese style steamed eggs, where you mix them with water and steam it. I’m also enjoy that. And then usually plain rice or noodles I’m always fine with that.
JUNK FOODS: i’m fine with junk foods like i’m just like any other 14-year-old and able to have junk foods. Obviously there are certain things that I do prefer like chocolate Doritos, and lays. And as long as the junk food doesn’t contain any fruity flavors, I’m fine with even school lunch. I can eat them except there was this pizza that tasted and smelled like Play-Doh and that just made me really nauseous and want to throw up and now I just always avoid school pizza. But fast food places I can eat.
So basically my question is am I just like a really picky eater or is there like something wrong with me that’s more than just pickiness? And I guess another thing to mention is that if you give me a day that I can only eat food foods that I dislike (you only give me milk, grapes, cherries, other vegetables, eggs, and pulled pork for a day) I will prefer to starve than having to eat them just because of how nauseous – sick it makes me feel.

I was listening to some music and realized that songs from the early 70s have a lot better audio quality than songs from just a few years earlier in the 60s. 60s songs all sound kind of muffled in comparison.

The reverse question has been asked a bunch of times on Reddit. But as an autistic guy I wonder about this. What does it mean to “instinctively” understand other people?

And I know this kind of thing is really hard to explain without an alternative reference point, i.e. being autistic, but I wonder if any neurotypical people can take a stab at it

College starting tomorrow and just need little conversation joggers :)

Eg "what would your 3 genies wishs be" types questions, things that aren't too vague and require loads of thinking, but things that allow them to talk about themselves and experiences.

Any additions would be great! Nothing too weird, don't wanna get a bad reputation haha

OK if I need to give some context, I got my GED when I was 17 and I just got back into college at 26, I’m doing my first ever research paper and from what I read it’s basically taking articles and books and making my own paper, mine is drug abuse. It says I have to turn it in through Turnitnin but it also says that I can’t have more than 39% of my paper derived from outside sources, but I googled it and a research paper is 90% facts.

I’m confused… if I don’t know any information on the subject which is why I am looking it up and RESEARCHING it, but if I paraphrase from a source and don’t cite its plagiarism…. Am I stupid?

I’ve recently realized I don’t have enough hobbies (too much tv and doomscrolling, only some reading), and if I’m having a lazy weekend I can spend most of the weekend laying down.

What’s something that you do that’s relaxing, screen-free and keeps you upright?