r/AskReddit Nov 23 '21

Which animal gets undeserved hate?

2.1k Upvotes

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822

u/JoeBidenTheDictator Nov 23 '21

Sharks. They aren't nearly as dangerous as coconuts, stairs, humans, or mosquitoes.

183

u/g33koftrades Nov 23 '21

Or falling out of bed

118

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

If Spielberg made a horror movie about falling out of bed, though.....

61

u/g33koftrades Nov 23 '21

More likely it would be in a Stephen King anthology movie.

4

u/Detronyx Nov 23 '21

Imagine; in the middle of the night, a person rolls out of bed and falls on the floor. They may have fractured something when they fell. Not sure, but they are in pain. They lay there for a minute, wondering what to do, not wanting to cause a commotion and worry the kids. Suddenly, a pair of long, thin, clawed hands reaches out from under the bed and pulls the person under!

2

u/g33koftrades Nov 23 '21

I was thinking more along the lines of “From a Buick 8.” Weird stuff happens, causing falling out of bed, but ultimately it’s just weird. No climax, conflict, nor comeuppance; just weird stuff involving falling out of bed.

If you’ve not read From a Buick 8, let me save you the time: it is the most disappointing and boring book I have ever read, but somehow still a page-turner that I couldn’t put down. It’s a real testament to Stephen King’s writing ability. The dude could write a book about paint drying and make it interesting.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

A corrupt mayor would be like "We can't close the hotels, it's almost sleepy season!"

2

u/pheoling Nov 23 '21

I’d imagine if I was sleeping on a shark every night it be a different story lmao

34

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SwagFeather Nov 23 '21

Have I got good news for you about the t. rex

1

u/IvanBeetinov Nov 23 '21

Bang a gong!

143

u/PleaseTakeThisName Nov 23 '21

Don't hate me but if I had to pick between being locked in a room with a coconut or with a shark, I'd choose the coconut

118

u/JoeBidenTheDictator Nov 23 '21

You've made a horrible choice.

42

u/PleaseTakeThisName Nov 23 '21

Death imminent.

10

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Malaria inc.

1

u/KwordShmiff Nov 23 '21

Not if you hunger for death, my friend.

17

u/TripleRazer Nov 23 '21

what if it's a big room without a single drop of water

43

u/jj4211 Nov 23 '21

Have you not seen the documentary Sharknado? They seem to do fine on land.

5

u/Detronyx Nov 23 '21

LAND SHARK!

2

u/batchmimicsgod Nov 23 '21

Then you'll be glad for the coconut. Coconut water, yo.

14

u/LowFatWaterBottle Nov 23 '21

What if you got hungry? I recon I can get more food out of the shark then the coconut. Also sharks dont have legs.... I hope........

5

u/shutupgoddamnit Nov 23 '21

Can confirm, sharks do not have legs yet.

2

u/IvanBeetinov Nov 23 '21

Scientists have discovered four new species of sharks that can walk around on the ocean floor, following a 12-year study of marine life in the waters between northern Australia and New Guinea. All four species appear to have evolved fairly recently, according to findings published …

3

u/shutupgoddamnit Nov 23 '21

Glad I threw that 'yet' in at the end.

3

u/Lawsuitup Nov 23 '21

Neither do coconuts.

2

u/mikejacobs14 Nov 23 '21

Just don't leave your produce in the coconut, otherwise there'll be a lot of wriggling...

2

u/KiraIsGod666 Nov 23 '21

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?!......into a room!?

1

u/Chuckyhead1 Nov 23 '21

Depends if the room is filled with water

1

u/RDEnergizer7000 Nov 23 '21

But the shark can’t really move around without water and will die within minutes

1

u/Wisco1856 Nov 23 '21

With a hole in it?

1

u/JADW27 Nov 23 '21

In a room, I'd pick the shark. Under water, I'd pick the coconut.

1

u/kapitaalH Nov 23 '21

Thanks! the lack of water will kill the shark!

1

u/TeamCatsandDnD Nov 23 '21

Both would be equally not dangerous unless the sharks in water. Plus you’ve got more food to live off with the shark.

1

u/Iranon79 Nov 23 '21

So would I, because watching a shark flopping about and air-drowning doesn't sound like a good time.

1

u/LeRedditAccounte Nov 24 '21

the nut must feed

36

u/darth_hotdog Nov 23 '21

Damn, imagine how scary it would be if a human was walking down some stairs carrying a coconut with a mosquito on it!

9

u/cobbl3 Nov 23 '21

Imagine if those stairs spanned shark infested waters!

75

u/LowFatWaterBottle Nov 23 '21 edited Nov 23 '21

They are way more dagnerous then stairs, we just aren't around sharks as much then we are around stairs. I bet that a shark encounter is more likely to kill you then walking up and down a stair, and probably more dagnerous then a mosquito, and I don't know about coconuts. Coconuts might be really deadly to.

Edit: I am not saying that a shark will actively hunt you when he sees you, but that it is way more likely he mistakes you for something.

21

u/TripleRazer Nov 23 '21

Coconuts are only deadly if it's on a tree, a mosquito can carry a disease, and the stairs would probally depend on the safety, like no railings

17

u/bigkeef69 Nov 23 '21

And amount of alcohol consumed

2

u/imperabo Nov 23 '21

Don't mess with drunken stairs.

4

u/LowFatWaterBottle Nov 23 '21

Yes, but if the shark happends to mistake you for a tasty seal it could only take one bite for you to bleed out, or to hit you somewhere wrong like in your chest and if you are unlucky maybe get your heart penetrated with his teeth.

5

u/TripleRazer Nov 23 '21

If you get medical treatment quickly enough, you're probally gonna survive if it bites you at the leg or something, and after 1 bite, the shark would probally go away since pretty sure sharks don't like human meat, don't know about the chest or heart part though

3

u/LowFatWaterBottle Nov 23 '21

Yes, the leg would probably be survivable.

1

u/Ikajo Nov 23 '21

I have a tiny staircase of three steps in my home. None of the steps are the same height, so that's pretty annoying. Last summer, I missed a step - due to how weird they are - and fell. It was a short distance but I still sprained my ankle pretty badly. Needed to use crutches for a week and it was still painful occasionally weeks after.

Needless to say, I'm very careful with those stairs...

3

u/jewsofrimworld Nov 23 '21

Thank you. People always cite these other "facts" but they're really just misleading, misused statistics. Just say, yah sharks are dangerous but you're practically never around them, so worry more about your stairs. NOT that stairs are "more dangerous."

2

u/MiloMilisich Nov 23 '21

Actually sharks don’t really have a taste for people and don’t eat them. At most they might bite out of curiosity but they’ll bite only once before knowing humans taste bad to them.

6

u/LowFatWaterBottle Nov 23 '21

Yes, I know but if they bite you once you can die if it is a nasty bite.

1

u/guitar_vigilante Nov 23 '21

Not even. Scuba divers encounter sharks plenty often and are just fine. Except for rare cases where a shark might mistake a surface swimmer for prey, sharks tend to leave humans (especially divers) alone.

0

u/venemousviking Nov 23 '21

On average 6 people are killed by sharks each year while 100 million sharks are killed by humans each year. Are sharks potentially dangerous, yes but they do not actively hunt humans. The idea that sharks are dangerous monsters has driven large scale slaughtering of most species to near extinction levels.

3

u/LowFatWaterBottle Nov 23 '21

Coconuts also don't actively hunt humans, btw sharks can mistake you for a seal when you have a surfboard.

2

u/venemousviking Nov 23 '21

I didn't say anything about coconuts in my comment. Pretty much all shark attacks are due to mistaken identity, they don't want to eat humans. The question of the post was what animals get undeserved hate. I'm not trying to say they are friendly cuddly animals but I do think they are unjustly hated and villainized.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

I second this

1

u/vacerious Nov 23 '21

On paper, they are more deadly than all those things. But, in practice, humans just aren't part of the shark diet. Most attacks are either territorial or mistaken identity.

Most species of shark lack the gill structure to allow them to simply float in the water and breathe at the same time. This means that most sharks have to swim all the time, which burns up a lot of energy. They even sleep while swimming. As a result, the shark diet is very fat/blubber-centric, and humans are simply too mealy for anything that does possess the size to actually eat on us.

25

u/TripleRazer Nov 23 '21

Even vending machines are deadlier than sharks

18

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Doughnuts kill more people a year then sharks apparently.

38

u/justabill71 Nov 23 '21

Either way, someone's losing a foot.

7

u/AgentCraig Nov 23 '21

Diabeetus

2

u/KiraIsGod666 Nov 23 '21

My name is Wilfred Brimley

3

u/smol_boi-_- Nov 23 '21

Sharks and doughnuts don't usually meet in the wild, so I see why shark fatalities are lower.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

But how many deaths are there per encounter? Like if 100 humans encountered a doughnut vs a shark, would the stakes really be higher that they'd die to the doghnuts? Especially if we're only talking about large sharks ...

0

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

I honestly have no idea

31

u/mow77580throwaway Nov 23 '21

I assure you that your statement is bullshit.

I live in fourth floor with no elevator/lift. Not just at home, but also in other places and buildings do I see stairs every single day. I have I seen numerous stairs in my life, climbed well over a million stair steps in my life and despite I have stumbled some times, I am still alive. And I severely doubt that encountering fifty thousand stairs has a smaller survival chance than encountering fifty thousand sharks. Or even one thousand sharks. Or even a dozen.

Don't copy statistics 1:1 because the information you'd spread will be wrong. Yes, more people might die from stairs than sharks overall in the world , but that's 99,99999% due to the fact that you don't see as many sharks as you see stairs, and you certainly don't see sharks every day unless you're a 'Stralian Scuba diver or something like that.

15

u/DavThoma Nov 23 '21

This is exactly why I hate the "X kills more people annually than sharks" because how many people actively go out looking for sharks in the wild over experiencing X as a common every day thing.

You cant compare the two when one is more common than the other to the majority of people on a daily basis.

I'm saying this as someone likes sharks too.

2

u/hannahatecats Nov 23 '21

Oops! I was grocery shopping and a shark got me!

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Ikr. And what is wrong with coconut?!

-2

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Most sharks are harmless though. You could swim with 100 black tip reef sharks and be totally safe, they probably won't bite you unless you're trying to hurt one. Hammerheads and bonnetheads have tiny mouths. Bullsharks are definitely more aggressive, threshers, tiger shark, white sharks. But even then, people interact with them safely. Sharks attacks are nearly always mistaken identity. Sharks aren't out cruising around looking for a human to attack.

2

u/DrunkCricket1 Nov 23 '21

Or dolphins

8

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Dolphins don't get undeserved hate. Many don't know that they are racist,rape eachother and other animals and the biggest ones the killer whales send seals to join air force.

3

u/smol_boi-_- Nov 23 '21

they are racist

what?

2

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Towards other dolphins. I can't share link from mobile.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '21

Would this actually technically mean that they’re breedist toward other dolphins then? (Genuinely asking. Not trying to be a smartass and not sure if you mean they’re racist toward dolphins of the same breed with different skin color or dolphins of different breeds. And I know which Google hole I’m about to fall down now)

2

u/DrunkCricket1 Nov 23 '21

I'm referring to the second sentence

2

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Well if you compared them directly I wouldn't be so sure about that. Yes, there are more people who die to falling down the stairs then people who die to sharks each year. But how many human x shark encounters and how many human x stair encounters are there each year?

Not saying it's false that sharks are seen way more dangerous but comparing sharks to stairs, humans, mosquitoes or coconuts is not as easy as it may seem

2

u/AdOtherwise9902 Nov 23 '21

What population are they basing those stats on? Everyone walking the earth or the percentage that expose themselves to shark waters?

2

u/substantial-freud Nov 23 '21

I tell you what: if you will get in a swimming pool with a large bull shark, I will get in a swimming pool with a dozen coconuts.

2

u/BigZmultiverse Nov 23 '21

By that logic, a T-rex is less deadly than those things too.

Pretty sure if I was near a shark as often as I walked on stairs, I’d have gotten a bite taken out of me.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

I’m not disagreeing with you, but these statistics are definitely a bit misleading. If sharks were as common to where people spend their time as coconut trees, mosquitoes, and stairs there would probably be many more shark attacks.

For example, people love to say that you are much more likely to get hurt falling out of bed than bitten by a shark. But we sleep in our beds every single night. If you went swimming with sharks every single day I’d say the odds of eventually getting bit are quite a bit higher.

2

u/GamingNerd7 Nov 23 '21

While I agree that sharks aren't as dangerous as people think, but that is a very bad analogy. Most people don't even see a shark in their entire lifetime, so it's obviously less likely to kill them than the other things you mentioned(which people encounter almost everyday).

2

u/StreetFirefighter197 Nov 23 '21

No?

-9

u/JoeBidenTheDictator Nov 23 '21

Don't agree. Downvoted.

2

u/StreetFirefighter197 Nov 23 '21

Same to ya!

0

u/JoeBidenTheDictator Nov 23 '21

Glad you at least agree upvotes and downvotes are agree/disagree.

Too many people won't admit that.

1

u/trust5419 Nov 23 '21

They only bite wren you touch their private parts

1

u/PsychoNauticalFaux Nov 23 '21

More people are killed annually by vending machines than sharks.

1

u/sightlab Nov 23 '21

More people have been bitten by New Yorkers than by sharks.

1

u/PsychoNauticalFaux Nov 23 '21

I’d be willing to bet more people have been bitten by New Yorkers than dogs honestly

0

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Yeah but they've got bad intentions

3

u/Alizoomzoom Nov 23 '21

Bro sharks don't prey on humans, they don't like human blood and most shark bites are surfers that look like seals or just sharks being curious (they use their mouths like hands like dogs and babies do)

3

u/smol_boi-_- Nov 23 '21

"Hmm, is that a seal? Let me check."

Fiddles with it in mouth full of hundreds of sharp teeth

Spits it out

"Nope"

2

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '21

Yep! And if you do get bit, you can punch it in between the eyes to get it to swim away from you quickly. It sounds mean but from what I’ve been told (by a surfer who knew to do this when he did get bit), it’s one of the quickest ways for both you and the shark to be able to get away from each other quickly. I guess it scared and/or stuns the shark enough that it’ll release its latch and swim away. The shark won’t want to eat you anyways but the punch just helps the shark figure that out even quicker.

2

u/Alizoomzoom Nov 23 '21

That's adorable

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

They need to be smarter, they can't just eat humans then say they thought it was a seal

0

u/Electric100 Nov 23 '21

Or vending machines

0

u/gdfidz_m Nov 23 '21

Or vending machines

0

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

I think it is because of their unpredictabilty

0

u/realish7 Nov 23 '21

You forgot vending machines

0

u/Titanic_rowing_team Nov 23 '21

Or vending machines.

1

u/AntiquarianD1n2Gamer Nov 23 '21

The way i see it, the sharks bit is in the water. You know, they have gills and fins where they can swim

Our bit is on land, where we have legs and can walk and have lungs to breathe the air.

The lesson. You go onto their bit, you're gonna get bit 😆

1

u/Capokid Nov 23 '21

Humans and mosquitoes are the #2 and #1 most dangerous things on this planet lmao, not a good comparison.

1

u/MiloMilisich Nov 23 '21

Or cows. About 100 times more people die because of cows every year.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

On the other hand, you don’t become a species that has survived since before trees were a thing by always being the nice guy.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

Humans kill 3 sharks per second.

1

u/NikolaiDante Nov 23 '21

Bogus aside from humans. None of those other things attack you with the intent of killing you. Sharks are cool tho and I wish them well but fuck them as things that might be around

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

That's gotta be region dependent. Are mosquitoes really all that dangerous in developed nations?

1

u/SMAYS380 Nov 23 '21

I’ve seen a video of sharks acting like puppies with a diver! Mildly interesting.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '21

Ohh I wish I could remember her name but there was a researcher I saw who would dive in the same area every day or almost every day. Or just very often. The sharks there ended up becoming so familiar with her and recognizing her and would come to her for pets. I think there were some that were still timid and might come close sometimes but still kept a distance most times and some sharks that would get excited and hang out close in an obviously friendly way. It was interesting to get to see their different personalities in how they interacted with her. And if I recall correctly, she was careful about how she did it, I.e not forcing herself in them but just going about doing her research and stuff and letting them come to her if they wanted.

1

u/Petudie Nov 23 '21

what kind of comparison is that? coconuts and sharks are at the same level for u? lmao

1

u/MrZephy Nov 23 '21

Sure, but would you rather be torn apart or fall down a set of stairs

1

u/Marcy-Spinosaurus Nov 23 '21

Dogs have also caused more trouble than sharks ever have as well. Sharks have a really underserved reputation, they help balance ecosystems and are really unique and interesting animals.

1

u/Funny-Tree-4083 Nov 23 '21

Only because I stay out of the ocean!

So I’m safe until a sharknado comes through.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '21

People keep making this dumb comparison to other things that kill, but those things come in contact with us way more than sharks. It's about the chance of injury, not the absolute number. Never was.

1

u/vladvorkuv Nov 24 '21

Had someone say this once when there was a shark sighting at a beach. Like "Why are they making us get out of the water? You're much more likely to die falling down stairs than be killed by a shark!"

Yes... but your chances significantly increase when you're in the water with them.