Doubting your own knowledge is normal and it is actually a sign of intelligence, because even the great Greek philosopher once said “I know that I know nothing.” But there are times when you actually know something, but others are not that informed, so you are left in the place of a fool.
Reddit user SlashFan18 started a thread of people sharing their experiences of being in such a situation by asking them “What was your ‘Why are you booing me? I'm right’ moment?” and there are so many frustrating ones, some of which are actually quite concerning when they happen at school.
Do you have any similar tales to tell? Which one of these were you most surprised about? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
More info: Reddit
#1 For Saying Water Can Be Used To Create Electricity
When I was in 1st grade, I said that electricity can be gained via water (hydropower), everyone started laughing at me until my teacher said: "He is right."The whole class went silent.
Image credits: mateja1119
#2 For Saying Cold Water Is As Effectinve In Killing Germs As Hot Water
I got downvoted like crazy for saying that a nurse told me that cold water and soap kills germs just as well as hot water when washing your hands. Linked some sources and everything. Then people started calling me a troll.
Image credits: anon
#3 For Saying That The Number 2 Is 2/3 Of The Number 3
When I was in 8th grade I made the (apparently controversial) statement that the number 2 is 2/3 of the number 3. I had 5 people try and convince me otherwise by doing long division on the board and saying, "see, it's not 2/3, it's 0.66 repeating." Bunch of mouth breathers.
Image credits: ironic_swag
#4 For Saying Germany Has A Coastline
Me saying that Germany has a coastline, and everyone in class, including my teacher disagreeing. Still remember it over 12 years later.
Image credits: anon
#5 For Saying Snakes Have A Spine
In 2nd grade I joined the robotics club. One day we were learning about how an animals bones affect the way animals move, and the teacher asked “ Give me examples about animals with spines” I said snakes. She said snakes are like worms and lack spines.
Image credits: Mehwhocares1
#6 For Saying That A Third Of The English Language Comes From Normandic French
My class didn't believe me (teacher included but he admitted later that he was wrong) when I said that a third (1/3) of the english language come from normandic french.Another time when I said that the wireless communication protocol's name, bluetooth, come from a king of Denmark that was called Bluetooth
F**k them I was right all along :'c
Image credits: Hyperbawl
#7 For Saying The Japanese Bombed Pearl Harbor
Grade 7 (Canada), we were learning about medieval Japan in Social Studies class (basically history class). I made a comment that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, a kid said it was the Germans and some people backed him up. Teacher said she forgot who bombed Pearl Harbor but it wasn't the Japanese. If only smart phones existed back then.
Image credits: ian_coke77
#8 For Saying That Homosexuality Has Been Observed In Over 1500 Species
Class discussion on gay marriage in a sociology class in college, circa 2003. I stated the scientific fact that homosexuality has been observed in over 1500 species, and basically got booed/laughed at.
Image credits: PianoManGidley
#9 For Decisions As A Hockey Referee
I used to be a hockey ref, so all the f*****g time.
Image credits: Dorksim
#10 For Saying That Ambulances Have Their Sign Mirrored To See It Right In The Rearview Mirror
In 5th grade we have a problem on Math class with mirroring images. It asked if you are driving in a car and look in the rearview mirror how would you see the ambulance embleme if an ambulance car was driving behind you. I said you would see AMBULANCE because (at least in my country) those signs are intentionally put on mirrored, so you can see it normally in a mirror. Everyone said I was stupid even the teacher. I still remember it after 8 years.
Image credits: Bluehunter3333
#11 For Saying That Rocket Parts Just Fall Into The Ocean After They Are Abandones By The Spacecraft
I’ve had many booed moments, but this is a more recent one. In my science class we were watching a few documentaries about the US space program, and the topic of pollution came up with fuel consumption and in the midst someone asked about where the parts of the rocket go once they are abandoned by the spacecraft. I commented how it just falls and NASA pretty much just hoped that it didn’t fall on people. One of the reasons they launch out of Florida or a cape is so the parts end up in the water and not hitting civilization, but nobody believed me since it would be then that NASA is polluting the ocean.
Image credits: PiemanAidan
#12 For Explaining How To Hold A Flask Correctly During Laboratory Class
4th grade. We had our first laboratory class and we were learning about the lab instruments and basic safety.We were divided in around 4 tables with 6 students each, and each table had a flask with coloured water in it. The teacher told us to by turns each one grab the flask and pretend to mix the liquid by spinning it.
The first kid in my table grabs the flask but in a way that his hand covers the flask's mouth. I tell him such and that he should grab it by the neck sides instead of the mouth because if it was acid it could splash to his palm and hurt him. The other kids at my table started calling me a crybaby saying that it obviously "isn't acid" and that it was only "coloured water like the one they use in my juice", and they all proceed to hold and mix it improperly.
Eventually the teacher teaches us the correct way to hold flasks and mix them after seeing everyone grab them incorrectly. He tells us to grab them by the neck sides (just like I said) and to not cover the mouth with our hands because if it was real acid we could get seriously hurt (just like I said).
I still get a bit salty when remembering that.
Image credits: JoyFerret
#13 For Saying Tha The Bisigoths Sacked Rome
The question in history class was "who sacked Rome" and I raised my hand and answered "the Visigoths." Everyone laughed along the lines of "that's a ridiculous name there's no such thing as the Visigoths" and that the Vandals sacked Rome, which is where we get the word vandalism from.While yes, the Vandals did sack Rome, so did the Visigoths in the year 410.
Image credits: guitar_vigilante
#14 For Explaining How Cardio Affects The Body
Just the other day, there was a thread about "What do people get wrong about exercise?" I said that cardio is not about burning calories. It's about depleting sugar from your liver so no new fat is created. When you eat, the liver processes the calories into either energy or fat storage. When you exercise, the body uses sugars from the liver for quick energy. This is why marathon runners carb-load before a race. But even if you're not running a marathon, the principle still works. Do half an hour of cardio a day, deplete the liver, and no new fat will be created. Then, when you're just sitting around, there's no sugar in the liver, so the body has to break down existing fat for energy. Hence, you lose weight.But the myth is that you eat x-number of calories, and then you have to do x-number of hours of cardio to burn those calories off. That's not how metabolism works. I even provided [links](https://youtu.be/LRkcvDyQwho?t=4283) from an endocrinologist explaining it. I mean, I agree exercise makes you lose weight, and binge eating sabotages the process, but it's not about "burning calories". It's about depleting the liver of glucose.
Of course, people don't like reading anything that challenges their pre-existing beliefs. So I had some guy calling me an a*****e, etc. I politely explained, "Just because you disagree, doesn't mean I'm automatically wrong."
Image credits: thudly
#15 For Being The IT Guy
I've worked in technical support for over 20 years, it happens to me on a weekly basis. Usually it's the network admins trying to prove me wrong, they're the biggest divas in the IT industry. Yes, your precious network is misconfigured. No, I don't care how many certifications you have.
Image credits: zerbey
#16 For Leaving A Job For Mental Health
I recently decided to retire from a somewhat dangerous profession in order to better look after my mental health, but a lot of people didn't like it and thought I owed it to them to keep working.
Image credits: Lucky_Number_12
#17 For Drawing Green Grapes
In kindergarten I drew a picture of grapes and colored them green and the other kids AND the teacher/caretaker were saying there are no green grapes, only purple
Image credits: YoMomIsANiceLady
#18 For Breaking Up Two Mentally Challenged Kids Fighting
years ago when I was in middle school, two mentally challenged kids got into a fight in class. it wasn't like a full out fight, mostly pushing, but they definitely got into it with each other. turns out kids heard about this, and the egged them on so that they would fight outside during lunch. I somehow found out about it, and when I got there, the two kids started to have a full on fist fight. As all the kids surrounding them cheered I rushed in to break them up. It was difficult breaking it up because the two kids really were going after each other, and no one else really helped to break it up. Eventually teachers caught wind and broke it up. As they did, kids started to literally boo me and curse at me for breaking up the spectacle. I was shocked. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some white knight and I totally get it that when you're a kid you love watching fights. Heck even as adults we have some primitive innate entertainment by watching people duke it out, but there was something incredibly wrong about watching two mentally challenged kids being egged on to fight to the amusement of kids who were laughing at the situation.
Image credits: orange_cuse
#19 For Saying That The Orbit Speed Of The Space Shuttle Is 18,000 MPH
A professor in undergrad asked what the orbit speed of the Space Shuttle is. I volunteered 18,000 MPH (its 17.5k MPH) and he laughed and said absolutely not, and compared it to the speed of an airliner (~500 MPH).F*****g idiot.
Image credits: VoidDrinker
#20 For Suggesting To Make A Car Part Heavier To Make It Strong Enough
I was working on a team of people building a race car. I told them a part that was technically strong enough should be built heavier to handle shock loads from bad track conditions.I got told I was a m**on and it would be fine someone else ran the numbers and it would be fine. So I built the parts put them on the car and lo and behold it broke and the car ended up on it's roof.
You'd think that would be validation of my opinion, and people would agree that I was right. Not how it happened. I was the a*****e because I built them, so it was my fault.
Image credits: littleredhoodlum
#21 For Forgetting To Mention Pluto As A Planet
I forgot Pluto on my list of planets in 3rd grade. Got a B+ instead of an A. Should've gotten extra credit.Who's laughing now, m***********s?
Image credits: PhreedomPhighter
#22 For Correcting The Teacher On The Name Of A Fish
A teacher in biology GCSE was discussing a food pyramid of a river habitat, and she claimed that "10 Sprey" were at the top of the food chain. I pointed out "Miss, I think that says '1 Osprey'." She snarled and said "Fine. Everyone, anon thinks he knows better than me, so now it's 1 Sprey." The whole class groaned and were muttering as they had to cross out what they'd written and rewrite it, and people on my table were giving me evils and telling me to be quiet. Utterly ridiculous that I even passed that subject.
Image credits: anon
#23 For Saying It's Not Unrealistic To Know Basic Conversion Factors
Me telling Grade 11 University High School students it's not unrealistic to know basic conversion factors (i.e. 1km=1000m).Edit: I should clarify, which is gonna make this that much worse. This is in Canada, where the Metric system is a thing.
Image credits: darkphoenix168
#24 For Explaining How The Spanish 'C' Is Actually Pronounced
I was once in a chorus in my community college and they had interesting social dymanics. It was primarily older white women, who were the alphas of the group. So we were doing a latin american carol called "vamos pastorcitos" and there was debate between them about the pronunciation of the "c" I said the soft c is pronounced like an s, an old lady in the group said it was pronounced like the ch in cheese. I said "you're thinking of italian, in Spanish it's pronounced as an "s" or in many european spanish dialects like a "th"" The choral conductor went with her churchy old lady friend and they all pronounced it like "Vamos pastorcheetos" it still haunts me to this day.
Image credits: anon
#25 For Saying That An 18-Year-Old Can't Manage Money Properly
On r/PersonalFinance, an 18 year old was asking if they should take out a $50k student loan. They didn’t need it to pay for college (parents paying), but interest was 1%. Everyone was saying that he should take the loan and invest it, since the market typically returns well above 1% and they could make money on it.I got downvoted to hell for saying that, at age 18, they have no clue if they will be responsible with that kind of money, and there is a big risk that they will end up spending a lot of it on things they don’t need. People tore me apart for thinking that “someone shouldn’t make a great business decision for psychological reasons”, but I saw plenty of people in college make the mistakes that I mentioned. Better to avoid the debt if they can.
Edit: A couple people have asked about the legality of taking a student loan and investing it. This student was not based in the US (one of the Scandinavian countries, if I recall correctly), and I know that even in the US it is possible. Some of my grad school loans were designed to cover my living expenses, so the money was just deposited in my account (though way less than $50k). The only thing stopping me from investing it was not being able to afford to.
Image credits: IAmNotScottBakula
#26 For Correctly Pronouncing Iceland's Name
I loved maps, and the first time I spotted "Iceland" my classmates disagreed when I called it Iceland, and they say that it's called **ai-land.**They dismissed me and wouldn't even look. Still remember it to this day.
edit: I told them there exists a country called Iceland, they keep shutting me down and say it's ai-land (island).
Image credits: katsu_kare_raisu
#27 For Accidentally Showing A Middle Finger To The Teacher
When my teacher asked to see on which finger i lost a nail so i showed him my middle finger.
Image credits: altarusss
#28 For Not Believing That Swedish Pancakes Are Just Crepes
My daughter had a teacher in third grade that told her that swedish pancakes were really just crepes. She had no idea what to do since her teacher told her something that she eats all the time wasn't what her parents told her it was. Her next project about a week later was about other cultures so I had her do a report on Sweden. Guess what was included in that report and guess what she brought to class to share with everyone during her report out to class. Teacher said nothing but did give her an A.
Image credits: Dhh05594
#29 For Saying Water Expands When Heated
Me, in science class at middle school, saying that water expands when it's heated up, and everyone including my science teacher saying I was wrong and that water only expands when it freezes and becomes ice
Image credits: Redross_91
#30 For Saying That T-Rex Was From The Cretaceus Period
Once in middle school, the teacher said that carnivore dinossaurs like the T-rex appeared in the jurassic era, then I said that the T-rex was actually from the cretaceus period. The teacher and the some students said that I was wrong because "It's called Jurassic Park" and s**t. On the next day, I brought some sources from the internet that agreed with me and the teacher corrected herself after doing some quick search on her own, but that didn't stop me from getting nicknamed "dinossaur" in class.
Image credits: anon
#31 For Laughing At How Dangerous Dihydrogen Monoxide Is
A chemistry teacher in high school once very solemnly warned students of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide. My dad had told me this joke before, so I knew where it was going. While she was going on about how it causes flooding, thousands of annual deaths, and has even leaked into the water supply (in high enough doses, it's poisonous), I started cracking up in the back. Literally everyone in class looked at my like I was a sadist, and one girl asked real seriously "why are you laughing?" until the teacher started laughing, too. She had me come to the front of the class and write out the chemical formula for the whole class, where they learned that dihydrogen monoxide = H2O = water.Also, got into an argument with a kid in the 6th grade that 100 times 100 was 10,000 and not, in fact, 1000. When I put it on a calculator, he said the calculator was wrong. Then we asked a custodian passing by, and she agreed with him that 100*100=1000. (-_-)
#32 For Saying That Science Fair Shouldn't Be Mandatory
When I suggested in high school that the Science fair should be voluntary and not mandatory since 90% of the people in the class do their projects at the last minute with their parents doing almost all of it. The teachers and my classmates told me I was wrong and how valuable the Science fair was.Lo and behold the day the projects were due literally everyone was complaining as to why it was mandatory since they did their projects at the last minute with their parents doing all of the work.
Image credits: anon
#33 For Knowing Baseball Well To The Point It Felt Like Cheating
I’m gonna start this off by saying I’m terrible at most sports. Something I am good at, though, is tactics.Anyways, I live in a country that is not famed for baseball. In fact, baseball isnt really all that known here. But for some reason, my high school continues to this day to include baseball in its curriculum. Safe to say, none of the teachers or students had anything but a basic grasp of the game.
However, thanks mostly to my grandad, people in my family actually played and coached baseball at points in their lives. And although I’d never really played, I knew how the game worked.
But there is one moment that stands out. My class was playing baseball, and I was chosen to be the pitcher. Now, I can’t throw very well, but I managed to strike out three people in the first inning. Which I thought was pretty good considering we were loosing. Well, my friends thought otherwise, and told I was “cheating”. They got the teacher involved, and I was banned from pitching for the rest of the match.
I still don’t understand.
Image credits: EmberordofFire
#34 For Saying That Voyager 1 Is Inside Our Galaxy
My friend thinks that the voyage 1 is outside our galaxy just because it's in inter steller spacehe thinks that means out side the galaxy. Even after I showed him on google he still says he's right and got his friends to try to intimidate me all because he thinks he knows everything about space
#35 For Saying That The Five Boroughs Of New York City Are Also Counties
"the five boroughs of New York City are also counties."
Image credits: hymie0
#36 For Getting A Probability Exercise Right
I’m an absolutely idiot, but I do have brief moments of intelligence (I swear), and one of them was my 3rd grade teacher tried to teach us fractions literally using the Monty Hall problem and jelly beans, and kept shaming me when I got it right.The Monty Hall problem is a bit of a mindf**k, but it’s essentially this: if you’re on a game show with three doors, two of which have a goat behind it and one of which had a car, picking it right the first time has odds of 1/3.
If the host opens one of the doors revealing one of the goats, and asks if you want to switch your door pick, staying with your original door has odds 1/3, but switching is 1/2, shifting the entire equation. This is a mindfuck but it’s true, and I found out later that teacher kept making fun of me for saying it when weirdly I was actually right. Going to haunt me forever.
Two quick edits: 1) it's 2/3rds not one third, i remain an idiot.
2) The teacher didn't *intentionally* use the Monty Hall problem, they did it by accident by having jelly beans under paper cups, and would show us an empty paper cup to 'change the fraction' to what she claimed would be 1/2-1/2. She was wrong, and weirdly enough I was right, but she kept me up in front of the class to use me as an example of 'getting it wrong.'
Image credits: YourDailyDevil
#37 For Saying That Detroid Had A Fire Like Chicago
Over the summer before 2nd grade my father took me to the Detroit Historical Museum where I learned that Detroit, like Chicago, had a huge fire that destroy much of the city.The first day or so of class, we had to tell everyone what we did during the summer. I share that we went to the museum and I learned about the fire in Detroit. The teacher told me that it was Chicago that had the fire and I was wrong. As a 2nd grader I didn't know how to handle an adult being wrong so I started crying in front of the class.
Later that day at recess some of the kids were teasing me for crying so I hit one of them pretty hard. I got in trouble for starting a fight and was sent to the office. Things spiraled from there and that is how I got 5 to 7 on an Alabama chain gang. I was right though damn it!
Image credits: FatuousOocephalus
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