destinylaharris

Category: Brain static

  • Brain Static #15: How Much of What You Believe Did You Actually Choose?

    Have you ever stopped to wonder why you believe the things you believe?

    Not just religion.

    Your opinions. Your values. Your traditions. Even the things you’ve been taught to fear.

    How much of that did you actually choose?

    Think about it.

    We’re influenced by our families, our communities, and the world around us long before we’re old enough to question any of it.

    And sometimes, we carry those beliefs into adulthood without ever stopping to ask ourselves WHY.

    But here’s what I find interesting.

    If you’d been born into a different family, in a different country, surrounded by different traditions, would you still believe everything you believe today?

    Maybe.

    Maybe not.

    And that’s kind of the point.

    Just because something is familiar to us doesn’t mean it’s the only way to see the world.

    You don’t have to abandon your beliefs to question them.

    You don’t have to agree with somebody to understand their perspective.

    And you certainly don’t have to believe the same things to treat each other with respect.

    Sometimes, the most important question isn’t what you believe.

    It’s why.

    🖤

    Until next time,

    -Destiny

    P.S. What’s something you grew up believing that you eventually questioned or changed your mind about?

  • 🧠 Brain Static: Halloween Edition

    Apparently, Halloween used to involve cabbage-based husband predictions.

    In Scotland and parts of America, young people would reportedly go out blindfolded and pull cabbage stalks from the ground.

    Then they’d use whatever unfortunate vegetable they grabbed to predict things about their future husband.

    Because apparently dating apps hadn’t been invented yet, so—

    cabbage.

    🎃

    Imagine somebody asking how you knew your husband was the one.

    “Oh, you know. His personality matched the cabbage.”

    Anyway.

    Happy Halloween.

    You’re welcome for the unnecessary information. 🖤

    P.S. “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”
    — Stephen King, Danse Macabre 

  • 🧠 Brain Static #14

    Apparently, under the right conditions, a dead body can turn into soap.

    Not metaphorically.

    Actual soap-like material.

    It’s called adipocere, sometimes referred to as grave wax, and it can form when body fat breaks down in damp environments with limited oxygen.

    Instead of decomposing in the way we normally imagine, some of the fat can transform into a waxy substance that may actually help preserve parts of the body.

    So apparently death has multiple settings.

    And one of them is:

    soap.

    ⚰️

    I genuinely did not need to know this.

    Naturally, now you do too.

    You’re welcome for the unnecessary information. 🖤

    Until next time,

    -Destiny

    P.S. What’s a fact you learned that immediately made you wish you could unlearn it?

  • 🧠 Brain Static #13

    Apparently, zombie ants are real.

    Well.

    Kind of.

    There are fungi in the Ophiocordyceps group that infect certain ants and eventually alter their behavior.

    The infected ant leaves its normal routine, climbs onto vegetation, and clamps its jaws down.

    Then it dies.

    And the fungus grows out of its body so it can release spores and infect more ants.

    So basically—

    the fungus uses the ant as transportation, decides where it would like the body parked, kills it there, and then uses the corpse to reproduce.

    🍄

    Nature really looked at zombies and said:

    I can do that.

    Anyway.

    Happy October.

    You’re welcome for the unnecessary information. 🖤

    Until next time,

    -Destiny

    P.S. If you knew an animal had been infected by something that could control its behavior, would you want to know how it worked—or would you rather remain blissfully ignorant?

  • 🧠 Brain Static #12: Moths Drink Tears

    Because apparently some moths will land on sleeping animals and drink the tears directly from their eyes.

    Not metaphorically.

    Not “they’re attracted to moisture.”

    They will perch beside an eyeball and sip.

    It’s called lachryphagy, and they’re after things like salts and other nutrients in the tears.

    Some species have been documented doing it to mammals, reptiles, and even sleeping birds.

    Which means somewhere out there is an animal peacefully asleep while a moth is standing on its face like:

    don’t mind me.

    👁️🦋

    And I’m sorry, but moths were already operating suspiciously close to the horror genre.

    They did not need this.

    Anyway.

    Happy October.

    You’re welcome for the unnecessary information. 🖤

    Until next time,

    -Destiny

    P.S. What’s one completely unnecessary fact that made you look at something differently afterward?

  • 🧠 Brain Static #11: Crows Have Receipts

    Here’s an unnecessary fact for your Monday:

    Crows can remember human faces. For YEARS.

    Researchers at the University of Washington wore specific masks while capturing and banding crows. Later, the birds still reacted angrily to people wearing the “dangerous” masks—and other crows could learn that those faces were bad news just by watching the original crows react. 

    So basically…

    If you piss off a crow, you might not have just made one enemy.

    You may have created a whole little bird gossip network.

    Imagine walking outside and getting screamed at by a crow you have never met because his aunt told him you were an asshole in 2012.

    Absolutely not. 😂

    Anyway, be nice to crows.

    I do not have the emotional bandwidth for a multigenerational bird vendetta.

    You’re welcome for the unnecessary information. 🖤

    Until next time,

    -Destiny

    P.S. Be honest—if a crow started screaming at you every time you went outside, how long would it take before you started apologizing to it? 😂

  • 🧠 Brain Static #10

    The speed of a computer mouse is measured in “mickeys.”

    Yes.

    Mickeys.

    A British scientist first invented the roller-ball device in 1946 while working for the Royal Navy, but the word “mouse” didn’t come along until 1965.

    Which means somewhere along the way, somebody looked at the computer mouse and apparently decided its movement needed its own unit of measurement.

    And they called it a fucking mickey.

    This really takes Mickey Mouse to a whole new level. 😂

    I don’t know what to do with this information.

    But now every time I move my mouse, I’m going to wonder how many mickeys I just moved it.

    …and now you know.

    So if I had to carry it around…

    You do too.

    Until next time,
    —Destiny

    P.S. Did you know a computer mouse was measured in mickeys, or is this information ruining Mickey Mouse for you too? 😂

  • 🧠 Brain Static #9

    How lucky are we that blinking doesn’t make noise?

    Imagine hearing:

    blink
    blink
    blink

    all day long.

    No thank you.

    Except…

    sometimes when I blink, I do hear it.

    It’s this tiny little sound that apparently only I notice.

    So now I’m wondering—

    is blinking actually silent…

    or are most of us just lucky enough not to hear it? 😅

    Anyway.

    Until next time,

    —Destiny

    P.S. I would like to formally request that my eyelids remain on mute. 😂

  • 🧠 Brain Static #8

    You can actually die from laughing.

    Yes.

    Literally die laughing.

    It’s extremely rare, but intense laughter can sometimes trigger serious problems with your heart or breathing—particularly if there’s already an underlying medical condition.

    So apparently when something is really funny and you say,

    “I CAN’T BREATHE. I’M FUCKING DYING.”

    you’re being dramatic…

    but not entirely medically inaccurate. ☠️😂

    I don’t know what to do with this information.

    Except maybe stop telling funny people they’re killing me.

    Until next time,

    —Destiny

    P.S. What’s the hardest you’ve ever laughed at something?

  • 🧠 Brain Static #7

    Water might not actually be wet.

    Hear me out.

    “Wet” generally describes what happens when a liquid sticks to the surface of something.

    So when water touches your shirt?

    Your shirt is wet.

    When water touches your skin?

    Your skin is wet.

    But water itself?

    Depending on how you define wet…

    it might not be.

    Because water doesn’t necessarily get wet.

    It makes other things wet.

    Anyway…

    Have fun arguing about that for the rest of the day. 😂

    Until next time,

    — Destiny

    P.S. Is water wet? Yes or no? Defend your answer.