Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
Our bodies are incredibly intricate machines, so naturally, maintaining and troubleshooting them when something goes wrong can be quite difficult. So it's important that we are at least somewhat familiar with the "user manual." Otherwise, we risk handing our health & wellness to guesswork and hearsay.
A recent Reddit post asked everyone on the platform to list the facts about our anatomy that many grown-ups still don't understand, and thousands jumped in to share the ignorance they've encountered. From growth to metabolism and reproduction, it looks like plenty of folks need to revisit high school biology.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
While an erection or lack thereof could signify a physical attraction, it should not be used as an indicator of it one way or the other. Your mental state is the biggest factor with what happens down there.
RELATED:
#2
Awkward sentence to say but, qu*efing. Many people don't realize that when you pull out and swap positions air WILL rush in, and then be forced out when you put it back in.
And girls, we don't care at all. So stop being embarrassed about it.
To put things into perspective, consider this: a survey commissioned by USANA and conducted by OnePoll found that two-thirds of Americans could not identify the commonly assumed average body temperature as 98.6°F.
Furthermore, 35% of Americans did not know their own blood type, and nearly three in 10 (29%) could not tell the difference between a liver and a kidney.
A third of respondents also did not know that the human body has two kidneys—with one in five believing the body has three or more.
#3
The Clitoris isn't just a tiny bean, it actually has 5 arms; one goes to the Clitoris and the remaining 4 go to each of the Labia Minora and Majora.
So Guys; don't just focus on the Clit!
Also Vulvas aren't identical. Only a small proportion of women have Innies. Most women have Labia Minora which protude. Labia Minora can be smooth or frilled, different lengths, shapes & colour to the surrounding skin. Its normal but many women have been taught to think of their genitals as ugly and shameful and it needs to stop.
#4
Bra sizing, it doesn't help that most major manufacturers and sellers of bras also don't know how it works.
#5
If you stick ur hand in ur crack after a shower and it does not come out smelling like the rest of your body, you need to get back in the shower because you are not done yet. Scrub IN the crack. You should know what your sphincter feels like.
Nearly a third of the survey's respondents thought the lungs played a part in the body's detox system, while roughly one in five mistakenly named the heart (21%) or bones (19%).
At the same time, four in five respondents consider themselves knowledgeable about the human body.
Fortunately, people do want to learn more. Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they would like to expand their knowledge of mental health, while 38% want to look into cardiology, and 32% want further education on reproductive health.
#6
I’ve been surprised at the lack of knowledge men have about the v****a and reproductive system.
Once a guy said he doesn’t have period s*x because he doesn’t want an std. I’m like what?! So I explained how that doesn’t give you an std.
And then another time a guy mentioned how he didn’t know why women didn’t just take the time to squeeze and push out all the period blood all at once and save the hassle of it coming out for days (?!).
Then another time where I had to explain that a cramp wasn’t just the blood being clogged at the end, it’s the uterus squeezing to help itself shed. Shed what?, he says.
I don’t understand. These people had the same s*x ed I did, how did this happen?
#7
People who want their pregnancies can still end up having to terminate them if there's a medical emergency. Just earlier today, I saw a post on FB about women who have died in that situation because of abortion bans. Of course, some unempathetic waste of space had to comment about how they could have just not had s*x.
#8
I think a lot of people don't know what a vulva is.
#9
Shocked how many guys think women can “hold” their period, like it’s pee. Not only is this not the case, exerting your core muscles or bending/moving around a lot pushes more blood out, which sometimes feels a little alarming.
#10
What’s alarming is a lot of women don’t know they will have significantly different symptoms to what men experience during a heart attack. This is due to medical science using male anatomy even into the 2020s to diagnose female health issues.
David Paterson 13 hours ago
Not just women. Some men (including me, and many Asian men) have heart attack symptoms that much more closely resemble those of a typical woman.
#11
Antibiotics don't work for the cold VIRUS.
Roman Arendt 13 hours ago
Sometimes I have the feeling that even a significant number of physicians don't know that. Which isn't great. 😐
#12
I've worked as an OnlyFans chatter for almost two years and have spoken with several thousand people. An alarming number of men think squirting equals orgasm for women, 'No squirt, she didn't c*m,' and 'If she squirted, she c*me.' Neither of those things is true.
#13
The whole IVF/embryo development process. It was crazy concerning to me how many people in my life don’t know the insanely basic stages of embryo development (edit: regardless if it’s in a testing tube or the body!) that should have been taught in middle school science. Not all fertilized eggs even result in a zygote and not all zygotes result in an embryo that will make it to blastocyst. And not all healthy embryos will implant.
I have a family member who is insanely against IVF even though that’s how we had to have my daughter. She posts the most insane s**t how “IVF kills babies”. She is a 40 year old nurse. Just amazes me how far she got in life being so intentionally stupid.
#14
S*men takes 64–74 days to fully develop.
Just found out the entire process from creation to maturity takes about 2.5 months. It happens in two phases - 50–60 days of development in the testicles, then 10–14 days in the epididymis where they learn to swim.
Also wild: if they’re never released, your body just breaks them down and reabsorbs them.
#15
Boners don't always mean that the guy's h***y.
#16
You are not your body.
You are a brain, piloting a calcium mech frame, wrapped in meat.
Giraffe Sitter 14 hours ago
The body feeds and protects the brain. It’s kind of a package deal.
#17
The breathing hole being next to the feeding hole is definitely the most NSFW element of the human body. If you were building a living organism from scratch that would be a major code violation.
#18
If the voltage is high enough, as a human you do not have to actually touch it to get shocked. It will jump out and hit you if you get to close.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 10 hours ago
In other words, don't p!ss on an electric fence. Mythbusters tested it, too.
#19
Anything to do with humans; the gauss curve is f*****g wide. Just because X is Y on average, does not mean you are abnormal is you are super far off. Everybody is weird in some ways.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 17 hours ago
This, we know. Weirdness is what drives the internet.
#20
Recently got a vasectomy. I was stunned by the number of adult men who assumed you no longer ejaculate after a vasectomy. They thought “shooting blanks” meant no ejaculate comes out anymore.
#21
Bruh. The fact that women dont pee out of their v****a.
I deada*s had an ex who thought I was an idiot and completely wrong for telling her that she has 3 holes down under. She was convinced that it was a*s n vag. Unreal.
#22
Yes, the carpet matches the d**n drapes
- a tired ginger.
Doug Moyer 1 hour ago
Well, there is a significant number of people that dye their hair and the two do not match.
#23
Mnemonic (or rather menmonic):
Men: starting at about 50 years of age, your age is roughly the percentage probability of having an enlarged prostate. So at 70 years old, you have roughly 70% chance that this is the case.
This is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and while benign, it is a main if not the main cause of leaking urine, trouble peeing, s****l dysfunction, ... See your doctor about these problems, because it may be easy to treat (not always, but simply knowing may help you and your close ones with understanding too).
Nota Robot 15 hours ago
Another age-related one: while men are indeed able to conceive children until later in life, sperms quality markedly decreases after around 40. Similar to older mothers, there is also an increased risk for negative effects on the fetus (e.g. Down's syndrome)
#25
Depending on how regular your hygiene upkeep is, your belly button can have more bacteria than your toilet seat.
And now I just pissed off a germaphobe somewhere.
Top Notcher 16 hours ago
The thing with "X has more bacteria than a toilet seat" is that a toilet seat is a surface designed to prevent things from growing on it. Any part of the human body should have more bacteria than a toilet seat on average.
#26
That a woman's v****a relaxing and becoming more elastic is them being aroused. So many men think that "Oh she's loose, she must be a h*e" or some stupid immature c**p like that. In reality, if it feels "looser" than usual, it means she's probably very aroused and you're doing a good job. Number of s****l partners etc does not pertain to looseness at all.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 10 hours ago
"D@mn, girl, you're so tight" Yeah, because your performance isn't worth a rat's a$$
#27
What the fallopian tubes do.
I recently had mine removed after my second c-section, and was telling a friend about it and how if I ever changed my mind at least IVF was an option. Friend, who is currently doing IVF herself, argued with me and told me she didn’t understand how this would be possible. She also expressed concern of where my eggs would go without fallopian tubes. I should also add this woman is a teacher….
Rinso The Red 8 hours ago
As I understand it, a fertilized egg in the fallopian tube would be a MAJOR ISSUE
#28
A lot of people still assume if you're a tall or big dude then that reflects on all of men's anatomy.
SlightlyTarnished 17 hours ago
Yeah, well, as a gay man with many years experience, I can say first hand cöck size is completely autonomous from body height/size. Biggest piece of meat I ever had the pleasure of experiencing was on a very short man.
#29
Testicle nerve cluster is where the ovaries would be on a female. During utero they start there and then 'drop'. If you ever need a testicle removed they go through the lower abdomen. If you get a vasectomy, you feel it in your lower abdomen, and they typically only give you a local.
Testicle cancer x2. I'm a glorified eunich.
#30
The skin is the largest organ of the body. Not the liver, not the brain, not the intestines!
Justanotherpanda 6 hours ago
Yes, and because of that, stop thinking fat people can't feel cold because they have an extra layer of fat, skin is still on the outside, we can very much feel very cold.
#31
My wife used to run an Urgent Care. The amount of women who don't know how their reproductive organs work is shocking. The amount of men who don't know how to clean their p***s is shocking. The amount of people who don't know urine in your eye isn't a **legit** medical procedure is shocking.
EDIT: I'm a man of the people so I'll elaborate on the urine thing. This wasn't a widespread issue but it's a funny anecdote so I through it in there for fun. "Urine therapy" is a thing. It's not a smart thing but it's a thing. Some people think that drinking urine or applying it topically can treat health conditions. There was one lady who came in with a nasty eye infection. She basically told my wife, "I don't know why it's not getting better. I've been putting urine in it. Why is it getting worse?" She said it so casually like everybody was going to be on board with p**s in their eye. For those that don't know, urine is not sterile. That's a myth. And even if it was, it gets pretty gross, pretty quickly. Don't do urine therapy.
EDIT2: I almost forgot about all the people who don't know how diabetes works. Tons of people out there with uncontrolled diabetes. She once told a guy in his early 20's - who came with his mom - that he has diabetes. To his credit, he vowed right then and there that he was done with sugary drinks. Unfortunately, he vowed that it was only going to be Gatorade from now on. The best part was that he didn't say "diabetes". He said, "I got the sugars?!"
Tom Brincefield 15 hours ago
There are Facebook groups devoted to using urine as a medical treatment, both internally & externally. It gets bad.
#33
Hymens are broken for any number of reasons. She might bleed but probably won't on her first time.
Also going too far in general.
Tom Brincefield 16 hours ago
Hymens don't need to be "broken." (Although rarely, a woman will need a hymenectomy.
#35
Capsaicin binds to TRPV1 receptors found on your skin, mouth, and nerves. Birds do not have TRPV1 receptors and can't taste it, which is why they can eat Uber spicy seeds. The highest expression levels of TRPV1 in the human body occur in the a**s.
#36
In Latin America there aren't many, but not washing the a*s after pooping is considered a symptom of mental illness.
#37
The michtochondria is THE powerhouse of the cell.
TotallyNOTAFox 6 hours ago (edited)
Fun fact: They contain an exact copy of the mother's DNA. All mitochondria are copies of those found in the initial eggcell, and to work they need a complete set of genomes. + Spérm cells don't have mitochondria
#39
Yours and your sibling’s 23andMe results will be different. I can’t be the only one who thought it would be the same.
Turns out I am more Italian than my brother.
#40
Ovaries are not actually like flat off to the side like they are shown on textbooks. They’re actually bunched up and basically touching either side of your uterus.
Nik Odongray 16 hours ago
I had a hysterectomy and had my surgeon take a picture for me. I was shocked to learn that my uterus looked like a bbq chicken leg and the ovaries like little nuggets. Not at all what I thought it looked like from textbook diagrams.
#42
The frenulum needs more attention.
That’s all I yam 16 hours ago
Frenulum: "a small fold of tissue that secures the motion of a mobile organ in the body." Locations include brain, digestive tract, oral tissue, penile tissue, and vulvar tissue: "In females, genital frenula include the frenulum clitoridis of the clitoris and the frenulum labiorum pudendi (fourchette) where the labia minora meet at the back." (Frenulum, Wikipedia)
#43
Most men have 0 clue and weirdly some women, about the smells and PH balance of women.
Boric acid and other things are life savors and the scents really are your bodies way of talking to you. A good PH level = healthy.
TotallyNOTAFox 6 hours ago
The v****a is slightly acidic to fight off microbes, the natual lubricant has a higher pH level to make it more habitable for spèrms and raise chances of impregnation
#44
Our immune system doesn't know about eyes, so if it gets to know them - it attackes your eyes.
That’s all I yam 17 hours ago
Posted this before: "Interestingly, certain areas of the body have something called immune privilege. This means that the body’s normal inflammatory immune response is limited here. Scientists think the purpose of immune privilege is to protect these important areas from damage that may occur with swelling and higher temperatures from the immune response. The eye is one of a few areas of the body with immune privilege. The eye limits its inflammatory immune response so that vision isn’t harmed by swelling and other tissue changes. Other sites with immune privilege include the brain, testes, placenta and fetus." (The Eye and Immune Privilege, American Academy of Ophthalmology)
#47
Pee is stored in the balls.
Doug Moyer 1 hour ago
I can drink six pints before I need to "break the seal". My balls must be roughly at least 2840 cubic centimeters by then...
What do you think ?
Tyranamar Seuss 47 minutes ago
So once again Bored Panda just lets people write whatever they want. They badly need human editors.
Claudia Cielensky 58 minutes ago
A neighbor of mine believed his dog was sterile because he only had one testicle. He explained that one testicle makes the s***m and one makes "the juice." So his understanding was that you needed both to be fertile. No, this is not how it works. I'm old enough to remember Lance Armstrong having cancer that, as I recall, left him with one testicle and people back then (late 90s? Early 00s?) were surprised that he was still able to impregnate his wife. I remember this being something that got a lot of press attention. I can only imagine the thinking must have been something similar to my neighbor because otherwise I'm not sure why people would think one testicle=automatically infertile.
Tyranamar Seuss 47 minutes ago
So once again Bored Panda just lets people write whatever they want. They badly need human editors.
Claudia Cielensky 58 minutes ago
A neighbor of mine believed his dog was sterile because he only had one testicle. He explained that one testicle makes the s***m and one makes "the juice." So his understanding was that you needed both to be fertile. No, this is not how it works. I'm old enough to remember Lance Armstrong having cancer that, as I recall, left him with one testicle and people back then (late 90s? Early 00s?) were surprised that he was still able to impregnate his wife. I remember this being something that got a lot of press attention. I can only imagine the thinking must have been something similar to my neighbor because otherwise I'm not sure why people would think one testicle=automatically infertile.
Related on Bored Panda
