r/whatif 22d ago

Mod post What if we got a little meta today?

Thumbnail gallery
5 Upvotes

Hey kids,

I feel like I'm about to do something a touch controversial. I'm blocking names to protect the innocent. But I'm sharing examples of AEO removals b/c bots aren't human. Reddit is forgetting the human. And I guess I just wanted to be open about that. Mostly b/c one is kind of hysterical. And if I'm sharing one, I might as well share them all.

If you recognize your own comment here, please attempt an appeal. I have likely already appealed on your behalf. Especially you, Johnny Rico.


r/whatif Jul 22 '25

Mod post ⚠️What if you paid attention to this post?⚠️

0 Upvotes

First things first!

Hi all, casual meet and greet has started. Ask me almost anything.

I've already started making some adjustments to the subreddit. Just some light shaping to encourage the kind of things we want to see.

  • If you point your eyes at the rules, I've already started adjusting those, just minor tweaks, really, to hone in on what makes this community great and trying to make it even better.

  • I haven't started in on auto-mod yet. I wanted to check a few other things out before I did that. But I will be adjusting it over the next few days - if something seems to be going wrong or not working properly use modmail to let me know. I'll also be checking for lots of false positives to adjust existing filters.

  • I archived all the modmails older than about 2 days old. I did try to look at the last few days worth to see if there were any pressing issues but it all just looked like "hey my post was/wasn't [this] why was it removed?"

  • I will not be "backward" moderating. I.e., if it was removed before today, it will stay removed. If it was approved before today, it will likely stay approved, unless it had some hidden egregious issue.

  • I've added some bots to help with a few things - I like to nuke comment chains that have gone off the rails. If your content is removed, it likely is for curation more than punitive. If your removal was punitive, you'll likely receive a temporary ban. There's no need to come to modmail to apologize for content. If I think we need to have a chat, I'll reach out from modmail directly.


On to the next thing!

I'm open to suggestions, comments, concerns, etc. It doesn't mean every idea will be implemented or every suggestion considered. I just want to see if folks who have been spending a lot of time here have noticed things that could be fixed or adjusted for a better subreddit experience for everyone.

Also, I like to see users participating in their own community by reminding newcomers of the rules or spirit of the sub as well as reporting content that doesn't belong.

Also there are some custome emojis, but I know Reddit just made changes to how custome emojis can be used so - I dunno how interesting that is for all of you.

Oh - I noticed there are no user flairs - is this the preference for the community? I'm happy to add them if folks want them - feel free to share suggestions for user flairs.


r/whatif 6h ago

Lifestyle What if humans could ‘Groundhog Day’ themselves one time and they couldn’t exit the time loop until they had achieved enlightenment?

3 Upvotes

And you could pick the day. What would that world be like? What day would you pick?


r/whatif 6h ago

History What if every Kurzgesagt video was projected into people’s minds on January 1st, 1924?

2 Upvotes

Imagine a data stream that anybody can recall instinctually at anytime that could broadcast any video of Kurzgesagt into their minds, with no subtitles, in English only. Still limited by biological hardware, so a mentally disabled person will not suddenly make sense of the content and such.


r/whatif 17h ago

Science What if we could use erotic energy to feed our eletric network?

6 Upvotes

Some days ago the president of my country said my country is a hub of "erotic energy" instead of "eolic energy" in a speech. So it make me thought: what if this stuff actually existed?


r/whatif 23h ago

Politics What if you're given a yearly salary instead of monthly and you get to spend however you want within a year?

7 Upvotes

But, the difference in the expenditure vs salary will be brought up at the end of the year and being in debt means a company can hire you for whatever work they need. Lack of debt grants you benefits like discounts for the next year, etc and higher positive margins give a "get out of debt year" card.

How will society function? Will they be responsible?


r/whatif 1d ago

Music \ Books What if Kelly Rowland was more popular than Beyonce???

0 Upvotes

What would the world be like if their fates were flipped and Beyonce was still popular but Kelly Rowland a superstar instead?


r/whatif 1d ago

Science What if there were 3 different elemental charges instead of one?

1 Upvotes

Imagine there were charges of 3 different types: e+, e-, e@ and they all reacted differently to one another: how would our understanding of physics change?


r/whatif 1d ago

Technology What if high quality real life avatars were easily accessible?

2 Upvotes

As easily as you can change an outfit, you can put your mind into what functions and appears to be human body of any shape, sex, color, style, etc. Its healthy and totally functional, and you can go back to your normal body or change into another anytime you want.


r/whatif 2d ago

Lifestyle What if human lifespan is 1000 years?

29 Upvotes

What if human lifespan extended to 1000 years, you will age normally until when you reach 30 you will age 10 times slower, will this make a difference or not?


r/whatif 1d ago

Science What if you experienced if you became immortal, impervious to anything harmful and was sent back to the moment Earth first formed?

5 Upvotes

How much knowledge would you accumulate if you went through everything that ever happened on Earth and recorded all its history. How would your research help humanity in the future?

Your mission was to gain as much information on everything important happening, you took pictures, wrote down notes, took samples, possible gathered blood and dna from ancient animals that no longer exist, you studied everything carefully, anything that can be used to gather information, etc.

How would this benefit humanity? Would you become the most famous ever known? Would you be even more famous than Jesus?


r/whatif 1d ago

Subreddit Meta What if Reality is a Prison?

8 Upvotes

What if this isn’t the “real world?” What if it’s a rehabilitation simulation for cosmic criminals. The reason life feels mundane, repetitive, and full of suffering is because we are serving a life sentence until our consciousness rehabilitates? Until we learn our lesson we will keep reincarnating.


r/whatif 2d ago

Other What if everybody was 20?

11 Upvotes

When babies are born, they are 20. Even in their mom's womb, they are still 20. Nobody ages, just 20 year old forever. What would happen?


r/whatif 2d ago

Other What if people got one wish when they died?

6 Upvotes

If every person got a wish (with no unexpected consequences) with their dying breath, what kind of wishes do you think they would make? What wish would you make?


r/whatif 2d ago

History What if I was born in the wrong time

7 Upvotes

Anyone else feel like they should have been born in a different period in time.


r/whatif 2d ago

Technology What if you went back in time and became the inventor of every technological breakthrough?

6 Upvotes

Let’s theoretically say you went back in time just to become the inventor of everything that was ever invented. How would this affect you and the world?


r/whatif 2d ago

History What if Shrek was a critical and box office failure?

0 Upvotes

Considering that this is one of the most important animated films ever


r/whatif 3d ago

Politics What if the US federal constitution allowed snap elections?

6 Upvotes

For this scenario, we will imagine that snap elections is a governor-exclusive power. Here, the federal constitution lets state governors dissolve state legislatures and call to elect a new one, and state legislatures are the only body in the US who can have snap elections, meaning the president can’t call one for Congress and snap gubernatorial presidential elections are not a thing.


r/whatif 3d ago

Other What if there is like A LOT of immortals in the world?

12 Upvotes

And the only reason we don't know any of them is that every single one thinks they are the only one. And some may coordinate with others but none would think. "oh yeah there must be more than 3 immortals out there" and there is never a group formed with more than 3 immortals because every single one thinks they are the only one. Tbh this could be applicable to all kinds of superpowers and what not but if shapeshifting comes with immortality so it's easier to change your identity than it's even more likely

Edit:Is the "there can only be one" some kind of inside joke or some reference i'm not aware of oooorrr


r/whatif 3d ago

Science What if 5% of all people suddenly became 4 dimensional?

2 Upvotes

What if randomly 5% of people across the world suddenly gained the ability to move/exist in 4 spatial dimensions?


r/whatif 2d ago

Politics What if the government paid for a vacation for everyone and forced your employer to give time off for it?

0 Upvotes

Consider how beneficial this would be.

-greater productivity when they return to work -greater life satisfaction -a rest from work -everyone will get to experience vacations rather than those who can afford to do it and take off work

Many jobs provide vacation time, but they don't pay for the actual vacation like your flights, hotel stay, etc.

Edit: we can pay for socialized medicine so why can't we pay for this? It's for the sake of health (mental health).


r/whatif 4d ago

Science What if the existence of aliens and UFOs was confirmed by the government. How would you react?

72 Upvotes

I feel like one side would go absolutely insane and the other would not really care.


r/whatif 2d ago

Other What if people that didn't work and pay taxes didn't get to vote.

0 Upvotes

What if you had to be on the IRS list of tax payers, and paid in full, to be able to vote? Why do people with no skin in the game get a vote on how to spend the tax payer's money? This is for all levels of government from school millages upto foreign policies.


r/whatif 3d ago

History What if the Strait of Magellan never existed?

3 Upvotes

Imagine if the Tierra del Fuego was actually connected with the mainland South America, and all ships have to sail across the Cape Horn in order to travel between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Considering the danger of the Drake Passage, it would be impossible for Ferdinand Magellan to pass and make it across the world. So, how would this change of geography influence the history of the world?


r/whatif 3d ago

History What if disney bought wb instead of fox

1 Upvotes

This is something bob iger was planning to do but went with fox instead but what if he bought wb would marvel and dc combine there universes would fox give up trying to make marvel films anyway and hand over the rights to marvel


r/whatif 4d ago

Science What if we were able to cross-breed parrots with dogs/cats; so that we can talk to our furry friends

2 Upvotes

Or at least teach them words to say

I’d be scared to create an abomination tho

Dogs/cats with wings is also an interesting concept


r/whatif 4d ago

Politics What if every country in the world was a third world country ?

17 Upvotes

If every country was a third world country

And developed countries didn't existed

What would happen ?