There have been many instances in our history where someone warned us about something, but we didn't listen at all. It seems that before almost any major event, a doctor, scientist, or politician already knew the outcome, but was simply ignored. It seems to be a repeating pattern, so the question this Redditor asked sparked a lot of interest from internet users.
Many chimed in to share all sorts of stories that are very insightful and eye-opening. Perhaps reading through them will help us get some perspective on our world and see that having an open mind is a very good thing. It seems that in a lot of instances, great tragedies might have been avoided if only people listened to each other more.
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#1
Isaac Asimov in 1980:
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
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397points
#2
(Edit* Colleen) Rowley--warned her FBI superiors in June 01 that names on their jihadi watch list were taking flying lessons but not interested in learning how to land
Her report didn't get read until October
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333points
We got an interview with the Reddit user MLK-K-K that asked the question. Firstly, we asked them why they created the post in the first place. They said, "I created that post just for fun, really did not expect it to blow up."
When we asked whether they found out anything interesting or new after making the post, they said that they learned a lot of "really obscure historical facts." And we think you might find that to be true.
#3
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...
The dumbing-down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.” -Carl Sagan
328points
#4
In 2005, Courtney Love was asked what advice she'd give young, up and coming actresses. She said "If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party at his Four Seasons hotel room, don't go." And for whatever reason, you didn't see her in many movies after that.
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326points
We also asked why they think people sometimes ignore warnings, and they said that it's probably because of "poor risk assessment." Most of these stories are connected to that, because people usually don't want to believe the worst is going to happen. We also asked what important thing, in their opinion, is being ignored right now: "Proper diet, nutrition and the importance of sleeping well."
#5
When women said that overturning Roe would lead to attempts to a national abortion ban, bans on contraception, and bans on IVF.
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291points
#6
President George Washington, in his address when leaving office. He warned against the danger of a two party system in future politics. He felt that several parties on equal footing would be better. Especially in presidential elections. The more legitimate choices, the better.
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284points
We asked what, in their opinion, is the main reason people refuse to listen to others. Is it ego or something else? They said that it's "Not necessarily ego. Mostly just lack of time, and sometimes people just want their own individuality."
They also shared some words of wisdom as to what every person should learn in order for us to grow as a society: "Live and let live."
#7
Ignaz Semmelweis often described as the father of hand washing. In the 1800s he discovered that ~~infant~~ maternal mortality could be drastically reduced by doctors washing their hands between patients. He was largely ignored and his book got absolutely slated. This is supposed to have contributed to him having a mental breakdown and he died in a psychiatric hospital.
263points
#8
Sinead O’Connor. Suddenly a coverup at the Catholic Church of child abuse doesn’t seem so silly.
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228points
#9
[Roger Boisjoly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Boisjoly) - Engineer involved with the Space Shuttle program who warned his superiors for months prior to the Challenger disaster that launching in cold weather could cause the O-rings to fail.
Care to guess what caused the Challenger disaster?
227points
#10
David Attenborough, and I don’t think we are listening, well certainly not doing enough.
224points
#11
Corey Feldman was on the View or something and tried to tell people that Hollywood is full of predators, and the hosts just laughed at him and tried to make him feel guilty for outing them.
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214points
#12
Ahem. UK here. Repeated warnings from anyone and everyone that knew what they were talking about that Brexit was a bad idea, and "oh look" it's massively hurting in multiple areas, and a majority of people now think it was a bad idea.
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195points
#13
Jason Salemi, epidemiologist at USF. No one knows him, that's cool. I was working on medical ML research (glioblastoma at the time) and was asked to help analyze some data about a new virus in China. In the middle of January we had a research meeting, and Dr. Salemi said, "I don't like this one, I have a *bad* feeling about SARS-NCOV" (as it was then called). On Feb 2020 I was put full time on the SARS-COV-2 team. The rest is history.
People thought he was being alarmist, we had recently been through a pair of Ebola outbreaks in Africa, couple of bad flu seasons, etc. People thought it would blow over.
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194points
#14
Rick Rescorla, Director of Corporate Security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, published a report in 1990 detailing the vulnerability of the World Trade Center parking garage. He and a colleague found they were able to freely walk into the garage, which contained many structural support columns, unchallenged by any security. Additionally no ID checks or screening was done on any of the entering delivery vehicles. Three years later a truck bomb was driven into the garage and detonated in an attempt to damage the buildings structure.
Later he and his same college would correctly predict the next attack on the building would come from the air. The evacuation plan and drills he put in place are credited with saving over 2,600 lives on September 11th.
Edited for a bit of clarity: Some are saying “but if he evacuated people, doesn’t that mean we listened?” Rick worked for one company in the building, not the Port Authority who managed the buildings overall safety plan. After the first plane crashed, the announcements from the Port Authority told everyone to shelter in place, and not evacuate. He had developed his own evacuation plan for his employees and put it place before any official word to evacuate the building was given.
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188points
#15
Pearl Jam warned us about Ticketmaster years ago. Nobody listened, now we're stuck with them...and only them.
185points
#16
Alice Stewart - in 1958 discovered the link between x-ray of pregnant women and childhood cancer. She discovered that cancer mortality was around 40 per cent higher in the children who had been x-rayed in the womb.
Her findings were considered unsound for another 25 years until after her formal retirement when they were reviewed due to her continuing to push the issue. It wasn't until the 1980's that x-ray of pregnant women stopped being commonplace.
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183points
#17
Nikola Tesla - there was a book he wrote(a pamphlet really) called [The Problem of Increasing Human Energy](https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Increasing-Human-Energy-Harnessing/dp/1605200956) where he talked about slowing down the process of burning carbon until we understood it better.
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171points
#18
The guy who predicted the leevies would collapse in a strong hurricane. Category two or three. Not five as they predicted.
He knew the tide surges would destroy New Orleans and predicted it down to one percent the deaths, damage, destruction and water damage.
No one believed him, and he had computer simulations and print-outs he tried to show Congress and tried to tell them to prepare for the worst including tents for shelter.
He was laughed at and later fired.
Two years before Katrina.
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170points
#19
Al Gore got an entire apology episode from the creators of South Park after they mocked him for trying to warn people about climate change
edit- [here's a clip from the episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j89KEwNBhQ4)
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168points
#20
The MANY women who tried to speak out against Larry Nassar and had it get swept under the rug by USA gymnastics and Michigan State. And Dominique Moceanu who warned us about the Karolyis and the corruption in USA Gymnastics and was called a whiner by the maintstream media. Hundreds of girls were molested and there were so many places where it could have been stopped.
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161points