25 Life Traps That Most People Will Fall Into At One Point Or Another

This is the idea that if something happens a lot (you flip heads 50 times in a row), then the other option is more likely to happen (you will start flipping tails more). This superstitious belief comes from the idea that the universe must balance out somehow. It’s caused a lot of pain to people’s wallets in Las Vegas.

Try “K” instead.

You’ll never get that 5 minutes back.

Marketing isn’t just advertising. It’s sneaky in ways you would never have expected. Even the very floor you are standing on in some stores can be designed to subconsciously influence your comfort, perception, and movement.

There are plenty of people that make an excellent living without any degree.

As we make more money, we spend more money. Unfortunately, this leads many people to maintain a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. An alternative, especially for those of you living in high-income economies: saving and then investing to achieve financial freedom.

Boop!

There are two types of people in the world…those who have experienced this, and those who will.

This is the idea that simply because people have already invested in something ($300 for a conference you don’t really want to go to) they will actually invest more in spite of the fact that their initial investment is a dud (I might as well spend more money going to the conference)

You will regret it…

If you don’t fall for it then you definitely had at least one friend who did.

Life traps are not the only traps you should watch out for. Check out these 25 Worst Tourist Traps In The World.

When you are experiencing poverty with regards to time, money, happiness, then you are more likely to make decisions that amplify and lead to more poverty. It’s basically a self-fulfilling prophecy e.g. depression leads to isolation which leads to more depression etc. Negative feedback loops are no fun.

As you get older you realize that no matter what you do people will find some way to criticize you. You didn’t help the homeless man? You’re a bad person. Did you help the homeless man? You’re an enabler.

This confidence trick is essentially the original “Nigerian prince” scam, but more generalized. For example, politicians do this all the time by dishing out empty promises e.g. “vote for me and I will completely change so and so”. In reality, they are just using you to further their own agenda.

That file’s not important, right? Yea, not until your computer crashes.

If you live in the United States, this is especially relevant. Don’t drink the kool aid. You can live without debt.

This not only pertains to work but life in general. We want a better job to buy a bigger house for which we will need an even better job so that we can then buy yet another house. Repeat.

We’re sorry. Remember what we said about marketing?

“What was that thing again?”

Your memory is notoriously bad. Things like the Mandela Effect show how millions of people can remember something that never happened (Nelson Mandela dying in prison). So just because you and all your friends swear something happened…that doesn’t necessarily mean much. Eyewitness testimony’s long-revered position in court is even being called into question thanks to DNA testing. So basically, just because you firmly remember something, you are very likely wrong about it in more ways than you would expect.

Yea right…it’ll be quick right? Haha.

The toilet is especially unlikely to flush when you are at a friends house.

This goes along with trusting your memory and tribalism. We all make this error at some point. We are so sure of our position that we are unwilling to entertain or accept the fact that other opinions might carry some validity.

This is possibly the biggest trap we fall into as humans. On a big scale this leads to racism and nationalism, but this affects us on every level of life. Do you think all the people that believe or follow *insert belief here* are terrible? That’s tribalism. Sports, countries, jobs, it’s everywhere. An upside? It leads to community. The downside, however, is that it can easily lead to wars and conflict. Ironically enough, thinking that you are above tribalism (due to intelligence or political persuasion) is a form of tribalism itself.

Who hasn’t walked into a spider web? And besides, it’s probably the most literal trap on this list.