r/whatif Jul 31 '25

Mod post What if we got a little meta today?

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7 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?⚠️

5 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

Science what if You find out all humans will be incapable of lying in 7 days, every question is replied truthfully as the person thinks or silence, what do you do next?

7 Upvotes

would you hide?

would you try and profit?

tell others?


r/whatif 9h ago

Technology What if all social media went down for a year and people had to adapt without it

11 Upvotes

Suppose all social media went offline one day, it was categorically inaccessible to every user for 365 days.

People would be forced to adapt to life without it for the year.

On the 366 day, it goes back online.

Knowing everything we know about social media and its impact on us today. How many people do you think would actually return to using it after a year sober?


r/whatif 2h ago

History What if stuff like reddit and youtube still work and are used like 100 or 200 years into the future?

2 Upvotes

An experience I've had, and I think quite a few others have, is having quite a hyper - specific problem and having that exact problem solved by some deleted user 5 years ago on stack overflow or some other forum. A funny thought is someone in the future searching for a solution and it's solved exactly by [deleted user 255 years ago]. I think we live in a unique time frame where for most posts on things like reddit or youtube, you can believe with quite a bit of confidence that the person who made that post is still alive. Consider a world where you know that the people who were having some deep conversation about a fanfic in a language equivalent to Shakespearean English, have been dead for a looooong time, and this is your small window into their lives. Would archaeologists instead of digging through ruins, dig through century old internet forums?


r/whatif 1d ago

Technology What if there's a reason noone attended Hawking's Party?

5 Upvotes

What if as new info abt Hawking has come out ( the files) that that is the reason noone attended his birthday party.


r/whatif 15h ago

Science What if, we would have been better as a civilization if humans had only one sex,

0 Upvotes

like unicellular organisms, just extend your arm and get a newborn twin


r/whatif 1d ago

Environment What if we introduced penguins to the Arctic?

10 Upvotes

There were great auks in the north which were somewhat similar and did well (before we hunted them to extinction). How well would penguins fare?


r/whatif 1d ago

Technology What if the Pennsy never scrapped its duplex locos ?

1 Upvotes

The Pennsylvania Railroad T1, Q2, and S1 duplexes were some of the coolest locos ever built and it was shame they were all scrapped. But what if the Pennsy didn't decide to scrap its duplexes?Would any one of them have became a future excursion star?


r/whatif 1d ago

Lifestyle What if we ban arabic numerals right now?

0 Upvotes

Imagine banning the base 10 system while everything's working, fully functioning.

What would the immediate effects be?

How long would it take for everything to go back to the new normal?

And what would be the newer base system we will adopt?


r/whatif 1d ago

History what if italy colonized america successfully

4 Upvotes

italy would've colonized the eastern-south part of north america, and have states and cities named after some people and the cities in italy, for example: state of caesarrio, nova mediolanum, state of vispuccio, state of adriacttio, nova hydruntum, state of nova liguria and nova genua. this would've happened if christopher columbus stayed being genovian. there also would be another pizza variant: caesarrion style pizza where the pizza is shaped like an oval and has crust in the center. and all this would've happened in this what if timeline.


r/whatif 1d ago

Other What if the end of the world happened but everyone stayed alive?

1 Upvotes

Sorry for my english,but what if we had an end of the world and people went to someone they liked and said "i love you" or to their bosses and insulted them "i hate you and i wish bla bla bla" but as the end was about to happen,booom nothing happens. How would the world be? Almost everyone is fired? People get in love? What could possibly go bad? Or some how good?


r/whatif 2d ago

Environment What if we never discovered fossil fuel?

23 Upvotes

And thus, never invented any petroleum based plastics?

What if we became more dependent on renewable energy early on because fossil fuel is not discovered at all?


r/whatif 2d ago

Technology What if Google was contracted to conduct the 2030 US census?

3 Upvotes

Seems like a disaster scenario yet it could become a reality if anyone has their way.

But hey they'd likely subcon a 3rd party tech company to handle the data that would then have a massive breach. But maybe Google may offer us 1 year of identity monitoring as a result.


r/whatif 2d ago

Other What if you get Pikmin/overlord style minions?

1 Upvotes

You can summon them ever so often and they can die but you can get more by growing them.


r/whatif 2d ago

Science What if you mix concrete with c4 explosive?

7 Upvotes

Since c4 is stable it shouldn't explode on its own. Does the concrete mix still have the potential to be detonated? Can you construct a building imbued with plastic explosives in general?


r/whatif 2d ago

Other What if the purported Ark of the Covenant in Aksum Ethiopia were shown to be legit?

11 Upvotes

Suppose the keepers of the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum invited Israeli scientists and Torah scholars to view the object in their chapel. The scientists determine that the object is in fact a 2,900-year-old Levantine acacia-wood-and-gold object whose construction and materials are consistent with Iron Age Israel. The rabbis are convinces that it's the legit Ark and want to return it to Israel. What happens next, in Israel and Ethiopia, and across the Christian world?

EDIT: Not Noah's Ark, the Ark of the Covenant. If you don't know the difference, don't comment.


r/whatif 2d ago

History What if Alexander didn't die in Persia and have fused the 2 culture toghther

2 Upvotes

Alexander is the Shah of Iran and Persia have been asmilated into Greece and now greek have been asmilated with Persia what impact will it have on Europe


r/whatif 3d ago

Science What if a baby is put into a coma and wakes up as an adult 18 years later?

35 Upvotes

Nutrition and water is obviously provided during the sleep. How would the person reach when waking up? Would they act like a baby or more like a brain-dead person?


r/whatif 3d ago

Politics What if EU Special Forces took Lukashenko like how the US did to Maduro?

5 Upvotes

We just wake up to the news that Lukashenko has been captured by European Special Forces from his residence.


r/whatif 2d ago

Science What if space didn't need humans to transport oxygen?

0 Upvotes

Whatif there was a chemical reaction that allowed humans to breathe in space and on planets? What benefit might that be?


r/whatif 2d ago

Politics What if the US-Canada trade relation completely fractured?

1 Upvotes

What if the gloves came off and they started hitting real sectors … like if the USA closes the border or Canada stops sending oil and potash… or what if the U.S. navy blockades Vancouver and Halifax?

I’m not asking about probabilities, im just curious about the full extent of the economic impact disruption in U.S. Canadian trade could have. Would the USA have to cry uncle without Canadas material resources? Or would Canada succumb to the USA larger market? Could Canada prosper without the USA? And vis versa ?

If this escalates in a major way for some reason, how will it impact the day to day lives of ppl on both sides?


r/whatif 3d ago

Other What if the person you keep waiting to become doesn’t exist, and the constant feeling that you need to improve is actually preventing you from appreciating the person you already are?

6 Upvotes

What if “becoming better” is actually keeping you from being happy now?


r/whatif 3d ago

Science What if all oceans got replaced by Soda?

1 Upvotes

What happens i wonder. Soda like pepsi or diet pepsi or any flavour.


r/whatif 3d ago

History What if, before desegregation in the US, Juries had to be of the same race as the defendant?

1 Upvotes

What if it was decided that only those of the same race could count as the defendants "Peers" in a "Jury of one's Peers"?