We often hear that each person is unique, and to some extent, that’s true. We all possess traits that are individual to us, like the iris of an eye (even our own two irises don’t match each other), the print of a lip, the way we walk, or even our voice.
But some appear to be more special than others, putting them in the 0.1% of the human population who have conditions like inverted internal organs or speaking backwards.
Out of their own curiosity, a person online started a discussion about this and encouraged more people to share their stories of the unique features they possess. Scroll below to marvel at the most unexpected ones, and who knows, maybe you’ll find out you also belong to the special 0.1%.
While you're at it, make sure to check out a conversation with Jackaboya07, who took this topic to Reddit in the first place.
#1
Discovered Identical Twin, separated at birth, raised in another country (me) in our late 30s.
Image credits: DeepPucks
#2
I have exploded 3 times (IED, old soviet landmine, and a rocket strike on my gun truck). I don't think theres a lot of people who can say that who still possess all of their limbs.EDIT: since this comment blew up (pun intended) I will not respond to people catfishing in direct messages and I am not interested in your onlyfans. (srsly, like 6 just today, go away.)
Image credits: Vict0r117
#3
I’ve met the same actor 3 times at 3 different points of my life despite not working in the film industry so I gotta think I’m in the .1% of that occurrence.Edit: it was Leo DiCaprio
Image credits: Burggs_
Bored Panda reached out to Jackaboya07, the person who started the discussion in the first place, and kindly agreed to talk more about it with us.
Naturally, we wanted to find out what sparked his curiosity about such a topic. They said, "I came up with this post because I was bored and learning some new skills at home and couldn’t think of any more interesting ones to learn that would set me apart from the other 99.9% of people in the world, so I posted that to get ideas, find out what other people were up to, and give them a chance to share their hobbies, skills, and life experiences that made them unique."
#4
I'm in the top 0.17% of the world's population just for having natural red hair with blue eyes, if that counts.
Image credits: SQWRLLY1
#5
I have incurable histamine intolerance. I have to be on a very restrictive diet, I am on all kinds of histamine blockers and STILL get histamine reactions that make me have to check out of life for at least half a day with no notice. It is so rare, there is no actual treatment plan for it so its a try-it-and-see approach.
Image credits: Fluffy-Hotel-5184
#6
I had 7 wisdom teeth and all were taken out at one time
Image credits: bahamapapa817
He, too, has rare skills that not a lot of people can master, like solving the Rubik's cube in under 16 seconds. "Another reason for this post was to find people who shared talents with me, as I’ve always had a big interest in learning useless skills, to the point where my friends accuse me of having too much free time.
A few of these involve the Rubik’s cube, which I’m able to solve in under 16 seconds, or one-handed in 40, or even my biggest achievement so far, possibly in my life, learning to solve a fully scrambled Rubik's cube blindfolded, something very few people have ever been able to do.
I also learned simpler skills like basic card tricks, shuffles/flourishes, and how to juggle, all of which can be learned in only a few hours if you put your mind to it. I think my main point from this was that it’s not that hard to be in the 0.1% of people if you just find something that sets you apart."
#7
People diagnosed with clinically-definite MS who have a disability score of zero.Most people diagnosed with MS have at least some disability. For many it's low, but not zero, because the medication reduces the effects of the illness. For some, the medication does very little and they can be profoundly disabled.
I was diagnosed and started medication in 2008. Since then my disability score has been checked every 6 months by my neurologist, and has always been exactly zero. I'm just one of the very lucky ones who responds very well to the medication.
Image credits: sapperbloggs
#8
I was the top 0.1% percentile for math in my country back when i was in school. Not world sadly
Image credits: Yuki-Kuran
#9
I have a condition called situs inversus where all of my internal organs are on the inverse side of the typical layout, so my heart and stomach are on my right, liver and gallbladder on my left, etc.The occurrence is 1 in 10,000 so that actually puts me in the 0.01% range.
Edit: updated to accurate percentile
Image credits: warpfox
The redditor further explains that this online platform can be a great place for people to talk about their unique life experiences and even find those who share rare medical conditions.
"I think posts like these are why Reddit is such a popular platform since a comment that took me 30 seconds to type up gave so many people a chance to talk about not only skills they’ve learned that not many people can do but their life experiences, their stories, their medical anomalies, etc.
People sometimes don’t realize how much they stand out in this world until someone opens their eyes to it. At one point, I saw a comment about how someone felt nobody knew what it was like to have their medical condition (a severe allergy of sorts), but someone went out and found a whole subreddit dedicated to people like that user."
#10
I can speak backwards. Say a sentence and I will say it backwards immediately. If you record me and play it back in reverse, you can hear your original sentence pretty well.
Image credits: GreenApocalypse
#11
Losing people due to death. I'm 44 years old, and I tried to make a list of all the people I've lost about 4 years ago when my 2 month old nephew passed away. I wrote down 168 people before I stopped making the list because it was making me so sad, and I still occasionally remember people I didn't add to it. (just typing this makes me weep.)
Image credits: TheRealDedmanGraves
#12
Survivors of pancreatic cancer! Edit: This blew up more than I expected. My story is on my profile. I counsel people going through this now. Please PM me if you’d like to talk. The best advice I can give is to go to a place that specializes in these types of cancer, like MD Anderson in Houston. There are several in the US. They have the best doctors, the best imaging equipment, access to more clinical trials, etc. I was given six months to live in my hometown. Six years later after chemo, radiation and Whipple surgery, I am going strong. My risk of recurrence started dropping at two years, and now the risk is less than 10%.
Image credits: Bamajoe49
He signed off by saying, "I'd like to add something that a lot of people who commented pointed out. Despite 0.1% of all people looking like a low bar, it’s actually still 8 million total people, more than twice my country’s population, and everyone assumed that was me just underestimating the sheer amount of people in the world, but I had a reason for it.
I wanted to find more than just people at the very top of their field for everything. I wanted to find people who wanted a chance to talk about their lives even if they were only mediocre in their field."
#13
Not photographic memory but almost perfect Total recall from things that happened even 30-50yrs ago..I have hyperthymesia.#14
I've spent more time climbing trees than 99.9% of humans. I'm an arborist and tree trimmer, who has been climbing since 1981, and plan to retire in 3 years or so. Everyone else who was doing it when I started is either retired or has younger people do all the climbing, but I refuse to let the kids have all the fun!#15
I used to be the youngest person alive#16
I am one of few with adults something called Harlequin syndrome. It’s harmless, literally does nothing beyond making half my face get red and the other half not red. So when I’m really hot and sweaty one side of my face will look like a tomato and the other half will look as if I hadn’t been hit at all. Completely normal.There’s only like 1000 people in the U.S who have it. I could only find stats for the U.S so I don’t know the worldwide numbers but it’s pretty rare. Maybe not 0.1% but close.
(Note: I mention adults because it’s common in babies for the first like week of their life, but it usually goes away.)
Image credits: treeteathememeking
#17
I used to be one of the best tetris player for a short time
Image credits: KingDededef
#18
The amount of data I crunched for the SETI at Home project. 5 quintillion floating point operations. Sadly, no evidence of a signal from intelligence from space. I was in the top 99.97%.#19
I'm top 75 in the world at Guitar Hero. We have an online ranking system for scores now and I always finish at least in the top 100-50
Image credits: debatesmith
#20
I suffer from a combination of illnesses that make me severely disabled in a certain way. I have been invited to several studies and doctors from several european countries. I have tested medication that's not on the market for over ten years. My disability doesn't have a name yet but will probably get named after one of my doctors who has known me for over half my life.It started as a mental illness with psychosomatic seizures, during each seizure a part of my brain tissue disconnects and and sometimes dies (sorry for the terrible explanation, I am neither a doctor nor a native speaker).
Long story short, my doctors have found out about like twelve other people having a similar combination of symptoms, yet it was not properly documented or researched before. That kinda makes me a 0.1% of the population - sadly not on top!
#21
1 minute bullet chess.And probably top 200 in the world over 50 years old, I am around 2500 on lichess.
veritas2011 on lichess
Image credits: kobeisnotatop10
#22
Math, specifically fast mental math. I have gotten second and fifth out of over 10k people#23
fun answer: bo burnham’s listeners on spotify (0.05%)Neat answer: height! I’m a very tall woman (6’)
Image credits: lookingforlimpdick
#24
Getting pregnant on birth control. Two times two different pills
Image credits: InstantElla
#25
Saved a kitten with CPR.#26
Having encounters with different kinds of 'rare' marine life as a diver#27
I am one of like 5-10 people that are on regular call for golf architectural history.That combined with my knowledge of how to build and evaluate golf architecture in the field probably puts me into the .1%
Image credits: master_chife
#28
Rare medical issues. I'm a 45 year old with 2 rare chronic illnesses that usually affect children or patients in their 70s. I recently had surgery to remove ovaries and endo. My endo type was so rare the obgyn had never seen it before. It presented as concrete type structure inside my ureter. Usually it looks woody on the outside of organs.My blood type is most common in South Asia and Africa. I'm a white American . Basically I have to ask what are the rarest effects, because I have ALWAYS had the rare side effects for illness, procedures, etc.
#29
Speaking 5 languages (I believe that's 0.1% but maybe not ??)#30
I'm one of two people in the international, multi billion dollar company I work for that are able to run a specific script. I'm the only person in the company that can run it for non-Canadian based accounts.If my laptop dies or I leave, the tool developers have to find a new way to do what I do, or it has potential to result in many, many millions in audit penalties.
I'm the 0.0002% in that aspect
Image credits: pedantic_dullard
#31
I can type 180 wpm @ 99,% accuracy170 @ 100% accuracy
At least i used to when i actually was the ultimate computer nerd.
I'm sure i could still hit 155 to 160 even now though.
Haven't seen anyone who could type faster even online.
I have an old a*s fb post from hitting like 175 @ 99%, on typingtest think I was ranked #1 out of 1.2mil i can't remember
If people end up reading this I'll end up linking it for proof lol
#32
My claim to fame: I am the only person on Earth that has or has ever had my given and surname.While I do have a middle name, it is unnecessary.
How do i know? My dad's last name was common and of Polish origins. His parents emigrated to America from Poland. My dad was born about 10 years later in 1910. Both his parents died, 2-days apart, due to the 1918 pandemic. Dad was taken in by several foster homes and when he turned 14 he applied for a work permit. According to the County Clerk, dad did not exist. But, my dad knew his birthdate, he knew the doctor who delivered him and the clerk put 2 and 2 together and found a birth record with a scribbled name. The County Clerk then wrote what he believed the scribble said and that became his surname but it was unlike any other name. So, all of his children were born with the made up surname. At my age, mid-70's, I know every one of the 93 people who now share that made up surname and not a one of them has the same given name as me.
#33
I have 9 year old triplets!#34
Before I was married and changed my last name, I was literally the only person in the world with my name.#35
Well, I'm Canadian (0.48%), Left handed (10%), and O- blood type (3%), which would be 0.00144% of people worldwide.#36
League of legends play time. Im not even good at it#37
Geez, I would have to add about 10 events in my life that would then maybe qualify me into the 0.1% bracket. Like I survived 2 motorcycle accidents, 2 car wrecks, fell down a dried out water fall, got rescued just in time when I fell into quick sand, missed a plane flight that then crashed and everyone on was killed, fought a guy with a knife and won the fight, got chased by an African elephant and managed to survive, served as a platoon medic in an operational arena and drove my car at 275 kph on a national highway.#38
Times died? Anaphylaxis, drowning, seizures, car accidents… if I was a cat my 9 lives would almost be up. (No brain death obviously)#39
Perfect pitch.It’s a musical ability that lets you hear pitches directly from sounds, as if you had a built in tuner. In personal experience, I would describe it more like being able to “memorize” notes like you can memorize colors. According to uChicago, it’s 1/10000 or otherwise 0.01%.
#40
Was going to say height...but I've just fallen short according to this calculator. I'm 195cmhttps://www.gigacalculator.com/calculators/height-percentile-calculator.php
#41
Running distance per week for Garmin users.#42
I qualify for height, but I’d say radio contest wins. I’ve won thousands of dollars in radio prizes. Anywhere from concert tickets worth hundreds of dollars to free beer#43
Number of books read. I am 37 and have read 7240 since 2001 (2766 of those are picture books though).I am in the top 30 for my home country on goodreads. Since I am a professional librarian with few social skills, this makes sense.#44
There is a particularly niche piece of software that is used daily by a couple million people. I am the product manager for that software and have had my hands on it for a decade now so out of the roughly 40 million people that have ever used it, I am the single most knowledgeable person on earth. Thankfully they pay me to do it, otherwise it would be a thoroughly useless well of knowledge.#45
Mario Party Superstars.It sold 12.31 million copies. When I play online I usually win most of the minigames, so I think I’m a comfortably better than the average player. Given the global population of 8 billion, I only have to be a slightly above average Mario Party Superstars player to be in the top 0.1% of the world.
Some people who don’t own the game are better than me, but probably not very many.
